How could a knight DO that? How did he get past the Ordeal- where he's tested on his chivalry- if he would pick on a simple slave?
Unfortunately, Tortall does not have the chamber of ordeal quite yet. The line that separates a knight from a soldier is very sketchy. A knight could be a soldier who is from a noble family, or just a soldier who pleased General Aleyn (and as a result, he gives them the title of knight *clears throat* ahem, I mean, he convinces King Duane to give them the title).
Kenric's cool. Does he put his "borrowed" clothes back in the storage closet after he uses them, so every time he wants to go out, he takes a new outfit? What does he say if someone asked where he disappeared to all day? Or do they know that Kenrictonerian went to the city? Did the other servants get that day off too? If so, did they see Kenric and Vistra together?
Nope, Kenric hides his borrowed clothes where they won't be found in his room. And since no one gives a care for Kenric (not his father, not the knights/soldiers), they rarely ask what Kenric is ever up to. They simply don't care what he does with his time. Basically, the "you stay out of my way, I stay out of yours' motto. The servants/slaves know he goes to the city, but they aren't the people who would run off and tell General Aleyn about it. The servants get free days on different days (the system is rotated, so that the other servants do the work of the servant who has a free day).
When did servants, who are badly treated, start having free days? Why do nobles even take in servants if they have all of those slaves?
Slaves and servants are used to show status. Only having slaves isn't a good thing, neither is only having servants. In addition, servants are also the people who commandeer the slaves of a household. They tell them what to do, how to do it, train them, overlook them. If they weren't there, the nobles themselves would have to do it. The nobles aren't quite willing to descend to the level in which they have to communicate with slaves on a daily basis. Free days are available for servants as a way to appease them (they may be taken away or exchanged for a small raise in pay, or something like that).
What happened to the young lord who was responsible for the death of Lauryn's family?
Oh, him? He's dead now…
1: How did a lord become the bloodline of a kingdom? You said that it was about the Conte family, and Kenric had black hair & blue eyes, a feature that has become infamous for the Conte line. 2: Does Nathan know who Kenric really is? 3: What does Kenric use for an alias in the city? He can't exactly go around calling himself Kenric, someone is sure to figure it out...right?
1. Kenric actually does not have blue eyes. He has black ones that match his hair. And you will know by the end of this fic how the Conte family came to be. You actually get an interesting snippet about the Conte line in this chapter. 2. Nathan does not know who Kenric really is, not much is known about the General's son to the public, since he doesn't go out with his father and is boasted about either. And Nathan really had no reason to doubt who Kenric was. 3. Well, he doesn't go around the streets shouting out his name. Even if people did have thoughts, they would be few. And they would probably doubt themselves (after all, since when did a noble dress as a commoner? And the General's son no less?) Nope, even if they did link his name with who he really was, the commoners would be too filled with uncertainty to make their thoughts known.
Poor Nathan. He needs a hug! Can I give Nathan a hug without is fiancee/wife eating me?
I have a hard time seeing Lady Clarine eating anybody. What about you?
Author's Note: As I said earlier, we get an interesting snippet about the Contes in this chapter. And Lord Travion will make an appearance (reminder: he is the lord provost who was present during the attempt to catch NB earlier with General Aleyn).
14. Lord Travion
Nobles' Bane: Chapter 12
By that same evening, the whole palace was buzzing about what had happened.
Vistra had put it off at first, but when Lousan came into their quarters looking slumped and defeated, she knew that something bad was going to happen.
"Alisse. Delice. Gather your slaves and meet General Aleyn in the hall."
Delice sent Vistra a terrified look. Vistra squeezed her hand.
Delice and Vistra each sent for their dozen or so slaves. They were waiting. Those slaves who worked under Rye and Morna gave the others sympathetic looks and words of support. Vistra nervously fingered the magicked pin at her collar.
