As they awoke, the dogs spotted the moving light. They barked briefly, their hackles up, then went running towards the new arrival.
"You mangy creatures!" Theus heard Letta's voice. "What's wrong with you? You haven't been destroying my kitchen all night!"
Theus rose to his feet and hurried over to separate the dogs from Letta, alarmed by her apparent unhappiness with the animals, and their apparent previous behavior to merit her scorn.
"My lady," he spoke up as he hurried through the dark corridors of the kitchen, "the dogs were with me last night. I don't believe they did any harm."
"Who the devil is that?" Theus heard Letta exclaim.
He approached her and saw her more clearly in the light of her lantern, her hair covered in a cap, a robe hanging casually open around her, until she spotted Theus and drew it closed.
"You're the new boy, the crippled one, aren't you?" she asked. "What's your name?"
"Theus, my lady," he stopped in front of her and called the dogs back over to him, then knelt to examine the hind leg of the injured dog.
"What happened to your limp?" Letta asked Theus.
He looked up from the dog’s leg. He hadn’t limped while approaching Letta, and he felt little pain anywhere in his body. He was using both arms and hands to examine the dog. His infections had been extraordinarily cured, pressed down to just bare hints of their former threats to his well-being.
“The remedies last night seem to have worked very well,” he answered.
“That well? Impossible! Let me see you,” Letta swung her lantern around and lowered it, then squatted next to him. With one hand holding the lantern close, her other hand touched his arm and traced the pale skin that had formerly been red and unhealthy, then she lightly traced her finger along the rapidly healing scab that covered the former slice in Theus’s arm.
She lowered her hand to touch his leg, but he found that his attention to her touch was distracted. Without a hand or a belt to hold her robe closed, Letta’s cover gaped open, revealing the light gown underneath. Theus felt his throat go dry and his pulse start to increase as his eye inadvertently stared at the revealed pale skin of her chest, and after a long moment of heavy breathing, he wretched his eyes away, and stared at the darkness over her head, desperately trying to avert his eyes from the fascinating view.
“Were you really even hurt yesterday?” Letta asked, unaware of Theus’s brief examination. She lifted her eyes from his leg. “What are you looking at?” she asked as she observed him staring into the darkness above her.
“Nothing,” he swallowed and replied, as he lowered his eyes to look at hers. “Yes, I was hurt yesterday, and so was this dog. I put some of my ointment on the dog last night, and I want to check his wound."
"You healed yourself and a dog? What are you doing down here at this time of the morning anyway?” she asked.
“I slept down here, with the dogs,” Theus answered in a lower voice, embarrassed to admit he had done so.
“Slept with the dogs?” Letta’s voice rose an octave. “Why did you do that? Why not go to, oh,” she suddenly recollected the events of the night before. “I didn’t give you a room last night, did I?”
“No, my lady,” Theus answered in an even lower voice, and he averted his eyes from hers, not wanting to emphasize or see her guilt in her eyes.
“But because you slept with the dogs, they stayed in place with you all night?” she asked in a lower voice.
“Yes, my lady. They were all around me all night long,” he agreed, looking at her once again.
“They have been such a terrible nuisance since Colandra stuck them in here a few nights ago. They’ve made a mess of the kitchen, and I’ve had to have a crew down here early in the morning just to clean up their disasters. This is such a relief!” she smiled at Theus.
“I am so sorry to forget to give you a room last night,” her voice was sincere. “Even though it turned out so well for me, I hope you know I didn’t intend to neglect you so badly. I’ve just had so many problems to deal with these past few weeks, since Colandra,” she paused, and didn’t finish her sentence.
Theus felt sympathy for the woman. She didn’t seem to bear any ill will towards the slaves that worked for her, he felt sure. He wanted to help her, especially since a few hints from her and others had indicated that the cold and distant Colandra seemed to be her opponent. He had heard and stored away a nugget of information that Creighton had mentioned the previous night when the two of them had been washing dishes together.
“My lady,” he began, “I heard that you had some workers injured in a fire? May I offer to try to heal them for you?” he asked.
“Heal the victims of the fire?” Letta’s eyes widened. “You have no idea how badly they were burned. They suffer such pain – I know that some of them wish they had died, or so they say during their dark hours.
“Your miracle cures can’t manage that type of healing, boy doctor,” Letta stood up, and tousled Theus’s hair affectionately, looked down at him thoughtfully for a moment, then she pulled her robe shut and picked up her lantern.
There was a noise from a door opening, and the dogs all began to bark, then rocketed away.
“Good morning, my babies,” a man’s voice spoke to the happy animals seconds later.
“It’s Mally, come to fetch the dogs,” Letta said. “Go see him and tell him you healed the injured one.”
“Are you coming?” Theus asked.
“Dressed like this?” Letta asked incredulously. “It’s bad enough you’ve seen me. I’ll go up to my room and prepare myself, then come back down. As soon as I return, we’ll get clothes for you and a room and a place to clean up, I promise you. I’ve got the time to do it since I don’t have to clean up after the dogs this morning, thank you.”
She gave Theus a light shove on the shoulder to send him off to meet the dog keeper.
