Chapter 2: A man's world
Alienor stepped into the chamber with slightly trembling hands. The early daylight fell through the big windows directly onto the big, wooden table in the middle of the room. Its smooth surface was of a reddish brown and appeared to be flawless. The young woman had never been in one of the 'real' rooms of the castle – only the kitchens and the servants' quarters – but she did not dare to look up and kept her gaze fixed on the tray in her hands, afraid to spill anything or, even worse, knock the big carafe of brown beer over. Just the thought of this made her hands tremble even more.
And where was Lord Tywin? Again she didn't dare to look up to see if anybody else was in the room. Maybe he was still in his solar or in the small yard adjacent to the council chamber.
Carefully she placed the heavy tray on the table, a small exhale of relief escaping her lips.
"What happened to the other wench?"
Startled Alienor spun around and knocked down the beer carafe. Her heart drummed in her chest and horrified she didn't know where to look at: the dark stream of beer slowly running down the table's flawless surface or the man, who was sitting at the end of the table, some letters scattered in front of him. He mustered Alienor out of calm, unblinking eyes.
Even without seeing the golden hand pinned to his dark red coat Alienor knew instantly that this man was Lord Tywin.
She hastily undid the small apron around her waist and started to clean up the mess on the table. "Oh, no,no,no,no…" A thousand thoughts were running through her head. Lord Tywin would think her clumsy (which she was), he would think she was not able to serve during his meetings (which apparently she wasn't), he would complain to Packer (or let a lower person complain on his behalf) and Packer… Well, she knew too well what Packer would do. Biting her lips, Alienor tried everything to keep from crying. Nobody would take her in, not with her sister. They were as good as dead just because of the bloody beer.
Motionless Tywin watched the new servant, who looked as if she wasn't sure whether to burst into tears or smash the carafe that had caused all the unrest into the wall. She was frantically cleaning the table, rubbing her apron over the surface again and. Her hair had the same colour as the table she was working on and long strands had found their way out of her braid. She was older than the other wench, somewhere between her 25th and 30th name day, but Tywin wasn't too sure about that. It was hard to guess the age of commoners. Most of them looked much older than they actually were. And mostly he didn't care anyway. This scene, however, was quite amusing.
"I think the table is better polished now than ever before", he finally interrupted her desperate mutters.
Alienor stopped in her movements and looked straight at him with big, brown eyes. "My Lord, I am so sorry. I will immediately get you more beer. I…"
"We will survive one meeting with just water." Tywin started to collect all the letters in front of him. "Don't bother with that, but answer my earlier question."
"My Lord?" As much as she tried, Alienor`s heartbeat couldn't get back to normal. She had spilled something, she had talked to Lord Tywin and, even worse, he had talked to her. He had noticed her. She had done everything wrong. She was no pretty little ghost but a clumsy elephant. She had seen a picture of such an animal in one of her father's books many years ago.
"The other wench, what happened to her?" Tywin folded his hands and expectantly looked at the young woman. She still looked panic-stricken and he could see that her hands were trembling when she brushed a hair strand out of her face.
"I don't know, my Lord."
"You don't know or you don't want to tell because you might incriminate yourself?" The indignant look on her face was even more amusing. Her cheeks flushed and her eyes determinedly met his.
"My Lord, I would never…I really do not know!"
The older man just looked at her. Then he gestured towards her to bring him one of the water cups on the tray. "Maybe you wouldn't. But believe me, girl, I may not know much about the way of commoners like you, but I know that you play your games as ambitiously and ruthlessly as we highborns play ours." He took the cup from her small hand and locked his eyes with hers. "And I can imagine that serving at my meetings takes you higher up the kitchen hierarchy, doesn't it?"
Suddenly aware of her bold behaviour, Alienor quickly lowered her gaze. "If you say so, my Lord."
"I do." Tywin took a sip from the water before he turned his attention back to his correspondence. "And you should find out what happened to your predecessor. You don't want the same happening to you, do you?"