Once they reached the hall, the servants and the slaves wordlessly debased themselves. King Duane sat in a glittering chair with General Aleyn. On the other side of the room, Queen Janah stood with her companion Athaniel. A group of noble lords huddled together, whispering to one another. Scattered in between were a few knights. Vistra recognized one of them, the one closest to the General, as the one she had knocked senseless. There were also clusters of soldiers in the hall.
From the corner of her eye, she saw movement in the darkened doorway. She saw that Morna and Rye hid there, watching the scene with anxious looks on their faces.
Vistra slowly lowered her gaze and faced frontward. She saw that Lousan had come into the room and was debasing herself before the king and General Aleyn.
King Duane was a sickly looking man, frighteningly pale with gaunt cheeks. The chair he sat in seemed impossibly huge compared to his own slight body.
He turned to General Aleyn. "Which one of these did it?"
General Aleyn was looking at the group of them, eyes floating around in perusal. Then he turned to the man by his side. "Which one was the one who dared to touch you with a broom, soldier?" he demanded scornfully.
The knight gulped and looked around nervously. "I'm not sure, my lord. I did not get a good look--"
The glare General Aleyn awarded his man made him stop. Then he lifted a hand and pointed. "It was him, my lord. He attacked me."
The slave in question got to his feet, but kept his gaze on the floor. He was one of Delice's. A young man by the name of Acole.
General Aleyn lifted a hand and motioned to Acole. Acole hesitantly stepped forward.
And once he was in reached, General Aleyn lifted his fist and swung it across the young slave's face.
Acole was thrown to the floor, letting out only a faint cry. One of the female slaves started to sob quietly.
"You would dare to touch one of my men? One of your betters?" General Aleyn growled.
Acole silently struggled to his feet. He didn't even bother trying to defend himself. Vistra saw General Aleyn lift his hand again.
"Stop."
Once all eyes were on her, Vistra stood. "Lay not another finger on him," she said imperiously, knowing that the nobles would not like her haughty command. "He was not the one who hurt your man. I was."
The room was deathly quiet. None of the slaves released a sound, the woman who had been crying just moments earlier was now shushed. Delice and Lousan were still debased onto the floor.
"I was the one who knocked your man unconscious, my lord," Vistra said mockingly. "What a harsh taskmaster you must be, to train men so that mere servant girls can knock them senseless--"
The General reached out, quicker than lightning, and smacked her hard against the face. She let herself fall to the floor and did not try to reciprocate. To do so now would probably lead to her death. Hers and countless innocent others.
But she would get her revenge later. Oh yes, she would get her revenge.
"How dare you speak to me that way, you little slut," the General said furiously. He had one hand on his sword's sheath and the other tightly clenched into a fist. "How dare you even--"
A scream pierced the air.
Queen Janah suddenly started to sob and scream. The words that flew from her were strange, nonsensical words. Her fingers tore at her hair, unraveling it from her coiffure. She shrieked and beat at the walls with her hands. Athaniel tried to soothe her, but was entirely unsuccessful.
The General looked so angry that Vistra thought that he would turn his wrath on the queen. And Vistra grimaced when she saw him walking towards Queen Janah.
But Athaniel stepped in front of the queen and stared at the General coldly.
The General stopped in his tracks. He glared at the other man. "Lord Athaniel of Conte," the General said.
"General Aleyn," Athaniel said back. He did not move from in front of his lady. "Her highness is feeling unwell. She would have been in her chambers resting if you had not called her presence here so that she can witness these acts of brutality."
The General looked as if he were still considering hurting the queen. But then he stepped back. "Then take her away!" he snapped.
Athaniel fell into a small bow and turned to follow the general's command. He gently led the queen out of the hall with the help of two slaves.
The General turned back to Vistra and Acole, still distracted.
One of the lords stepped forward to speak. "General Aleyn," he said formally with a slight bow. "Why not take these two and lock them up in Lord Travion's jail? We can keep them there until we decide what to do with them. A whipping, perhaps?"
The General hesitated, one hand still on his sword hilt. He looked as if he still wanted to strike Vistra dead on the spot. But then he nodded. "Very well."