“Who do we have here?” Mally asked.
“I’m Theus. I stayed with the dogs last night. I put some ointment on the injured dog’s leg and I think he’s much better this morning,” Theus advised.
“Is that so? You fixed up poor Larsey?” Mally knelt and looked at the dog, then stood again.
“Let’s go outside, boys,” Mally told the dogs. “Let me see how he looks,” the man said in an aside to Theus, then went outside behind his pack of animals.
They went down the stairs, and Mally suddenly took off at a sprint, immediately followed by the full foursome of dogs, running around his heels and barking as they all ran in a tight cluster. He stopped and instantly reversed course, he and his lantern light running back towards Theus, as the animals belated turned themselves and raced after him.
“Larsey kept right up with them all!” he exclaimed. “What did you say you did for the old fella?”
“I put some ointment on his leg to treat the infection he had,” Theus answered.
“Larsey’ll be out there hunting with the rest of the crew this afternoon. I was sure we were going to have to leave him behind. You’ve done a really fine thing by the dog. If I can ever return the favor, you let me know,” Mally slapped Theus on the shoulder, then whistled for the dogs and led them into the darkness at the back of the palace.
Theus felt pleased, and a smile creased his face as he climbed the stairs and returned to the kitchen, only to be confronted by two people holding lanterns. He recognized one of them as Colandra, the unsympathetic assistant steward of the palace who had spoken so cruelly to him the day before. The man with her was an older man who Theus did not know.
“Who are you?” Colandra asked in a demanding voice. “What are you doing here? What’s happening in this kitchen?”
“My name is Theus, my lady,” he answered hesitantly. “I’m a,” he paused before he forced himself to say the word, “I’m a slave working in the kitchen for Letta.”
“You’re one of her slaves, and she has you down here all alone at this time of the morning? That’s disgraceful,” Colandra criticized
Letta.
Though he didn’t understand the politics of the palace, he sensed that Colandra had the power to make Letta’s life unhappy. And Theus also knew that Letta seemed like a decent person, whereas all that he had seen made him think Colandra was not. He would stand up for Letta.
“But Lady Letta has already been down here to inspect the kitchen this morning. She just stepped out a minute ago,” Theus said stoutly.
“An inspection. And she left the kitchen in its present condition? Let’s take a look around, shall we, my lord Hampton?” Colandra asked her companion.
“Lead on, Colandra,” he said mildly.
The assistant steward took the lead, holding her lantern high to cast light widely through the kitchen areas they strolled in. She walked in a beeline back towards the corner where the dogs had slept. She looked along the cross aisles as she walked, slowing at each to look along their lines, slowing as she continued to walked and found only organized and clean spaces throughout.
“Where are the dogs?” she spoke loudly when she reached the back corner and found only the nest of blankets that Theus and the animals had shared.
“Mally came and took them, just before you arrived, my lady,” Theus explained.
“They were here all night? That’s impossible; there’s no sign of any muss,” Colandra insisted.
“Lady Letta keeps the kitchen clean and tidy,” Theus offered with just a trace of satisfaction in defending his mistress.
“What’s that on the counter?” Colandra asked as she spotted Theus’s bowls of healing remedies several feet away. She glared at Theus, dissatisfied with his answers during the inspection of the kitchen, then she stalked over towards the bowls on the counter, the two men following.
“Why would this be out at this time of the morning? It should be put away,” she said insistently.
“It held a healing mixture, an ointment that we applied to one of the dogs before it left,” Theus explained once again.
“You even healed the dogs you sheltered here? That’s quite a service!” spoke up the man with Colandra for the first time on the tour.
“Perhaps I should bring my pets, or maybe my children to Letta’s kitchen for doctor visits,” he chuckled.
“Let’s be on our way Colandra,” he turned to his associate. “These spot inspections are a novel idea, and it’s good to know that Letta keeps her kitchen and her staff so well organized at all times, though I dare say she should spend a bit more to clothe her slaves better.”
A door opened, and a light entered the kitchen.
“Theus, are you down there?” Letta’s voice called.
“I’m here with visitors, my lady,” Theus called loudly to answer with a warning.
“Visitors?” Letta hurried across the kitchen and joined the group.
She was properly dressed, Theus saw, no longer wearing a cap or a loose robe.
“We just made a spot inspection, Letta,” the man spoke first.
“My lord Hampton,” Letta belatedly recognized who the man was next to Colandra, and she paled in the lantern light. “We have tried our best to run the kitchen as well as possible.”
“I must say, you seem to do quite well,” Hampton observed. “Your slave here tells us that you even have been healing the nobility’s dogs. That’s quite a service; I’ll be sure to mention that in court,” he smiled. “But be prepared for an onslaught of animals to proceed towards your doorstep as a result.”
“Yes, your lordship,” Letta said faintly with a slight bow.
Theus belatedly realized that Hampton was a person with some connections. Colandra had brought him to the kitchen to try to display poor management by Letta, but the plan had backfired.
“There is one thing that concerns me though, Letta,” Hampton added.
