Author's note: Thank you for reading! Please vote, comment and like! Sworn To Raise is the first in my YA series - Courtlight. With that, I'll be publishing the entire book on Wattpad but if you don't want to wait you can grab a copy for $0.99 on Amazon today.
Copyright belongs to Terah Edun.
Chapter 2
Absentmindedly, Ciardis noted that the creak on the door could be fixed with a little oil to loosen the stiff hinges at the base. She'd tell Mary later.
The white-haired woman stood near the window, staring at a piece of parchment—a letter. She can read, Ciardis noted enviously. She had always wanted to be able to, but couldn't afford to pay for the schoolmarm's private lessons, and as an orphan, the local villagers who paid the schoolmarm’s yearly wages for the biweekly classes wouldn't let her attend.
The woman raised an elegant hand and gestured for Ciardis to come in. "I'm so glad you came," said the woman. "This mix will do wonders for my costumes."
"Costumes?" asked Ciardis.
"Yes," said the woman with a laugh. "You didn't think they were battle garb or something, did you?" Blushing, Ciardis kept silent. That was exactly what she had thought. Military uniforms were often red to hide bloodstains.
The woman stepped forward, her dress swishing on the polished wooden floors. Pressing her finger to her lips she looked at Ciardis with studied nonchalance as she eyed her up and down. It made Ciardis feel like a bug under a farsight lens and she struggled not to squirm under the attention. Ciardis held up the red mix, hoping to bring the woman's attention back to the reason she'd come.
Taking it deftly, the woman said, "Have you always been a laundress?"
"Yes," said Ciardis. "As long as I can remember."
"Nothing else?" asked the woman.
"No," replied Ciardis, a bit resentfully. Heavens, she'd been lucky to get this job. No one wanted to hire a girl with no family ties.
Coyly the woman tilted her head, showing off her smooth neck and beautifully draped curls in a practiced look, "And is that all you've ever wanted to be?"
"Of course not," Ciardis snapped. "But there aren't many jobs open to an orphaned girl, now are there?"
The woman's eyes flashed as she laughed and said, "Ah, so you do have some fire in you!"
This time, Ciardis met her eyes dead on and said, "If you'll pay me what was promised then our agreement will be done, milady. I should be getting back to my quarters.”
"How would you like to do what I do?" the woman asked.
"Seeing as I have no idea what it is you do, milady, that would be hard to know."
"My dear," the woman responded grandly, "I am a companion."
Ciardis blanched and almost fell down as she scrambled to lower herself into a curtsy. She cursed inwardly at herself for her awkwardness. "M-my apologies, milady. I-I didn't know. I expected…I mean, I didn't know what a companion looked like."
As Ciardis raised her eyes, she noted that the woman was looking at her curiously. "Yes, well, we don't always go around advertising ourselves," she finally responded. "You may call me Lady Serena."
