"I'm not the only one in over my head, brother," Seamus pointed out dryly. "How do you intend to court Hazel, again? And how are you going to fend off the other suitors? Even better, the other ladies who will start trying to drown you in attention?"

"The other ladies can be ignored or discouraged," Kaladin said with a shrug. "And I know she is receptive to being courted by me, so I'm already one ahead of the other men." He grinned. "See, I've got a plan."

"That's not a plan," Seamus retorted. "That's a vague quasi-outline. How are you going to court her?"

"I already am. Sort of. I've at least declared intent, and she hasn't shot me down yet." Kaladin shrugged. He already had some ideas what she liked.

Seamus nodded. At least Kaladin had a solid foundation, then.

"Well, good luck, then," he said. "I get the feeling you may need it."

"Thanks. I do, too." Kaladin sighed and shook his head.

"Well, I'm going to go feed the critters before they get antsy."

Seamus nodded.

"You do that," he said. He grinned. "Watch the sheep, they're all snuggly today. They'll try to trip you and then converge on you when you do."

Kaladin snorted. "So they're not as dumb as normal sheep," he said, looking over at them. "At least they've got that going for them. Honestly, I don't know why the women like them so much."

Seamus shrugged.

"They're fluffy," he replied. "What more would they need? Ladies like fluffy, right?"

"They certainly seem to." Kaladin shrugged. It still baffled him. "Oh well." He went over to the store room and picked up the bag of feed for the sheep, going to go feed them.

The next few weeks were quiet on the ranch. As quiet as the ranch could be, anyways. Nothing unusual happened, at any rate, which was why the sudden arrival of visitors seemed so conspicuous. At least, to Seamus. When he noticed the nobles arriving at the gate, he turned to his brother.

"Were we expecting any visits today?" he asked. "I didn't think we were... Doesn't Hazel usually prefer to go on visits herself?"

Kaladin nodded slowly, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the crest on the side of the carriage. "Yeah, she doesn't usually invite anyone here, and she didn't tell me about any visits. I don't think this was expected."

The lady got out first, her husband behind her, both of them expensively dressed. They walked over to the front door of the main house and knocked imperiously, although the husband peeked around the building to get a glimpse of the ranch, comparing it to his own.

"We may as well go see what they want, then," Seamus said, watching them. Something about this didn't sit quite right.

Kaladin nodded and moved over to intercept them before they could try to move around the main building. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, we'd like to speak to the owner." The lady looked at Kaladin and sniffed, summarily dismissing him. The lord was only slightly more attentive, looking past Kaladin to Seamus before letting his gaze rove over the ranch again. Not as well populated as his own, and much more... eclectic.

Kaladin stiffened, just a little, before he nodded. "Right this way." He opened the door and went in first, leading the way to Hazel's office and knocking on the doorframe. "Hazel? Some people to see you."

Hazel looked up from her work when she heard the knock. She hadn't been expecting any visits... She nodded to Kaladin.

"Thank you for bringing them to me," she said. She wanted to try to give him a kiss before he left again, but she knew that it was best to keep things professional while there were visitors. Getting up, she shook out her skirts and mentally thanked her lucky stars that she'd worn a day gown rather than her very plain 'work' dress. She looked at the visitors. "Please, come in."

The lady shot Kaladin another look, sniffed, and swept past him into the office. The lord stood behind her chair, and Kaladin stayed out in the hall, hidden to them while he listened.

"I do apologize for this intrusion, Miss d'Loncré," the lady said, looking at Hazel. "But it has come to my attention that my neice is an employee of yours."

"Lady," Hazel corrected. "As I am now the head of my family, and we were no acquainted before my grandfather's passing, I wish to be addressed as 'Lady.'" It was normally not something that she typically pushed, since she was so used to being addressed as 'Miss' rather than 'Lady,' something about these people rubbed her the wrong way. "If I might ask your name in return?" Also a correction, as the visitors had not seen fit to announce themselves beforehand with a written message, and had not introduced themselves either at the gate or at the door.

"Lady Hilde DeWinter." Her eyes narrowed just the littlest bit. "And my husband, Raul." She hesitated for a beat, and then continued, "I would ask to see my niece, Lady d'Loncré. Britannia DeWinter."

That threw Hazel for a moment. She almost opened her mouth to say she had no idea who Lady DeWinter was talking about, but her mind caught up to her a split second sooner than that and she stopped. There was no way they were looking for Brit... was there?

"There is no one with the DeWinter name on my payroll," she said cautiously. "While I do have a few young women working here, I am certain I have never come across your family name before on this ranch."

"I doubt you would have. My sister's daughter, Britannia's mother, was foolish and ran off. I doubt seriously she would have given her daughter the family name. But the girl is our blood, at least in part." The lady sniffed in disdain again. "And we wish to bring her back into the fold."

"If you will forgive any disrespect," Hazel replied, "how do I know what you say is true? For all either of us knows, the girl you are looking for is not and has never been here. And I would rather not put one of my employees through any sort of trouble without cause. Working in the menagerie can be stressful in and of itself, and I would rather not make it worse." There. That was as close to saying that she didn't trust them yet as she could come without saying it outright.

"I thought you might ask." Hilde smirked and produced a paper, handing it over to Hazel. "The lineage. We only just found out about the girl a few months ago, when my sister died and I went through her things. I found letters to her daughter, going back nineteen years, before they stop. The letters speak of a little girl named Britannia, and my niece worked here. Her daughter now works here as well."

Hazel scanned the papers briefly, and then went into the drawer where the worker files were kept. She rifled through them briefly before pulling out one that had a name that matched what Lady DeWinter had on her papers. Indeed, it seemed the woman whose file Hazel held was related to Brit.

"I see," she said. She put the file back and closed the drawer, and then looked at the woman. "Perhaps you should come with me, then, Lady DeWinter. Although I would ask that only you come with me; some of the animals in the menagerie do not take well to too many unfamiliar people." And she knew Brit would just be too overwhelmed as well. Even just the one person was likely to throw her off, and Hazel wanted to minimize that as much as possible.

Hilde nodded and motioned for her husband to stay, rising gracefully to follow Hazel outside.

Brit was working with one of the new unicorn foals, watching it romp around and then trot back over to her for some attention. She smiled as she brushed out the dark gray fur, brushing off all the dirt. She didn't even notice Hazel and the Lady approaching them until one of the dogs barked, making her get to her feet and move over to the fence to see what was wrong.

"Do you think you could spare a few moments?" Hazel asked Brit. Brit seemed like she had the spare time, at the moment, but she wanted to be sure. "This is Lady Hilde DeWinter. I think you should hear what she has to say."