Popularity War

Chapter 2

A knock at the door forced Eva out of the world of dreams and into reality. Although she had no idea about the position of the sun, she knew that it was much too early to be awake. "Go away, I'm still sleeping," she barked when she heard the door open instead.

"I'm sorry miss, but your father is requesting an audience with you." Clara whispered.

Uttering complaints under her breath, Eva forced herself to sit up. She rubbed her eyes as Clara closed the door and opened the curtains allowing the garish yellow light to paint the room.

"Why does he need to see me this early?" Eva hopped out of bed with a yawn; if it were anyone but her father, she would have gone right back to sleep. When Clara shrugged, she changed the subject. "Well, what would I wear today?"

Clara rummaged through the vast closest and picked out a pink silk dress with a lot of ruffles. "This is very pretty."

Taking a quick glance at the dress, Eva crinkled her nose. "No thanks. I believe it is too early to wear something that decorative."

Clara nodded and put the dress back. She thought for a moment and then picked out a green dress with lace cuffs. "What about this one?"Eva thought it was nicer than the first, but she still didn't like it. "Goodness you are picky today," Clara muttered.

"Perhaps that has to do with me waking up earlier than usual," Eva said with another yawn. Clara was relieved when her mistress approved of the third dress. It was sky blue with short ruffled sleeves and on the right shoulder stood a ruffled bow that added a little flair to the simple gown. More ruffles were at the bottom where the blue top skirt transitioned into the white underskirt.

An hour later, Clara finished dressing and fixing her mistresses hair, shooing the young girl out of the room. With no escort, Eva traversed the long hallway adorned with tapestries and paintings heading to her father's study. At the oak door, she knocked. After receiving her father's permission, she entered the medium-sized room that would have looked larger if not for all the furniture.

Straight ahead, and centered, was her father's desk. On both the left and right side, book cases sat against the wall overflowing with books and scrolls. In front of his desk were two chairs for guests to sit. The rug on the floor was a deep red that looked like dried blood when the light shone upon it. Despite the dark tones to the room, Eva thought the room felt quite inviting, but that was probably due to the fact that her father was in the room with her.

She curtsied and asked, "You wanted to see me?"

Lord Whikim smiled upon seeing his beautiful daughter. "I did." A brief silence pervaded the room until he spoke once more. "I apologize that I had to wake you so early, but you need to get used to it from now on."

The smile Eva had upon her lips faded at the strange news. "Why is that?"

Her father gestured for her to take a seat. Despite the soft cushioning, the chair was still uncomfortable to her and it took her a few moments to adjust herself until she was satisfied. When she was completely settled, he began, "I lost another ship, Eva."

Lord Whikim owned land and ships in several coastal cities where members of his family and hired help would operate his business. He rented his ships to poorer merchants, an idea that was very radical, but proved to be successful for many years. The merchants would pay him back, with interest, once they sold their goods.

Already born into money, Lord Whikim did not have to start his own business, but growing up in a coastal city, he felt bad for the merchants who struggled to make ends meet. If not for their hard work, the people of Alagaesia would not have the goods that they needed to survive; trade was essential. That was why he travelled to Uru'baen—to ask permission to start his own business. The process took longer than expected, but the wait was worth it for he met Rosaline.

Unsure what else to say, Eva expressed her condolences. Unconvinced that his daughter understood the impact of the tragedy, he solemnly said, "I know you are used to living in splendor, but I am afraid our luxury must come to an end. If we are to survive, we are going to have to make a lot of sacrifices, and living without servants is one of them."

Eva's jaw dropped. "What? You mean you are letting go of Clara?"

Her father nodded, "And all the other household staff."

The very idea of losing Clara frightened her. "So I am to dress myself? I can't do that, I mean look at this gown! I cannot lace this on my own."

Her father sighed. "There will be a lot more you will have to learn to do on your own besides dressing. If I knew w way to revive my business, I would not resort to such extremes, but I really do not have much of a choice."

Eva shook her head as she tried to grasp what her father was saying. All her life she never had to worry about anything for she got what she needed and what she wanted. Now, she would have to doing everything on her own. "It's not fair," she pouted.

Lord Whikim stood up from his chair to kneel before his daughter. He took her hands in his and looked straight into her eyes. "I know it isn't. Life has always been kind to us until now. Just remember, if you think you are scared about what is going to happen, I am even more scared."

"Really?" Her father nodded.

"We are in this together and I promise that I will do everything I can to make this transition as smooth as possible—all right." He kissed her forehead.

Normally, his touch would have been enough to soothe her, but that morning she was too nervous. Her entire world was about to change and she was powerless to stop it, and so was her father. Uncertainty followed her throughout the rest of her day, nay, throughout the rest of the month. No matter how hard she tried to dismiss her unpleasant thoughts, they always plagued her.

As promised, Eva's father gradually began dismissing the servants, starting with the butler. Before he let them go, he always made sure they had arrangements elsewhere, that way he could rest assured that they would be all right. When the cook had to leave, Lord Whikim had another talk with his daughter.

Two and a half weeks have passed since he informed her of the drastic changes and he wanted her to do something for him. He knew that she was having a hard time adjusting, so he made a plan that would allow her to become more involved. "Eva," he said as cheerful as possible when his daughter entered his study.

"Yes, father?" She was in a foul disposition that afternoon and hoped that her father had good news to tell her. Perhaps his business was starting to get better? Whatever it was her father seemed quite happy and amused.

He was standing next to the white draped window behind his desk with a grin upon his face. "As you well know, I let go of Alfred. He was a wonderful cook, and I know how much you enjoyed cooking with him, so I know you must miss him." A memory of his daughter covered in flour crossed his mind making his grin wider.

According to Eva, the conversation was not going the way she wanted making her even more peeved. What baffled her was her father's demeanor as he spoke of the dismissed cook; had he gone mad? "What is it that you are trying to say?" She wanted him to get straight to the point.

"I have an important task for you; I need you to buy the food from now on. We can alternate who will do the cooking, but I am entrusting you with the shopping."

Eva groaned. "Father, why must I do this? I will gladly dust the house and mop the floors if you do the shopping instead. The only shopping I like is when I am with Cassandra."

Lord Whikim raised his eyebrows at her response. "I thought you would like this chore?"

"I don't like any of my chores, but if I am do to some, then how come I cannot have a say in what I do? I thought we were in this together?" She crossed her arms to express her frustration even more.

Running his fingers through his hair he said, "Listen Eva, I really need you to do this for me. I was hoping that your fascination with cooking would have made this chore fun for you, but apparently I made a mistake."

Feeling rather guilty, Eva asked, "What if I am seen by someone? There are few that I can trust, especially after the incident at the fountain. Rumors will spread about me!" By the time she said her peace, she was frustrated once more.

"You're smart, Eva, I know you can figure something out. You are my daughter after all."

Unable to deter her father, Eva left the room distressed. Walking back to her room, she racked her brain for ideas, coming up with something clever as soon as Clara entered her line of vision.