The Transcended: My Lord

Chapter 6

Meya finished removing the old linen from the bed, then placed all the laundry in the centre of the sheet and gathered the corners, turning it into a bag. Just as she dumped the bundle of laundry by the door, she noticed a small piece of cloth lying underneath the bed that she hadn't spotted earlier as the scarlet sheets had obstructed it from view. She had to get down on her knees to pick up the folded handkerchief and, once in her grasp, she noticed the linen was damp. As she stood up again and turned to the laundry bundle, she couldn't help but wonder what the cloth had been used for. Her fingers played with the fabric, her face becoming slightly red as she did.

It's a handkerchief. He probably used it to blow his nose. She bit her lip as she was about to unfold the thing, curiosity getting the better of her. Am I really going to open this and look at lordly boogers?

She peeled the two layers of linen from each other. A vague scent drifted up from the sticky, white substance residing in the centre.

Not boogers! She quickly folded it back up and stuffed it deep into the laundry bundle. Flustered, she turned to the large wardrobe to get clean linens.

Meya finished dressing the bed and examined the wardrobe once more to see if she'd forgotten anything. The earlier blush had left her face when she'd continued her work, but as her eyes fell upon a stack of linen handkerchiefs, her cheeks flushed again. She chewed her lip, deciding what to do. Not wanting to be scolded for forgetting something, she took one of them, folded it neatly, and placed it on the centre pillow. Still blushing, she took a step back to admire her work.

The four-poster bed looked good, though the velvet curtains were a bit messy. She neatly rearranged them all and smiled at the result, the colour on her cheeks slowly returning to normal.

The sound of a shoe scraping the floor made Meya jump, and when she turned around, she found Lord Deminas standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame.

How long has he been standing there? Meya wondered fearfully. "M-my lord." She cursed herself for her inability to utter those two words without stammering. She curtsied in the hope that it would please him enough to not berate her. When she looked up again, Lord Deminas had gone over to the bed and was scrutinising it.

"Is this how you make your own bed?" he asked without a hint of emotion.

Meya swallowed. "No, my lord."

"Then where did you learn this, if you weren't a servant before?"

Damn, he thinks I lied to him! She wetted her lips, her mind racing. "I used to work at my family's inn, my lord."

Lord Deminas walked up to her and lifted her chin, forcing Meya to look into his eyes. "Not a servant perhaps, but a servant's tasks nonetheless."

Keeping her gaze locked with his, Meya swallowed. Her heart seemed to have relocated to her throat. "I-I apologise if I misunderstood my lord's question yesterday."

Lord Deminas released her chin with a grunt. "Good to know your memory is functional." He turned to observe the bed again. "I find it quite amusing," he said slowly. "I've had several chambermaids, and you're the first to have done this." His eyes lingered on the neatly folded handkerchief.

Blood rushed to her face, though the words lingering in her mind caused it to run cold. Several chambermaids... Did he drop them all from the balcony?

The lord turned and sat down on the bed, placing one leg over the other as he leaned back and observed Meya reddening more and more by the second. "Judging from the colour of your cheeks, I'm certain you realise I won't be using it to blow my nose." A small smirk seemed to play at the edge of his lips.