A Servant Lost (Alys Book #1)

Chapter 27

Thoren acted the same as he had before Alys had accepted his proposal; solemn, calm, quiet.

But something had changed.

It was not with the pub master though, but the other men in the tavern.

Within a week of speaking with Thoren, the men rarely hurtled Alys with suggestive comments or made any threatening moves towards her. Alys was not sure if Thoren had spoken to them directly when they came into the tavern, or if he had just mentioned their engagement to a few of his regulars and they had spread it around, but even the new men who showed their faces in the tavern were more mindful around her.

So far, Alys was liking this arrangement. Her work was much less stressful, and she was very able to relax a little, though she did not let her guard down completely. There were still the occasions where someone would get far too drunk, and Thoren would have to step in, but those were far less common now.

Alys' mood became more hopefully and a little less withdrawn as the days went by.  Thoren gave her more time off, which she spent mainly at the orphanage.

A sickness had gone through the village, and the orphanage lost 6 small children and 2 babies. The deaths of the children crushed Alys, but she was determined to help. She used her remaining coins from Dastrehan to buy medicines from a local healer without hesitation, wishing desperately that she could have contacted Aldyth for help. The rest of the sick children recovered, but Alys still felt heaviness for the lives lost. She wished there was more that she could have done for them.

No one in the village seemed to pay any attention to the orphanage; save the few women who devoted their lives to running it.  As someone who had lost a child and could not have more, Alys was shocked that none of the families in the are seemed interested in taking in an orphaned child into their family. Secretly, she was hopeful that she would be able to convince Thoren to bring in one or more of the children at the orphanage to be their own. But she would have to find a good time to bring it up after they married.

Despite the tragic events at the orphanage, Alys finally was starting to feel like Bexley could become her home village. She was also coming to peace with the fact that she would likely never discover who she truly was. As hard as that was to accept, she figured that it may be for the best. If she were to discover that her life story was something the like of Esme's, it would crush her. So though she wished she could know her of her childhood and parents, she felt it might be a good thing that she could not remember.

Besides, it made no difference to the life she had now. She might not be truly happy, but she was content. And content was far better than anything else she had experienced before, other than her last few weeks at the palace before Ayleth died.

Alys' lighter mood was soon disturbed.  She was busy scrubbing at the bar before the tavern opened.  She knelt on a stool and bent over the bar, scrubbing with both hands.

She heard Thoren's heavy footsteps come through the front of the tavern, but she stuck to her task; he was not the kind of man that required her to acknowledge his presence every time he was in the room, and for that she was grateful.

He walked up to her and deposited a letter on a dry section of the bar beside her, "Came for you."

Alys stopped scrubbing and wiped at the sweat on her brow with a sleeve.

That was strange. She set down the scrub brush and reached for the letter.

Thoren was already walking away.

It was addressed to "Lady Alys" and she was quick to recognize the king's seal pressed into the wax holding the envelope closed.

Alys' heart leapt into her throat and she almost tipped off of the stool.