Chapter Twelve
I made a new save point as I pulled on the simple clothes provided to the servants, and I smirked as I considered how to approach the day. No one knew I was the God of Time in disguise as a lowly servant, so I wanted to start at the bottom of the totem pole and work my way up. I would know all the inner workings of King Fred’s household, who to trust, and who to watch.
By the end of the day.
I had endless days ahead of me, but this one day would be mastered before time continued forward to tomorrow.
This was going to be fun.
“Up!” the lead servant woman barked in a brusque voice as she opened the door to the men’s sleeping quarters. “You’re late for your duties.”
“It’s not even dawn,” I pointed out with a coolly-arched eyebrow. “What time were we expected to start?”
The woman came and stood before me, and I scanned her up and down slowly as she approached. She had to be close to six feet tall, and her shoulders were almost as broad as mine. She reminded me of Miss Trunchbull from Matilda, except blonde, down to the hair on her upper lip. I fought the sudden craving for chocolate cake, and I cast my eyes submissively downward.
“My apologies, ma’am, I don’t mean to speak out of turn,” I said, and I fought the urge to wrinkle my nose at the smell of her breath even from a distance.
I supposed medieval times weren’t known for their dental hygiene.
“That’s enough out of you,” the woman snapped. “Do you know who I am?”
“Other than the person yelling at me?” I shrugged. “Nope.”
“My name is Miss Gervine Drokk, and I am the steward of this castle. I will not tolerate back talk from an unassigned peasant.”
“Then assign me.” I couldn’t help the cocky grin that spread across my face.
Miss Gervine’s face reddened to a nearly impossible degree, and she furrowed her eyebrows as anger glinted in her eyes. She sputtered for a moment as she struggled to respond, but then she inhaled sharply and stepped away.
Fuck, she needed to get laid and calm the hell down already.
Maybe I could facilitate that before the day was through.
It would certainly make learning all the roles of the household and getting to know the staff intimately easier, but was it even possible?
Who was I kidding.
The God of Time could do anything.
I was suddenly filled with excitement for the day ahead, and this new challenge would only add spice to my attempt to ferret out any potential spies. I would have to keep my eye out for a possible match for the woman acting like she had a permanent wedgie.
The new hires moved into the common room to be assigned, and Zenda, Caelia, and Akina stood motionless in a straight line beside me. Miss Gervine shot me another glare before she turned her attention to the women next. I kept my mouth shut so I could hear every word the woman said to my loves, but then Zenda caught my gaze, and I winked.
Miss Gervine’s gaze snapped to the blue-skinned beauty, and I held my breath as I anticipated the sharp words my foreign-looking Zaborian lover would receive from the hostile woman.
“Why are you here?” Miss Gervine asked Zenda.
“To serve the king, ma’am.” My lover met the woman’s gaze with her chin lifted high.
“But you are not from Sorreyal by birth,” the woman pointed out.
“I was adopted,” Zenda lied easily with a straight face, and I could imagine the wheels spinning inside the mind of the intelligent historian. “My parents lost their fortune, and we have fallen on hard times. It’s up to me to provide for them now.”
Her ability to concoct a backstory on the spot was amazing, and I loved her even more for her impressive display of wit. The blue-skinned goddess dipped her head politely to the palace steward, and Miss Gervine huffed her approval before moving on.
“You three,” Miss Gervine said as she gestured to my wife and lovers. “You’ll go to the kitchens every morning sharply at four. That means you are to arrive at four.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the three said in unison, but I caught Akina’s excited smile out of the corner of my eye.
A nomadic desert dweller by birth, and yet she eagerly attacked the challenge of a kitchen maid as if it was a grand adventure. She was incredible, and I was grateful she was by my side.
“You,” the palace steward snapped as she turned back to me, but then her lips twisted into a sneer. “You will be a page. Our last boy died recently of disease, so you’ll take his place until we can find a more… suitable replacement.”
“Cool.” I grinned. “I was hoping for something like that.”
Miss Gervine inhaled sharply again, but this time she had no comment for me. The palace steward had once more regained her composure, and when she turned to face me, she was calm.
Here we go.
“Thank you for your enthusiasm, but you should have reported to the Head Cook at four this morning as well.” Miss Gervine fought a sneer for a moment. “You will do this every day without complaint.”
