Waking up the next day I woke up with tension in my shoulders and stood up dressing. I rang the bell when I was ready and waiting in the lounge. Angela showed up and looked at me expectantly. “Please bring me to the master study once more.” I grabbed the letter bag that I was given and brought it with me to the office.
The room was significantly cleaner than the previous day and I was thankful to anyone that was responsible. “Thank you Angela, when breakfast is ready please let me know if Sir Ermine is attending. I plan to prepare some invitations for appointments on his behalf. He can get the honor of delivering these missives. I’m sure they are important.”
I sifted through some of the letters for their destinations and began to write the most formal requests for them to come and enjoy a meeting with Advisor Ermine. I worried that my wording was outdated as it had been some time since I had done something so important. I was at least proud of my penmanship though. Setting the different letters ready I left requests for times and dates empty for the good Advisor to complete on his own.
Good day,
Duke Ursal wishes you great health and fortune under the rule of our great King. There are things the Ursal family must discuss with you at your earliest convenience with our Advisor Tracey Ermine, who will be representing the Ursal duchy on the family’s behalf. There are also missives we must deliver to you from the good Duke who regretfully cannot come to the capital of our fine kingdom at this time.
May the gods watch over you and bring you prosperity. We request you meet with us the day of…
As I finished the third letter of the five I needed to complete a gentle knock sounded at the study’s door. Angela opened the door and curtsied to me, “Breakfast is going to be served and Sir Ermine is ready to see you at the table.”
”Thank you so much for letting me know, I’ll be right down.” I grabbed the letters and stood to head down to the dining room. I hoped that Tracey was going to be pleased to fill out the rest of the letter so that he could arrange meetings with these families. Walking down the stairs I heard the boisterous laughter of Tracey echo around the room.
Angela escorted me to the dining room and I noticed once more that Tracey sat at the head of the table. After hearing that he wished to be the steward of the family I better understood that part of him was living in a fantasy where he was. I approached and sat much closer to him this morning.
”Good morning, I have taken the liberty to write some invitations for some meetings for you so that you would have the honor of delivering the missives in a much more formal environment. I would also like to offer my services as a minstrel to entertain your guests with some light music after your meetings.”
Tracey eyed me as he stroked his smooth shaven chin. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. I could make quite the impression on others if you are truly as good a minstrel that earned my lord’s recommendation to the court.” He eyed me critically, his friendliness having worn off a little with a night’s rest. “I would like to hear your skills beforehand. I’ll summon a runner that can deliver the invitations, why send a minstrel that doesn’t know the city and where the families live? That would be a silly thing.”
I bowed my head, “I would be honored to entertain you later today. I’ll play you some music on my lute. I will hold off on singing as I don’t think I will be doing that during your meeting.”
The doors from the kitchen opened and the conversation ended. The smell of bacon and shredded potatoes wafted through the air as the large plates were delivered in front of us. A set of poached eggs, friend and shredded potatoes, a small bundle of bacon, and a smattering of fruit. Truly a large breakfast, I would be able to skip lunch with this and focus on breaking through the code today before I was set to entertain Tracey.
I was still amazed that such a thin man as Tracey could pack away this much food and not develop a gut like most nobles and I wondered if there was something wrong with him that could be causing it. That or he had one of those bodies that could consume copious amounts of food and burn through it all like a hummingbird through sugar water.
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The food was well seasoned and perfectly cooked. The potatoes were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The eggs had yolk that spilled out like liquid gold and I dipped my bacon in it to coat the meat to give it that rich flavor of the egg. The grapes that came with the meal were sweet and gave just the right way to my teeth as I carefully removed the seeds.
Tracey was silent as he consumed his food one type of serving at a time. Keeping each part of the dish to itself. We finished around the same time and Tracey gave a mighty sigh when he was finished. “I’m going to have to go and compliment the chef about this meal. I’ll have to thank her personally.”
The glimmer in his eye spoke of something else that he planned to do with the chef and I hid the smirk spreading on my face, “Don’t forget to summon a runner after that. We will need this to follow the wishes of Duke Ursal. I know that you’ve been working so hard to take care of the family’s duties.”
“Truly, why don’t you go ahead and take care of charging one of the servants to go find a runner while I thank the chef for the meal. I’ll be busy this afternoon so let me go fill these out quickly with times and days I am available and wait for responses. Don’t forget to include your letter of introduction as well. Then we will parade you in front of the other houses so that they already know of your skill and greatness. What forms of entertainment do you do?”
