The deal is done; the deed to the house near Duskwither is now ours. Well, technically it's Lohendrin's, but in spirit belongs to all three of us. The next step will be to begin the renovations; I plan to go out to the property to do some drawings and take measurements so that I can begin some planning. Lohen says I get this starry look in my eyes when I talk about such things; I don't quite know what he means, but I AM excited about this! I have IDEAS, and not of the Kaja'cola variety.
The whole process was, for the most part, as smooth as I had told Lohen it would be; I think he was remembering his grandfather's ways-- which were, apparently, VERY strict-- and maybe even seeing Court before the Scourge invasion. "Court" is no more than a glimmer of what it had once been; mind you, I was never a part up close, but I saw from a distance on occasion when Mother would try to parade us (rather, parade Malinde and Leania, I followed along as "the clever one"; but I digress). I told him to let me handle business and talking and such; he just had to stand there and look pretty Serious. We had his aunt's diaries, some papers, and a signet ring of House Scarletsky to prove his bloodline. There was some initial hesitation, which I found out was mostly because the House had been presumed to be among the now-defunct ones-- those with no surviving members and no record of inheritance or wills. As such, a goodly amount of Scarletsky's assets had already been divided and distributed where "appropriate" (read: among those who happened to please those in power).
It was fortunate that the house and property near Duskwither were as yet unclaimed; perhaps it was the location-- most city-bred folk, especially those who would try for such assets, would not want to live not only outside city walls but in a place potentially near Undesirable Creatures. Perhaps it was the state of disrepair into which the buildings had fallen, or seemed to have fallen; Lohendrin's inspections concluded that they looked worse than they were, and with some structural enhancement, cleaning, and fresh paint things will be much better. But I digress again! The property was still unclaimed, the deed still belonging to House Scarletsky in the Records Office.
I made it clear that the heir to House Scarletsky was really only interested in that particular property and that as such it was his birthright; though he was illegitimate issue, he was still acknowledged as part of the bloodline by the now-deceased patriarch. I knew there was still some hesitation, which was when I played the "War Hero" card. Lohendrin, though young, is indeed a legitimate war hero of the Horde, as well as the Sin'dorei, with his actions at the front lines of the battles of Northrend and lately, the Molten Front. He would, as Lord Scarletsky, reflect well upon Quel'thalas and the Sin'dorei (and by extension, themselves-- even the ones who don't set foot outside of the City).
I'm quite proud of Lohendrin for keeping himself from wincing or reacting in other similar ways when I did the "Lord Scarletsky" thing. I did manage to soften that particular blow later, in private, by pointing out that in accepting the title of Lord Scarletsky he was getting a little bit of revenge against his grandfather for how the man treated his (Loh's) mother and aunt. The aunt was actually his great-aunt, the sister of his grandfather; after reading her journals, with Lohen's permission, I am quite glad to get a nice bit of revenge against that horrid old man. What a miserable-behaving person he was. I would have liked to have met Lohendrin's aunt, though; she'd had hopes for his becoming a mage, but perhaps she would have found it acceptable that he fell in love with a mage instead, despite not pursuing that path himself.
I keep going on tangents. I suppose it's too much to hope for that I keep on topic, but still. In summary: I put on my Magistrix Pants, we went to the Magistry, claimed Lohendrin's birthright as Lord Scarletsky, promised all we really wanted was the property and its contents near Duskwither and that all other assets of House Scarletsky could be ceded to the government. Surprisingly, there was also apparently a safe-deposit box in the House's name with the Magistry. We haven't looked at it yet, but we possess the mundane and arcane keys to unlock it. I felt it best to not overwhelm poor Loh too much right away. We agreed that Lohendrin would appear at the occasional Court function for formality's sake.
And like that, paperwork was signed, exchanged hands, and Lohendrin became both a homeowner and nobility. The former he likes, the latter makes him grimace. He's still Lohendrin Neverdusk, he'll only assume the mantle of Lord Scarletsky on those few occasions where he is expected to be present. But I promised him I would be there to help him out when needed, and that we wouldn't lord it about. Terrible pun completely intended.
I can't wait to write to my mother about this, because I know Malinde reads over her shoulder.
