The Blight was three months gone, and we all still wished that the Queen had gone with it. Don't get me wrong, we didn't want her to die, we just didn't want her to be living in the castle, making our lives hell. We couldn't do anything right. If there was so much as a speck of dust remaining on the furniture, or the roast had one too many carrots, our rights were forfeit. Apparently this had always been the case, according to the girls who had been here longer than me.
I was 17 when I had been hired, almost a year before the Blight began. I had planned on leaving when I turned 20 and had saved up enough to get by. Of course, with what the Queen paid us, we were lucky to stay alive. I had taken to stealing bread from the kitchens, just so that I could put away money that would otherwise be used on food. It did help, however, that we were given lodging at the castle.
Many times, the others had tried to rally for better treatment. It was their belief, however, that the late King was much less brave with his wife than he was with the country, and so they never received any help on his part. The new King, while much kinder, didn't seem to have much of a hold on the Queen. Had I been in his place, I would have taken her down a notch or two…
A hatred was forming between King Alistair and Queen Anora every day. Once while turning down the beds, I had overheard her shouting at him about taxes and the alienage, and he getting equally as angry with her. They didn't seem to have much to talk about, but they always had something to fight about. As this rate, Ferelden would never have an heir. All that work to put another Theirin on the throne, and it wouldn't amount to anything more than a few years. We did, however, get the occasional glimpse of the handsome Hero who put him on said throne. Many of the girls dreamed he would fall madly in love and take one of us away to his estate in Highever. I knew that things didn't just fall in your lap, you had to fight for them.
"You're such a spoil, Scar."
"No, I'm a realist. There's a difference. I'm not telling you you're all going to die today, are you? I'm giving you the benefit of at least next week."
None of them saw the world like I saw it. They had lived in the castle around royal life for far too long. One of them flung a handful of flour at me, and that ended the confrontation.
Fighting between the King and Queen was at an all time high. It was as though they couldn't be in the same room without erupting at each other. It became increasingly frequent for one of the servants to walk in on them in a heated argument about something or another. Increase in Dwarven trade in the city, taxation of the Alienage, and even the decision to send extra troops to the Bannorn to help them defend themselves. Politics were hard enough, but when the reigning few were at each others' throats? I couldn't wait to get out of here.
"Trinna, you get your backside up to laundry and start scrubbing. Scarlett, you're on turndown today. I want to see clean sheets on every single bed in this castle. Even the un-rumpled ones." Mamma Sal was the oldest member of the staff, and was the only person that every servant would listen to. She eventually took it upon herself to hand out chores, and since then things have run much smoother. Much less yelling involved.
"Yessum mamma." It was even more fun to use the term, since she hated it so much. Skipping forward, I barely dodged her hand as it swatted out at my backside. She wasn't above a little physical incentive to get us moving. Trinna and I made our way down to the laundry cellar together.
"I wouldn't worry about cleaning all the sheets. She's bound to know that I'm going to skip anything that's not slept in."
"I don't know if that's smart, Scar." Normally Trinna was all about skipping on work. I couldn't possibly imagine what would be so important to her to induce more.
"I'm sorry, did you just say you wanted more work?"
"The Hero of Ferelden is in the castle. I saw him this morning. You know how Mamma S is when he's around." Ahh. There it was. Trinna was one of the worst when it came to the Hero. At least she was pretty enough to maybe get noticed by him. Sal was always giving Trinna jobs that put her as far away from him as possible, since she seemed to get to dreamy eyed around him. Simply made me roll my eyes.
"Yeah, well, the Hero of Ferelden will not be sleeping in every room in this maker forsaken castle. Since he's unlikely to bed you, that means I only need to make sure the guest suite has clean linens." For such a dainty pretty girl, she had a hard fist. If I wasn't careful, I'd have multiple wounds by the end of this week.
I made my way routinely through the castle, systematically laying sheets on beds, and systematically skipping the ones I knew wouldn't be used. Sal could slap me all she wanted, it would be worth it to get a little extra time outside this evening.
I heard voices coming from within the guest suite, and assumed it was some of the servants setting out the Hero's things. I backed into the room, spinning towards the bed without even checking.
"Ah, turn down! See Aedan, I told you Anora would beat them into keeping appearances up." At the sound of the Kings voice, I stumbled, spilling the last of the clean sheets onto the stone floor. Stone makes things dirty….
"Sorry, Highness, Ser Cousland. I'll take my leave." Queen Anora had precisely demand we not interrupt when the Hero was in the castle, and I rather wanted to avoid sleeping on bruises tonight.
I had just gathered the majority of the linens when I happened to turn and slam directly into the King. Anger is not an easy emotion for me to control, but I've gotten good at making it look like embarrassment, or remorse. The sheets went flying to the ground again, and I'm pretty sure my face was as red as Sal's tomato plant.
King Alistair was holding the final sheet, and laughed as he helped my pick up the ones that I had dropped twice now. The more I thought about it, the more I actually was embarrassed.
"My apologies. Ignore me, I am a shadow." As servants, we were not allowed to look royalty in the eye. So why I looked the King directly in his, I have no idea. I realized my mistake, and half a second later, I was staring back at the sheets in my arms.
"Actually, hold a moment my dear." The Hero rose and contemplated something. My emotions had changed so many times in the past 2 minutes, that I wasn't sure what I was feeling. Anger? Fear? Embarrassment? No clue. I obliged, since it was the Hero of Ferelden talking to me. I may not have revered him as a possible fairy tale ending, but he was still the man who defeated the Blight. That was something.
"Come, Aedan, let the poor girl go. Let's save the torment for Anora." The King sat back in his chair, laughing at his friend.
"That's precisely what I'm curious about. Tell me, miss….?" His pause confused me for a moment, as no one higher than the stable boy had ever asked me for my name. Trinna was going to be ridiculously jealous.
"Oliver. Scarlett Oliver." Was I mumbling? I had never been a bumbling mess in front of the nobles before. If anything, I was entirely too candid.
"Fantastic. Tell me, Scarlett, what are your feelings on our dear queen, hmm?" If anyone knew what seething distain sounded like, it was me. I hadn't, however, expected the Hero to say her name like that. It makes some sense now, considering how the King felt about her. Had it not been for his distain, it would have felt like a trick question.
"She is the queen, m'lord."
"By the Maker, Alistair, does Anora have all your servants so scared they can't look from the ground?" I only then noticed how intently I had been staring at his shoes. They were very nice too, dark brown leather boots. "Come now dear, I'd like your opinion, off the record. No one here will breathe a word." It was almost offensive, how he spoke of us being scared of the Queen. I was not afraid of the Queen- I was afraid of being alone, in Denerim, without a family or a job.
Relaxing my shoulders and taking a breath, I adjusted my stance and looked the Hero of Ferelden directly in the eyes for the first time ever. A calm, even expression washed over my face.
"I would rather suck on a searing cattle brand than spend more than 30 seconds in her presence." I hoped I wouldn't regret that…
The silence in the room was touchable as they both stared at me, mouths open. I held his gaze, though it was getting increasingly harder. Finally, a huge grin burst across his face, and the room filled with laughter from both of the men.
"Now she's a keeper Alistair." Before I could object, I was being pat on the back by the Hero of Ferelden. THE HERO OF FERELDEN. It was a weird sensation, I can't lie. I repeat- Trinna is going to be incredibly jealous.
