The Banquet was concluded and the servants cheered, meanwhile the former Lordling Elswith felt baffled.
It was news to him.
Elswith had attended banquets, galas, parades, promenades, celebrations, festivals and festivities, assemblies, balls, rehearsals, recitals, homecomings, sorries, sways, plays, masquerades, concerts, concertos, jubilees, pot-lucks, picnics, shindig, receptions, consecrations, commissions, ceremonies, and carnivals, to name just a few. Thousands of them, over the years.
When Senate was assembling and the King held Court at the same time, there were times the Heirling of the Red Sword was so busy he would be forced to make an appearance at over seventy-six meetings in 24 hours.
Those were not fun days, a confusing mess rushing, changing clothes, aids handing speeches to him as was he pushed out on stage to deliver a speech to open the event, then stumbling into a carriage to be delivered to the next gala to cut some ribbon, to the next ceremony to raise a glass in a toast, to the next recital to reignite tensions with rivals. Best not get those confused. The intensity of high-level magic that would be used so he could make all those appearances on time was staggering. Sometimes he would spend only four to five minutes at an event, to be whisked away to another function beginning in ten minutes, to repeat the process again and again and again.
These events were often just a critical as a battlefield. So he spent time learning everything he could. Everything he needed. He even memorized all of the major styles of serving, even so far as the style to open doors.
It was important to know if his Faction was being disrespected, for example if the insult was against Lordling Elswith, or if it was against the Heirling of the Red Sword. Insults against the Red Sword would not be tolerated. Lordlings could be insulted, but never the death-defying sword and the faction it represented.
So Elswith's knowledge of these events had been thorough. There were many times when he was able to clarify that the Red Sword had not been insulted, only the lacking Lordling Elswith.
Elswith had lived and breathed these events. He thought he knew every angle.
But he had never known that after the events were over, the servants cheered.
The sudden good mood and exuberance from the servants washed over him, leaving him feeling lost.
The young servant maids were suddenly very childish, acting very much like the children they probably were, with smiles and playful little hops as they scurried around the foyer. The older butlers and attendants were suddenly chatting, despite the different factions they followed. Buttons were loosened, jabots and cravats untied. A butler was dancing with a lady attendant, their fingers intertwined as they swayed to music only they heard.
"This is...interesting," Daniel said hollowly, watching as several Hall Attendants were even removing their outer coats, wearing only their long sleeve shirts and vests. Some even removed their cravats completely.
"This too much for your sensitive self?" the dark hair Hall Attendant said, and Daniel could almost pretend that it was not provocative but only assertively friendly.
Daniel watched this. In all his time and all the thousands of events he had attended, he had never once seen the truly relaxed side of the Servant class. He had spent years surrounded by people who shielded themselves so completely. Then again, did the servants have any notion of what he did on campaigns? All they ever saw of Lordlings was someone obsessed with structure and parties.
Did everyone live separated from each other, never to truly know another soul?
Daniel watched the crowd of servants as they started to migrate into the Lesser Banquet Hall through the double doors which remained open after the guests left. "No. I am pleased that underneath all that separates Lordlings and Hall Attendants, we are all waiting until we can take off our cravats and slip out of uncomfortable clothes. Is there beer?" What would beer do on an empty stomach, he wondered...considering what he had seen before on a full stomach....probably nothing good. But it was made from grain, so it was like food...probably?
The dark hair hall attendant was taken aback, as though he was expecting a different response.
"No beer, nor ale. Still too early. But we always say that when the Lords finally leave. The weight of all those uppers is enough to make it hard to breathe. When they go, it's like...suddenly getting a drink of some good ale. So..."
"I understand that. Oh, I do." Both the Glasbin and the newcomer looked incredulous.
"When you are around the High Fae, it feels like the air is compressed so tightly that your lungs labor to breathe. If you stand too near the High Lords of Fae, even reality becomes dim and mutable."
"Ah...well, truth be told, after a big event we do go for ale afterward. Perhaps later..."
The Glasbin fae made a rough, throat-clearing cough, and the newcomer flinched then coughed as well. It was clear that Servant Branch was not invited to any after-hours gatherings.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
"Well, I need to...leave now." And he left, moving into the Lesser Banquet Hall.
Daniel removed the handkerchief that Lordling Parcel had left behind. He held it in his hands.
He beheld the hexed doorknob. The hex was slowly unwinding, it would be gone in another hour or two.
Daniel covered his hand with the white cloth and finally gripped the hexed doorknob.
The Glasbin fae saw his movement out of the corner of his eyes, and, with a curse under his breath, dove to the floor.
But nothing happened.
Because while Daniel had been moving, he was already pulling the hex into the fabric of the handkerchief. The hex, already losing its form and structure, was bound up and captured by material. If the cloth were worse quality or the hex any higher, then it wouldn't work. Daniel was not skilled at making hexes, so he decided to keep it for later.
Waste not, want not.
"Hmmm. I guess the hex wasn't very impressive after all." Daniel said, as if it had disappeared and not that he had captured it. "Tell me, what was it supposed to do? Something nasty, loud...or something that splatters."
