And if you did not hold your own against him...you suffered terrible- and I might add, obvious- consequences. Tieran Volkov fought mercilessly and brutally.
These were all information about Tieran, I realized-as I joined the first kitchen hall where we would be gathered before we would be assigned our duties- and I chided myself for caring too much about finding out things about him.
What in the world was I doing? I wondered, finding it difficult to loathe the man as much as I should; as much as I used to.
Orla Spry came into the kitchen where we stood, waiting for her and she faced the about thirty workers assembled. She came in with a woman. I knew at once that it had to be Celosia Bathory, wife of Ronan Bathory. She was the wife of the emperor's cousin and First Successor.
I knew it was her because I had been given a detailed description of the woman- as well as the rest of the royal family- by my Fae roommates. She was as golden-haired as they said and her emerald green eyes shone lambently. I was too familiar with her thin, arched brows by now. Her short, golden curls moved with her every motion.
She wore flowing silk that cascaded to the ground, dark, red fabric contrasting with her golden locks. She was pure nobility.
She smiled as she walked next to Orla Spry and watched us all, lined up in front of her and Orla.
"A good morning to you all," Celosia Bathory said as she beamed at us.
I watched perplexed. Was this normal behavior? Did noble elves smile at the servants like she was doing? It looked like we were going to have a conversation among friends and she was not going to give orders.
But she was here to give us orders. I was informed that her daughter would be turning seven today and she was going to host a lunch ball for it.
"As you all know," Celosia said excitedly as she moved from one end of the line of Royal kitchens workers to another. "My little Zelda is turning seven today! I have invited the most interesting guests from across the empire- Dukes and Duchesses and Counts and Countesses. Not to mention Baroness Nola. I also have a princess coming all the way from the kingdom of Selene. You all must know her by now-" The princess the emperor would be getting engaged too soon- "and so I want this lunch to be extra, extra special," Celosia said.
"Of course, my lady," Orla said.
"I believe you all will not fail me," Celosia said to the rest of us. "In fact, if all goes well concerning the meals today, I will direct the lady Orla to give you all gift coins- golden coins from the emperor's treasury itself with the Imperial seal. I hope we know that that is quite hard to come by."
That was interesting. Who knew the Grand Duchess Celosia Bathory was so generous?
There were some murmurs of thanks but Celosia Bathory waved them off. "It's nothing," she said. "Just make me happy today. I want today's little party to be the talk of the capital for weeks! My daughter will have only the best and I will be recognized for making it all happen. Let me see to my dress." She turned quickly to the door and I thought:
Vain. Generous, but vain.
Celosia Bathory turned back to face us and walked toward me and my heart began to beat inside my mouth.
Not every human or Fae or Elf had powers, but the majority of those who had them wielded them well- I was the exception rather than the rule. I thought then: what if Celosia had heard what I thought? Mood magic was beyond just that, it went into psychism and though most psychics in most Fae psychic salons only read emotions, some Fae had mastered hearing thoughts.
I smacked myself in the head mentally. Only Fae possessed mood magic. I was getting worried for no reason. Celosia Bathory couldn't have read my mind.
There were certain kinds of magic that were associated with certain races because they could not be wielded by other races. One of such was mood magic- only Fae possessed that kind of magic.
Celosia was not Fae...and still heaven knows I had to watch her closely to ensure she wasn't hiding any wings behind her. Probably, they were so transparent I hadn't noticed them.
Celosia said on reaching me: "This one's new."
Of course.
When you almost had a personal relationship with your common workers, it got easy to tell when there was a new one, didn't it?
"Only joined us two weeks ago, your grace," Orla Spry said in response. "She was brought by Lady Froya herself."
Celosia nodded slightly. "Pale-haired beauty, what is your name?"
I blinked severally as I tried to remember my name. "Avril," I said. "Avril."
My surname did not matter. I wasn't born noble anyways. I didn't even know my parents.
"Human..." Celosia said then, smiling slightly as she plucked a lock of my hair with her index finger. And then she said: "We hardly see this shade on you humans. Are you hybrid?"
I felt everyone's gaze turn to me as they explored the implications on my behalf. Hybrids were not encouraged-and as a result interracial relations were socially condemnable.
"No, your grace," I said looking down quickly.
"Hmmm, " Celosia stepped back from me. "Two weeks? I hope you have found the Royal kitchens comfortable. I know I will see you often."
She walked to where Orla Spry stood, her face plastic. "I will be receiving my first guests at noon. Make sure the meals are ready."
Orla nodded. While Celosia Bathory left the kitchen, Orla turned to the rest of us, barking orders. "You heard her," she said. She made a motion with her hand. "I want all of you here in the bake room- bread, cakes, pies, desert. And you all-" another motion- "Get the main dishes ready. And the rest of you, get the meat and start work. I won't tolerate mistakes. The Grand Duchess may reward well, but she punishes just as much. I will not tolerate incompetence."
We all shuffled to our respective posts in the kitchens we were assigned, to wait for further allocation on what exact jobs we would be doing. I hoped I would be assigned clean-up duty because I had prepared meals for seven days without change and my limbs were sore.