“Sure,” I chuckled. “Every day.”
Little did she know that this would be the only day I needed to figure out who was working against the king and who was loyal. She’d have a very different outlook of me during the next run through.
I could handle anything this world threw at me.
Now, I just had to meet everyone, find out all their secrets, discover the spies, and report back to the king. All in a day of the God of Time.
I resisted the urge to skip playfully over to my women once Miss Gervine turned to the other new servants in line. The four of us had joined a crowd of others when we’d reported to the servants’ quarters yesterday, but only three more new hires stood in front of the palace steward.
After she finished handing out our new roles, she snapped her heels together and turned toward the door of the common room. Before her silhouette had even vanished, the entire room heaved a sigh of relief.
If she’d heard it, she didn’t react.
I would find her a source of happiness before the day was through, and I looked forward to the challenge. There was a freak out there for everyone, though, so I knew I would succeed before I was done with the day.
We filed out of the servants’ quarters, and while the four of us headed to the kitchens, the other new hires went in the direction of the stables. There were two men and one woman, and I cast one last glance at the trio before they disappeared from view. The woman was of average height and build, with long black hair that hung down to her waist. The men were almost identical, and they shadowed each other’s movements. Where one went, the other followed.
I turned and trotted to catch up to the three women headed to the kitchens with me, and I draped my arms around Caelia and Zenda once I was right behind them.
“Hey, sexy,” I murmured. “Where you headed?”
“What are you so excited about?” Caelia asked with a knowing twinkle in her eyes. “You’re having fun with this, aren’t you?”
“A chance to play around with the household staff for a day?” I grinned. “I’m having a blast.”
“We have a mission to accomplish as well,” Zenda reminded me.
“We’ll get everything done, no worries.” I squeezed her around the shoulders, and the blue-skinned goddess laid her head on my shoulder.
Akina slowed her pace to match ours, and she flashed me a broad smile.
“I agree with Bash,” she said, and her metallic eyes shimmered with excitement. “This is going to be fun. I’ve never worked in a castle before, and the kitchens are where all the magic happens. I’ve heard they have fire pits inside that can roast an entire pig.”
“I love your excitement,” I said. “But while you’re learning your roles, I want the three of you to keep your eyes and ears open for anyone who might be disloyal to King Freddy.”
“We can handle that,” Caelia said with a decisive nod.
“Easily,” Zenda added.
“Eagerly,” Akina said.
I laughed and pulled them all into a tight group hug. It felt wonderful to have all their warm bodies pressed against me, and I couldn’t wait to get one of them alone. I’d find a way to work that into my day as well, and the idea went straight to my groin.
“Bash,” Caelia giggled. “We’ll need to take care of that tonight.”
“Or sooner.” I smirked.
Her chocolate-brown eyes filled with desire, and I couldn’t help but tweak her nose affectionately.
“Not now,” Zenda said in a low voice. “We are in the middle of a hallway.”
“You never know.” I laughed, but then I turned to the corridor ahead of us. “Anyway, we are late for work. We’ll see how I feel next time.”
“You say the strangest things, Bash,” Akina said with a confused shake of her head. “But I trust you know what you’re talking about.”
“Usually.” I chuckled.
We arrived at the kitchen entrance a short while later, if the waves of heat radiating down the hallway from an open doorway were any indication, and the clatter of dishes and pans echoed down the corridor. A man’s voice rose above the din to bark out commands, and I steeled myself for another rough introduction.
Whoever he was, he could be a possible match for the porno version of Miss Trunchbull, the one and only Miss Gervine.
The girls walked in ahead of me, and I entered right behind them. The air was thick with steam and smoke, and the sounds of flames crackling and water boiling filled the air.
Were oatmeal and eggs really this hard?
“You there, new blood!” the head cook called out from his step stool over a large cauldron. “You’re late, you know.”
“Yeah, sorry about that,” I called back.
“No more times late,” the head cook said, and I realized he had a foreign accent that wasn’t from anywhere I had been.
Was he one of the spies?
He looked at us pointedly, and we all nodded our assent. Then he resumed his stirring of whatever was inside the gigantic cauldron. The cast-iron pot sat atop a bed of flames in a fire pit that sat in the middle of the room, and a vent above it channeled some of the smoke and hot air outside, but the room was smoggy with all the ashy smoke.