The Glasbin stood up and glared at him. He straightened his uniform. "Is this all a game to you?"
"Yes." A Game that decides who lives and dies. A most urgent Game. A Game that he could not lose.
"That is Lordling Parcel's handkerchief."
"I will be happy to return the good Lordling's items if he returns and seeks it." Between a curse pretending to be a sock and a hexed handkerchief, Daniel wondered how many negatively imbued garments he would have eventually. “But as all know, the Law of Fae despises things being ownerless. So in its owner's absence, I will keep it safe.” Daniel declared to the room. He tucked that handkerchief away, feeling the tethers of ownership pass to himself. Abandoned things were easy to claim ownership of, abandoned places, abandoned people. Really, most of the Law of Fae seemed concerned that nothing ownerless remains ownerless.
His minder was glaring at him.
Daniel moved to remove the hexed handkerchief and offer it. “What, do you want it?”
"No." The Glasbin Fae hastily shook his head.
Daniel let him go before drifting slowly after. He entered the Lesser Banquet Hall. The Lesser Banquet Hall had doors on all sides. The seven double doors leading into the foray. Across the room glass doors that allowed entrance to the exterior gardens that buttressed against the building. There were doors on the south side of the room that led to parlors, and three doors that led to the kitchens. The Banquet Hall itself was beautiful, tastefully decorated in greens and blues. No dancing space was available, instead a myriad of tables set out, and chairs. Natural light spilled from the glass doors, casting a golden tone over the room. Beyond the glass doors in the garden, Daniel observed an old willow tree that once had been his favorite climbing tree, long ago when Young Lordling Elswith had met first met Young Lordling Orville.
This was the room that had celebrated his circle's victory over the dragon's corpse, one of the parties, but his most meaningful.
This was the room that housed the event that launched Elswith, Regis, and Cleo's plan to save the unprotected Shanty Town that grew beyond the borders of the City Wall by expanding the wall.
This was the room he had danced with Kane, and held her close enough to feel her heart beat and the warmth of her against the cold world.
Forlorn filled his being.
Daniel believed that he could not live had he not acted. But he truly was risking everything in this gamble. His values could cost him everything.
His True Name seemed a hollow victory at this point.
"What's wrong with you?" The Glasbin said, bitterly. "Upset to see the lowly helping themselves to the finer things in life?"
"When you commit to some action, even when it seems pointless, you have to keep going." Daniel said in response. "It is better to die in pursuit of truth, of justice, of goodness, even against the inevitable. The only consideration is wisdom to ensure that you chose well."
"You didn't answer my question."
"You didn't ask a question. You aimed to strike at me with your words. I merely allowed them to go past me, and now I am offering a piece of wisdom. Do not let others chose your battles for you. Then you are the pawn, and you have little to no control whether you are even fighting for your own self interest. They will use you, then discard you."
The Glasbin glowered at him.
"Ignore it if you desire. But this is the part where we get the leftovers, correct?" Daniel asked, trying not to betray how invested he was in the reply.
Glasbin said nothing but moved ahead, his face stony.
Daniel ignored his partner and joined the other servants and followed them to the kitchen window. The luncheon had prepared too much food, so it was custom for the kitchen to portion it, wrap it in paper, and distribute it.
Daniel had been banking on this meal since he learned he’d be a Hall Attendant in the O’Tells House. Well, he had been banking on lunch too, but that ship had long sailed. Hunger was a new sensation, quiet, slowly crawling and clawing his insides.
He had been inside the Lesser Banquet Hall before when there were no banquets, but this was the first time he had seen it when only the servants remained. Workers were removing the dishes and collecting the linen table clothes, but they were also singing and gossiping amongst themselves. They were not deploying the Lren technique for dish gathering, nor the Ibanz. Had he wasted his time? No, perhaps it was more fair to say the O'Tells Family were a more casual Family, and it showed in how they allowed their general servants to behave. Instead, the workers were laughing, one even attempted to juggle tea cups, the mood bright overall. The servants were seizing the fine treats left on the tea trays or pouring themselves new glasses of tea from the still-warm pots left on the table. It seemed much more lively than Daniel had imagined.
The saying "when the masters are away, the servants come out and play" seemed more true than Daniel had realized.
Daniel followed the other Hall Attendants to the kitchen. The portions of the leftover banquet were piled and handed out. It was mostly the servants who had been in the foyer with him earlier around him now. Daniel took the food and unwrapped the paper.
It was food, all right. Good food, nice quality. Not the best stuff, but no one ever used the best stuff outside of formal signings of treaties or marriage alliances. But good enough. It had been sliced meat, carrots purple and cooked perfectly to bring out the zesty flavor, and tea cakes.
And there were worms wriggling inside. Magic worms, not the friendly kind that worked at the library.
Daniel looked up and saw the other Hall Attendants and Serving Maids grinning wide mocking grins at him.
And as he looked back down to the food in his hands, the food began to mold and fester.
They made it rotten.
The food was spoiled now.
"Now tell, Lordling. How do you like it?"