To Love, Once Again

Another sudden goodbye. First Lois, and now the maids. Sera vowed to herself that even if she couldn't work with them anymore, she would make sure to track down each girl and make sure everything was ok.

Third time's the charm, right? She hoped.

"Arms up" Hilda tells her curtly, dressing Sera back in the Queen's chamber. She's still a little nonplussed at this new order from the King. Make the girl a maid, and now this.

For Hilda, a strong believer in 'everything has its place', who loved the comfort of a set routine, it was all a nightmare. First, the King summons her late in the night to tell her to prepare for a new maid. He doesn't tell her who the girl in question is, until Hilda asks for her name. 

"Give her work to do, but only within the castle", "The job must give her as little to no contact with other men", "It should be strenuous, but not too difficult".  He'd gone on and on. Hilda in her thick nightgown and cap, incredulous, couldn't believe the King had called a knight to force her out of bed for this.

Now this girl turns out to be the former Queen, who Hilda's never met. A maid was a maid. A queen a queen. There should be no mixing the two. Her mind couldn't handle it. Since the King said Miss Sera was a commoner, she would treat her as such. No use thinking about the past.

Which brings her here, mechanically dressing this woman, who's probably become a personal maid in name only. Personal maid? What hogwash. 

She looks disapprovingly at the red love marks that dot the woman's neck like a disease.

Looks like a personal mistress to her.

She would get this woman dressed and ready, and wash her hands of it.

Sera shrinks under the ministrations of Hilda as Hilda silently dresses her. Cold, methodical, but wholly proper. Hilda truly deserved the title of Head of the maids.

Her long brown hair was combed and smoothed with rose oil. Holding her jaw in place, hilda even painted her face, lips a glossy pink and enhancing her brown eyes with ash powder. Sera was dressed in a silky smooth concoction of a dress. The dark green dress was simple, but elegant. She blushes when she sees the marks left by Lucien on her neck in the mirror. Her ring finger throbs in tune with her heart, each beat reminding her of the one who put it there. Luckily, Hilda hasn't seen it because of her fixation on Sera's neck.

Hilda's mouth forms a thin, flat line, as she tries out different necklaces, trying to hide her neck.  None of them work since the marks cover her neck all the way down to the top of her chest. They finally settle on a scarf tied around her neck. 

The scarfs material was finer with detailed embroidery, much more costly looking compared to her plain brown maid's dress.

Sera's almost ready to go. She sees herself in the mirror as Hilda circles around her for the final check.

Was this the uniform for the King's private maidservant?

The silk dress looked like something a rich merchant's daughter might wear. It was finer than anything Sera saw on the girls in town. Sera'd never seen a King's Maid since the old King didn't have one, so she wasn't sure if this was the norm.

"Now, Miss Sera, let me remind you of a few key points to keep in mind for your new position as the King's Maid. You shall address the King as Milord, your majesty, or sire. You may only speak when spoken to. Obey all his commands. That will be all"

Hilda looks out the window to the horizon where the skies are darkened, the two suns beginning to descend into the ground.

"It's almost time. Off with you then, to the Great Hall. Always keep the King's cup full, and never take your eyes off him."

Hilda goes on with other orders on how to serve the King his supper as they descend the staircase and traverse the winding halls towards the largest room, where raucous voices spills out. 

The state of the Great Hall was more chaotic than what Sera saw during her arrival in the courtyard. The traveling merchants were here, some of the noblemen were here, but it was the knights who were the main source of the mayhem. 

Supper was not yet served, but the ale flowed freely. They'd just returned from yet another skirmish. The battle was still fresh in their memory, and they reveled off the high. In one corner, men wrestled against each other, a crowd circling around them and placing bets. Next to this group, one man grabs at his hair and moans while another whoops in triumph as they gambled, throwing colored sticks into a jar.

This was more like a den of thieves than a King's Great Hall. Hilda seems used to this scene, deftly picking her way past the fighting and/or drunk men that would suddenly roll across their path to the dais where the King sat.

Sera's relieved when none bother to look at her, too busy engrossed in whatever activity they were enjoying there before the food arrives. 

As they make their way forward, King Lucien sprawls on his throne above the crowd, watching the proceedings with disinterest. Some of his knights sit at the table with the King and his noblemen. Sera looks for Icaros, but doesn't see him. The few nobles who stayed for dinner attempt to converse with Lucien, to no avail. 

He just watches Sera come forward, eyeing her up and down.

The room, filled with shouts and laughter, makes it hard to hear anything spoken at the normal conversational tone. Most of the men here were bellowing at each other and laughing hysterically.

No wonder Sera didn't see any noblewomen in the castle at all. They would probably faint, frothing at the mouth from the general unsavoriness that was suppertime in the castle.

Hilda curtseys to King Lucien, and after making sure Sera is stationed behind him, ready to serve, she flees the room, never looking back.

One long finger taps the table. 

"Pour me a drink." Lucien raises a eyebrow at her.