Alienor swallowed. "No, my Lord." She waited a few more seconds if anything else was demanded of her, but when Lord Tywin didn't look up from his papers anymore, she quickly left the room. As soon as the heavy door was closed behind her, Alienor pressed her forehead against the cold wall and sighed.
00oo00
When the overseer shot her a questioningly glance, Alienor just smiled at her, pretending that everything went smoothly. To her surprise, the old woman smiled back at her with crocked but white teeth. The rest of the day, Alienor spent with her usual tasks. She peeled potatoes, chopped carrots, washed fruits and vegetables and in-between she was sent up to the Tower again to clean away the now empty dishes. Alienor had been nervous about her return to the council chamber, but apart from another approving look of the young soldier, she had been able to work in piece. All the lords had already left when she entered the chamber. Alienor had used the quiet moment to inspect the table one last time to make sure that all evidence of her clumsiness was gone.
During her short break she was allowed to sit down in the servant's hall and have some bread. After hastily eating her sparse meal, she slipped out of the kitchen to use the remaining minutes to check on her sister.
The little room they lived in was gloomy and bare but dry and warmer than a lot of other chambers. It was located at the south side of the castle, so that at least a little bit of sunlight was shining through the small window. Two narrow mattresses filled with hay made a more or less comfortable bed and a wooden plank served as a shelf. Five books had found their place on top of it. The only possessions Alienor had taken from her childhood home when forced to leave. Two small boxes that contained her and her sister's few clothes inhabited the right corner of the room and on the left a small washbowl provided her with the opportunity to wash the kitchen's smell from her body every night.
Every day Alienor tried not to feel sad when coming into their new 'home'. Life would get better. The first step was done. Lord Tywin was right. By becoming the serving girl she had climbed up the hierarchy. Now all she had to do was to prove herself and maybe, in a few weeks, she may get an actual room and not just a cell. Alienor grimaced when she thought about today's incident. It would not happen again.
"What is wrong?"
Alienor immediately hid her emotions when she heard the faint voice coming from the bed. She put a smile on her lips and sat down next to her sister. Her tiny face was pale and her eyes looked tired. Alienor`s heart ached. All the coughing exhausted her sister but there was nothing she could do except for keeping her warm, bringing her tea every few hours and feed her the hot, thick soup that a sympathetic cook pushed into her hands every night.
"Nothing is wrong, Lyla. On the contrary. Guess what: I got promoted!" For once the bright smile on Alienor`s lips was genuine.
Her sister smiled back at her. "What are you doing now?"
"Well, now I can serve the meals for the high lords when they have their council meetings." She pushed a strand of hair out of her sister's hot face. "Today I even met Lord Tywin."
Her sister, however, was unimpressed. Being only nine years of age, she wasn't interested at all in lords or knights or men in general. "Did you see Lady Margaery? Or Lady Sansa?" She asked instead, her eyes not shining with fever but excitement. "Or Lady Cersei? She is Lord Tywin`s daughter, so maybe you will see her, Ali. She is the most beautiful woman in the Seven Kingdoms."
"Not yet, but I will look out for her. And for Lady Sansa and Lady Margaery as well."
"Good." Her sister looked content and snuggled deeper into the thick blankets Alienor had gotten from a former chambermaid that had left the castle to get married. "But maybe you should become a handmaid. You will see more ladies that way."
"I will work on that."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Reassured Lyla drifted back to sleep and Alienor watched her for a few moments before she had to return to the kitchen. Looking at her sister's fragile body and hearing her troubled breathing she vowed to make sure to catch at least a glimpse of one of her sister's favourite ladies.
