"...I see." the Duchess says, lowering her cup of tea and setting it on his plate. "Gloriana, could you check the perimeter for breaks in the wall?"

Gloriana strides out, and you and Isaac's mother are alone for the moment.

"Isaac has not shown up here." She says quietly. "Nor has he responded to any message I've sent. Not even my spies have been able to locate his whereabouts."

She stirs some sugar into her tea.

"But just a day after the Pendragon incident, a certain..thorn in the family's side was promptly and forcibly removed. Our estate has been granted the status of a Royal Protected Nature Reserve under our stewardship. And certain families from the the Royal Court have sent invitations inviting us to take part in some joint financial enterprises–out of the blue, as it were."

She keeps stirring. "Curious, no?"