"My Princess," Fioria called, hurrying to catch up to Talia as she left the dining hall. "My Princess, please, I'm to escort you--"
"To spy on me," Talia corrected, walking faster still. "You mean that your job is to follow me everywhere at all times and report what I say and do, to that ogre, Prince Mikhail."
The servant girl reddened but straightened her back at the accusation.
"I am a slave, but I would not betray my qu-princess, to one such as him," Fioria insisted.
"Do you expect me to believe that you are not in the service of Prince Mikhail? Who pays your wages?" Talia scoffed, over her shoulder.
"This servant has no love for the Empire that slaughtered my family and took my life from me. Least of all for the demon, Prince Mikhail," Fioria insisted. "He bought my contract from the Red Ghost Inn. I do not serve him by choice."
Talia stopped and spun to face the girl, she gave her a quick glance over.
"And why do you suppose that Prince Mikhail chose you to accompany me everywhere?" she demanded.
"Because I am Vezdan like you and--"
Talia laughed and shook her head.
"Are you going to pretend that you don't notice the resemblance between us? That you don't think that somehow, for some reason, that was intentional on his part?"
Fioria looked very uncomfortable. She dropped her eyes and flushed, and Talia noted the way her hands gripped each other as she tried to think of a reply.
"I don't know what Prince Mikhail intends. I assume that I will, at some point, be handed over to the Emperor, and you will take my place here, so that it will seem that the Princess of Vezda is in no way mistreated. Am I close? Is that the plan?" Talia demanded.
"No!" Fioria insisted. "No, I would never--"
"Then what?" Talia demanded. "What is the reason for it, tell me?"
Fioria opened her mouth, but then scowled and closed it determinedly, shaking her head. "I'm sure I don't know," she mumbled.
"Lies," Talia snorted. "No matter. I am not one to--"
"Forgive me, Princess," Fioria interrupted. "Forgive me that I do not know what he intends, but I would hazard a guess..."
Talia crossed her arms and nodded her permission.
"The Prince... the way he looked at the Princess... just now. I believe he desires the Princess, but the Princess is wise and would surely reject his attentions. I believe that I am here..." Fioria's voice trailed off as she flushed yet again.
"Well?" Talia prodded. "Out with it."
"I believe that what you will not give him, he will take from me," Fioria finished quickly.
"That's horrible," Talia murmured, and for the first time, she began to feel a small sense of sympathy for the servant girl. "But he... well, I am not one to speak to his strength character, but he does not seem the sort to--"
"He is, my Princess," Fioria countered.
Talia frowned again.
"And you... you find this an acceptable arrangement?" the Princess asked.
"I am a slave, my princess. I do not choose my master or my position, but I consider myself fortunate that I have the chance to serve the Princess of House Eosin. I shall devote myself to your service," the girl bowed low.
"What service did you do at the Red Ghost Inn?" Talia asked.
"A little of everything, my princess. I can fix hair, sew, and I do make-up quite well," Fioria said, but her eyes were still on the floor, which Talia was quick to note.
"Very well. I shall require training wear. Speak with the house staff and procure for me some leggings or a tunic. If you can sew, perhaps you can alter some articles if they can not be found in my size," Talia ordered.
"Yes, my princess," Fioria agreed. "I shall do so as soon as the other ladies' maids arrive."
Talia turned and continued walking back to her room. She should not have felt pity for the girl's situation. She likely said such a thing only to evoke that pity! Prince Mikhail had plenty of opportunity to do whatever he wanted to her and had not even touched her when she had thrown herself at him. In fact, only the previous evening, she had been almost completely naked in his arms and other than a quick glance, he had done nothing untoward. The man either clearly felt nothing at all, or he was remarkably self-controlled. Of course, he did watch her. His eyes did follow every movement she made, and she had long assumed that it was because he desired her, but all his actions were rather contrary to that.
No, the girl was lying to rouse her pity. She had even refused to follow her orders to bring clothing until there were other ladies present to watch her. The girl must have had a reason that she was so desperate to win her master's trust. Talia would discover it.
The Princess paused with her hand on the door to her bedroom.
"I am also a prisoner of the war, and I can not choose where I go or who I keep company with. Though I find it hard to trust you, I suppose that it is some small comfort to have beside me a daughter of Vezda. Perhaps in time..." Talia mumbled and glanced over her shoulder just in time to see Fioria's eyes light up at being referred to as a daughter of Vezda.
"This daughter of Vezda promises to serve her princess well!" Fioria vowed.
Talia nodded and pushed open the door to her room, leaving it open for Fioria to follow her.
True to her word, Fioria crossed the room and immediately began to make the bed as Talia sat down at the desk. When she finished with the bedding, she knelt before the fireplace and picked up the tools to begin cleaning the ashes from it.