“I see that your boy here likes to run about mostly naked, and I suppose it’s your decision to make, but I think you should perhaps spend a bit more of your budget to make the boy dress a bit more in keeping with the standards of the palace. I shudder to think what the nobles would say if they saw one of ours so deprived of necessities,” he told Letta. “I’ll arrange for an allotment of funds to be provided for the slaves’ wardrobe; will that be suitable?” he asked.
“Yes my lord, I’ll see that the boy had better things this morning,” Letta humbly agreed, though Theus thought he saw the glimmer of a smile cross her face.
“Very well. All in all, we’ve found the kitchen to look quite well, and of course, the king and the residents of the palace continue to find the food you serve to be quite admirable. Our compliments to the chef and to you. Let’s be on our way, Colandra,” Hampton said, and he lifted his lantern to light the way out as the two of them walked away.
Letta stood stock still until the lights of the visitors disappeared from sight. Then she set her lantern down on the counter as she whirled and grabbed Theus by both shoulders.
“Tell me everything that just happened! I need to know every detail!” she exclaimed.
Theus paused to recollect, and then recounted what had happened from the time he had gone out the door with Mally and the dogs to his return and the inspection and then the discussion of treating the dog’s injury.
“And tell me again what Hampton said,” Letta still held a tight grip on Theus’s shoulders after hearing his recounting of the story of the visit.
“He said he might bring his own pets and children here to be healed, and you keep things here in the kitchen well-organized at all times,” Theus repeated.
There was a sound from the other end of the kitchen once again.
“It’s the morning shift arriving to start the day,” Letta said. “And I’m sure they’re all delighted to have not been woken earlier to clean up after the dogs.
“Let’s go get some clothes for you and find a room for you,” she squeezed his shoulders affectionately, then finally released him, and led him down to meet the others.
The ovens were already being lit to warm for the baking, and a variety of tasks were being performed as a number of lanterns were brought to life.
“Were there no dogs here, my lady?” one of the bakers asked as Letta and Theus arrived.
“Let me introduce our newest slave, Theus. Theus arrived yesterday, and he actually slept down here with the dogs, so they never went rampaging through the kitchen last night. In fact, Colandra brought the head steward, Hampton for an early morning inspection, and they found the kitchen in order!” Letta crowed with pleasure.
“Then we’re all much obliged to young Theus, it seems,” the baker smiled politely at the new team member.
“Are there rooms available in the better wings of the servants’ quarters?” Letta asked. “We need to give the boy a place to stay.”
“The south wing has several rooms available,” the baker responded quickly. “Some have windows looking out at the gardens.”
“Are there any rooms in the north hall?” Theus quickly asked. He recollected Creighton’s recommendation that the rooms in the south wing grew too warm in the sunlight.
“We’ll go look through the north hall after I’m sure all the morning duties are on track,” Letta told Theus. “And we’ll go to the laundry to get some clothes for you. You go sit over there and wait for a few minutes.”
Theus obediently walked away from the small gathering of staff, conscious of the stares the women on the staff had given him as he strolled about without any shirt. He sat down and leaned back, watching the members of the kitchen crew talk to one another as others continued to work. He was tired; sleeping with the dogs on the floor hadn’t been the most refreshing rest he had enjoyed, and his body needed energy as it continued to enjoy the healing that his medicine was promoting.
Theus closed his eyes, and he soon began to doze. Letta observed his sleeping posture, and continued her activities around the kitchen, until two hours later, after the sun had risen and the rest of the palace had begun to creak into action. Then she walked over to him and lightly tapped h
im on the shoulder, pulling him out of a dream about Coriae and sailing.
He looked about in confusion, until he recognized Letta and recollected his circumstances and situation.
“Let’s go to the laundry and get some clothes for you,” the chief of the kitchen suggested. Theus quickly rose from his stool and followed her. They left the kitchen, his first time to do so, and they entered a wide hallway where several servants seemed to be pursuing multiple tasks, carrying clothing and sheets and cleaning supplies and even furniture.
Letta led him down a set of stairs, and they passed through a doorway into a steamy room where large tubs of hot water were being stirred and prodded by numerous servants – boys and girls who Theus guessed were slaves.
“How many slaves work for the palace?” he spoke to Letta for the first time on the mission.
“Good lord! Who knows?” she replied. “We’ve got a dozen and a half just for the kitchen. Look around here- there are probably three dozen who work in here. You add the maids and the coopers and the stable hands and the others, perhaps four or five hundred, I would guess,” she told him. “What did you expect?”
“I didn’t know. I don’t know. I’ve only been a slave for a day, but I was an indentured servant for a few weeks, and then an apprentice,” Theus rambled, as he looked around.
They approached a desk where a woman was looking at a board with several slots cut into it, and slips of paper sticking out of the slots.
“How can I help you?” the woman asked without looking at them. She pulled two pieces of paper from one slot, and distributed one to a different slot, while she slapped the other piece down on her desk.
“We want some clothes for this boy,” Letta explained.
“Does he have any in the laundry?” the laundry worker asked, still studying her papers instead of her customers.
The Deadly Magician (The Memory Stones Series Book 2) Page 5
