His Hand In The Shadows

Chapter 10: The Golden Lions

"I thought you awake, Sir. I'll come again." A servant stood at the doorway.

"No. Enter, please." Zayd sat up in bed and brushed a hand through his hair to calm the mess.

She entered and began dusting furniture.

Zayd pulled a spell book from his side table and skipped through pages, occasionally taking glances up at her. Her face was aged far beyond her years. The frock of her uniform was stained with sauce from breakfast and her hair was brittle grey. Zayd took a breath and straightened, working up the confidence. "Have you yet seen a spell book?"

"No, Sir Zayd," she shook her head vigorously and got back to her cleaning.

She obviously thought he was accusing her—it was the kind of response that would've turned him off before, the way she shook her head like he was making her uncomfortable. He needed to try harder this time. "I apologize. I did not mean to offend you." He fumbled with the pages of the book then closed it. He opened it again then asked, "How is... how has your day been?"

She stopped her cleaning. "Quite well, Sir. I honor this job very much."

He thought hard before he spoke again. Ayla had been so easy to talk to the day they met. They had something in common. Tutoring lessons. But the servant was different. He looked around for something to discuss. Noticing a bracelet around her wrist, he asked, "What is that?"

"I apologize." Anxiously pulling the bracelet from her hand, it popped and scattered across the floor.

Zayd jumped down to help her pick them up. "I did not mean for you to take it off... It looked very childlike. I only wondered if you had children."

The servant smiled shyly with a small nod as she collected the beads in her hand.

"Wonderful." His face lit up like magic. Talking to villagers really wasn't all that difficult. "How many?" he asked.

"Eleven," she mumbled.

"Eleven! How do you feed eleven children?" He wanted to take the words back when the woman started bawling. "I did not mean offense. Please do not cry." Zayd pleaded. He fumbled around looking for tissues to give her.

"I apologize, Sir..." She struggled to hold back tears. "It just hurts me so that I cannot feed them like I want."

He reached to pat her back but pulled his arm back. "May I?"

She shook her head.

Zayd pulled his hands back and watched awkwardly as she fought off tears. "Can I help you?.. May I offer you food? I can give you food before you leave."

"No Sir Zayd, I cannot."

"No, it is fine. I will wrap it nicely for you. Visit my room when your shift ends."

Zoelle and Lady Cormill sat around the breakfast table with a buffet before them downstairs. Statues of lions decorated the niches in the walls alongside extravagant vases and artifacts. The breakfast table was near the garden patio where they could observe the morning bloomers through the glass doors, unlike the dining area that was completely closed off from natural light to provide the best piano acoustics. A servant pulled Zayd's chair for him and he sat down opposite his sister while the seat opposite his mother remained empty. When Zayd finally sat they began their meal.

"You are late, Zayd," his mother said. Her knife sliced delicately through the smoked snake fish on her plate. "How was the project with Lady Nas, Zayd?"

"What?... it went well," he responded.

"You were out so late, when did you arrive?"

"I apologize. The meeting dragged."