It had been a long, long trip, but I'd finally managed to get away from my mother and her friends. That didn't mean I was alone of course, rather that I was now in the care of my omnipresent nanny, and her very unhappy daughter. I honestly couldn't blame little Kaylee, this trip had been awful, the boat heaving for the majority of it.

Now though we were nearly done, the port slowly approaching before us. We had time, plenty of time, but I was finally getting to see the city we were going to just now coming into view. Exion, slowly came out of the mists, the early morning fog lit by the many lights. It looked packed, and the mist I was told was ever-present seeped out and over the water.

Before I could fully take in the sight the smell hit me. It was foul, disgusting and something like an open sewer.

“Gross! What is that?” I asked loudly.

“I told you we should stay inside Percival. The city dumps its waste into the river which of course goes out to sea.” She laughed for a moment. “Don't worry, in the nicer districts it's not as bad.”

The wind shifted and I quickly moved to go back into the ship. I had no clue how anyone could live with that stink, nor why nobody would do anything about it. Maybe nobody cared because it was the poor that suffered through the smell, but it couldn't signal anything other than disease and sickness.

Of course going back into the ship I only had one or two places I could go, the obvious choice being where my mother was. She and her friends had been just shy of insufferable the whole trip, never allowing me a moment of peace.

“Back inside already?” one of them asked.

“Stinks,” I informed her.

There was a chorus of giggles. “Oh his little face is so precious, look at his nose.”

Mother's friends seemed to think my serious, short responses were adorable, and were constantly prodding me to try and get more. The fact that I didn't like to talk too much only encouraged them. They would engage in conversation, or get their children to with me, just to see what I would say. My manners were of course better than most kids my age, something mother attributed to grandmother being an absolute monster.

This all had kept me from doing the things I wanted to, like seeing the innards of the ship. She'd kept an annoyingly close eye on me so that I couldn't sneak away, and between her and her friends, they'd been quite successful. If she wasn't watching me, either they were or Mrs. Lutte was right beside me.

“So little Lord Shadestone, could I interest you in some tea?” one of the ladies asked, looking towards me.

“No thank you Lady Starshire,” I said formally, sending another wave of laughter through the surrounding women. I'd tried to ignore them or be rude once or twice, but mother had quickly put a stop to that, knowing I knew better.

It struck me as odd that every noble's last name had something to do with darkness, night, or some similar concept. Commoners on the other hand had names that were of course common. Mrs. Lutte's first name was Nancy, and I knew a few other off the servant's had similar ones. Perhaps there was something in the past that had to deal with darkness that was important, after all, the royals were the Penumbra family.

They kept going for awhile, but were winding down. Things had to be cleaned up, put away where they belonged, the staff subtly working in the background to keep the mess to a minimum. Out of the windows I would see buildings and land rather than the water and chill rain that had been our visuals for the last bit. The ship even stopped moving, with noise outside letting everyone know we were docking.

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Nobody rushed though. These women weren't the ones who needed to worry at the moment. There were people for cleaning up the mess and getting everyone's things off the boat. They wouldn't have much more to do until it was time to disembark, a moment heralded by the arrival of a new man to this space, otherwise reserved for ladies and their children.

The captain was an older man who carried himself with an almost physical weight. His back was ramrod straight and uniform maintained in a state of perfection. Even his short white facial hair was perfectly groomed, not a whisker out of place.

“Good afternoon ladies,” he said after removing his hat in a gesture of politeness. “I've come to inform you that the ship has docked and we will soon be ready for passengers to disembark. Furthermore to thank you for joining us once more. If you should have any further needs please allow one of my staff to know.”

After he left Starshire looked over at mother. “Well, I'll see you soon, and hopefully you too little Percival.” I didn't like that sort of a threat, but smiled, it wouldn't do to be rude. “Have to introduce him to my niece.”

Not long after our carriage made its way through the fog, wheels clacking over the cobbles as house after house passed us by. At first many of them seemed rather poor, like tenements, but slowly they got nicer and nicer. The people as well began poor, dirty, tired looking, in worn clothing, some barely even rags. The differentiation between the districts was clear, with small walled sections.

