Chapter 29. Stealthy As A Ghost
Elsewhere in the castle, Lord Easton was restlessly waiting for his fresh towels to shower up and freshen up prior to his meeting later on with the Raven Queen. Where he would formally pitch the benefit of a union between one, if not both, of her daughter's and his son's.
Loris and Lucas had used up their supply and taken them to the Royal baths, where they had decided to have an enjoyable and leisurely soak. Where were they reviewing their thoughts on Seraphina as a potential mate and the Raven kingdom as a whole, and how the lunch introductions had gone?
The Eurasian King had waited patiently for his towels for a while now, but the light of day was all but gone from the grey sky – now as dark as it would get. 'How long do these servants take?' He wondered, incredulous at the length of time fresh towels were taking. The lanterns in his room had flickered on with a strange, dark grey coloured flame, a magic that the Raven's used to light their homes. Including in the castle, to Easton, it felt eerie and foreboding even to this day. He had always put this down to Lady Nox being a master at psychological warfare, pressure, and fear without actually having to use any of her power... and powerful in her own merits, she had the power and strength of a King by her own accord and skill.
Lord Easton had intended to start off his negotiations with her, using gentle persuasion. However, it would certainly never be beyond him to begin to bring up... calculated errors the Raven Queen had made in the past. Not just regarding judgment, but regarding decisions that no other harpy nation would review lightly if they were to be found out.
Lord Easton doubted that the Queen would find any way of refusing his offer. Before he had even left his kingdom with both of his sons, it had been decided that he would leave Lady Nox no avenue of refusal. Even if she tried her damnedest.
Fed up of waiting on the arrival of his towels, he went in search of any servant – least not that navy hue servant that had told him, "She would bring them right away." A displeased frown creasing his face as he left his room.
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Meanwhile, the dark-scarlet hued servant girl, Lyla, had brought two large water jugs in each hand to Lord Fielder and Master Fenn's designated quarters.
She mentally reviewed, 'This is the... Tawny Owl Clan's King and Prince."
"Thank you so much," Fenn smiled softly, with an immediately relieved expression, turning towards the area where the Tawny Lord had passed out on a bed.
Lyla sensed this young tawny's gentle nature immediately and softened towards him in response, "Is... Lord Fielder alright?" A strange scent mix of soap and sick clung to the room, as much as it did to young Master Fenn. Eliciting a sympathetic tone from the servant girl. "Would you like any further assistance?"
Prince Fenn sighed, "It is my fault for getting too caught up in conversation with Princess Seraphina."
This surprised Lyla.
Had the gentle Tawny Prince been looking at her, his completely black and rounder eyes – tawny's had no eye whites, unlike any other harpy – he would have picked up this servant's surprise by her reaction immediately and inquired further, but... he had never seen it. Too busy tending to his dear old drunken father.
Instead, he continued with his words after pausing, "I should have been watching him closer, especially having tasted such good blood wine that you kindly provided, I understand it myself… and I am not partial to it the way that Father- er, Lord Fielder is." As he said this, he began to walk further into the quarters, over to where the Lord lay passed out – now freshly showered thanks to Prince Fenn.
Lyla followed him in, as he had not dismissed her. Her professional response was to sense the needs – did Lord Fielder require medical assistance? She wondered who the most available medical personnel in the castle would be at this minute, if not the nearest, before she even witnessed him. Once she had, at a mere glance, she was reassured that the harpy Lord had simply just had too much of that wine for his older age.
'Even King's get drunk and have hangovers,' She thought, amused. Holding in her chuckle.
"Master Fenn, the Royal Baths aren't far from your quarters. You likely may have smelled the scent of fresh steam earlier? Why not allow yourself to relax? I would be happy to show you where to go. Do you need any towels?" This last part she uttered after her gaze fixed on the towels lying crumpled and used by the bed the Lord was positioned on.
The Tawny Prince hesitated before he answered. His gaze fixed on his inebriated father, but if he wakes… will he be in a confused state? Was his main concern.
"…perhaps…" was what his lips uttered. Using the shower in their quarters to wash vomit off of Lord Fielder was taxing.
Lyla began to pick up the used towels, some covered in sick and other uncertain bodily fluids. The maids basket was nearby and so she placed the towels into that. Until her nose alerted her to a large wad of bedding which had been stripped from another bed, somewhere in these quarters. She began to add pick them up when Master Fenn noticed and rushed over to assister her. Picking them up before she could.
"Let me help you, there!" He insisted. Placing the wad into the basket.
As Lyla although new, wasn't used to any assistance from the Raven Royalty, and had been told never to expect it. Instead, she had been cautioned to expect the opposite. She eyed him strangely for a moment before accepting, "very well."
Leading the Tawny Prince out the door of the quarters, heading to the servant stairs, unbeknownst to Lyla, he had very recently sat listening to Seraphina talking to someone. He followed the full way, hesitating slightly once they got to the stairs but shook it off and carried on anyway. Master Fenn didn't want to make it known that he had been here before and certainly not that he had eavesdropped – this, he was aware, was not as much appreciated by other harpy cultures as it was to owls. Thus, he decided it was best hidden and kept to himself.
Lyla never noticed his hesitation at the very stairs he had sat. Too focused on her task at hand and being professional in front of visiting royalty. She was already moving down to the washing room.
