by Emma Merrell
Chapter Three
Jude
Jude put a tentative hand to his lip and drew it away with a hiss when the light brush caused pain to explode. The brief exploration had managed to show him that his lip was indeed split open. He added it to his growing list of injuries, including a black eye and a lump the size of a walnut that was throbbing on the back of his head. It was what he had gotten for trying to break free from the guards while they had been transferring him from the cell to the servant's quarters.
A few hard blows, including one to the back of the head with the pommel of a cutlass, had swiftly silenced his protests. It was a good thing really, he had to remember that Luce's life was depending on him and his behavior. If the worst consequence of his outburst was a couple of bumps and bruises, then he was more than happy to take them.
They had brought him into the kitchens and sat him on a stool with a firm warning, it made Jude feel like he was a scolded child. All around him women were bustling around, cooking, washing, chopping. It was a well-practiced operation, and Jude found himself spacing out just watching their rhythms. He was tired. The women cast glances his way frequently, but none of them came to speak with him, they just whispered between each other excitedly.
Jude noticed that they all had hair that was shoulder-length or shorter, and he wondered if it was because they were trying to keep hair out of the food, or if it was part of the dress code. The male guards had long braids, but maybe the servants were different. Jude guessed that long hair might have been a mark of distinction, as the only people he had seen with it were the queen and her entourage.
He gave himself a little shake, what was he doing thinking about hair at a time like this? He should have been figuring out a way to get Luce and himself free. It was hard though, every avenue of thought seemed to a dead end at a blank wall, there weren't a lot of options for them. Jude realized that maybe he had been distracting himself with minutiae because he didn’t want to face up to the realization that the situation was hopeless. Damn.
"Your name is Jude, correct?"
Jude had been so lost in his misery that he hadn't noticed the girl in front of him until she spoke. He gave a start and his eyes flew upward to regard another servant with short, brown hair. Only this one had almond-shaped brown eyes and high cheekbones that made her stand out from the pack. Even in a situation like this one, Jude was still male and couldn't fail to notice a pretty girl when she was standing two feet away from him.
"My name is Petunia. I am the head of the palace servants. I've come to show you around and assign you to your duties."
"And what will my duties be, Petunia?" Jude asked, rising to his feet.
"The queen has decided that you are to become the beverage server for her eldest son Prince Norrick. It will be an easy job to learn, all you will have to do is keep his cup full."
"That's it? I thought that she would have given me something a little worse than that."
"Are you implying that our queen is cruel?"
Jude couldn't tell if she was upset at the implication or merely curious as to how he felt, so he kept his mouth shut. It was tempting to tell her exactly what he thought about the queen, but it probably wouldn't have been his wisest move. Jude had read enough stories to know that places like this were full of listening ears.
"Clearly, you are in the kitchens presently. We are underneath the palace now, and this is where all of the servant's quarters and workspaces are located."
She gestured to a broad woman stoking a blazing fire, "That is Cook. If you ever have reason to need anything from the kitchen, you should go directly to her. Make sure that it's important, she doesn't like to be interrupted, which is why I will not be introducing you to her."
"So, we live underground and I shouldn't piss off the cook. Got it."
Petunia glanced at him sideways through a veil of thick lashes, "You seem angry. Have I done something to offend you?"
"You? No. This is just a lot to swallow right now, and of course, I am angry."
"I am sorry for all that you are suffering, it is hard for me to understand as I have never known anything but this life. I have sympathy for you, but I must warn you to never speak about the queen in a way that could be perceived as negative. You will lose your head swiftly if word gets back to the right set of ears."
Her almond eyes were boring into his, trying to impress upon the seriousness of what she was saying. He got it, he had already known it, but his temper had made him slip. Jude got the feeling that she wasn't telling him off but trying to protect him, and the small kindness drained away most of his anger. "I understand."
Petunia gave a satisfied nod, "If you will follow me out of the kitchens, I will show you where the servants take their meals and where you will sleep and wash."
She led him out of the stifling, noisy kitchen and into a much calmer room lined with tables and chairs. There were a couple of servant girls eating and they looked at Jude curiously, but quickly averted their eyes. Jude thought that he would probably never get used to all the sideways looks that his mere presence seemed to generate.
Petunia saw the discomfort on his face, "It will subside, I swear. You are just exciting to everyone right now."
Petunia led him out of the dining room, and through a maze of hallways until they reached one that was lined with open arches. Peeking inside of one, Jude saw that they were the bedrooms. There were two mats for sleeping, what appeared to be a chamber pot, a few candles scattered about, and a roughly hewn wardrobe. There were obviously no windows, as they were underground, but it would have been nice. The rocky walls were dark, and Jude felt claustrophobic for the first time in his life.