When we stood there motionless for a moment, the head cook sighed and stepped down from his stool to approach us. He was a middle-aged man with dark gray hair around his ears, and his bushy eyebrows drowned his sunken eyes. He was like a knock-off Mark Twain, but his plain attire was due to station and not personal choice.
“I am the Head Cook of His Majesties’ Royal Kitchens.” The man bowed with one hand at the waist and one at his back. “My name is Jacques Herer.”
I ached to know where he was from, but that would come with some time.
And I had all the time in the world.
“Nice to meet you,” I said. “You can call me whatever you want.”
“Young man,” the cook huffed. “I don’t care what your name is. Only that you do as you’re told. I am short-staffed at the moment, so you are my errand boy, and you will get the daily orders from every inch of this palace before you are released for the day. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.” I nodded.
“Good.” Jacques clicked his heels together. “Your duties are posted on the wall each morning. By now, your first task should have already been started.”
“No grace for our first day on the job?” I met his gaze firmly, but I kept my body language casual and relaxed.
“I’ve already given it by not firing you.” Jacques shrugged, and then he turned back to his cauldron. “Or sending you to the stables. Whoever you are, you were deemed smart enough to read and write.”
“Understood,” I said.
His back was to us a moment later, and we all scanned the room in search of these supposed instructions for our days.
“It is such a large place,” Akina observed. “But the golden walls are only on the outside. I thought the whole castle would gleam with it.”
“Are you disappointed?” I squeezed her hand warmly. “Does it bother you to play the role of a servant for a day?”
“Even though this is all new to me,” Akina said, “I would be much more intimidated by dressing up and going to court. At least this way, I get to know how they work from the shadows. It is hunting on a new level.”
“So, you still like the castle itself?” I asked.
“I was amazed by the beauty of it when we first approached,” Akina said. “It is the biggest house I have ever seen.”
“Not a lot of people actually live here, though,” Zenda pointed out. “Everyone is out tending to the harvests in their lands. The king’s vassals’ rooms should be empty at this time of year.”
I tucked that bit of knowledge away for next time, and I made a mental note to check to see if her hypothesis was true. It would be good to know what nobles we were actually serving, and what their roles at court was. A king of someplace as big as Sorreyal had to have a shit-ton of vassals, but like me, they would have all been given territory to be held responsible for.
“Being a servant isn’t too hard,” Caelia noted with a one-shouldered shrug. “This is the biggest place I’ve ever worked in, so I’m looking forward to learning how they keep the larders stocked year-round. It could serve us well when our own household begins to grow.”
“Another good point.” I grinned. “Thanks for the ideas.”
Then I glanced over Caelia’s shoulder and spotted a wall covered in clipboards with tags above them.
“There it is,” I said, and I jerked my chin in the direction of the lists. “Let’s get to work and figure this out.”
We all found our designated lists beneath the labels listing each role in the household, but there were already several spaces that were empty. Most of the staff must have gotten to work already, and I was glad we’d arrived a little bit later. I wasn’t sure how many members of the king’s staff would recognize the God of Time outside of the element of court.
First on my list was the Chief Chamberlain, Reschain Freise, and there was a crude sketch of the palace beneath the first page. The rest of it covered all the necessary people to operate the castle, and I wondered how it could impact the throne if one of them were working against the king. I’d get to talk to everyone from the treasurer to the baker, and I just had to ask them what they wanted to eat.
Easy-peasy.
I waved goodbye to the three beautiful women who had accompanied me on this weird adventure, and I was happy to know they were having just as much fun with it as I was.
I headed down the maze of corridors making up the servants’ hallways, and I soon arrived at my first destination. I realized I’d have to be waking these people up for the day, and it reminded me of waking people up in Skyrim to turn in quests.
I could have fun with this.
I knocked on the Chief Chamberlain’s door, softly at first, but then louder. There was no response, so I tried the handle, and the portal swung open on the first twist. There was a richly-appointed bedroom behind the door, and the matching wardrobe, dresser, and bed gleamed with freshly-applied oils. The space was immaculate except for the messy bed.