”I am quite proficient in playing the lute and singing but I truly excel at telling stories to others. Some even say they can see what I’m talking about as I tell them I evoke such emotion and images in their minds. It is my greatest gift.”
”Hmmm, telling a story to an entire court might not be the best idea. Everyone has such different tastes. However if we get some private meetings we may be able to send you to their homes and have you entertain them for a night so that your reputation can grow. Some lesser nobles that just broke through into the court were telling of your skill in music and not of such tales.” Tracey steepled his fingers as he finished his meal. A bowl of lemon water was brought out and he started to rinse the residue off his hands with a rag. The same amenity was given to me and. I followed the custom best I could.
With clean hands Tracey waved a hand at me, “You go ahead and talk to the other servants and have them send for a runner. I’ll be busy for the next little while with filling out these requests for now. I’ll be in my private office.”
He seemed disgruntled as he picked up the letters I had prepared and left the room. I looked for Angela while I waited for him to complete the task. Instead of summoning her with a bell or a call I decided I would explore the more mundane areas of the house. I knew it wasn’t proper but I had to get my mind off the code that was ruining my mood as it tumbled around in my brain mocking me.
The hallways were considerably more narrow and if two people wanted to pass one another they would have to turn sideways and hope their arms weren’t full. I stepped into the sweltering kitchen through one of the doors when no one was looking and the aroma of spices, heat, and lingering tinges of the meal we just had wafted through the air and I was almost enticed to ask for seconds if not for how full I already felt. The kitchen was well appointed with a bread over, several stoves and a massive butcher’s block in the center of the room. All sorts of pans, pots, and utensils dangled on hooks spread throughout. There was little to no organization that I could figure out amongst it.
I got a look at the woman Tracey Ermine desired so much he strayed from his wife for. She was rail thin compared to the plumpness that most royals looked to maintain as signs of their wealth and health. She had straw blonde hair pulled back in a tight bun and wore a heavily stained apron. Her shirt was flawlessly clean though and showed no signs of stains on the sleeves like improper cooks. She wore a long ankle covering skirt and had hard soled shoes by the sounds of them clattering about.
She saw me and spun to bow, “Oh I didn’t see you there. You shouldn’t be back here in the servant’s area. Please let me escort you back.” I got a look at her face and it was half covered in a massiver burn scar that marred her left cheek and twisted one side of her lips up in a permanent smirk. Her blue eyes showed the doubt of a woman who no longer thought she was beautiful. My measure of Tracey shifted, was he perverse about the scar? Did he know her before it and already had love for her? She noticed my eyes lingering on her cheek and turned it away to hide it from my gaze.
A hint of shame crawled up my neck, “I was just curious about who cooked us such a fine meal and wanted to come thank you myself. It was one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten.”
She didn’t blush and instead curtsied, “Well if that is everything please let me guide you back to the proper area for you. I’m sure someone like Angela could help you retrieve or summon anyone in the house for you to talk to next time instead of coming by yourself.”
She walked past me and kept her scar out of view, twisting her head to hide it. I stopped myself from assuring her that she was still beautiful, she knew that enough from Tracey. I didn’t notice any signs of her having a child growing inside her yet. If she was right she had eight more moon cycles before she would give birth. The memories of being a midwife and helping countless children come into this world flooded me and I longed for that simple life I had. Maybe I would forgo a slumber after the next calamity and cling to wakefulness. Give myself the chance to live those simple lives again if I could.
My thoughts were dispersed like dust blown away as I emerged back into the foyer and Angela stood before me. “I see you were exploring the servant’s areas. I ask you to refrain from such things as we run a tight schedule and require clear hallways for that. Pardon my rudeness with this request.”
Nodding my understanding I felt suddenly like I was in a gilded cage and had no room to explore the ways I would have if I was of lesser standing currently. Though I might not have been allowed to even stay in this home. “Please summon a runner. Advisor Ermine will have letters to send to the other houses and I don’t know how to navigate the streets well enough to do it on my own. If possible please fetch me a map of the streets.
She curtsied and hustled off. Despite the hard soles of the two women they moved silently and glided along with practiced grace. I took a deep breath through my nose and fought off the sighs I found more and more frequent. “Patience, I will be able to show my skills soon enough. Not everything can be so quickly arranged.”
Time to look at the journals and attempt to break this confounded code once more. “Should have asked Angela to fetch me a pitcher of refreshments.” I had to drag myself back to the task.