ELORA
“Hello, Love?” A voice called, stirring me awake.
I was given the comfiest bed I had lain on in a while and I didn’t want to get up just yet. The wounds on my body had been bandaged and already started healing but the stress of the process had drained most of my energy and had caused me to sleep for a couple hours. I opened my eyes for a bit and squinted to see lamps burning brightly in the room although the dark sky visible outside the windows let me know it was evening already.
The King’s Advisor had made sure we were comfortable in the palace. He’d specially gotten us a room in the worker’s quarter for us to stay together.
“Hello, Love!” The voice said again and I turned to face its direction.
Someone was peering down at me with curious expression although her face only held warmth. She had on a grey gown and white apron, and her round face was kind. I jumped to my feet from the bed I had been lying on as I realized that I had slept longer than I intended to.
Teriel had said I would be taken around the palace this same evening to familiarize myself then I would start working for the king the next day. So I had to learn it all today.
I rubbed my eyes a bit as I stood before the palace worker that had called my name. I hadn’t seen her before, but I guessed she was here to show me around. I curtsied.
“Good. You’re awake. My name’s Denise,” she said with a warm smile. “Ah run coordinate the workers inna palace.” She had some accent that I hadn’t quite heard before. It was something of a mix, between south Bale, and Lycan.
It was quite strange to see a palace worker this excited to work, from where I was from it was not so. Her energy was radiating and contagious.
“Hello, Denise. I’m Elora,” I said, curtsying slightly not forgetting to give a small smile.
“Oi! Elora, aye? You good to walk?” She asked and it took me some seconds to decipher the accent and realize exactly what she had meant.
“Y… yes, Ma’am,” I said, looking at the other beds where Olivia, Bennett and Brian still lay fast asleep.
“Let ’em be for now. We’ll work out something for ’em later,” she said. Then she turned to a darker skinned Palace worker that had come in with her.
“Elora, this is Lucy.” And the young female almost squealed from the attention. She smiled shyly, her hands clasped together in her bosom. She had the same ash gown on and a white apron.
“Hi, Lucy,” I said, smiling. Lucy was beautiful. Her skin made the light from the lamp dance, yet I wondered why she was unable to hold my gaze.
“Aye. Lucy will be showing you around this evening. So you’ll know where to work from morning.”
And with that she walked out of the room, leaving Lucy and I standing before each other. I noticed how Lucy bowed her face shyly and decided to take the lead.
“Um… Are we…” I started to ask.
“Yes. This way, please,” she said, guiding me to the door. She looked up, her smile still shy.
And as we stepped out I took one last look at my siblings as they slept. They had slept since they’d taken hot baths and had their wounds treated.
Brian and Bennett had been afraid to sleep or even get comfortable. They’d said they wanted to stay guard, but I knew they had been afraid to rest or sleep. Now as I watched them sleep, it looked like they were finally at rest for the first time in a long time. The sheets covered them all the way to their shoulders, and I knew they were comfortable, especially as none of them had noticed Denise come in with Lucy. So much for standing guard, I giggled lightly. I felt lighter but I knew this safety may not last for long. Where would we run to next?
Now that I thought about it, I couldn’t remember the last time I had laughed genuinely in a very long time. It had been all pain and torture. This was the first my heart had felt at peace for the first time in a very long while. At least I wasn’t looking over my shoulder every minute or waiting for my name to be called for torture.
Lucy led me from the room we had been given, through the lobby, as we passed other similar rooms belonging to workers, down the stairs, and out the quarters.
As we walked out of the quarters, I noticed that the palace was much bigger than I had seen when we first arrived. Each building connected to the other until they connected to the biggest one in the middle, which was the King’s quarters.
“Do you like it?” Lucy asked. “Some of these houses are more than a hundred years old. Whichever king ascends the throne has the choice the to renovate or build some more.”
She went on to state that the buildings on the palace grounds held different members of the royal family. Lucy said the King had asked that I work in his personal library as its keeper. She went on and on about how that was a great honor and a good sign.
“You can read? Yes?” She asked. And I could see that she somehow wished for a positive answer.
“Yes, I can,” I replied and returned the smile that she had given. In the past few hours I had smiled so much more than I had smiled in all the two years since Father had been killed.
“Oh My!” Lucy squealed. “I really never had the chance to learn that. Oh, I wish I could really. I love books, you see. But I don’t know how to…” her countenance fell. It was terrible to see the light go out her face.
“I can teach you,” I offered. “If I have the time. I can teach you to.”
Lucy’s face brightened instantly. She almost danced in delight and somehow it made me happy that she was smiling again.
“Oh! Thank you! Thank you!” She said and did a small dance. “Thank you, Miss…”
“Elora.” I laughed. Lucy was delight. “Call me Elora.”
“Thank you, Elora. Can I call you Ellie?”
I laughed out loud now, making Lucy stop in shock.
“Something wrong?” She asked.
“No, not all,” I said mid laugh. “It’s just… That’s what my siblings call me.”
And she smiled. “Well, it’s a beautiful name you got, Elora.”
The palace stretched out in land, so far that one could ride on horseback to and fro both ends of the palace. It was massive and there were workers everywhere.
“There are workers everywhere,” I said without even realizing I was voicing my thoughts. I noticed that each set of workers had a different outfit and uniforms that they used and these uniforms must have represented something.
“Yes. Workers for everything that needs to be done. Workers for the gates, the kitchens, to clean, and so much more.”
“They’re all paid?” I asked, wondering.
“Oh, yes,” Lucy answered. “We’re all paid. I used to be a slave here until the King abolished slavery. And now I get paid for my Job like everyone else.”
I had suspected it. But I hadn’t wanted to intrude but now I’d confirmed it. Majority of the palace workers used to be slaves in the palace until the new King abolished slavery. I thought how joyous it must have been for all of them on that day to know.
“That is beautiful, Lucy. Do you have family?”
********************
ROME
Discomfort could be noted in the king’s face as he paced the room. He knew everyone would soon begin to arrive and that would mean he would have face Erika and Chester. His heart sank as he thought about it. He knew the shame that it had already brought him. The members of the royal family were going to be present. How could he face them? Most importantly because he didn’t have a heir.
He sat on the bed and placed his head in his hands.
What would he say about getting an heir?
What answer would he give when they asked who would replace her?
He had sometime before the meeting started. They had to be something in the library that could help him out.