Reschain Freise, the person responsible for a majority of the castle’s day-to-day operations, laid with his back to me in a sleeping shirt that revealed his pale butt crack. A servant’s perspective meant I saw these people in their natural states, so it would be difficult to hide any suspicious activity from me.
I would find the spies, and I would expose them before the king by dawn.
“Excuse me, I’m here to take your food order,” I said, and I walked around to the other side of the bed. “Mister Jacques sent me.”
“I know,” the old man grumbled, and he snorted in a stuffy nose. “Give me a damn minute.”
“Whatever you wish,” I said, and I rolled back and forth on the balls of my feet. “But I’ve got a whole list of people to talk to before the end of the day. You’re just the first.”
“I’m always the first.” Reschain waved a dismissive hand. “Pages come and go, but the time never changes.”
“Should I be helping you or something?” I looked around the room for some clean clothes, but mentally I was weighing him as an option for fucking my boss, Gervine. “It’s my first day.”
“I can tell.” The chamberlain sighed as he rose up to a sitting position. “Not to worry. I’m not as mean as most. Just give me something stiff to drink.”
I glanced around the room until I found the bar, and I poured two glasses of the dark liquor contained in the crystal decanters. Then I handed one to the chamberlain, and I lifted the other in cheers. He looked surprised by my audacity to make myself a drink, but he didn’t reprimand me for it.
We both downed the drinks in a single gulp, and I hissed as the alcohol burned down my throat. My belly felt warm immediately, and I looked at my empty glass in appreciation.
“Strong, isn’t it?” Reschain chuckled. “No one’s ever taken a drink for themselves. You’ve got balls, kid.”
“I guess.” I shrugged. “Now that you’ve had your drink, what else is expected of me? What all do you even do here?”
“Pages don’t usually ask a lot of questions,” the chamberlain pointed out. “You’ll learn to know your place in the days to come.”
“So give me a free pass for today,” I suggested. “Tell me a little bit about yourself, so I can get to know how to serve you better.”
“I suppose that wouldn’t hurt anything,” Reschain muttered as if in an argument with himself. Then he stood up and rubbed his hands together, and he faced me with a gleam in his eyes. “What do you want to know?”
This day was already off to a great start, and I mentally high-fived myself for taking the risk and asking questions.
Reschain continued to explain his many duties and responsibilities as he flung open the doors of a wardrobe and flipped through its contents. I committed it all to memory, but I made a mental note to ask more pointed questions next time.
Once he was fully dressed, the Chief Chamberlain turned to scan me up and down.
“Why do you want to know all this?” He narrowed his eyes as he met my gaze.
“Just out of curiosity,” I said with an innocent smile. “And to better serve you in the coming days.”
However many times I had to repeat the day didn’t matter. I would achieve my goals in the end.
According to the Chief Chamberlain, he was married to a wonderful woman who lived in his townhouse somewhere in Vallenwood. She didn’t like the bustle of the castle, but she remained close enough to visit often. He usually threw himself into his work, and it was a matter of disagreement between them. His role as chamberlain covered so many essential functions that I understood his need to stay close.
He was just beating the commute from the city.
Finally, Reschain accepted the form from me, and he jotted down his requests for the next day. The kitchens must already be working on his orders from the previous day, and I wondered what time they ate breakfast. The horde of servants who had arrived ahead of us were probably preparing the dining halls for the morning meal.
From what I’d seen through the eyes of a courtier visiting with the king, the royal household had a staff of around fifty people. I’d met but a fraction of them since most of them were grunts, so I would get to them if I had to, but I found my job list to be a pretty handy way to get started.
I accepted the completed form, and I wondered briefly what sort of goodbye was expected of someone of my status. Did I wave or salute?
I did a weird combo, and I wondered if it could have been a gang sign in some cultures.
“Go.” Reschain chuckled, and he flapped his hand dismissively.
“Thanks.” I grinned. “See you next time.”
“Yes, tomorrow, then.” Reschain nodded. “But on time.”
“Gotcha.” I turned to go, but then I paused. “Wait, how long have you been working here? You didn’t specify that in your stories.”
“They aren’t stories, boy,” the chamberlain sighed like he had taken offense. “I’ll give you one more day of questions. Ask me again tomorrow.”
