Chapter Seven
Lord Volvo Samos's mansion. I was seven the last time I had visited, and it was still just as breath-taking now as it was then. At arrival, there were Red servants lined up, both men and women, holding cards similar to the invitations. Each one black with names written in silver.
"Friends and family, welcome." From the stairs descended none other than Lord Ptolemus Samos, son of Volvo and brother of the next Queen. "Thank you for accepting our invitation here. As my dear sister Evangeline is to be the next Queen of Norta, the House of Samos has decided to celebrate. Unfortunately, she could not be present for the event, but on her behalf and on behalf of the kingdom, let us come together!" The crowd applauded. "We have gone ahead and assigned a servant to each guest as we understand each and every one of you have needs and tasks to be accomplished throughout the day. They are here to assist you to the highest extent and hear to your every orders. Your names will be on an envelope held by one of the servants. Inside are the keys to your rooms and the schedule for tonight's reception." The room suddenly became a game of cat and mouse, Reds and Silvers trying to find each other. I looked around me, then noticed a servant already watching me. I walked up to him.
"I believe you're my assignment then."
"Lady Aselia Chariot Arven." He bowed and offered me the envelope. All of the Silvers around me were assigned a servant of the same gender, yet mine is a male. I wondered why for a moment until I opened the envelope made out to me. Along with the keys and schedule was a card from Ptolemus himself. It read,
Arven,
I have assigned this servant to you as I understand you lack the attraction and company of all men alike. I shall do you a favor as to have this man be by your side during your stay. He is to follow any of your given orders. You needn't thank me, for we are family afterall.
Sincerely yours,
Ptolemus.
"Show me to my room." The servant led me down a long hallway, likely the guest quarter because of the many Silvers also present with their servant. As soon as I entered the room, I crumpled the letter Ptolemus wrote and flushed it down the toilet. "I demand a reassignment."
"I'm sorry, Lady Aselia, but my orders were made clear."
"Your orders are to follow my orders, now show yourself out and send me someone new."
"I am to hear to your every order unless they conflict with my initial orders, my lady." Ptolemus had ordered him to stay by my side at all times unless working on a task, and to head to my every call. I didn't want him, but I ordered him around because that is the only way to keep him busy and away from my side. The rest of the day was as scheduled. Because I was family, Lady Sidranna insisted Ptolemus have a tailor customize me a dress for the evening's ball. A tailor arrived at my room around noon and studied me closely before opening a design book. He went over what he thought would look best with my bodily features. I nodded my head as he spoke, but my mind wandered.
It's been over a decade since I've received an invitation to this house. My mother visits every now and then because Volvo is her eldest brother, but I am an Arven. Blood or not, the Noble Samos and I are not family. The only Samos that are family are my mother and Elise. "I shall have this ready before this evening's ball." The tailor said.
"Thank you." And the he left. "You," I called out to the servant. He made himself invisible by staying out of the tailor's way for the past hour or so. He brought himself out of hiding at my call. "I'm hungry."
"I'll call for lunch."
"No. I want you to bring it to me." He hesitated before responding. "I'm to stay by you at all times."
"You can't even fetch me some bread and soup?" He thought about it for a second, then bowed in acknowledgement. When he left, I scanned the room. I checked every corner and took down every portrait that hung on the walls. Nothing. Knowing this family, they would somehow want to keep watch on me. I checked the bedding frame and a few other places, but with still no luck. Then, on a whim, I let out a pulse silenced the room. Jackpot. In every corner of the room were four, black orbs, cameras. Each one of them had a faint green light, blinking, streaming my every movement within these walls to whoever was watching. I smiled, then waved. One by one, the cameras went out, and my servant returned with a knock on the door. "Come in." Shock appeared on his face when the saw the cameras present. "Did you know there were cameras in here?" He thought for a second, then nodded. "You hesitate a lot before you do anything. Are you new?" He nodded once again, now nervous. I gestured for him to set the tray on the room's round table. With my approval, he began slicing the bread in half. I watched him work and noticed his struggle. The way he was slicing the bread, it was improper. "May I?" He took a step back and handed me the knife. "This is how to do it." I showed him the two, evenly sliced halves of bread and handed the knife back to him, handle first. Before he could grab it, I swiftly spun the knife in my hand causing the blade to leave a minor cut in his palm. On instinct, he retracted and drew a dagger from his sleeve, pointing it at me. Then, the wound bled and a drop of blood fell to the ground. Silver.
"'My lady,'" he commented, nothing left in his voice but sheer confidence and amusement.
"You're a Silver." He smirked. He was now an entirely different person.
"I was hoping I'd last longer than a few hours."
