Galen brushed his curls only for them to bounce back into place. He was attempting to make the frizz go away but the brush was only doing the exact opposite. Sighing, he stared at himself in the mirror. His gray eyes examined his wild hair. While he got many compliments over his life time about his hair, he disliked it so very much. The curls were mere reminders of his father’s long hair. At thought of his father, he felt a wave of guilt and shame. It had seemed over the past few weeks he had started to fall into the pattern of his father. While not as extreme, Galen couldn’t help but curse at himself for the actions. First, sleeping with a child and then right after getting drunk and sleeping with one of his wife’s friends. Many times, Galen had considered to cut it away but his wife wouldn’t hear of it. He set his hairbrush on the vanity and turned around. There was a light knock on the door. “Come in.” He answered. Ever since that incident with Dee, Galen had done his best to shut doors after him and made sure that all his servants knew to knock if it was something important.
The door squeaked open and a maid appeared. Uli had a huge grin on her face, her cheeks red with merriment. It was obvious that she had helped herself to some of the wine stock as she usually did. The skinny blonde swayed her hips as she stood there, “Hello, Duke Galen.” She hiccupped, “I mean Doctor Galen,” Uli winked making Galen frown a little bit at her behavior. She ignored the frown and opened the door all the way. Once the door was open, Blake walked in. The boy limped just a tad. Galen kept the frown on his expression. Uli poked Blake’s side, her hand getting slapped instantly, “Doctor Galen, this boy has been limping for the past four days or so. You think with a father as a doctor he’d get some attention.” She grabbed onto Blake’s hand. The boy glared at her, his cheeks red from the maid’s words. Uli leaned down and kissed the boy’s cheek. “Now, you boys have fun and be nice.” She looked at Galen and winked.
Blake stared at his father as Uli left, shutting the door behind her. Stupid drunk maid, he thought to himself. Blake walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, “So, the Pencawrs huh? And why exactly are we going to dinner with them?” He tilted his head, staring at his father. Galen turned away looking down at his brush, “Because, we were invited and they seem nice.”
Blake smirked, “Are they nice because you fucked both of them?” Galen turned around quickly, his eyes wide. He stared at his son as if the other had just demanded something outrageous. The doctor dropped his hairbrush on the vanity. He opened his mouth but only a weak, “How did you…” Blake crossed his arms, sniffing. It was obvious he was proud of what he knew. The boy played with one of the plush pillows on the bed. He tilted his head watching Galen. He wasn’t one to keep what he knew a secret. Blake was much too blunt for that. He shrugged, “I have my ways. Dumb maids have loose tongues and I thought you would have learned from the first Dubhdara that you should shut doors.”
Galen stared as if the life had been stripped of him. He stood up shocked, “Blake…” Blake shrugged once more, standing up as well. He walked over to his father, staring up at him with a smug expression. “You know father, from everything I’ve heard, you sure seem to be quite the spitting image of grandfather.”
Smack. The next action had happened so fast that in a split second, Blake had fallen to the ground and Galen was standing with the same shocked expression on his face. Blake put a hand on his stinging cheek. It had just gotten over the bruise, but apparently now there was going to be a new one. He quickly scrambled to his feet. The hit didn’t take away his smugness. Galen shook his head, turning away from Blake, “I.. don’t… why,” He stammered unsure of what to say. It wasn’t the fact that he had hit Blake that made him stammer but more that he was still in shock about Blake knowing about Dubhdara. Blake picked up Galen’s hairbrush. Playing with it in his fingers, he mentioned, “I’m not the only one who knows. Not only do the maids all giggle about it, but many other nobles. And you know,” He gave a sad little chuckle, “Mother responded the exact same way when I told her I knew.”
Galen ran his hand through his hair, still flustered. Blake set the hairbrush down. He turned, heading towards the door, “Well we better go, the carriage is waiting.” Galen opened his vanity drawer, pulling out a velvet bag. Even though he was stunned, he was still a doctor. He walked over to Blake and shoved it in his hands before leaving the room. Blake glanced at the familiar bag of ointment he was suppose to put on his cheek. He had already swiped some a few days ago to put in other spots however. Throwing the bag on the ground, he followed after his father.
~
Once they had arrived at the Pencawrs’, the tension in the carriage was unbearable. Blake and Galen refused to talk to each other the entire trip. As soon as they reached the manor, Blake followed after Galen. The boy was still limping a tad, but he was glad that his cheek hadn’t swollen. In fact the pain of his cheek was nothing compared to the pain he had endured in the past week. Shaking his head, he drew himself up and forced his legs to walk normal despite the pain in his muscles.
Galen hurried along. Butterflies were in his stomach and he just hoped that Blake would keep quiet about the whole mess. He also hoped that nothing would become a high situation. He was here to socialize and maybe get to know Dubhdara better. While he had been drunk the entire time he met Dubhdara, Galen thought that maybe if he became involved with the man it would help him forget about Dee. The doctor rued his feelings for Dee which were still quite strong.
When the father and son reached the door, they were both very nervous. Blake pulled on his purple noble’s robe that went to his knees. He hoped he looked alright. The boy hadn’t seen Dee since the hunting trip and while the circumstances could have been better, he didn’t deny he was looking forward to seeing the squire once more. Galen, meanwhile, was caught up in anxiousness and confusion. He hoped that the dinner would go well and be over fast. Galen looked over at Blake, “Don’t…” Blake cut him off without even looking at him, “I know I know. Don’t tell them.” He however gave a smirk that did not reassure his father.
Once the maid had opened the door, the two walked in. Galen nodded towards the maid as she led them through to where Dee and Dubhdara were situated. As soon as Galen saw the two, he paused before bowing slightly, “Thank you for inviting us.” He spoke up politely.