A Servant Lost (Alys Book #1)

Chapter 14

The palace was in a constant state of rushing around the next day as servants prepared for the prince's coronation the following day, and waited on the needs of the many palace guests.  To escape all of the chaos, Alys had Rohan escort her a private dining hall to eat her morning meal.  Rohan entered the room with Alys and closed the door behind himself, leaving her other five guards out in the corridor.

The room was smaller than the other dining rooms Alys was used to, but she liked it this way.  A small door on the right side of the room could be seen, which Alys guessed must be how the servers got in to serve the meals.

A small table was set up in the middle of the room with only 4 chairs.  Alys moved over to it and sat down, motioning for Rohan to sit across from her.

"Have you eaten, Captain?" she asked.  Alys saw a young servant girl entered into the room from the door on the side and walk towards them.

"I did, my Lady. But I do believe that I will have something now too, if you don't mind."

Rohan sat across from Alys and flashed her a teasing smile.  He knew she would not mind him eating with her.  It was silly to suggest that she could mind. 

The servant had brought in some cold water and the morning meal.  When Alys thanked the girl for bringing their food, the girl looked back at Alys with a blank stare before bowing slightly and exiting the room again.

"That was strange," Alys remarked, looking after the young girl.

Rohan chuckled and jabbed at a sausage with his utensil, "I don't believe that she is must use to hearing words other than orders. She probably has never been thanked for anything in her life."

Alys nodded sadly- she understood that.  Though Lady Fendrel had been more than fair to her, Alys could not remember the woman thanking her very often, if at all.

"I had been told that the servants in this palace were treated quite well," Alys commented after she had managed to swallow a few bites of food, "And I definitely would not say that this is the worst place to be a servant. But it is not the best. At least, not down in the dungeons."  

"I believe the prince tries," Rohan replied, "He's just too busy. His father was in power for so long that such things as the treatment of servants was overlooked for some time. Most of the reeves and other men in charge have been in their positions of power for a while. They are used to King Althalos's ways; harsh and often cruel treatments if the servants do not obey and preform as they are expected to. The prince has tried to make things better, but I do not think he fully understands what most people are like. He gives a lot of people the benefit of the doubt that they are good people. Much like his mother, Queen Ayleth, did."

Alys listened intently to Rohan's words as he spoke, soaking up the information.  It made so much more sense once Rohan explained things to her.  She had never understood how Dastrehan could be so gentle and caring, yet his men could be extremely cold hearted and brutal.

Especially the night before in the gardens...

"If Queen Ayleth was such a caring and gentle woman, why did she marry someone like King Althalos?  And why does Leoford hate her so much?" Alys asked, completely confused by this fact.  She could not imagine marrying someone who had such a mean soul.

Rohan took a long swig of water before answering.

"I honestly don't know. I was in my teens when their royal wedding took place, and even once I became a guard, I was not usually stationed in the palace. But when I was, other guards would talk about how crazy a woman like Ayleth had been to marry such an angry man. But according to the talk among the servants, she had known the king when they were growing up, and she cared deeply for him. By marrying him, she had hoped to soften his anger and benefit him and the entire kingdom as a whole. And of course, Althalos could not go wrong by marrying such a beautiful young woman as Ayleth. He chose her over a princess from Catesh, you know. Not so smart for the overall relationship between Catesh and Tarkam, but I'm glad he did it. Only a year after they were married, the Queen lost a baby when she got deathly ill. No one saw her walking around the palace for months. Such a loss only made King Althalos an angrier man, and he spent a lot of time away from the palace for a while.  After a couple of years, Queen Ayleth had Dastrehan.  She was extremely happy, but she never completely got her health back. She spent as much time as she could with Dastrehan, and when the young prince was around the age of three, it came to light that the king had fathered another child with Ayleth's personal healer.  Ayleth was distraught over the news; she had considered her healer to be one of her only true friends. She was heartbroken, and she lost a lot of her so called "sparkle" that she had always had when she was happy. I don't actually know why Leoford hated her so. Ayleth did everything she could to make him feel a part of the royal family, though it must have pained her greatly to be around the physical evidence of her husband's betrayal almost constantly.  From what I saw, she always tried to treat Dastrehan and Leoford equally. Of course, she shared a special bond with her blood son, but she did try her best to share her love with Leoford as well. Dastrehan adored her, and when she died just shy of his 20th birthday, he was so upset that he did not even attend the celebration his father had thrown for him. It phased him for years. We were all.. pleasantly surprised when Dastrehan stepped up and took charge of the kingdom after his father's unexpected death. It has barely been two years and he has not even been crowned king, but he has proven to be a much better man then his father."