I waved her off, turning for the door. “Don’t call yourself just a servant, Mira. You’re a human, just like me. I don’t care much for titles.”
Pausing as my hand fell to the handle, I turned to look back at her. “Ask for Tillie. She’s my cousin, but also technically mylady-in-waiting. I’m supposed to have at least two, but until now, I’d never found someone else I wanted to fill that spot. If you’re sure this is what you want, I’ll inform the castle steward of your position change this morning, and that will give us the time together to train. Tillie will ensure you know your new route, so you don’t get lost again.”
My voice was light and full of mirth, poking fun at our unusual cause for meeting this morning. I expected to see glee on her face, so when tears brimmed in her eyes before a few escaped, trailing down to her jaw, I blinked rapidly at her.
“Mira?” I questioned, concerned I’d offended her somehow.
“That is the kindest thing anyone has offered me, Your Highness,” she admitted, lifting a hand to brush away the stray tears. “I don’t know how to repay you for this.”
My chest tightened with her display of emotion. Swords and crass words were my comfort zone, not this.
“Think nothing of it,” I reassured her, wondering if it would be rude of me to ask her to stop crying. I quickly came to the conclusion that it likely would be and swallowed the words. “You can repay me by continuing to be curious and open to what the world has to offer us. There isn’t enough of that around here. It’s refreshing and gives me hope.”
“Mira!” a voice yelled from the hall suddenly, though it was still far enough away that I had time to hide behind the door if needed.
It wouldn’t be unusual to see me down here with the staff, but the way I was currently dressed would be cause for far too many questions. Questions that would make their way back to my father.
Mira seemed to understand that and pushed me to the side before yanking the door open and sticking her head out. “Yes, Margaret?”
The head of the kitchen was a kind woman, but she scared me a little bit. You could regularly hear her barking orders at her staff from the level above. Through stone. I shuddered at the thought.
No one could say she didn’t take her job seriously, and my stomach rather appreciated it. Her food was a thing to be marveled over.
“I know you aren’t on my staff, but there’s an important meeting this morning, and the King has sent word that he wants us to prepare a large breakfast for his guest. Why he’d require so much food for one guest is beyond me, but that’s the king for ya,” she breathed out, voice clearly tinged with judgment.
She wasn’t wrong. My father often seemed to either forget, or blatantly ignore, we were heading for hard times. You’d never gather that, from the routine feasts he called for.
“I didn’t know of it until now,” Margaret admitted on a weary breath, “and I just got word from the castle guard that Leah was taken by a dragon this morning while foraging for herbs, leaving me short of a hand. Do you have any skill in the kitchen?”
My mind whirled. Leah was taken? Was it the dragon I spotted during sparring?
How could Margaret be so nonchalant about one of our own being snatched by a dragon? Yes, it was becoming more common by the week, but this was still a human being taken. Someone with a life, a family, and their own dreams. Had we really grown so complacent to the thought of being weak in comparison to the dragons that we simply no longer cared?
Fire built within my belly. They had to be stopped, and now more than ever I hoped this meeting was about doing exactly that. Nothing else mattered.
“I may not be trained, but I have enthusiasm and a listening ear, if you’ll instruct me,” Mira answered, making Maragret let out a huff.
“That’ll do. Please clean off quickly from your morning activities so that we keep the kitchen and food a clean environment.”
I thought back to Maragret’s other words, that a guest was arriving. I’d assumed that it would just be the usual council when my father had told me I’d been requested to attend the meeting. If that was the case, Margaret wouldn’t refer to any one of the councilmembers as a guest.
Who was visiting our castle, and why hadn’t my father told me earlier? Though I wasn’t welcomed into meetings, I was usually privy to the knowledge of any visits and told to brush up on the territory and the guests before they arrived. During the meals we had together, I was expected to make conversation with guests and make them feel at ease.
The door shut quietly as Maragret walked away, leaving Mira and me in private once more. I began pacing the small room, back and forth as I tried to piece together what was going on.
It would be one thing if my father just happened to neglect telling me about the visitor, but the fact that he hadn’t alerted the staff to be prepared for a guest until this morning…It was unheard of. He’d never risk Andrathya looking ill-prepared.
My gut churned. My unease over this meeting was rising rapidly. If he’d hidden it from everyone, that only meant one thing: whoever was coming would cause a large stir in our kingdom. Rumors would likely swirl if people were given prior knowledge of these visitors’ arrival.
I’d almost rather risk the wrath of the dragon from this morning coming to our castle instead of walking into that meeting later.
The sound of the door shutting snapped me out of my thoughts.
“Are you okay, Your Highness?” Mira questioned, reaching out a hand to my shoulder, startling me from my thoughts and determination to wear a path in the floor with my pacing.
I forced a smile to my lips and grabbed her hand, squeezing it lightly to show my appreciation for her concern.
“Please, call me Sia in private, but, yes, I’ll be fine, thank you,” I answered, stepping around her toward the door. “I must leave and prepare for that meeting. When you’re done helping Margaret, go to the steward and he will escort you to your new quarters that are near my own in the west wing.”