"No one in this household has ever helped a servant before, thank you." She praised the Tawny Prince. Truly appreciative and surprised by his conduct.
He chuckled lightly and looked around to see if the owner of the older voice from earlier was around; they were not. To Lyla, he just looked sweetly nervous in a boy-ish way, and she assumed that he was just naturally uncertain about being in such a lowly place as a high-born royal, "It is my pleasure, you helped me with water for Father earlier."
Lyla smiled and grabbed a few fresh towels of varying sizes in a bundle, enough for a comfortable bath, and handed them to the young tawny male – she liked this one. In her heart, she hoped that maybe... just maybe, he might become mates with one of the Princesses. 'Either of them would be so lucky with a political match like him... Sweet, patient, and loyal to family.' That would be the business of the Queen. Who would finally be allowed the privilege of either of her precious daughters' hands?
All of the castle staff this week, in particular, were for a first wave of foreign delegates of hopeful bachelors, accompanied by a royal entourage of some variation. Next week... next week was the first wave of local bachelors. It had only just begun for the Princesses, and the Queen was weighing diplomacy and ruling with the advantages of each possible match. Everything was meticulous, and the Queen demanded excellence, or it was considered failure.
'That young Prince Fenn with his sweet boyish charm... He would be good for either one of them.' She thought, 'He holds a true King's kindness. It is a shame he is the Tawney Clan's second son.'
The Prince took the towels off of her, she grabbed more for herself, and some new bedding. She was going to find that bed that needed remade and fix it while the Prince had his bath. He realised what she was doing and this time did not stop or offer to assist – he had never made a bed in his life before now, and wouldn't know where to start.
With a respectful consideration and gaze of approval, he thought, 'That is true servant's work. A type of magic, and not my place to interfere.'
With that, they left the laundry room together, as the Tawny Prince took up her offer and formally asked her to show him to the baths.
On route there, as they were walking down one of the hallways, both he and Lyla spotted a curious crumple of towels. To Lyla's professionally trained eye, they were fresh towels, just washed, abandoned, and left strewn in the middle of the hallway.
The dark ruddy servant harpy gasped at the shockingly unusual sight, almost losing grip of her towels but quickly rectifying her balance, preventing that from happening. She rushed over to them while holding the new set of laundry and towels.
'Who dropped these?!' Lyla's mind raced, 'Maven's gone home… was this Bren? Did something happen further with Bren and the Queen?? Or had the newcomer, Auro, done something to displease Her Majesty?'
Curious but cautious, the Tawny Prince approached the crumpled towels behind her. Surveying the surroundings… just as he bent down to pick up some of the towels, that's when both he and Lyla heard the same call for help, emanating from one of the larger ornate doors, close to where these towels had been dropped.
From the scream alone, Lyla could not tell which of the fellow household workers it was, but instinctively, she both wanted to help and also get as far away from that door as fast as she could.
"What is going on in that room??" The Tawny Prince's demeanor had changed from boyish and cute to a protective stance, shielding Lyla, although she might only be a servant; he was a guest. His face showed serious concern and concentration as he slowly approached the door. He couldn't see through the doors with his gaze, although he wished he could. The screams invoked a panic in the servant girl and emboldened the Tawny Prince to take some type of action, as per one of the laws within the Owl Code of Conduct:
Owl Code of Conduct: Law 9. Assist where there are onerous situations for any other Harpy.
A faithful student to implementing the Owl Code of Conduct, Master Fenn flung the door open at lightning pace.
Squaring his broad shoulders at the sight in front of him, he was still shocked, but he was trying to block the view of what he had seen from Lyla. His own face paling considerably more, and more as those big black round eyes of his seemed to grow larger, as he took in the scene…
Curious as to what had caused the Tawny Prince such astonishment, Lyla moved to try to see herself… Peeking under one of his sides.
As she got to the doorway, behind Master Fenn... although, without warning, and already assessing the situation, he had rushed into the room.
The splayed fan of a male peacock tail was the first thing that caught Lyla's gaze, a sight never before seen in this castle, so it was a surprise; this was quickly washed away by a replacing sense of dread… she looked towards a crumpled form that Prince Fenn now protectively blocked the Peacock Prince from.
The black wings of the individual behind him... they were a Raven's. Those were all that Lyla caught a glimpse of before the Tawny Prince's large, dark brown mottled wings, curtained over the individual, "WHAT… DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING, PEACOCK?!" He boomed. In a voice that commanded and seemed too mature for this young Prince. Royalty was raised very differently, and Lyla knew that best, so they surprised them at every turn and situation.
At his loud voice, another individual had heard it… another Owl... Lord Easton. Who came running, initially thinking it was the Tawny King, Prince Fenn's father. He, too, stopped. Pausing at the same crumpled towels, and silently entered the room, joining behind the ruddy servant. He gazed into the scene in the room before him with a disturbed look, which quickly subsided to an analyzing and calculating surprise.
Had Lyla not looked round, she would never have noticed he was now standing there. For his large size, he was terrifyingly stealthy. As she considered this, she realised that she had not heard Master Fenn's steps behind her earlier. Are all owls as stealthy as a ghost??
The loud hiss from the Peacock Prince broke her thoughts and everyone in the room's thoughts. She returned her gaze to the scene in front of both her and now, Lord Easton.