Chapter Four

All the maids and one of the house boys rotated for the lunch service, and today was Harmony’s day. It was one of the few tasks that she could work on improving her [Poise and Bearing] Focus on that straight spine, smooth walk, pleasant smile, and without needing to stop herself from looking awkward. She entered the large dining room, already set to handle all twelve of the masters of the manor, from Lady Coodly down to her favorite grandson Lord Tyler. Unless it was an official family gathering, usually only about half occupied the space for a meal on any given day. Today only Baccus, Tyler’s uncle by marriage, sat at the table, a news sheet in his hand.

With an eyebrow, she motioned to her serving partner. Today it was Jimmy. She guessed the transfer to the stables hadn’t happened yet. The young man shrugged slightly in response. Both kept their communication as subtle as possible in front of the master. It wasn’t a surprise with the events around the city. Whether you want to consider Prince Adric’s demise a funeral or a celebration, it certainly stirred up all levels of nobility and wealth to be more active. Tyler took off as soon as she gave him her measurements, which he’d insisted on double-checking for accuracy.

“May I serve you lunch, Sir Baccus?” Harmony asked as soon as she noticed his eyes taking a rest from his paper.

“Oh, yes. Since it appears that everyone is caught up in the current nonsense. The rags keep on speculating that the prince was poisoned or stabbed. I have it from good sources that the boy was dying before he arrived in our little starter town.”

Harmony did her best polite nod of acknowledgment since it was not like she cared how the poor boy died. “I’m sure you’re right.” She said as diplomatically as she could.

Baccus’s favorite pastime was to read the news rags and then brag about how much more well-informed he was than they were. While Harmony enjoyed dragging information from books, current gossip left a bad taste in her mouth because it wasn’t something she could avoid in the best of times.

Realizing he’d tried to brag to a servant, lacking any of the peers he normally conversed with. Baccus set his paper down on his plate. “Nevermind. I’ll eat out today. I could use the company.”

The houseboy and maid watched the man leave, then silently counted to three to ensure he was truly gone. “Let’s go tell the cook that lunch is canceled,” Jimmy said with a bit of a grin.

They walked together. “You think they’ll actually make you a stable boy?” Harmony asked.

“Plius might retire, and the synergy is good for me. I’m young enough, and there is no way I will evolve my profession by focusing on my cooking skill. If they don’t put me there, I’ll move on even if it means breaking contract.”

“And you’d leave just like that?” Harmony had her own plans, but they involved a bigger and less risky path than gambling on a good evolution. She’d seen the streets and never wanted to risk being without employment.

“Not everyone has a clear journey to the top. Perfect synergies. Head maid potential. Some of us must take risks if we want our dreams, Harm.”

Harmony fought to keep from correcting him. As one of the newer hires, Jimmy missed out on much of the grueling work and interactions she’d had to deal with. Crawling in attics, veiled insults about her class, taking the worst jobs, knowing that until she grew in strength, being put out would mean heading straight to the slums.

“Renee, lunch is canceled!” Jimmy announced joyfully.

“Whatever am I going to do with all this food?” The cook responded.

Jimmy swiped a pork chop from a tray and took a bite in response. “Call Bates, and we can have a little golden moment.” He answered with food still in his mouth.

Renee threw up her hands in defeat. “Fine.”

The times when the masters of the manor were all out of the house. The staff called these golden moments. They’d even nudge those who worked the night shift awake to see if they wanted to join in. It was an excuse to party and socialize, even if it was a restrained one. Someone always had lookout duty. Long ago, when Harmony had her first lookout, she’d been taught how to use a crystal ball to see in the distance.

Harmony chewed on her pork chop while the staff filled up the dining room table. She’d never made it out of a golden moment completely unscathed.

“We should have more princes die in our city.” Fel laughed as the redhead moved to take a second helping of the candy pudding.

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“Other princes don’t have otherworldly beauty,” Ambrosia answered.

“Are you telling me that you saw him? A lord’s looks are always exaggerated. Even Tyler gets called handsome.” Fel needled back.

“No, but.” Ambrosia started

Stu, a house boy, flung one of Baccus’s leftover news sheets between them. A sketch of the prince took up half the page. “Pretty enough. He’s dead. No ones going to win his heart. If he wasn’t a prince, he’d be fed to the dungeon like the rest of us. “

Harmony knew the sketch didn’t do even his corpse justice.