He respects those lords, she realized. No. He doesn't respect them. He just…needs their support.
Vistra locked away this piece of information as she helped Acole stand to his feet. General Aleyn motioned to several of his guards; they came over and roughly grabbed each of Vistra's and Acole's arms.
Before she was pulled from the room, she lifted her head and suddenly met Kenric's dark gaze. He stood where Morna and Rye had been standing earlier.
When had he come to the hall?
His black eyes were wide, but the rest of his face was inscrutable.
What is he thinking now, I wonder?
She dropped her gaze and quietly let the soldiers take her away.
And with that, she was put into jail.
~*~*~
"I'm sorry."
Acole glanced up and met her eyes. He strained tiredly against the shackles that bound his ankles and the ties that held his wrists together as he tried to find a more comfortable position to sit in.
"It's all right," he said. "It's not as if I haven't been whipped before."
She shook her head and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered again.
He gave her a small smile, but that just made her feel all the more worse. How could he, the slaves, live like this? Knowing that any time during the day they may be wrongfully blamed and will pay with a harsh punishment that they don't deserve. To always serve those undeservingly noble-born.
"We'll get out of here, Acole." He glanced up at her in surprise. "We will. And once we're out, you can be free."
He blinked at her words. She saw him mouth the word 'free'. Then he shook his head.
"Freedom is but a dream."
"Dreams can come true sometimes."
"Aye, but not for slaves. Never for slaves."
That made her fall silent. Which was good. For the door of their jail opened just moments afterwards. Vistra blinked as her eyes watered at the sudden brightness of a lantern.
A tall figure stepped into the cell and glanced at the two of them. "So you were the wretches who angered General Aleyn?"
The voice made Vistra shiver. It was so completely devoid of any emotion that it was worse than physical cold.
Then she glanced up and stared.
The young lord who stood just inside of their cell was inordinately handsome, with careful blonde hair that tumbled about his forehead, a patrician's nose, and scathing blue eyes.
They were a dark, stormy blue, the blue of the night when there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
Those blue eyes…
Vistra's heart dropped. "Travis?"
Those blue eyes turned on her, surveyed her coldly. Impartially. "Pardon?"
Vistra's heart dropped even further into her gut, if that was possible. "Travis…"
"The name," he said to her grimly, "is Lord Travion. Do address me as such."
Lord Travion? Do address me as such…?
She was looking up at him in horror. "Oh, Travis. What have they done to you…"
She had thought him to be dead.
Dead.
But this was worse. Oh so much worse.
They had turned him into a noble.
You are not going to cry. Control the tears. You must not cry…
"Travis, do you not remember me?" she asked, pulling a strength that she did not know she had into her voice. "It's me. Your sister. Lauryn."
Lauryn. She had not said that name aloud for so many years…
Lord Travion crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a bored look. "The name is Lord Travion. Travion."
"No, it's not. That's a noble's name. You're not a noble. And neither am I. Do you not remember?"
He looked distinctly annoyed.
"Our father, Darius, was a horsebreeder. Our mother a weaver and dyer. And I was your sister Lauryn. Remember? Remember… Tinklefoot? And Suna?"
Her sense of calm was dissipating. She struggled to her feet to face him, to stare him eye to eye from a taller position. "Travis, don't you remember? Remember?"
She suddenly cried out and nearly stumbled. She glanced up at him, her eyes wide with shock.
He had slapped her.
He looked almost surprised as she that he raised his hand against her. He stared down at his hand as if he did not recognize it.
But then he regained his calm.
And his eyes grew cold, colder than before, if that were even possible. "Sit down. And not another word. I wish to hear no more of your inane ranting." He turned and walked away from her.
He walked away from her.
"Travis…"
She slowly dropped to her knees. The cheek that he had slapped felt as if it were on fire.
"Miss'm Alisse?" Acole glanced at her with concern.
Vistra fainted, dropping into blackness.