~Empress-To-Be~
When Andrea went to check the door, Oris went to take a seat. The chair she chose let her have an unobstructed view of her bed—of Seline.
The silk and letter rested on her lap, hidden by the folds of her gown. Blue silk, blue silk... She thought of the uniform Eunuch Rai had been wearing. There had to be thousands of men in the same clothes.
It was too hard to narrow down.
The doors to the room swung open, revealing that her new visitor was once again the physician again. This time he had strings of packaged medicine hanging off his right shoulder and a young woman carrying a tray walking ahead of him.
"My lady, this is my daughter, Magnolia," he said.
"This humble one greets The Lady Of Inqa," the woman curtsied and the jug and cups on her tray swayed with her.
"You may rise," Oris told them as Andrea walked back to her side. "The one you are to treat is over there."
The physician nodded and started unloading his herbs. Mayree and Keziah flocked to his side to listen to his instructions about how long to boil and such.
Oris could only watch them. Other than the the bathroom, bedroom and secret passages, she had seen no other part of the room. She couldn't help even if she wanted to
Magnolia straightened up from her curtsey but didn't join her father. Instead, she held out the tray. "My Lady, this herbal wine from our hometown was entrusted to me by the Young Lord. It is good for relieving pain."
"Andrea, bring it here."
When the tray was placed on the table in front of her, Oris leaned forward and opened the jug, surprised by the familiar scent that hit her. What herbal wine? Isn't this just my favorite wine?
Granted, it was made with herbs, and made with wine, but calling it herbal wine was still taking things too far.
Oris poured it out into a cup, not entirely shocked by the deep purple color of it. She stared into it and felt her vigilance wane.
Bren sent this.
She remembered kisses that tasted of this wine, embraces that smelt of the roots her siblings picked in the nearby forest.
Why did Bren sent this?
She took a sip and found that it to be the same as in her memories. A cottage suffused with the smell of fermenting grapes and stewing herbs. Medicine dregs tossed out into the garden for the dogs to chew at and fight each other over, yet ended up being abandoned to the fate of being mulch.
"Mistress, you're smiling."
She set the cup down and shook her head, her composure restored by the happiness in Andrea's voice. "I was just lost in thought."
To Magnolia, she said, "Thank you for bringing this to me."
"Of course." The woman flashed a smile and dipped her head to hide it before scurrying off to Seline's side to apply the medicine.
Her father replaced her where she stood. "Your maids informed me that... Well... Well—"
"My mistress isn't that difficult to talk to, is she? Physician Lei?" Andrea cut in, not unkindly. "You want to see her hand, right?"
As though he was trapped in a desert and someone took the time to ask if he wanted water, the old man nodded, furiously like a starving hen pecking at grain. "Yes. Yes. I want to apply wound ointment on it. There is some left over and I decided not to waste it," he said carefully.
"Mistress," Andrea crouched by her side and took her hand, "if you don't let him treat it, the ointment will be wasted."
"Yes, this is true, my lady."
Faced with this two-prong attack, Oris had no choice but to succumb. She had to admit that she was impressed by how easily Andrea adapted to being a lady-in-waiting. With her rank being higher than the rest, she was the one that needed to foster good relationships with everyone that could be off use.
Eunuchs were one. Physicians were the other. And she carries the task out to perfection.
After the ointment had been applied and her palm had been wrapped in soft white cloth, Oris thanked Physician Lei.
At the same time, Seline's treatment was also done—the girl had fallen asleep during the process. Mayree and Keziah dragged the cover over her and walked to their mistress' side.
Andrea saw the physician and his daughter to the exit then came back. "Mistress, does your hand feel better now?"
"Is our mistress that weak?" Keziah snorted and crossed her arms.
"If the Empress Dowager finds out that our mistress got injured, things will become worse for Anastasia's servants," Mayree said, "it is better if people know that she is injured."
"The next test is coming soon. Once rumors of my time with the emperor spreads, I will get myself a lot of enemies. We need to be fully prepared for all eventualities."
"I know that hunt is divided into two parts. There's actual hunting, then 'hunting' for the womenfolk." There was no disguising the disgust in Keziah's voice. "When the men hunt, the women search the imperial garden of the hunting ground for the most valuable item."
