''Your Majesty; '' Neera lowered her head when she saw him, her eyes looking at the ground.
''Come inside,'' he said and turned back into his chambers. Neera waited a while after he had gone in, then she followed him.
Zavian ordered the maids in the room to leave, and after they left, he shut the door.
Neera stood by the side, her fingers fondling her dress. Her eyes fell on the lavish spread of food on the table and her stomach rumbled.
Neera bit her lower lip as she cursed underneath her breath at how loud the growl was. She looked at Zavian, who had walked to the table and sat down. He didn't look like he heard anything, and she sighed in relief.
''Come and join me. '' Zavian spoke as he served himself and began to eat. Neera was famished. They were fed once in the day, and on good days, twice. Then on days when she carried away the king's dishes, they ate the remnants from the plates, that was after the seniors had taken the main dishes. She had eaten for the day and she knew if she didn't eat with him, she might go to bed hungry. But even then, she shook her head;
''I am not hungry, Your majesty.''
She said, but Zavian pointed at her stomach; ''the loud rumble from your stomach says otherwise. '' He said, a small grin on his lips. A faint blush washed Neera's chin when she realized that he heard her stomach but just pretended like he did not.
Neera lowered her head as she walked to the table and sat down; ''Thank you. '' she said and picked up a spoon. Taking a plate, she dished herself some food. She started off slow, but soon, she was eating hungrily.
As she ate, she remembered Penelope. She must be very hungry, she thought as her eyes scanned the food; she should keep some for her.
The both of them wouldn't be able to eat half of what was served anyway, so there was a lot for Pen, and to spare.
Her eyes glanced up and she noticed Zavian looking at her. Neera's eyes fell back on her plate as she blushed.
For a moment, she had forgotten that he was sitting there.
''What did you do today?'' Zavian asked out of nowhere and Neera looked at him. She thought for a second and then she answered;
''I helped out in the kitchen,'' she spoke, circling her food with her spoon.
''What exactly did you do?'' Neera looked at Zavian. What did he want to know that about? It wasn't like her life was something that bothered him.
''I dehusked corn. '' she said; ''And came back here as soon as I heard you were back,'' she added.
''Was it a lot of work?'' Zavian asked and Neera quickly shook her head; the last thing she wanted now was Zavian stripping her of all shores.
If he did that, he was only going to attract more haters to her.
''No, it is not. ''
Zavian was quiet for a while; ''we are leaving, first lights tomorrow morning. ''
Neera's eyes lit up as she looked at him, where they going to another city?
''Are we going to another city?''
''No,'' Zavian replied, drinking from his wine cup. ''We're going back to the castle. ''
''Did you kill all the soul eaters?'' Neera asked, and Zavian shook his head; ''We've killed almost all. I dispatched some of my soldiers to deal with the ones that are left. ''
He said, and Neera nodded. A tiny part of her was glad that they were going back, away from this place and its rumors, but then another part of her was sad. She was going back to the castle, back to tedious work and the court maids that hated her.
''Okay. '' Neera replied, her eyes stared quietly at her plate, and her mind wandered off in thought.
''What do you love to do? '' Zavian asked, pulling Neera from her thoughts; she looked at him, confused.
''I don't understand, your majesty. '' Neera was confused, no one has ever asked her what she liked or loved since she was born. She was always doing what others wanted, so she never bothered about herself for one day.
''What do you do love doing? What makes you happy?'' Neera was surprised. Was he asking to know if her likes were the same as his dead queen?
Neera blinked; even if that was the case, she had never thought of what she liked. She always worried about others and the tasks she had to do, what time did she have to wonder about hobbies?
But now she thought about it. She remembered she liked to sing songs. Although whenever she sang, her father would whip her back, bringing her back to her senses.
It's been so many years ago and she had forgotten how to sing. She wasn't sure she could even do it anymore.
''I do not have many things I love, but when I was little I loved to sing. '' she said,
''Loved?'' Zavian asked, and Neera smiled faintly; ''yeah, when I was little, it has been a long time.''
''Why do you no longer sing? ''
Neera blinked; ''nothing in my life now is worth singing about. '' she said.
Telling him that her parents made her stop singing was not important; and truly, there was nothing in her life that was worth singing about. She woke up each day not knowing if she would get to see the next day. Every day was a turmoil, looking over her head and praying that no one would want her dead. She didn't have the leisure to think about songs.
Neera bit her lower lip; she did not want to sing, it held bad memories for her and she prayed he wouldn't force her to sing.
Zavian looked at the girl in front of him, she looked sad. Like someone who had given up all hope of living, just waiting for her time to die.
''When we get back to the Castle, you'll work in my chambers. I don't want you working in the kitchen anymore.''