I walked back down along the hallway, past its many doors and sombre portraits, then down the staircase to the second floor. I followed the plush red carpet until I was back at the grand staircase leading to the foyer. I paused. Should I go back to my room? It was still only early afternoon, but I didn't have anything else to do. My stomach rumbled with the reminder that I hadn't eaten lunch yet. Should I try finding the kitchen?

Am I allowed to just go to the kitchen and ask for food? How was it supposed to work here?

I hesitated at the top of the stairs for a while before my stomach made up my mind for me. I walked down the wide stairs with the goal of searching out food.

The worst they could say was no, right?

I made it to the bottom of the stairs and had begun walking across to one of the doors set along the walls to the side that led away from the foyer when one of the large front doors swung open. The young nobleman that had yelled at me over the tree earlier stepped over the threshold, blinking his eyes as he adjusted to the dimmer light. His head immediately swivelled in my direction. We locked eyes, and his eyebrows rose.

"You!" he exclaimed, voice cracking a little at the end of the word.

Ah crap.

I briefly considered making a run for it, but discarded the idea. I was fairly certain this guy was one of the Duchess's children - from what I recalled she had three - and now that I had met with her his face did look somewhat like hers. If I was outright rude to him it would likely land my family in trouble, along with myself. Plus I had no clue where to go in this building, so I'd probably end up cornering myself. I clenched my jaw, then turned to face the man full on and bowed my head.

"Young master, please allow me to apologise for my previous rudeness. My intentions were only to repair the tree as I had seen such an infliction before," I said, using my best, most polite tone. My ass-kissing voice, as Mason often called it when I used it with mum.

The nobleman approached me, and cleared his throat once he was stopped in front of me.

"Ah, yes, well... There's no need for the apology," he said.

I glanced up in surprise, and found the man was looking away while scratching his neck.

"Gordon told me if you hadn't helped today then the tree would have been cut down. I wasn't thinking clearly when I saw you earlier since..." He looked back at me, hand dropping away from his neck to gesture in the rough direction of the trees. "We raise wolves here - or my family does - and whenever a wolf that a member of the family personally raised dies we bury it in that spot and plant a tree over it. The tree you fixed was over a wolf I had raised from a pup, so my emotions got the better of me. I... I apologise."

Huh, a noble apologising to a commoner. I must be dying.

I had heard the nobility had a trend of raising wolves to protect their homes and act as a good luck charm, but I hadn't thought they would care all that much about them. I was especially surprised this guy knew the old gardener's name.

I sighed, fidgeting at the fabric of my pants again. I couldn't stay as annoyed if that was his reasoning, although the screaming in my face about me being a commoner was still unnecessary.

"It's fine, young master. I should have requested the proper permission before doing anything involving ducal property, so I also hold some blame for the misunderstanding."

The young nobleman gave me a small smile, face relaxing a little in relief. "Still," he said, straightening his shoulders, "I feel I should make it up to you somehow."

Hmm, this feels like a trap. If I ask for something, will he claim I don't know my place? Or if I don't ask anything, will I be accused of doubting his apology? Ugh I feel a headache coming on.

"Alright then," I said, figuring a simple request would be my best bet, "could you show me the way to the kitchen? I have no idea how to get there."

The nobleman grinned. "That's easy enough, follow me. Oh, and you can call me Callum."

Yeah, no, pretty sure a commoner can be imprisoned for referring to a noble without using titles or honorifics.

Outwardly, I gave Callum a polite smile and nodded my head, following behind him as he led me towards the opposite door to where I had been going. This door led to a wide hallway with a white marble floor. Tall windows took up one wall, allowing the afternoon sun to filter in and keep the area brightly lit. One set of large timber double doors were set in the opposite wall, with another, simpler door at the end of the hall.

"So, I hear my brother brought you here to report to my mother about the Wall." Callum said as we walked down the hallway.

He's definitely the Duchess' son then.

"Your brother?" I asked, a bit confused. It was Captain Strykar who had brought me here. Oh, wait..