“Alright,” I chuckled. “‘Til then.”
I tucked his order beneath the list and map, and then I headed toward my next destination. The treasurer was an early riser, too, it seemed, and I checked the map before I found my way to the correct corridor. His chambers were in the same hallway as the treasury, and there were guards stationed on either side of every single entrance.
“Hello, fellas,” I said with a small wave. “I’m the page today.”
One of the guards gestured for me to pass, so I crossed the distance to the treasurer’s door as I double-checked my notes. According to the list in my hand, the Royal Treasurer’s name was Arnoch Senan, but there was no other information given. I knocked on the door, and a muffled voice grumbled in response.
“It’s the page, sir!” I called back. “I’m here to get your food orders.”
A topless, black-haired man opened the door, and he glanced up and down the hallway before his gaze landed on me.
“Who are you?” He sniffed me curiously. “New blood?”
“I just started, yeah.” I stuck out my hand to shake his. “But I pick up on things quickly.”
“Oh, really?” He chuckled, but he held the door open for me to enter instead of accepting my hand. “Then I should tell you that you’re late.”
“I’m aware.” I smirked. “Next time will be different. It always is.”
I stepped inside the dimly-lit room, and I saw a messy place with clothes covering the majority of the thick maroon carpet.
“Worry about tomorrow when tomorrow comes, my boy.” The man responsible for the realm’s coffers and artifacts belched loudly. “Today is the painful truth we must approach.”
“Wise words.” I cleared my throat. “You’ve been here for a while, then?”
“Before King Frederick’s time, yes,” Arnoch said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Gold is gold. It never changes.”
“Are you good at math or something?” I poked around the room and found empty liquor bottles and dirty dishes on every surface.
Was everyone in this castle an alcoholic?
Or was morale just low all around?
“Miss Gervine was looking nice today, don’t you think?” I rolled up and down on the balls of my feet with my arms clasped around the board full of papers.
“You’ll never be anything but a page with vision that bad.” Arnoch snorted.
“Sorry, sir.” I shrugged. “I’ll try something different next time.”
Maybe I was barking up the wrong tree, but Arnoch didn’t seem to have anyone occupying his bed. I’d find someone willing to share theirs with Miss Gervine, even if I had to try a few different run throughs first.
I took his food order silently as I tried not to wrinkle my nose in disgust at his living environment, and then I accepted the form with a nod before I left. It was only once the door closed behind me that I inhaled some less toxic air.
Then I continued on with the next person on my list, and I slid my finger over the names I’d already covered. Chamberlain, Treasurer, and now Herald. I wondered whose job it was to wake up the king. Was that something I could end up doing in some version of this day?
The herald was a thin wisp of a man who introduced himself as Fair Pharen. He quickly filled out the list, and just pressed his lips together into a stiff smile any time I asked him a question.
Whoever he was, I would crack that nut before I was done with this day.
He was either a spy, or a weird little man with a taste for large women.
Either way, I knew I could figure it out.
I moved on to the next person on my list, and I quickly knocked out the ritualistic order of the proceedings. The baker, Dael Andres, came after the herald, and then I was to head outside to finish the second half of the list. The man still smelled like cookies as he rolled out dough over flour in the kitchens, and he was dressed in a long gray tunic and white apron. He filled out the form with one hand as I held the board steady for him, but he continued to roll and knead the dough at the same time.
“How do you feel about bigger girls?” I arched a questioning eyebrow as he jotted down his dietary requests. “Ever considered messing around with Miss Gervine?”
“She’s comely enough.” The baker shrugged and seemed unfazed by my blunt question. “If she would have me.”
The man stood five feet tall on his tiptoes, and he had a ring of curly black hair with a bald spot in the center that shone like the moon. He was like a mixture of a leprechaun and a hobbit, but he might just be perfect for the Amazonian Barbie who had woken me up earlier.
“What if I told her you think so?” I pressed.
“How dare you take such liberties!” the baker scoffed and shooed me toward the door. “You’ve done your job, now, begone.”
“Alright, I’m going,” I chuckled as I turned to leave. “See ya the next time around.”
