The Knight's Eyes

23: LAUNDRY DAY

"Agh Casper, it's bleedin' on the floor!"

"Sorry," he said, head dropping so his voice came in a shy whisper.

"Get, get," she waved the knife, anger claiming her chubby face.

Casper's shoulder tensed up to his ear and he shuffled towards the dark staircase and floated down.

"When'll he learn, gods help him," she threw her eyes to the ceiling, shaking her head in disgrace.

Alsin continued with eating, "Casper? Another wraith?"

"Ye scared of 'em? Curl is quite a tempered boar," she said shivering.

"I was scared, but not anymore," he said finally biting into the muffin.

"Really?" she said sitting down her knife and strolling across the room towards him. She wiped her hands on her apron then leaned onto the countertop. She narrowed her eyes at him in suspicion. Alsin's chewing reduced in speed by her obvious studying.

"Ye not even slightly scared of anyone in here?"

He shrugged, "Honestly...I seem to get over it quite fast. But don't tell the lizard."

Great, he scolded. He didn't know much about the woman to disclose so much information. He was supposed to be abstracting information about Nightingale except the woman was good at redirecting the conversation towards him. He guessed it was because her personality felt welcoming.

"Oh is that now? One man wet himself all the time. Another w'ept or acted out foolishly. Some tried to be brave until they lost their minds and killed themselves. The balcony is a famous spot. They tried many ways to kill Nightingale only to find themselves in unmarked graves. She doesn't approve of buying male servants especially those from Terran."

The food in his stomach twisted violently and the muffin returned to the plate. His mouth grew extremely dry and the back of his head ached. "Why?"

"Worthless, she say. I can agree. They're broken from their trip through the Doom and shattered by the time they take their last breath under this roof. Servants leave this castle like horseflies. No one lasts more than two weeks, bebe, and that's if Nightingale's not here."

"Two weeks?" he croaked, his heart quivering within his chest.

"Aye, two weeks. Alsin of Terra. You come with terror birthed in your heart. You may break before yer time, before ye realize it."

He curled his hands into fists and leaned forward to glare into the woman's taunting eyes. "I will not break."

The corner of her puffy lips pulled upward in an eerie way, "We shall see."

His belly felt as if he had swallowed live spiders all fighting to be free. The side door tucked between shelves opened and Kaahiss entered. His slit black eyes narrowed at the two of them and he snarled.

"Abebe what did I tell you?"

The plumped woman slid away from Alsin and returned to her work. Alsin glanced at the muffin and lost his appetite. He rose from the stool and followed the raptor out of the kitchen sudden nerves forming in his gut.

Without a single word, he followed Kaahiss down one of the two hallways sitting before them. On his right, they passed four large doors to office spaces and one smaller door probably for storage. At the end of the hall, they turned left onto another long hallway with three doors. A fourth was the entryway into the main foyer. Instead of going that way, he continued until they stood in the dark casted sitting room.

Kaahiss stopped and faced him, hands clasped behind him. "You will wake every day at dawn- no later. Earlier you get your work down the earlier you can go to bed. It's up to you."