A Servant Lost (Alys Book #1)

Chapter 9

The men were quiet the next morning, most likely as a result from staying up late into the night drinking. Prince Dastrehan was not present in the dining room for the morning meal, much to Alys's dismay. She felt hunted in the room with these men, but thankfully other servants were present as well. When the meal was over, the men pushed themselves away from the table and stomped out of the room. Alys hurried to remove the clutter from the table and clean up, and headed to Dastrehan's study.

"You weren't present for the morning meal, your Highness," Alys stated, stepping into the prince's study. Dastrehan looked up from his work at his desk when she spoke and smiled slightly, "I did not feel like being around those men this morning. I needed time to think."

"Do you want me to bring you something to eat?" Alys offered, walking in front of his desk.

Dastrehan sighed, "I suppose that is probably a good idea," he replied, "Why don't you bring something for yourself as well and join me?"

Alys agreed, knowing it was futile to argue with him. She headed to the main kitchen and brought back a large meal for him, and a smaller one for herself. She placed his plate down on the corner of his desk, and carried her own to the sofa in front of the fire, setting it down on the table on the opposite side from the fire. Dastrehan rose and picked up his plate. He walked over to the sofa as well and stopped, "Do you mind if I join you?" He asked Alys teasingly.

Alys pressed her lips together, "You should not ask a servant what you can or cannot do," she replied, and shuffled down the sofa to make room for him to sit. He laughed slightly and sat down, placing his plate next to hers. They ate in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the food and the peace in the room.

"There's supposed to be a ball of sorts tomorrow evening," Dastrehan told Alys, "for the Lords and Advisors that have travelled far to meet here. It won't be a very big event, just the men from the meeting yesterday and their Ladies. Maybe a few other Lords from the city."

Alys nodded, pretending to be interested. She really did not care for most of the men she had seen yesterday, mostly because she had caught them looking at her or another servant girl.

"For the occasion, I've had...nicer dresses and suits made for the palace servers. A maid will be coming to your room tonight to adjust a dress for you, so you won't be uncomfortable with the tight waist."

One of Alys's hands went to the slight bump of her belly.

"Thank you," she replied quietly. She was constantly surprised by his random acts of kindness. What man ever considered comfort of clothes for a pregnant woman? Dastrehan nodded and shoved a piece of egg into his mouth.

"Will you be there?" Alys asked, scared that he would be absent from the event.

Dastrehan finished what was in his mouth before he replied, "Yes. I am required to attend all of the important events at the palace."

Alys glanced to the side and he met her eyes. She smiled slightly in relief, "Thank you."

Dastrehan finished up his food and pushed his plate back. Alys stood quickly and reached to take it back to the kitchen. Dastrehan reached out and stopped her hand, "Sit down and relax for a bit Alys," he laughed, "You make me tired just watching you rush around."

Alys complied and sat back down. Dastrehan retrieved some of his papers from his desk and sat back down onto the sofa.

He showed her what he was working on; mostly plans for how to proceed with Catesh, Joresh and Balear. She listened quietly, actually enjoying learning about how one went about moving armies and preventing such things as wars. They talked briefly about Balear and Princess Endolynn and Prince Zaiden. Dastrehan told her that some men had claimed to see Prince Zaiden in Marniac searching for his sister, and that he would not return to Balear for fear of an unknown traitor in the court that could kill the entire royal family.