"The Samos house wouldn't let an inexperienced Red step foot on this property. They especially wouldn't assign them as servants to special guests, even if it was me." No comment. "They would though, hire a Silver to pose as a Red. Spy and report."
"Guilty as charged." I crossed my arms at his confession.
"How rude. All this conversation at knife point, and I don't even know your name." The Silver drew back his weapon and held out a hand. I placed mine in his, and he placed a gentle kiss on the soft of my skin.
"Jyles Forge Haven. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." His name caught me off guard. Haven? As far as I was aware, the only child in the House of Haven was Kaius and Elane from the Noble family. Now that I knew, I can see the slight resemblance, dark brown hair, like Kaius', but with just a glimmer of scarlet. The fact still boggled me.
"But I thought-"
"That baby brother Kaius was the only Haven baby? Nah." He shrugged. "It's pretty easy to be forgotten when you've been gone for a while, huh?"
"I've never seen you at a single Converging. You can't be much older than I." He smiled charmingly.
"22," he answered. "I left at 14 though, so that explains why you and many of the others have never met me, assuming you're the same age as mini-me."
"I don't mean to sound crude, but not once have I even heard a mention of your name, Lord Jyles." And it's true. Recalling all the times I've ever heard of adults speak of us children or the times I've visited the Haven household in Silver Hills, the name Jyles was never spoken of.
"Yeah, I'm not so popular in this part of town." He let out a weak laugh, then I realized why he was assigned to me.
"You cloaked the cameras in my room." He smiled. "That's why Ptolemus had you assigned to me. How much is a guy like him paying you to pose as a Red? Must be a pretty shiny penny, no?" Jyles laughed. I wasn't sure which comment caused his reaction, but I continued watching him. He seemed relaxed, comfortable even, considering I had just inflicted a wound on his palm but nothing a skin healer couldn't fix.
"You can't give me credit for that. That's someone else's doing. I was just here to spy on you."
"But you're a Shadow. Why would they hire you and not have use your abilities?" I shook my head and laid down on my bed. "Well, I'm sorry you have to work for Ptolemus. I know how.. endearing my dear cousin can be." He pulled a chair from the table and sat by my bedside.
"He's alright. Resourceful." I glanced at him as he rested his head on my bed but didn't comment on it.
"So, he hired you, but not to cloak my cameras." I said out loud once more just to try and comprehend the little sense it made. "Got it."
"I can do other things." He winked at me, and Kaius immediately crossed my mind. I couldn't resist a laugh at his bad attempt to flirt. It caused a warm smile to appear on his face.
"Charming." I complimented.
"Thank you, Lady Aselia."
"I don't know what that devil told you, but I don't lack companionship with men. That said, whatever he's paying you to flirt with me, stop. I'll see to it that you receive your payment in full." His hands which were once relaxed tightened into fists. Jyles lowered his head, and thanked me in a mumble. Suddenly, the air became heavy. I sat up from bed and walked over the the table. "My soup's probably cold now."
"I can go warm it up for you." He tried to take the tray, but I pulled it away.
"Stop acting like a servant. You're Silver."
"Can I not help a beautiful lady out?" Before I could answer, there was a knock at the door.
"Yes?" I shouted to the knocker.
"I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time." My heart leaped with joy at the sound of that voice. Soft, gentle, humble, kind. Eragon. I must have skipped to the door because before I pulled it open, I heard a snicker from Jyles.
"Eragon," He placed a hand around the small of my waist and pulled me in, placing a light kiss on my cheek. My knees became weak, and I wanted to scream at how much his touch made my chest flutter. I may not have known much about him personally, but after one dinner, something changed. The calm that I tried to keep in his presence flushed away. "I didn't know you were in West Archeon."
"Yes, I'm here for a meeting. It's happening here shortly actually." Concern crossed his face. "Forget about me, are you alright? You look pale." I brought my hands up to my cheeks.
"No, I'm fine, I'm just-"
"Blushing?" And he did it again. I looked down at the floor to hide my face, but I could feel him smiling at me. He then looked into my room and noticed Jyles standing there.
"Lord Eragon Laris." Jyles went into a bow. Aside from Ptolemus and I, to everyone else, Jyles was just another Red servant. He stepped out of the room with the tray and promised to return with a salad.
"I would love to stay and chat, but I've only enough time to come greet you for the moment."
"No, of course. Thank you for making time for me." Now, our eyes are met.
"For you, always." I stopped myself from pulling away like I did before. "But I will see you at tonight's ball."
"I look forward to it." I kept telling myself I was relaxed, but my beating heart said otherwise. Eragon planted one last kiss on my cheek and took off.
"You like him." Jyles had returned, but with no salad.