00oo00
A few days later, Alienor was sent into town to get some more honey from the daily market. Suppertime was near and some stalls were already closing down for the night. A few women wearing grey, old dresses lingered near the stalls and the traders' carriages. Alienor often saw them when she was running last minute errands. All of them had families at home and many hungry mouths to feed. They belonged to the poorest of the poor. Their husbands were mostly day labourers and they gathered at the market in the evening hoping to strike a bargain. The war had resulted in a shortage of supplies and prices had gone up. Without the goodwill of some traders and farmers, most of the women and their families faced starvation.
Suddenly a familiar face caught her attention. Her head held high again and looking as determined as ever, Ella marched through the stalls towards one of the smaller alleys. Remembering Lord Tywin`s advise, Alienor hasted past the desperate women and busy traders. King`s Landing was a big city and she didn't know when she would see Ella again. This was her only chance to talk to her.
"Ella!"
The younger woman stopped in her tracks and turned her head. When she saw Alienor her mouth hardened. "What? What do you want?"
Panting, Alienor came to a halt in front of her. "I just… are you alright?"
Ella seemed to sense her genuine interest because her expression softened a bit. "Well, that depends. I don't sleep in a real bed anymore but in the stables of Harvey's Inn. I get one hot meal per day and for that I have to do the dishes from early morning until midnight. I will never be a maid. The best I can hope for is to be allowed to serve at Harvey's and get some extra coins when I smile sweetly and let the drunkards grab my tits and arse once in a while. Good thing is, I don't have to go back to where I came from, though my bloody mother offered it. So, I could be worse." Eager to end the conversation, the girl turned and continued her way towards the alley.
"Wait!" Alienor quickly grabbed her shoulder. Her own force surprised her, but she needed to know. Lord Tywin was right. Whatever had happened to Ella could happen to her as well. She wouldn't become one of the women at the stalls begging for scraps and old vegetables. "What happened?"
Ella sighed and put down her little basket. "Nothing happened. That's the problem. That damned soldier, Ian is his name, the young one guarding the door…You noticed him? Because I bet that he noticed you. Well, that bastard wanted to get a bit too close. I told him if he ever tried to do that again, I would take care of his cock, and not in the pleasant way. Last thing I need is a baby to feed. Packer would have kicked my butt up to the Wall. Well, he kicked me out anyway. The bastard told him that I 'tempted' him. As if." The girl snorted scornfully. "But Ian is a man and Packer is a man, so who would listen to my version of the story? Our old, fat overseer did, may the Gods bless her, though it is probably too late for that. But in the end, she is just a kitchen woman, too. All she could do was to put in a good word for me at Harvey's. I will never forget that." Ella bit her lip and mustered Alienor. She didn't seem to be sure what to say next. "Beware of that bastard", she finally advised. "You are a pretty face and you have your little sister to think about, poor thing. You won't find work elsewhere."
Alienor just nodded before she loosened her grip. However, she had one last question she was wondering about since her first day as serving girl. "Has he ever talked to you?"
"Who?"
"Lord Tywin."
Ella looked at her as if she was mad. "Lord Tywin? Of course not. I was the serving girl, silly. Nobody talked to me. Why? Did he talk to you?"
"Just briefly."
Again, Ella was quite for a long time and Alienor found herself wondering what was going on in the pretty girl's head. Sometimes she felt as if she was the sixteen year old and not Ella, and maybe that was the real reason why Alienor hadn't liked her. Ella mustered Alienor from head to toe again. "Well, maybe it's not Ian you have to worry about."
Alienor wasn't exactly sure what Ella intended to imply with her remark. "But I am just the serving girl, just like you. And you are much prettier than I am."
"You can't compare that. I am blonde, you are dark. Last night I have seen two men beating each other up about the question which women are prettier. I told you: Pretty face, nice body and you are a good ten years older than me, aren't you? You are not a serving girl, you are a full-grown woman. For men of a certain age this decade could make all the difference."
"Are you saying that…"
Again, Ella sighed. "Listen, I grew up in a whore house and worked my way up the castle kitchen. I have seen countless ordinary men and some lords. And all I am saying is that a noble man like Lord Tywin would never speak to a servant without a very good reason."