Walls had never fallen out of favor in this world. Back on Earth they'd gone the way of the dodo when guns had gotten big enough to smash them, but here that wasn't their primary purpose. No, here they were to keep out monsters, or at least contain them to sections should one area get invaded. Even if I'd not seen cities other than those we passed through on the way here I knew this. There was even a wall around our country estate, though it wasn't manned.

As the carriage rolled to a stop before the three story city home we owned I could see the others who'd brought our luggage. It would all need to be checked and seen to, but there was a certain slowness for my family. Servants would brig it here, checking the boxes to make sure none were gone before we did. These same people would help unpack, and all the heavy manual labor. It seemed excessive, the house alone was the size of a small school building back on Earth.

The driver opened the door for us, and the one to the house when we arrived. What greeted our arrival was nearly as stunning as anything I'd seen in this world before. On the right was a line of women, and on the left a matching one of men, twenty in all waiting there with the butler, ans what I assumed must be the housekeeper at their heads. It was around half of what we supposedly had at the larger house, but still insane for one family of three.

“Welcome home,” they all intoned as one.

We had to walk past, I suppose so that my parents could look them over. Each and every one was in a clean and organized outfit, even those who didn't have a particularly nice one. There was also a clear delineation, between those we'd interact with normally, and those we wouldn't. The end of the line had a boy who looked like he was sent to fetch things, a runners body and worn shoes on his feet, and a girl of maybe fourteen in a simple dress whose hands spoke of long work under hot water.

The air was still as our family passed. The head servants had gazes of steel, looking for anything out of place, warning their lesser coworkers against any misbehavior. Father seemed uninterested but mother looked at each and every one with a critical gaze, after all any home was her domain, and any who didn't meet her approval would be gone before sunset. Honestly I thought it was all show until we reached the end of the line.

“Mrs. Rider, who's this?” mother said as she looked at the last girl in the line.

The girl opened her mouth herself before snapping it shut, after all, she'd not be addressed.

The housekeeper walked over to us and began to speak. “Sinea Leeds my lady, the new scullery maid, hired last year as per your instructions.”

“Where from?”

“One of the poor houses ma'am. I know the mistress of the place from long ago and she assured me miss Leeds had no history of trouble. Just an orphan and quite willing to work.”

“Her work?” mother asked, still not speaking to the girl who was now white knuckling her hands to keep them steady and trying, and failing, not to tremble under the scrutiny. I couldn't imagine the idea of going back to a poor house was one she wanted to even entertain.

“Exemplary for where she comes from. Took to the training like a fish to water and no problems to speak of.” There was even a bead of sweat on the housekeeper's brow now, if she'd hired a girl who was unacceptable while the lady of the house was away there might well be trouble.

“Sinea.”

“Yes ma'am, uh, m'lady,” she stumbled. Sinea had a thick accent.

“I'll speak to you later.”

“Yes m'lady.”

“Speech needs work,” mother commented as we left.

This was a side of my mother I'd never seen, commanding, hard. Around me she'd always seemed stern, but never harsh, never mean, to that girl though, she'd spoken no kindness. Something which hit harder as I heard Sinea's words from the next room, sensitive ears were another perk of being a super-baby.

“Please help me ma'am, I can't go back, please,” she said through gasping breaths.

“Breathe girl,” the older woman replied. “Breathe, it'll be okay, the missus is hard, but she's not unfair. Everything will be fine, you'll see... Now the rest of you lot, don't you have work to do? Get the luggage out and put away, now, all of you, quickly.” I could hear the snap as she turned to anyone who might have been looking in on them.

Mrs. Lutte was sent to organize the nursery and my room while mother took me with her into the dining room. I got put down in a chair while she began to micromanage where everything was supposed to be, and which dishes would be used over which, depending on a number of factors I neither understood nor cared about. She also took the time to go over a few days worth of menus for food.

I sat there for awhile frankly completely stunned that I was being ignored. We were in a new place and everything so I really couldn't believe it. Certainly you'd think they'd have learned better by now, but I supposed some lessons bore repeating. Not long after that thought passed through my head did I see a moment of turned backs and quickly made my escape.