The very next room turned out to be his, and the only difference between the two was the set of clothes on one of the mats. They were made of the same un-dyed, woven fabric that all the servants seemed to wear, Petunia included. She left him to change and Jude grimaced as he pulled on his new uniform. Rough was an understatement, especially since there was no accompanying underwear. The shirt was a long tunic that fit well enough. The pants were loose and a little bit big, but he was able to use the drawstring to make them work. The last thing left was a pair of worn-looking leather boots. They were a tad big but serviceable enough. Jude stepped back into the hallway and Petunia turned to him, "Good, they fit. Speaking of clothing, you are lucky, your room is near the washing area."
She led him to the end of the hall and went up a set of steps that lead to a small courtyard. As soon as they reached the surface Petunia turned around to face the wall, shielding her eyes. Jude could see why. There was a stream of water flowing through a channel in the ground, and men of all shapes, sizes, and ages were gathered around it in varying stages of undress. At the far end, upstream, they were bathing with little chips of soap. Downstream it appeared to be laundry day as the men wrung out wet clothes and beat them against rocks.
Everywhere was the pervasive odor of tobacco and the sound of masculine jokes and laughter. Jude eyed the soap and water, realizing that he desperately needed to get clean. He probably still had Luce’s vomit in his hair. What Petunia must have thought of his stinky self he could only imagine.
"Have you seen all that you need to see? I assume that you understand the courtyard's purpose?"
"I’ve got it. We can go back in."
She walked back down the stairs as swiftly as possible, leading him back to his small bedroom. She gestured for them to sit on the mats across from one another. "If you have any questions, please ask me now. I must get back to work soon."
"What's this prince like?"
"Prince Norrick, you mean. He is...tough. I do not know how to explain him to you, you will have to make your own decisions. I wish you luck though."
Great, he needed the luck to deal with this guy. "So, all I do is fill his cup, that's it?"
"That is all. You fill his cup and those of anyone he is entertaining. You must make sure that there are always beverages on hand, Cook will have you g
o to the pantry when you need more. I will be there tomorrow to show you all of that."
"So where is my sister? Will she be treated well?"
"She is ensconced within the girl’s court, and she will be treated like a queen. If you saw the beauty of that place this one would seem like a dank pit. She will be waited on, bathed, fed, and clothed. Educated in etiquette and ways to entertain Prince Jonathan, though there is not much point in the latter. He sees none of the girls save one. But I swear, she is being well taken care of, I would spend more time worrying for your own self."
"I'll be fine. She's the one I care about, she's my responsibility."
"You care for her, greatly don't you?"
"Of course, she's my family, all that I have left. And it was my job to take care of her, now look at where we are."
Petunia gave him a sympathetic look but rose to her feet to leave without offering any words of comfort. She turned back to business instead, "Take today to bathe, eat, and recover your strength. If you have need of me, you must think my name, 'Petunia' three times. Focus on me and then tell me your message."
"What do you mean? You have magic like the queen?"
"Many in the kingdom do. I have the power of sending and receiving thoughts. It is why I was chosen as the head servant. I can coordinate with other servants all over the castle. It makes my job much easier and the palace runs much more smoothly."
"But it's not mind reading is it?"
"Fear not, your thoughts are your own. Good day, Jude."
He tipped his head and she left the room. Jude decided that it was high time for a bath, he really did smell atrocious.
Chapter Four
Petunia
After Petunia left Jude, she spent a long hour catching back up with all the other servants, she had blocked communication to talk with Jude, but it meant an influx of information when she opened back up. Sometimes it made her so tired, but she only got the migraines when she was trying to communicate over long distances, thankfully. Too bad she was about to give herself a migraine.
The arrival of a girl was something that she would not have needed to mention to her uncle under normal circumstances, but the arrival of the man was something a bit different. He had the possibility of changing the game. Her uncle would be interested in the information, it could help his people possibly.
Uncle Bran was the Chief of the mountain dwellers, a hugely populated group of villages that honeycombed and dotted the vast mountain ranges of Carnley. They were a far different breed than the people here in the walls of the city, the main difference being magic, they abhorred it. They were plotting against the queen, trying to figure out a way to attack and take the city from her. She had stolen too many of their daughters because of magic and the curse. Petunia was their most important spy and the only one whose use of magic was approved of.
Once Petunia was sure that the servants were all right for the moment she switched off and focused on her uncle. She thought his name three times and then she waited. Like a fish surfacing through the water, she felt his consciousness arising out of the ether until he was with her. She could feel him in her head.
"Uncle Bran, I have some news." She sent.
"I thought you might girl, I know you wouldn't put yourself through the pain for nothing," he replied, and she could hear his gruff voice in her head as clearly as if he were sitting directly beside her.
"The queen has brought in another girl, but for some reason, she brought in her brother as well. This is the first fertile male that she has ever brought into the kingdom."
"Have you met the man?"
"I have, he seems nice enough. I think that he is very angry though, he cares greatly for this sister and seems quick to blame the queen."
"So, he might be sympathetic to our cause, we can always use more men on our side of things. You should try to recruit him."
"I agree, I don't think it would be too hard.", she paused, "But Uncle, you understand the possibility that he represents, don't you? I could end the curse myself."