I headed down the hallway, and I took the junction that would take me to the stables and gardens. There I met the Head Groom, Brommel Bauchy, and I also saw the other three new hires who shared our sleeping chambers. They were busy with their shit shoveling, so they didn’t notice me watching them as I waited for their boss to fill out his food requests.
I wondered if they were really that dumb, or if the king had sent some sort of instructions to give us the preferred job roles.
I wasn’t looking too closely at my good luck since being a page wasn’t as challenging as I’d expected it to be.
The last person on my list was the Head Gardener, and I hoped he was already outside near the gardening sheds that occupied the back side of the palace grounds. The sun was just beginning to peek over the eastern horizon, and I was already almost done with this list.
It would be easy to squeeze in some different questions on different run throughs, though.
I was scanning the grounds of the palace closely when I saw a man marching away from the stone entrance of the castle. I approached him cautiously since I didn’t know who else would be heading in the same direction as me at this time of day.
“Mister Stonebroker?” I called out.
“Just Nevil, please,” he said with a friendly wave. “Sorry, I’m late.”
“I’m here--”
“For tomorrow’s food order,” he cut me off. “I know.”
I handed him the form, and he continued his trek toward the gardens. There was a maze of hedges that looked like it would take an army to trim, but I didn’t see any other workers. I wondered if it was a seasonal job, or if they had just recently fired everyone.
With the way things were currently going in Vallenwood, there was no telling what caused the grounds and rows of flower beds to be empty of workers.
The Head Gardener had the list filled out before we reached the group of sheds, and he shoved it blindly into my hands as he walked toward one in particular. I tucked his order beneath the others, and I waited a few minutes for him to come back out, but he never did.
I shrugged to myself and headed back to the entrance of the palace.
Who else affected the day-to-day operations of the castle and surrounding city?
The people in charge of the guards would have a lot of power inside the walls of Vallenwood, and the king had already shown it was beneath him to deal with petty squabbles, so it made sense that some sort of police chief existed within the royal household.
I was lost in thought and walking down the hallway toward the kitchens when a colorful blur collided with me at a junction. I struggled to maintain my balance beneath the impact, and I missed my dragonscale armor immediately.
“My apologies.” The blur solidified into the form of a man in multicolored livery. His patches and spots indicated he was a jester or some other type of court entertainer.
“Uh, you should slow down and watch where you’re going,” I said as I shoved the man off me.
“Excuse you,” the man said, and he scoffed as he brushed off his clothes. “You ruined my highest tally.”
“I’m sorry?” I was confused. I didn’t understand how preventing him from slamming head-first into the wall behind us would have hindered him in any way, or how saving him from falling could piss him off so much.
“I am Montigo Intoya, and you ruined my day.” The jester lifted his chin with an audible huff.
At least he didn’t think I’d killed his father.
“Like I said,” I muttered. “I’m sorry about whatever, but you would have crashed and burned without me standing in your way.”
“Perhaps the flames were the destination?” The jester tossed back his head and let out a maniacal laugh.
Creepy.
Was the jester working against the king? He certainly seemed crazy enough to want to cause some chaos, but it seemed like he was lost in his own little world at the same time, so I still wasn’t sure what type of person he was.
He scurried off before I could ask any more questions, but I made a mental note to find him during a subsequent run through.
I made it back to the kitchens, and I spent the next few hours helping fetch dirty dishes from all the private chambers in the palace. I took it as an opportunity to count how many people lived inside the castle, though, so my footsteps were rapid as I traversed the maze-like hallways.
Other than the household staff, there were only three nobles in residence, and I’d already met them all before. Whether or not they could be trusted was uncertain, but I had a solid foundation from which to judge them on. Sir Cristoff was a duty-bound knight to his core, and I wouldn’t doubt that his loyalties lay firmly behind the throne. It wouldn’t matter to him who sat upon the chair, it was the kingdom it represented that he served.
Duchess Penelope was the former wife of the Duke of Arginold, but the deceased duke’s own court wizard had managed to kill his master in a duel before losing his own life. Meanwhile, I’d busied myself with emptying the duke’s treasury with Mahini, Elissa, and Evangeline’s assistance, and it seemed the duchess had sought refuge with the king after the fall of her husband.