"Is it always cold like this in Unaria?" Talia asked, wrapping her arms around herself. "I don't think I've ever seen a bedroom that has a fireplace in it before."
"It will grow colder still, my Princess," Fioria nodded. "The winter has not yet begun."
Talia sighed and glanced out the window. The landscape of Bludston Hall appeared to mirror her own feelings. Barren trees and gardens of dead and withered stalks and grass comprised an entirely grey and hopeless scene.
"I shall find warmer garments for you soon," Fioria assured her.
"Perhaps some warm outer robes and mitts for my hands as well. I should like to walk outside-- that is, if I am to be allowed to breath fresh air?"
"I shall see to that as well," Fioria agreed.
"Then I suppose... I suppose I shall have a rest," Talia sighed. "I find myself exhausted from doing nothing, isn't it odd?"
"No, my princess. After my sister and I were taken, I slept whenever I wasn't forced to work. It was the only escape I had. Shall I wake you when the others arrive?" Fioria asked.
"No. Forgive me, but I don't have the strength of will to smile for any more of my captors." Talia grumbled.
"As you will, my princess," Fioria bowed her head and continued her task of sweeping the fireplace.
Talia pulled back the freshly arranged bed covers and crawled in, curling in tightly on herself with her back to the girl. She truly was tired and sore. Her face still hurt from where the guard had struck her, and every second awake was spent on edge, trying to decipher how her captors would attempt to use her.
The bed still smelled of the soap she'd washed with in the evening. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It smelled like the spirit servant who'd held her safely in his arms in the darkness. The spirit who'd stroked her cheek softly and comforted her, whispering in her ear that she was brave and strong, and that her brother would be proud of her.
It was only a fever dream, perhaps, but it had made her feel safe for a short while, and it was to those invisible arms she fled when she escaped her reality through sleep.
Fioria nodded to the new maid before she slipped from the room and quietly closed the door behind her. A guard waited in the hallway and she knew without asking that he had come for her. She followed him as he led her down the main staircase and through the Great Hall to the western wing.
At a heavy and imposing carved wooden door he stopped and motioned that she should enter.
Fioria swallowed hard once and then squared her small shoulders as she went in.
The room she entered had tall windows which looked down on the front drive of Bludston Hall. There were shelves and shelves of books and an ornate fireplace with a large mantle held up by the carved figures of an angel and... perhaps what was meant to be a demon.
The room was dominated by a large shiny desk of polished dark wood, and by the massive figure that sat behind the desk, who was at present absorbed in what appeared to be a thick ledger book.
"Well?" Prince Mikhail demanded without glancing up at her.
"She is sleeping now. She is cold," Fioria said simply. "She will need warm clothes. She has asked for outerwear and desires to walk sometimes in the garden."
"Is that all?" the Prince frowned at the notes he made in his book.
"She has... little to occupy her time," Fioria said in a quieter voice.
"Then you will find ways, things she might enjoy," he answered quickly. "That is your job. That the Princess should be comfortable and that she not be allowed to cause harm to herself. Anything else?"
"She is miserable," Fioria said in a voice that was almost a whisper.
At her words, Prince Mikhail glanced up, and seeing the distance the maid stood from him, he frowned again.
"See that she is comfortable," he repeated.
"Why did it have to be me?" the girl asked, refusing to meet his eye. When he gave no answer, she nodded and raised her voice a little higher. "As soon as I saw her, I feared for her, for what you would do to-"
"I will not," the Prince cut her off. "I will not harm her... in any way."
Fioria shook her head and took another step away from him.
"You will. That's why I'm here, isn't it? In case something happens to her, I'm--"
"I will not allow her to be harmed. You are here because you are Vezdan and the Princess might be comforted by the company of her own people. That is all," he snapped.
"Is it?" Fioria asked, shrinking back from him even farther. "You should know that before I am a slave, I am a daughter of Vezda, and I will not betray the last ruler of House Eosin. I would rather die."
"I will not require you to betray the Princess," he growled.
"She thinks I am a spy for you and the Emperor, and she's right. I report to you-"
"You only have to communicate her needs to me and her state of health. I require no reports of what she says or does unless it may cause her to bring harm to herself. If there is nothing further, go and see the housekeeper about the Princess's wardrobe. Tell her she will also need to order warm outwear." Prince Mikhail waved his hand dismissively before returning his attention to his books.
Fioria had used up what little courage she had to speak up to the dark prince, and at his dismissal, she fled the room on quick feet.
Prince Mikhail continued to read through the years of poorly logged household expenses and sighed to himself.
Of course she was miserable. Everything his hand touched would wither and die. He would have to find a way to get her to Frem soon.