He looked back at me with a bemused face. "Yes, Captain Strykar? We share a surname, don't tell me you didn't realise he was Duchess Strykar's son?" His voice sounded incredulous, and emphasised the word Strykar as he said it.

I felt a warm blush from embarrassment creep up the back of my neck. I must look completely stupid. "I figured he was related somehow, but no, I didn't know he was the Duchess' son," I replied.

Callum snorted, reaching out to push open the simple door as we came to the end of the hall.

"Yeah, ok," he said. "Anyway, what was so important that he brought you here personally?"

The door opened and released a blast of noise from behind it. Men and women bustled to and fro between counters laden with food in various stages of readiness, ovens glowing red with heat, and stoves holding pots of something boiling. Everyone was wearing white aprons over their clothing. Instructions were being shouted out by men wearing short white caps, with the others calling responses back. The smell of wood fire and cooking meat met my nose, as well as the eye watering scent of fresh cut onions. The kitchen was a hive of activity, and I marvelled that no one crashed into each other as they rushed about. A long table at the far end of the room held a few maids and manservants who chatted animatedly amongst themselves as they ate.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Don't really know how important what I had to say was," I replied to Callum, dodging a woman who rushed past me carrying a bowl of salad. I followed him as he strode across the room. "Just that the Wall breach was... odd." I stopped myself from giving more details, recalling the Duchess' warning to not tell any one else specifics.

Did that also apply to her son?

Callum glanced back at me, gesturing for me to take a seat at the table. I did so, at the end further away from the maids and manservants, who glanced over at us and whispered to each other. Callum sat in a seat opposite me.

"Odd how?" he asked before snagging a kitchen servant walking past and requesting some lunch. I was rather surprised the nobleman was going to eat amongst the servants, and that the staff seemed so at ease with him here. Did he come here regularly? Weren't nobles too self important to want to eat among commoners?

"Er... I'm sorry master Callum, I'm not supposed to say anything more about it," I said. Hopefully he won't pry any further. I was rather unsure whether the Duchess' instructions meant I should deny questions from another noble, but I knew lying would be a bad idea.

Callum gave me a sharp look, eyebrows lowering and mouth pursing a little. He looked very much like his mother in that moment. "Hmm..." was all he said.

I tried my best to keep my face neutral, telling myself I had done nothing to feel guilty over.

Damn, do all nobles take a class on making people feel like they're about to be scolded or something?

The kitchen servant Callum had spoken to set a couple of plates in front us, each holding a thick sandwich of soft white bread. Slices of meat, lettuce, cheese and tomato poked out from between the bread, as well as a brown sauce that dripped onto the plates in thick droplets. My stomach grumbled with impatience.

Callum picked up a slice of his sandwich. "So, I suppose you'll be leaving here in the next day then, since your report has been given?" he asked, then took a large bite.

"Ah no," I replied, fiddling at the edge of the plate. "Her grace has asked that I stay for a while, to consult on the gardens."

Callum swallowed his mouthful in a gulp. "A consult, huh?" he said, sounding amused.

I nodded, picking up a slice of my sandwich and taking a bite.

Can't answer questions with my mouth full.

The sandwich was delicious, the fresh lettuce and tomato complimented the meat beautifully, and the sauce added a smokey-sweet flavour. If I could, I would have shoved the whole slice into my mouth at once then proceed to lick the plate clean. We ate without speaking for a while, the din of noise from the kitchen covering the silence. I made sure to keep my mouth full of food, hoping to deter any further questioning.

Callum finished his food and dusted the crumbs off his hands over his plate. He looked over at me, opening his mouth as though to speak, but was interrupted by the door behind him flinging open. It smacked into the wall with a bang loud enough to make us both jump. Sunshine streamed in around a large figure that stepped into the kitchen.

