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The newly hired servants entered the kitchen as Edana did. They grabbed more food and drink for the guests. She couldn't stay here or else one of the others would notice her hiding away from the guests and tattle on her to Drysi in order to gain favor. There had to be a better place to hide. The thoughts swirled madly in her head as her heart continued to pound. The wash room! No one would go in there till after the feast, when they brought the soiled table linens to wash.
Edana walked normally out of the kitchen before fleeing down the hall to a door near the end. However, she failed to notice that someone watched her flight from the open door to the dining hall. Upon pushing open the door, she found that it lay empty aside from some clean clothing waiting to be sent back to the master's room. Curling up behind one of the wash tubs, she tried to block out the noise and smell from the feast. She was hungry but she dared not go into the kitchen to fetch some food. If she did, she would be forced to serve the guests in the dining hall. She would have to face Lord Bradwr again if that happened. That was a risk she could not take. So she remained where she was, keeping up the pretense that she wasn't hungry. However, she could not escape the smell of the food, and her stomach growled hungrily despite herself. Drysi's extra demands for the feast today had deprived her of any chance to eat a proper meal earlier. Edana had counted on snatching some food while serving dishes during the feast to cover her hunger, but that plan was now in pieces. She would just have to suffer.
Eventually the noises faded and the savory smells faded into lighter, sweeter scents. Without the strong smell of meat to aggravate her senses, her stomach calmed down slightly. She waited until all sounds of feast had been silenced before venturing out of the wash room. Cautiously, she looked down the hall. Seeing that no servants came out of the hall or kitchen, she slipped down the hall and into the kitchen.
The servants hadn't cleared the dining table yet, so Edana couldn't snatch any leftovers from the trays. However, on the table sat a rough plate with a loaf of bread and a hunk of cheese. Her mouth watered at the sight for she remembered her hunger. The plate was the type that Edana ate food off of so she assumed that it had been left for another servant. She cautiously picked up the food and smelled it. It smelled heavenly and made her stomach growl even more with hunger. She cut the cheese with a knife she fetched and stuffed it inside the bread. She bit into it, savoring the delicious taste and smell which she hadn't tasted for several years. This was not the roughly made bread and cheese which was all Drysi allowed her, as a child slave, to have.
But suddenly the taste turned vile. It made her gag and brought back a distant memory of tasting something like this before. As the vile taste spread throughout her mouth and body the memory came into sharp focus. She had tasted this before. There had been someone then to help her, to rid her body of it. Though, she now tried to vomit the poisonous food out it was too late. The poison coursed through her body and she sank down on trembling knees. Her voice made no sound as she tried to call for help. No one answered. She was all alone. She fought against the blackness that was taking over her to no avail. Her sight narrowed until all she could see was the face of Lord Bradwr entering the room. He loomed over her smiling, watching her die.
"Did you really think that after all these years I would forget you, the brat who got away?" he jeered. "Those ugly clothes and boyish hair can't hide you from my eyes. Now I'm rid of you as well. I have finally stomped out the last of your line. Go join your parents."
His cold, cruel laugh echoed in the blackness which was all she could see. Her last conscious thought was that she was finally free…free from everything.
Including him.
END