"But the emperor is a warrior, real hunting might be involved." Mayree frowned. "That's troublesome."
"Not troublesome at all." Oris tucked the letter and the silk back into her sleeve. "I know how to ride and how to shoot. What I need is a way to avoid all the stray arrows that will be shot at me."
She got up. "I and Andrea will be going to the library. There are ten maids other than you here, I will feel more comfortable if the two of stayed to watch over Seline."
"Of course," they said together and curtsied.
"I will handle the maids," Mayree said, "and when you come back I will show you around the outer rooms."
The corners of Oris' lips curved up. She is as observant as ever. "We have a deal."
"Andrea?"
The girl walked to her side and grinned at her fellow maids. "I will accompany our mistress diligently in your stead."
~
The imperial library was grand, with an air of impossibility to it, and Oris felt a pang of jealousy as she glided through its halls in search of the tomes that would hopefully shed some light on the confusion that had griped her on learning more about the relationship between Hermes and his mothers.
The library in Orse had been burnt down once, before she was born, and though it had been renovated, a lot of rare collections had been lost. Heshera's library was rumored to have books that existed before the Great Sea existed. It was the at the pinnacle in terms of recorded ancestral knowledge.
"Mistress, what are you looking for?" Andrea whispered, though there was no one else in sight.
The other patrons of the library could be heard. Soft giggles, harsh whispers, but not a slender waist or obsidian robe to be seen.
Of course, the reading area was partitioned by gender so once they arrived there, there would be almost no chance of glimpsing one of the dynasty's officials.
"Chronicles." Oris dragged her fingers down dustless spines as she walked, feeling a little giddy. "Say, Andrea. Would anyone notice if I started living here?"
"Do you like it here that much?"
"Wisdom is might." She paused and pulled out a book. "From Measma to Inae, the rise of the Exalted One. That sounds like the right book."
She handed it, and a few others, to Andrea to carry. "Do you know where I can find a list of censuses? If not for all the people, then for the nobles? There should be one for every kingdom."
"It should exist, but I have no idea which section you could find them. Maybe further down this row?" Andrea's voice was full of uncertainty.
"A library this big should have a librarian."
"It should, but it doesn't."
When Oris turned back to face her, Andrea was frowning, hard. It was such an uncharacteristic expression for the girl that Oris couldn't help but worry.
"Back then the court of Heshera did not fully support the Emperor's ascension to the throne. The librarians have always come from one specific family. They supported the emperor and used the historic texts to stamp out voices of dissent, but one by one each member met disaster until there was no one left. No one has applied for the position these two years, thinking that it is cursed."
"Andrea Varehir, ever the historian." A familiar woman stepped up in front of them, having blended so well with the darkness that wove between the bookcases that they didn't notice her. "It must hurt your heart that your families vassals were removed. You so dearly love this place. To see it in disarray must hurt you so."
Andrea curtsied, clutching the books to her chest. "Mistress Parie."
Alarm bells blared in Oris' head as she followed suit and bent her knees, once again reminded that there had been no time to teach her how to greet her superiors.
She felt Parie's eyes glide over her for a second before returning to Andrea.
"You Varehirs are so proud, just because a couple of your ancestors have worn the crown. Now look how far you have fallen, from Empress-to-be to lady-in-waiting."
Andrea could have been Empress? Growing up in the palace made a lot more sense in this context. It wasn't to serve the Empress Dowager, it was to be groomed by her like this woman was now.
"I am happy serving my mistress," Andrea said stiffly.
"You say that now but everyone can see how you suffer. You had more prestige when you were the princess' reading partner. You and the Emperor's shared loved for history is what made the Empress Dowager want to play matchmaker. Fortunately, you showed your true colors soon enough. Letting assassins into the palace, you are lucky your entire family wasn't dragged down with you and executed to the ninth generation!"
Oris took Andrea by the arm and pushed the girl behind her. Being treated like a piece of furniture, she could tolerate, but she couldn't watch someone bully one of her people and not do anything about it.
"Mistress Parie, a library is not a place to raise your voice or talk about the daily goings of the royal family. Do you wish to be overheard?"