Uncle Bran went silent while he thought of the implications of her last statement. Petunia was special in more ways than just her telepathy. She was also the only other person in the kingdom besides Jonathan that could conceive a child. She had also been born after the curse had been lain. Her mother had kept it a secret, she correctly feared the uses to which the queen would put her daughter.
"I don't think you should girl, if the curse is broken than our warriors will have no real reason to fight. The taking of the kingdom is dependent upon their desire to dethrone her."
Petunia nodded as if he could see her. The mountain dwellers believed that if the queen was dethroned and magic abolished, then the curse would be broken, and babes would be born. "But if I have a child with Jude, the man, then the curse will be broken, and we will have what we want anyway."
"Oh Petunia, we no longer just want the children to come back to our lives, we also want the magic destroyed. If you had a child and broke the curse, then her people would no longer be restive, they would have no reason to want to be rid of her. We need to take the kingdom and break the curse so that the people will see the folly of using magic and how much stronger those without it can be."
"Except for me right, Uncle?"
"Of course, until the kingdom is ours, and then I will fully expect you to live an acceptable life, one your dearly departed mother and father could be proud of."
"Yes, Uncle."
Petunia could feel the headache pressing in upon her and knew that the conversation had to end soon, so she bid farewell to her Uncle with a promise to keep him updated on any developments. After contact broke the ache began to intensify and she knew that by the time the moon rose the pain in her head would be blinding. She hated it, but she hated the queen more.
She hoped that maybe she had found another ally in Jude, he seemed like a good person to have on her side. He cared about his family and seemed to have a strong backbone. Petunia liked him.
Chapter Five
Luce
"Do not blink."
Luce tried to hold as still as possible while the servant girl applied a thick line of charcoal around her eyes. She felt her eyes water and wished with all of her heart that the primping would soon come to an end. Luce had always thought that she spent a lot of time getting ready and that she took good care of herself, but not anymore. She had been soaped, exfoliated, shaved, plucked, oiled, perfumed, styled, and made up to within an inch of her life. She was pretty sure that the count was running somewhere around five hours.
She had been ushered from the bathhouse straight to the wardrobe where she was made to try on quite a few different things before one had been declared perfect. She had ended up in an olive-green, silk gown that floated over her skin like a soft breeze. They had outfitted her in jewels as well, Luce had never seen so much sparkle in all her life. She was wearing what she guessed would be a fortune worth of diamonds and smoky topaz. They had tried to take off her ring and necklace, but she refused in such strong language that they let her keep them.
It would have been a lot of fun if it weren't under her circumstances. It was difficult to know that she was only being pampered like this for the sake of a man, and only for the sake of trying to lure that man to bed. It felt cheap and tawdry, and Luce didn't feel beautiful, she felt like a decoration that was going to be placed on someone's arm.
"We are finished, you may have a look and see if you approve," the girl said shyly, stepping away from Luce.
There was a highly polished sheet of brass in the corner that served as a mirror, and Luce went to see what had been done to her. The brass worked quite well as a mirror, and she could see herself clearly. She was amazed. Her hair tumbled from beneath her veil in a cascade of perfectly shiny, lush waves. Her hazel eyes looked exotic because of the smoky liner. Her skin shone like bronze, both from the exfoliation and from the oiling. The silk complimented her coloring perfectly and it slithered around her body in a way t
hat made her look very touchable and sexy. So that was what five hours of beautifying and three separate servant girls got you. Luce was not unimpressed and began to wonder if maybe she did have a shot at bagging the prince.
"It is time we were on our way. The prince will be waiting."
Luce nodded at the girl and followed her out into the court's main courtyard. Night had fallen while she was inside, and it had become markedly chillier. Goosebumps broke out over her body and she shivered, as pretty as the clothing was it didn’t do much in the way of warmth.
As she followed the girl Luce had the sensation of being watched, and she was right. Girls were peeking out of bedrooms, watching the newest among them go to see their prince. Luce knew that she was being judged by them, they would be thinking that either she wasn't nearly as good them and stood no chance or that she was beautiful, and they hated her. Luce could have cared less what they thought about her. She had never put much stock in people's opinions of her and she was no shrinking violet. It would probably be one of her saving graces in the viper pit that she now inhabited.
She pulled herself out of her thoughts when she noticed the servant girl unlocking the gate that led back to the second courtyard, the one that would lead to the prince. The courtyard was much the same as the first, but as Luce was led around the outer edge, she noted that the rooms were much larger. There was one particularly large space carpeted in rugs and ringed with low, cushioned settees.
The other main difference in this area was that all the finishes were nicer. Instead of simple stone, the walls were covered with finely painted murals and there were touches of gold everywhere. It only made sense, as this was one of the only two areas of the courtyard that the prince would visit regularly.
They stopped in front of a large archway that led into a lavish dining room decorated with a long table surrounded by chairs. There were thick curtains everywhere and lots of flickering flames. Luce felt like she was stepping into a fantasy. There was so much to see that it took her a moment to even notice that the prince was there. And then it crossed her mind to wonder how on earth she could have ever missed him.