The final guest of the king was Ozmand, the bastard son of the former Duke of Edinburg. The young man had sided with the kingdom in hunting his father down for treason, so I had no doubt he could be trusted. I’d already tested him in more than one way, and he’d succeeded every time.
I avoided interacting with these nobles so as not to blow my cover, and I finished gathering the dirty dishes as quickly as I could. Then I returned to the kitchen, but my stomach began to growl demandingly before I reached my destination. There was a knot in my stomach by the time I arrived, and the tasty aromas of the kitchens didn’t help the matter any.
“You there,” Jacques said as he pointed in my direction. “Your lunch is getting cold.”
I scanned over the group of small tables arranged over to one side of the kitchen, and I spotted my three women. They wiggled closer together to make room for me on the bench, and I sat down to eat with an eager appetite.
“What do you think so far?” I asked in a low, conspiratorial voice. “Find out anything of interest?”
“There are a few other kitchen maids that we work with,” Zenda reported. “But we all spent our mornings alone delivering to the nobles. They eat breakfast early around here, so we didn’t get anything until everyone else was satisfied.”
“Such is the life of a servant, regardless of how royal the household.” I slurped up the brothy stew, and I dipped the slightly crusty hunk of bread into the warm liquid before shoving it in my mouth as well.
Being a servant certainly worked up a person’s appetite, and I was glad that meals were included in my benefits for the day. It was easier to focus on what I had to do if I didn’t have to think about food all day.
“There’s Havina and Lourina.” Caelia leaned forward to tell us what she’d learned. “They are around our age, and they’ve worked in the kitchens since they were children. They’re like Jacques’ favorites, or so Tarven and Rona say.”
“Tarven and Rona are also kitchen maids?” I asked.
“Yes,” Zenda confirmed. “Rona was complaining about how hard we have to work, and she claims it is the hard work that makes her get sick so often. She suggests we should all be able to live like kings and queens in castles.”
“She told you all this?” I added it to the list of things I’d learned during this run through.
Being unhappy with your job didn’t necessarily mean you were a spy, though, so I moved the kitchen maids to the back of my mind. My women would be able to tell if any of them began to act suspiciously during the second half of the day.
I still had to find a way to meet the constables, but they weren’t on my list this morning. Perhaps I’d have a chance in the afternoon to meet the people in charge of keeping the peace.
Or I could just get in trouble and get a lot of one on one time with them.
That could be fun.
I began to think about the most ridiculous ways I could get into trouble in a short amount of time, but then Zenda waved her hand to bring me out of my thoughts.
“Where were you?” the historian asked in a curious tone.
“Planning pranks,” I chuckled. “You’ll see on one of the run throughs, I’m sure.”
“Run through?” Caelia leaned in at the phrase, and I wondered briefly if she recognized it. “What do you mean?”
“It’s not important.” I shook my head. “You’ll understand everything by the end of the day, I promise. I’m just scheming up ways to have some fun with it.”
“Do you have any clues as to who the spies are?” Akina paused her eating to ask. “Everyone just seems so nice to me. Even Miss Gervine is probably sweet once you get on her good side.”
“You’re right.” I grinned. “Which is why I’m going to help her out today. She’ll be sweaty and happy before the sun rises.”
“Gods work in mysterious ways,” Zenda murmured as her lips twitched into a faint smile. “I look forward to seeing how this pans out.”
“Next time,” I said, “I’ll show you everything I have up my sleeves. This time is just practice.”
“Tomorrow?” Caelia asked, and she narrowed her eyes as she held my gaze. “You promise?”
“Exactly.” I winked.
“Very well,” the shopkeeper sighed. “Do your schemes. Let us help where it’s needed.”
“I will, but I mostly need you to vet the people who I can’t get to easily.” I glanced around at the kitchens to make sure there were no workers within earshot. “I don’t trust anyone but the three of you, and you should feel the same.”
They nodded in agreement as we finished our lunches, and then it was back to work for all of us. Unfortunately, since the kitchen lacked a scullion, which was just another hint that Vallenwood wasn’t doing great, I was stuck in the kitchens washing dishes for the rest of the afternoon. There were countless ceramic and porcelain pieces, and I stacked them all gently on the drying racks once they were clean.
I wouldn’t be repeating the menial chores next time.
It was time to reset and start testing out my theories.
Chime.