Rumors and gossip started to fly across the table. Plius confirmed he was considering retiring, which caused Jimmy to brighten up. Harmony knew that talk of leaving was mainly bluster, as he’d been hemming and hawing about retiring since she arrived. Tyler’s parents might return from the capitol. Ambrosia blushed when it was revealed she had her birds singing as a troupe at a local bar on her days off for extra coin and doing well with it.

“Harm, is it true that you aim to be the old dame’s new personal maid?” Renee asked.

“I don’t have the levels or skills,” Harmony assured her.

“That and Astel would kill you if the switch didn’t come about without her moving up somewhere, at the very least getting out of this level-cap of a city.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that. With the noises I heard coming from the dungeon. Our little Harm here aims for higher than simply being Coodly’s personal maid.” Jessica announced loud enough to quiet the other conversations at the table.

Harmony saw Bates’s face turn into a frown of disapproval. Not to say dalliances and scandals never happened between staff and masters. Still, if the head butler did find out such things were happening, the staff members were shuffled off quickly. “Ew. I’ve never. Tyler’s toys make all kinds of noises. “

“Sure they do,” Jessica responded, her voice dripping with disdain.

Jessica hadn’t been the worst to pick on Harmony in the past. Ever since the older woman returned from her trips to the capital’s dungeon stuck at her level, unable to evolve her class and profession, she’d gotten more venomous to everyone. Harmony knew she was low-hanging fruit.

“Jessica. it’s your turn to be the lookout.” Bates announced.

The Sun priest got up, making sure she passed close to Harmony. “I was his favorite once. He’ll grow bored of you like all his toys.” She hissed under her breath.

Harmony winced as much at the words as with the flash of heat the woman had sent with them.

Bates cleared his throat after the woman left the room. “Jessica will be leaving us in the spring. I’ve been trying to find a position worthy of her class and levels, but it has been difficult. I hope we can all find patience here.”

That statement sobered up the party for a minute. Less that Jessica was leaving and more about pointing out that if you stopped being able to progress, your value dried up, rather than a big bonus and new contract offer when you did evolve.

“Beer me!” Stu called out, and it was a party again.

“Ambrosia, what did you think of Prince Adric’s pet?” Harmony asked.

“Poor thing died with him too, didn’t it? A coatl must have been epically rare because I’ve never heard of one. My little birdies are all common.”

“You think the royals will bring it back to the capitol?”

“I can’t see why. It’ll probably be dumped into the dungeon like the rest of the dead. A mini-boss like that Wyvern corpse from a few years ago could be made. A few months of better loot and the chance to hit level sixteen would be nice. Then maybe I won’t need to travel out to advance in the summer.”

Harmony had forgotten Ambrosia’s class was hitting sixteen soon. Hazeldown’s dungeon wasn’t equipped to take most players to that level. You had to travel to reach twenty-four and evolve your class and profession. That was one of the reasons why the staff often rotated service when one of the masters traveled out. Chad and Alice were with Tyler’s parents now to do just that.

“I’d get out of the city if I had the chance,” Harmony told her friend.

A shrill whistle interrupted the rest of the conversation. Everyone froze. One of the masters of the manor was coming back. The explosion of movement that followed sent ripples of energy from inefficient or hurried use of skills. Plates flew from the table. Stable hands sprinted back to their stations. Harmony was already gathering bits of dust, debris, and splattered bits of food and drawing them into a pile. This was the closest thing to an emergency drill they had.

Less than a minute later, Harmony stood at the entrance to a now spotless dining room, focusing on [Poise and Bearing], the skill helping hide her nerves and anxiety. Jimmy stood on the opposite side of the door, working on his own breathing.

“Can you believe the impertinence of Claudette accusing me of using this moment to advance fashion? That boy was dead the moment he made his choice. It’s a miracle he lasted this long, even with all the resources pumped into him,” Lady Coodly told Astel as the pair strode in.

“Absolutely, my lady,” Astel replied

The lady paused after surveying the room. “Harmony, your work was elevated as always. The garden party tried to weed out my secret, but I’ll never tell. How’s the family doing?”

“They’re gone from the manor, taking advantage of the day’s events.” The maid answered with a curtsy.

“Oh, to be young. I’ll need a nap and for you to freshen up my look before I go out again. We’ll surprise them with something entirely different. Send for Ambrosia and her birds. They always make me feel more rested than any skill or drought.”

“Yes, my lady.”

It was still daggers from Astel’s glances as the old matriarch moved away.

Harmony couldn’t think of anything she could say or do to convince Astel that she was not after her job.