A Song of Silence

Chapter 68: Disrespect in thr Dark

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The High Queen greeted me with a cold smile as I bowed to her. I deserved it, very much so, but it shouldn't have hurt as much as I thought it would. Rising from my curtsy, I go to join Karasi at her table. It was just us, as it always had been. Nobody joined us and we were content to be the outcasts of the group. Nothing had changed in that regard, at least.

What did change, though, was quite a fucking lot. Karasi and I were usually beckoned over to the High Queens personal table at the beginning of the tea and we would converse quietly while scheming over the other attendees of the tea. Now, though she called over a different group of tittering ladies without a look in our direction. That was a deliberate snub if I ever saw one. Karasi noticed and looked over to me in confusion. I just shrugged my shoulders. The other noble ladies noticed as well. Before, Karasi and I had been protected by the High Queens influence. Now that it seemed we were out of her favor, well, they took to loudly talking about us at their tables. From the look Karasi gave me, this was only the start.

An agonizing two hours later, the Nobel ladies were permitted to leave. Karasi and I gladly left, too tired of the cutting remarks and sly smirks we were receiving from the other tables. It was enough to set your nerves on edge, and on edge we were. Unable to stop the watchful eyes that followed us, we escaped to our haven, the library, once more. No doubt it wouldn't help with our reputations as recluses, but we were too strung out to care at that point. "What in all the hells was that about?" Karasi asked outraged, "Why would the High Queen shun us like that. And out of the blue as well." She paces the library, enraged as I grab some books that I had stashed yesterday. "I mean, it is so unlike her to do such a thing!" She continues, her pacing getting even more angry.

"It was because of me," I say quietly as I set the stack of books on the table she had been pacing near. Karasi turns to me, an alarmed look on her face and asks, "What do you mean it was because of you?"

I nervously fiddle with my hands as I sign, We got into an argument the other day when I was summoned to meet with her. It didn't end well and that was the result.

Karasi studies me for a while before asking, "What was the argument about?"

I look everywhere, but Karasi as I sign, You know who it was about. Azazel. That's who it was about.

Confusion crinkles her brow, "But she seemed so happy just a few weeks ago when you two finally came to your senses."

I shrug my shoulders noncommittally, I guess she changed her mind. Karasi goes to speak again, but I cut her off, If it bothers you so, I can go speak to her tomorrow. I won't promise anything, but I will try to make sure there u is don't a repeat of today. Karasi nods in excitement and finally looks in the books I had placed on the table.

"Altreya's Rivers and Underground Terrain? Different Magics and their Rarity? The Magicians Guide to Look Away tricks?" She reads all the titles of the books I had chosen, confusion further marring her brow with every new title she set her eyes on. Once she was done reading them, she looks up at me and asks, "Why such a wide range of topics?"

I shrug my shoulders, Why not? It never hurts to know a little of everything. Standing up, I grab a book from the stack and place it in front of her, Here, read this one. It's interesting. Still doubting my recommendation, Karasi goes to roam the shelves, looking for something that peaks her interest. She comes back empty handed and settles down into the comfortable library chair with an aggravated huff. She grabs the book I had laid in front of her, Skilled Powders unknown to the Average Alchemist, and flips it over to a random page. Shaking my head at her frustrated antics, I turn back to the book I had been reading and continue my search of its contents. The book delved deeper into the cave systems of the continent, but it was disastrously boring to read. Shaking my head to clear it from the lingering tiredness, I get to work.

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It was a few hours later when I gave up reading the cave systems volume for the day. I was barely reading the words and my stomach growled every few minutes and distracted me. Karasi on the other hand was absorbed into the book I had suggested for her. She was so quiet, the occasional turning of the page was my only inclination that she was reading the book. I took that as a good sign and asked one of the maids to bring us our afternoon snack. We would be training in a few hours, so I asked her not to bring us anything too filling.

When the food arrived, I was appalled by the lack of nutritious food that had been set out for us. By the smell and the look of the food, we had been brought the oldest and unwanted food in the palace. It was no doubt another indirect snub from the High Queen and us apparently losing her favor this morning. Looking up at the maid, I saw her smirking, no doubt waiting for my enraged reaction to go and tell to the other maids waiting in the kitchen. I had no wish to act angry and I had eaten worse food before, but this wasn't just an attack on me. This was also an attack on Karasi. I would allow their disrespect to me, but never her. Never Karasi. Withdrawing the shader from the hidden pocket in my dress, I throw it at the offending maid and it scratches her cheek ever so slightly. She freezes in fear as I approach, my other dagger in hand.

"Sarah, right?" I ask quietly. Her eyes widen in shock and fear. She's probably wondering how I know her name. I have many sources other than Melanie that supply me information and one told me that I would have a maid named Sarah assigned to the library to spy on me. "I will tolerate disrespect to my name, but never to Lady Karasi's. You will go back to the kitchen and get us our regular meals or you will find yourself out of a job in the palace and your family business will find a sincere lack of customers." My sources had given me a background check on her family as well. They were the owners of an overpriced grocery in a small town near the capital. I could easily set up a grocery nearby with much cheaper hood that would ruin her family's business. She nodded frantically and rushed to take the food back to the kitchens. As she briskly walked away, I called after her, "Spread the word that the same fate will fall other maids that defy me Sarah." She stiffens, but doesn't stop as she practically runs out of the room.

I turn back to Karasi watching me carefully, admiration in her eyes. I adorn an innocent look on my face, What?

She smiles and says, "They will be wary to cross you now. They might even respect you now. It's a hard thing to earn among the maids, especially the older ones that have been here longer than you."

I just shrug and say, "I wouldn't allow the High Queen to disrespect you Karasi. You mean too much to me. I could stand her derision of me, but not you, never you."

Karasi just keeps on smiling at me, her face a mixture of confidence and satisfaction. "The High Queen will definitely be worried once she hears of this. She sent those maids to tear you down and make others lose respect for you."

I roll my eyes at her, "Well I know that." I pause for a moment before her final words sink in. "Wait, what do you mean worried?"

Karasi smiles as she explains, "You didn't act meek and let the insult that came with the food stand. You stood up for the both of us and gained yourself the respect of many of the maids back in the kitchen, all without screaming, scratching, or injuring anybody. You didn't just act like a Lady today. You acted like a Queen." My shock must have shown on my face because Karasi only laughs before returning to her book. A Queen? No, I hadn't acted like that, had I? And spilling blood, well there had been that small scratch on Sarah's face, but it had been a drop of blood. I told Karasi about Sarah and she only said, "Even better." I hadn't a clue what that meant and I wasn't sure if I wanted to find out.