"Whoever wishes to listen, can listen. It is not a secret what transpired that day. Was she not moaning to you about the plights of her family? Their eradication was her punishment. You better keep your distance lest you'll be dragged down with her when the day comes."
That last sentence made anger bubble in Oris' gut. None of them had said it, but it was the little things that told her that her group of maids was considered by most a group of rejects.
Mayree was older than the average maids. Seline had been sold to the palace. Keziah's family committed an unspeakable crime. Andrea had fallen from grace.
To be ordinary palace maids was fine, but compared to the maids trained since childhood to be loyal to their masters, they were found wanting. They were too free-willed, too proud, too old, too secretive. There was a higher potential for disobedience, and that couldn't be tolerated in a competition this fierce
So when each bride arrived, they were pushed back, relegated to a corner where they wouldn't be picked until they looked around and saw that they were the only ones left.
The only ones left, therefore, automatically assigned to me.
"Who I get dragged down with is my concern and my concern alone, Mistress Parie. Do not mistake words said in jealousy as advice."
The barb hit, and it hit splendidly. Parie's face turned red, then a darker shade that belayed both rage and embarrassment.
Oris caught the hand before it landed on her face.
"Impudent. What sort of maid—"
"My mistress is not a maid," Andrea interjected.
Parie yanked her hand away and took a few steps back. She pointed a shaky finger at Oris. "You. You're that... You're that wench."
"We've met before, yes." Oris clasped her hands.
"You bewitched the Emperor."
"Wouldn't you like that?" Oris grinned behind her veil. "If the Emperor could be so easily bewitched, you wouldn't be here accosting my lady-in-waiting."
That sentence seemed to calm Parie down. "Yes, I must be mistaken. You staged a rebellion and were imprisoned, the Emperor must have interrogated you."
"Interrogated then rewarded. The Emperor's methods are beyond those of common men."
"Are you suggesting that he is courting you?" The woman nearly screeched.
"Are we not here to be courted?"
"We are here to compete for a place by his side."
"Then," Oris grabbed a random book from one of the shelves, "when the Emperor and I spent two hours alone, I was also competing."
"You must have forced him."
"Yes." She flipped open the book and found maps covering its pages, feeling the tension in the air around her. "Clung to his robes and begged him to stay. Have you ever tried that?"
"You touched him?"
"A man and woman alone together for that long, what else is to happen?"
"You... You slander the Emperor."
Oris shut the atlas and stared at the hand raised in front of her. "If you wish to slap me again, please do so where there are less witnesses."
Parie looked around and finally noticed the little crowd that had gathered around them, of both servants and ladies-in-waiting, pretending to be discreet as they listened in.
She huffed and threw down her hands. "This is not the end."
Oris watched her leave. When she was gone, nobody else lingered.
"Andrea." She turned back to see the girl staring at the floor.
"I'm sorry," Andrea whispered, "for lying to you in the garden. I didn't want you to think I was using you, or sabotaging you or—"
Before she could say anything else, Oris hugged her. "You don't need to apologize."
"I'm not like that. I never wanted to be Empress. I like being your lady-in-waiting."
"It's okay, Andrea. Don't cry. I know."
Now Oris understood more of what had happened while she was imprisoned. Andrea had to have used her connections in hopes of rescuing her. Even her sudden rise to lady-in-waiting must be related to her former identity as the Empress-to-be.
"It's okay," she whispered to the girl, hoping to calm her down. "I know what it's like..."
To be royalty and pretend not to be. This part, she kept to herself. Being royal, having a humble identity, she often found herself switching between different parts of herself, not knowing which was the real her or not.
Every day she spent in the palace only worsened the divide.
She pulled back and stared into Andrea's reddened eyes. "I hope a day will come when we have no secrets between us."
"Mistress." Andrea wiped her face with her sleeve. "I—"
Oris took the girl by the arm and led her to the reading area. "Stop apologizing. I am lucky to have you with me, all of you. I cannot imagine surviving this long with another set of maids. You four are so very unique and I wish to make that clear to each and every one of you."
~
The moment that I remember that my characters can lie. I give them honesty as a basic trait, so when this happened, I was like, "Andrea, how could you?!?!" even though we all knew she was going to be Empress before. Oris was still in the dark.