Chapter 15: Butler and Teapot
A day went by and I woke up slightly eager for the new day. I headed outside and stood at the gazebo where the old man asked me to be the night before.
I was just sitting on the bench cushion waiting for my class, and suddenly a portal opened up. I waited eagerly for something to happen but nothing came out. So I assumed whoever was on the other side wanted me to enter instead, so that's what I did. When I walked through I was put in front of a few maids with a few other boys some of which were slightly older.
I looked around hoping to see the old man but I didn't see him anywhere. I asked the maid who was grabbing a few clothes nearby where I was and before I knew it, she immediately rushed over and smacked me hard onto the floor.
I quickly got dizzy and I was reeling on the floor. She definitely wasn't holding back. I was about to yell at her, and to question why she would do that, but suddenly I felt a hand around my mouth. I looked back to see who was holding me and it was a scared little boy around 9 or 10 years old.
She walked up to me and put her finger over her mouth, indicating that I needed to stay silent. The boy let go of me reluctantly, clearly worried that he had stuck his neck out for an idiot he didn't even know. I had a lot to say but I got the message. This room demands silence.
I hear shuffling around me and realize the other maids were changing the other boys' clothes. Or at least I thought some were boys but clearly that wasn't the case for all of them. I averted my eyes to not appear rude, when I too found myself being changed by the same maid who slapped me.
I was dressed in an ambiguous piece of clothing, it looked like it could belong to either a boy or a girl. When she was done she quickly placed a veil over my face and adjusted the strap so it would fit snugly on my head.
I thought we were done, but soon another portal was opened, and this one was clearly different. This portal opened from the ceiling and everything that came out of it dropped to the ground, clearly the kids who fell out were bruised from the fall. On closer look you could see that it was two boys and a girl ranging from 12 to 14. Unlike the rest of us though, these kids were far more rowdy and vicious.
"How dare you! I am the future Marquise of- SMACK" The maid strikes again! This time the boy landed on the floor even harder than I did, clearly the maid took joy in her job. "WHO THE HELL- SMACK! SMACK!" The boy was now red on the cheeks struggling for air and trying not to cry.
I almost felt bad for him but the boy that came with him clearly didn't like how this maid was treating him. So the first thing he did was try to tackle her to the ground using incredible speed but that clearly didn't matter to the maid. She turned around and smacked him HARD across the face. Resulting in him losing a whole tooth.
I thought everything was over but the girl seemed like she was the next one to put up a fight. At least that's what I thought until she started crying. I thought the maid would go easy on her and I think the maid was planning to. When she walked up to the girl she was suddenly scratched on the arm.
The girl screamed even louder to the point that she became annoying to be around. Everyone had to cover their ears and honestly I had the urge to smack the girl myself if it weren't for the fact that I knew the master could do it far better than the student, and I was right. The maid left a loud smack just as hard as the first kid, but this girl was not willing to give up. It took 3 whole slaps before this girl learned to shut up.
After that, she and the other two boys were put in a similar outfit as the rest of us but this time nobody came hopping out of a portal. Instead we were all taken to another room where we encountered more maids, but these maids carried something in each hand.
"Today we will teach you how to clean, how to cook, and how to attend to guests. You will listen and you will listen well, you will not speak unless spoken to. Do you understand?" This time it was the same maid from earlier who had spoken.
"Yes ma'am." We all spoke at the same time, some more reluctant to speak.
I was even more confused. I thought I was being taught by the king about magic and statecraft, instead I'm being groomed into being a butler? I wanted to voice my thoughts but I clearly knew what would happen if I did. So I went in line with the other kids and followed orders like the rest.
Today we were taught many things, including etiquette and strangely enough… Spying. I didn't understand at first but the head maid just told us to listen to every word that came out of our master's mouth and remember everything word for word. We learned how to cook as well as potion and poison making.
We even learned the value in hiding important letters in plain sight. I didn't fully understand why we were taught all of this though, was it to be more humble? Did the king want us to know the full value of our servants? I didn't know.
After 3 hours of hard work I was exhausted, but after a 10 minute break the maid gave us, the head maid gave us some more exhausting news.
"Now that everyone is well rested, we can all get to work. The king is hosting an important lunch meeting with the princess and other honorable noblemen. You will attend to their needs without fail."
We all got up from the ground exhausted, but some of the older kids were clearly used to it. I guess this type of thing is normal for them. After brushing myself off I went with the other kids and followed after the maid. We finally reached the kitchen where some of the other kids were given trays of food or jugs of wine.
I thought I would be given the wine but instead the maid gave me something else. It was a cart with a teapot, "Some of our guests don't drink alcohol at all, while some only drink at dinner. You will be responsible for attending to them. You'll know they want tea if they have a tea cup in front of them."
She pushed us out the door and what we saw was a bustling hall filled with 30 or so people. I even recognized Samantha sitting but I didn't see the king anywhere. I was about to walk through the doors but suddenly a young boy dashed out of the room and knocked the cart away, resulting in everything falling to the ground.
"Father! Father, please help! They've kidnapped me and they are forcing me to work like a slave! She even knocked my tooth out!"
The man this boy was yelling at, stared back in shock at this strange boy he didn't recognize at first, but realized after hearing what the boy said that he was his son and the man practically paled at what his son said, or rather what he did.
"Your son seems angry marquise, you should do something about it." Another man spoke up clearly, not amused at this. "My apologies, your highness. I'll take care of it at once." The marquise got up from his chair and walked at a slow and steady pace around the U shaped tables and almost looking comical and he eventually grabbed his son by the arm and dragged him out of the room.
Some of the other kids were half expecting the maid to get punished but the other kids knew what was going to happen clearly. Some knew from experience. I was about to ask the maid about the cart and the tea but it seemed a few maids were already cleaning it up.
"Thank Dredan that wasn't the king's teapot. Otherwise he'd get a far worse of a punishment." I heard the maid whisper this under her breath and it was loud enough for everyone to hear. "Stay here."
She went over to Samantha, and whispered in her ear. When she came back she told the chefs to prepare another teapot and cups. This time it actually was the king's teapot. The moment the other kids saw this they decided to back away swiftly. Afraid they might accidentally scratch it.
I placed the teapot on the cart and I began moving forward while the rest were walking behind me from a distance. I stepped behind a young noblemen with a teacup and asked him if he wanted tea, he was about to say yes until he looked at the teacup and immediately recognized what it was.
"NO… No thank you, I'm quite alright. I have changed my mind and i would prefer wine"
I thought his reaction was a bit odd but after looking at the teapot itself I realized the reluctance. It was a gorgeous piece of artwork, it looked like it belonged in a museum filled with other works of art. The handle looked like it was made of gold, but it was red in color and it was carved in a shape of flowers all connected together like it was made by real vines.
The base of the pot was just as beautiful, it looked like at one point it was dropped on the ground and piece back together with gold, leaving behind speckles of gold on the edges of each crack. As for the artwork portrayed on it, it was a small castle with a field of flowers in front of it. With a small bridge going over a creek. Needless to say, the pot was extravagant, but there was something about it that seemed odd.
The pot had this glow to it, like it wasn't just a pot. Is this what they call a magical artifact?
I went around the tables but just about everyone had the same response. They were clearly afraid of drinking from the pot. I finally went to Samantha and she was the only one who said yes.
I held the handle in my hands and began pouring the tea into her cup while everyone in the room stared at us. Even the kids noticed the elephant in the room. They immediately looked our way, some curious what the big deal was about this pot. The first thing that I noticed was how beautiful the tea color was.