"You were spying." He snickered.
"Just doing my job."
"Where's my salad?" I ignored his comment.
"You never asked for it." I rolled my eyes. "Hey, I was just saying that to save your relationship. I don't think your boyfriend was too happy when he realized you were alone with another man behind closed doors."
"He's not my boyfriend." I commented.
"But you want him to be." Did I? I wasn't even sure. Yes, the thought of him made me happy, but honestly, none of it was clear.
"It's just my hormones." It's a logical answer. He couldn't help but burst out a laugh. "Why are you laughing?" I snapped.
"You're great." I held my chin up and puffed my chest.
"I know." I took a seat in front of the mirror and watched myself. A knock interrupted the silence once more.
"Well aren't you popular?" He opened the door with my approval, and in walked Elise. She walked over with no words and placed a gift on the edge of my counter. It was the one left by my night stand last night.
"Before I forget, I brought this along."
"Why do you have this?" I asked curiously. I had forgotten about it until now. To my surprise, it stayed unopened. Usually, Elise would permit herself to whatever she would like.
"I was curious. I assumed it was from your boyfriend, so I wanted to make sure you had it."
"Eragon?" Her face stayed expressionless.
"Kaius." I became flustered, and Jyles broke out of character at the sound of his cousin's name. He bursted into a laugh. Instantly, Elise's belt rose into a dagger and struck at him.
"Wait, stop!" Before she could, the sound of metal striking metal filled the room, echoing in the silence. Elise's dagger was swiftly intercepted by a single bar, branching from a metallic framed portrait near Jyles. "Thank god, don't scare him like that. He's still new."
"He's a Silver." She observed. He didn't flinch, and neither did she. I didn't comment on it.
"I am," Jyles confirmed. I sighed.
"Okay, yes. Ptolemus hired him to spy on me." I said. "Now, can we please, drop the weapons?" Elise snapped her tongue and retracted her weapon, forming it back into a belt and wrapping it around herself once more. The protective bar was still present. "Elise," I started.
"It's not mine to fix." She commented, clearly annoyed.
"This is the Samos house. Feel a little responsible for altering their property, will you?"
"I didn't do it, Aselia." Her teeth were clenched. As much as she was irritated, I was confused. But only until I saw Jyles retract the metal back to frame form with the wave of a hand. Now, I was cautious.
"You told me you're a Shadow."
"No, I told you I'm a Haven." Elise looked back at me, and I at her. "But I can't bend light. I can however, do this." The belt Elise had just put back in place was now afloat, first spinning like a halo, then rings spinning around one another like an atom. I silenced him, then the metal beds fell.
"Well aren't you an interesting one." He bowed at my comment. "No wonder Ptolemus hired you."
"I'm not here to do anyone any harm, that much I can say," Jyles promised. "You may know what I am now, but I still have to do my job."
"Spy and report." He nodded. "In exchange for what? A pretty penny? You don't seem like the type to take orders, especially not for someone like Ptolemus." Jyles smiled, but that same, sadness he expressed earlier, just before Eragon visited, became present once again for only a split second.
"He's a little insane, but he's a resourceful man," he said once more. I couldn't sense any dangerous intentions from him. I didn't know the man, but he seemed true to his words. I wanted to trust him, but it may be only because he reminded me of Kaius.
"Elise, thank you for dropping off my gift, but you should probably begin getting ready for the ball." She shot me a glare, but doesn't question any further and left. I opened the white gift and inside was a silver necklace, sterling, with a bright red pendant in the center. The pendant was shaped like a crescent moon, the curve at the top and the corners at the base. It was instilled with a ruby gem. Along with the jewelry was a white card with nothing but Horace's Silks present in the center. There was nothing else on the front nor back. How did he manage to send a gift to me? I wasn't sure. It made me curious, but I let aside the thought. "Help me put this on?" Jyles walked over to me and did the necklace clasp. His hands were cold when they touched the back of my neck. When I looked at him in the mirror, he was staring deeply at the pendant. His face was unreadable.
"A present from your boyfriend, she said?" I shook my head. "Kaius?" I darted a look to him and he smiled.
"Definitely not." Kaius is the last person who would be sending me gifts as such.
"He's a good guy." I brought my hand the pendant, and it was cool to the touch. It was then that I realized Jyles hands were still on the necklace. I looked up at him from my chair.
"You seem to be more fond of this necklace than I am." He was now watching me and smiled flatly.
"I was just admiring how much it contrasts every one of your features. Very... Exquisite, per se." He excused himself from the room to go fetch real servants to assist with my hair and makeup. Shortly after, the tailor returned with my newly sewn dress, and it was time for the ball.