Captain Strykar looked around the room with a slight scowl on his face, which further deepened once his eyes rested on Callum sitting at the table. The Captain's hair was damp, making it curlier than I remembered. He wasn't wearing his fancy chest armour today, instead going for a simple dark red tunic belted at the waist and loose black pants which were tucked into dark leather boots. The sleeves of the tunic were rolled up over his elbows, revealing muscular forearms covered in small scars. The lacing at the neck of the tunic was loose, letting it open down to the top of his chest were a little bit of chest hair poked through.

I quickly looked down at my plate, pushing more food into my mouth that I was sure was hanging open a bit.

Nope, don't go there.

"Callum, there you are. You missed your training this morning." Captain Strykar all but growled.

Callum flinched, turning in his seat to look at his brother with a small, sheepish grin. "Right, sorry about that Will. I was, um, busy and lost track of the time." he stammered out.

The Captain had his arms crossed, and raised an incredulous eyebrow at the excuse.

"Busy..." he murmured, before glancing over to me.

When our eyes met, he blinked a couple of times before his eyebrows relaxed, and he dropped his arms.

"Miss Rowan, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," he said, giving me a polite nod.

I returned the nod in kind, still chewing on my food and hoping I wasn't blushing.

Yep, this commoner is unnoticeable. Just ignore me, please.

The Captain grabbed Callum by the shoulder, pulling him up from his seat. "You'll have to excuse us," he said, beginning to drag Callum towards the door. "We have some training to catch up on."

With that, they left, the door thunking closed behind them amid Callum's protests. The staff at the other end of the table were snickering quietly. I continued to eat.

So, his name is Will.

Once I was finished with my meal, I collected both my and Callum's plates and brought them over to the man washing a small pile of dishes, who accepted them with a strained smile. I looked around for a moment, feeling a bit lost. I wasn't used to the sensation of having nothing to do.

What should i do now?

I made my way over to the door that the Captain had dragged Callum through, dodging around the still bustling kitchen staff. Once I reached the door, I cautiously pulled it open and peered through the sunshine on the other side. I found it led to a small garden that looked to grow herbs and vegetables. I stepped through the threshold, closing the door behind me and cutting off the noise from the kitchen.

I walked down two stairs to the loose gravel path at the bottom. A gentle breeze ruffled the leaves of tomato plants, pumpkin and zucchini vines, and more, and wafted the smell of rosemary to me. The sound of chickens softly clucking reached my ears, but I wasn't able to see any. The path I was standing on led through the carefully tended garden before splitting, one direction leading through a copse of trees towards the front of the mansion, the other leading towards the back and past what looked to be horse stables. It looked like this was the opposite side of the mansion to the other trees I had been around earlier this morning.

I began walking along the path, small stones crunching underfoot, and aimed towards the stables.

Maybe the horse I rode here will be there. I should have asked for some apples.

I was halfway between the mansion and the stables when a gruff voice called out to me. "'Scuse me Rowan! Wait a moment!"

I looked behind me to see the old gardener Gordon hurriedly trotting towards me, the battered straw hat swaying on the string around his neck. I turned around and went towards him, until he stopped in front of me and set his hands on his hips, wheezing for breath.

"I'm glad I caught yer," he huffed, giving me a crooked smile that showed he had two missing teeth. "I didn get ter thank yer fer yer help earlier, what with the young master comin along with a bee in his bonnet. I tole 'im you was only helpin us, so i hope he apologises to yer," he continued.

"Oh, it was no trouble at all," I told him, waving my hand in front of me in a dismissive gesture. "I'm glad I was of assistance to you. And the young master did explain his side to me, so it's all good on that front."

Gordon smiled broadly, his leathery skin creasing deeply. "Still, I'd like ter show me appreciation. Some of the younger lads told me yer was admirin the wisteria we have out front," he said as he rummaged in his pocket a moment before pulling his hand back out, now closed around something. "So I'm hopin yer'll like these."

I held my hand out to him. Gordon placed two grey, slightly curved objects that were smooth to the touch and rattled a little as I picked them up to examine them. Both were roughly the length of my middle finger, and held a faint pulse of potential life.

"Wisteria seed pods," Gordon explained. "Figured an earth magus would have no problems growin ‘em”