The Butler's Master

Reunions and Separation - Part 1

[Reunions and Separation – Part 1]

Kiera found it hard to affix her usual expression on her face while she greeted the servants as they bowed and greeted her. As the wife of the Head Butler, Kiera Reyes was treated with respect by the servants and though she was a servant of the Greaves-Crawford Household herself, she found herself being given some sort of authority over the servants. She supposed it also had to be something in the way the Mistress of the household had also made her some sort of an unofficial babysitter and teacher for the young master and mistress, particularly in their younger years. It also did help a lot that she was considered a close, trustworthy friend of the family.

Still, her current source of concern had little to do with her position within the Greaves-Crawford family. Kiera brisk-walked through the corridors as quickly as she could without running outright so as to not attract any attention or concerned questions, but her worry made it difficult. She was not even sure what her usual neutral expression was anymore as Kiera struggled to wipe the frown from her brows.

A familiar pain began to throb in her stomach, but Kiera knew her limits as she continued rushing down the corridors. It was an old pain from the bullet wound in her abdomen that she had received many years ago when she had helped protect the young master of the family during an attempted-kidnapping session. While she had been lucky to get the wound sewn up quickly back then, she had been too busy trying to make sure that the fevered young master was well when they returned to the mansion that when Young Kyren had finally been settled, Kiera had found her wound reopened and become all infected. She had been sent to a hospital and almost lost her life back then. Kiera supposed that she really had to thank her lucky stars that all she got out of that horrible incident was a terrible throbbing pain whenever she tried to run or rush.

Looking left and right, Kiera could not find anyone that she was looking for even as she rushed through corridors after corridors that had made parts of her home for the past few decades. She had enjoyed her days within these four walls of the mansion, but they felt like a maze now that she was desperately trying to get a hold of people.

"Stanchion." Kiera panted as she came to a stop in front of one of the older generation of servants. Stanchion had been a servant of the Greaves Household and had been brought into the Greaves-Crawford Household after the marriage.

"Breathe, Miss Kiera. Are you fine? You look terribly pale." The old man held on to her arm to steady her, and she had not realized how much she had needed it until she felt the sturdiness of his hold.

"It is an old injury." Kiera had a hand pressed over where the scar would forever remain on her body with no regrets. "Have you seen Keyron or any of my sons?"

"Has there been an emergency, Miss Kiera?" The old servant observed with worry in his eyes. The white beard almost covering his lips softened the face of a strict servant, but Kiera –and everyone else who knew Stanchion –knew that his eyes spoke of familial love that he extended to everyone in the Greaves-Crawford Household. Stanchion was a man who neither married nor fathered children, but he was not without family. Everyone in the Greaves-Crawford Household was his family.

"I cannot confirm until I talk to Keyron." Kiera struggled to catch her breath now that the old wound had decided to give her hell for trying to ignore her limits. "Do you know where he is?"

"I cannot confirm, but I was made aware that Master Brandon's schedule today includes a meeting in the garden, and that they would remain there for Master Brandon to receive a little sunlight while he works. Do you want me to go fetch Keyron, Miss Kiera?"

Stanchion's offer gave Kiera a clue of how bad she must have looked. Servants and maidservants knew never to tear the Head Butler from the Master or Mistress of the Household unless there was an emergency, and here Stanchion was offering to fetch Kiera's husband just because she was looking for him in a hurry.