Chapter 20. Needs and Whims Catered For
After the formal late lunch organised by Lady Nox, the Raven Queen. She had dismissed everyone to enjoy the castle grounds at their leisure. There was nothing off limits but advised her guests that the cellars were mainly used for storage places by the household help and that she couldn't imagine that there would be of anything of interest to guests of their calibre down in such places.
The only outlier to this point would be the wine cellar. Lord Fielder raised this point, as he had thoroughly enjoyed the Raven Queen's hospitality and more particularly the blood wine which… as rumours among the Harpy Clan's went, that the Raven Kingdom had a treasure trove wine cellar full of it.
While Lady Nox was glad that Lord Fielder had enjoyed the hospitality, it irked her that he should feel the need to verify such gossiping himself.
The position that she had presented the Tawny harpy with, on this point of his, was that, "If the household servants failed to do their jobs and were not quick enough in satisfying the needs and whims of all of the esteemed and honoured guests, then they were failing their duties and would be personally seen to accordingly – by herself." This was a promise that she gave to the Lord. In hopes that it would satisfy him, and it did seem to work.
Lord Fielder quietened and nodded solemnly. He understood, perhaps not fully, that if the Raven Queen promised that she would deal with something herself, it could be any matter really, then she meant that she would take no prisoners; there would be no mercy for anyone who did not fulfil, or live up to the requirements placed on them within the household staff.
"Of course your Majesty. This is your home and as such yours to run as you see fit." Lord Fielder bowed, in an attempt to show his respect. Hopefully the Raven Queen would not hold a grudge against him for his outburst.
Turning to her eldest twin daughter, Lady Nox nodded with a flicker of a fury in her eyes. This only lasted moments and was replaced with a false but convincing smile… but that fury was laced carefully into her words, "Seraphina, thank you for giving us your time during this late lunch."
Seraphina was stumped… Who was this woman, posing as her mother? She was being so nice… too nice.
The elder twin snapped out of it quickly and politely thanked her mother for being able to attend. As was part of the appropriate etiquette of such formal gatherings, "Of course, mother."
"Now, would you please take your leave and attend to locating that sister of yours?" This was the reason that Seraphina knew that her mother was not an imposter… here was the ulterior motive, "You are twins after all. Who best to locate her elusive self than you?"
Seraphina stood and bowed. She had never been a fan of curtseys.
Though her lacy dress clung to her athletic figure and particularly her rear, Master Fenn who had the honour of sitting near to her, and Master Caruso who was the same side enough to glace widened their eyes as the latter licked his lips; imagining how it would feel to get underneath such a thin layer of lace… that body. Seraphina was absolutely divine and he wanted to dive in between her legs. While she was polite and reserved, she was a beauty – not beige – and certainly not boring.
Master Fenn was the most reserved of all the males there. However, with Seraphina and him having gotten on well, he too couldn't entirely push those thoughts out of his mind. Instead he turned his face away from her so he couldn't see her body anymore.
"I will be taking my leave, then. I shall see you all after. It was a pleasure meeting you." With that she turned and exited the room. The lingering gaze of males hungry lusting after her, for her body, their eyes all following her trail out of the door… all but Master Fenn, with his head still turned away.
The Raven Queen forced a passing smile onto her face and reassured them all, "You are my guests and as such, I have delegated the task of catering to all of your differing needs and whims to the staff. Please, use their services at your discretion as they are here to serve you. Feel free to relax and do as you please while you are here."
Not that Lady Nox caught it, as her gazed was fixed on Lord Fielder and Master Fenn – the one that Seraphina had taken quite a shining towards; the that look flickered onto Master Caruso, was a lighter version of that which passed on Lord Easton's expressionless eyes. Which his twin sons Lucas and Loris only seemed to mimic, as miniature versions of himself. Reassuring each other, the twins passed looks and nods with each other, that they had truly been told that they could do as they pleased with the house staff.
This time Lady Nox wouldn't hold a grudge and she didn't notice the gazes that she should have. However, she was too busy and knew that she could really only spare the time during lunch away from ruling the Kingdom and dealing with matters.
Lord Easton spoke up, "Rave Queen…" He mused in a lamenting voice, "…do not forget. We have our stroll together later tonight. We have much to discuss between us."
"Of course." She replied, attempting to humble the Eurasian Owl Harpy's request, "A servant will be sent later tonight to fetch you before the walk."
With that she bid them all a farewell for now and slipped out the door; As, to her, the matter of Lord Fielder's interruption and outburst seemed like such a small and insignificant matter; it was trivial and there were more important matters going on – such as discerning who Seraphina and Sephora would have as their mates, and where the political benefit to her, and, or the Raven Kingdom lay.
Of course, those here today were not all the suitors that had lined themselves up to be either of her daughters potential suitors. This was only one select group.
Harpy Clans' like the Eagles and the Hawks already had the King's sisters to bind the relationship through mated relations, with the Raven Kingdom. Not that Lady Nox had ever actually liked her husband's sisters – the feeling towards herself was mutual from them as well. That meant there were two less sphere's of Harpy Clans' and influence she would have to worry about and sift through for the final mating agreement of both her daughters.
Auro, the blue-hue servant girl, and Lyla, the dark ruddy feathered faithful servant friend, stood readily at the side of the room. Where they had been this entire time. Pouring drinks for each of the guests and removing dirty plates and glasses with quick succession, up until now that everyone had finished.
They had both heard Lady Nox's words and unlike herself, they had noticed the dark looks among certain guests present. Sharing a look, they had both mentally noted who to expect trouble from.
The girl's knew that it was coming and that they were to expect trouble from these individuals in particular.
This mental note, would be passed to the other house staff. Ensuring everyone knew to be wary of the gawdy male peacock and the orange eyed owls with excessive eyebrows.
There was trouble coming in the household, particularly from these individuals and they knew it in their guts. Their hair raised on the back of their necks as the owl twins turned to fix their gazes on them – raking every detail they could see on them. That pit in their stomach blackened and deepened.
"Boys!" With a loud slap on each of their backs, Lord Easton boomed at them, "Why do you not take this chance of a little rest between social obligations to go on a flight around the Kingdom? Familiarise yourself in where everything is in the Kingdom, as it may one day be your own."
Lord Fielder and Master Fenn were still in the room. Hearing this audibly, there gazes darkened towards Lord Easton. Master Caruso's expression followed similarly.
It was only Lady Cassandra who broke the tensions, "That is certainly a presumption, but I shall allow you to have it. From what I observed.
"Boys!" With a loud slap on each of their backs, Lord Easton boomed at them. "Why not take this oppertunity to prioritise yourselves on the Parliament of Owl's Code of Conduct." With a tense smile he emphasised his words and the brothers instantly looked withdrawn and seemed to begin considering their actions.
The servant girl from earlier, who's face the Raven Queen had sliced was in the medical wing of the house. By the sounds of staff gossiping she hadn't yet decided to quit and leave the house.
Instead she had apparently burst into tears, crying about how she needed this job, which had stung the open wound on her face and placed her in further pain.
She would not be allowed back into the house to serve until her wound was largely healed. Unhealed wounds were unsightly and bandage's even more so – this was an ethos of the Raven Queen. While she appeared to have never sustained an injury herself, so it confused a lot of the staff but, alas, there was not much the could do but abide by her ways and serve her the best they could, in the form and manner which pleased her most.
Lyla made a mental note to herself that she was going to need to inform her to stay wary around certain guests. She would need to find an appropriate opportunity to do this.
Auro began to grab the remainder of the dessert plates on the table.
As Lyla seen this, it broke her from her thoughts and began to assist. This was the brake that they needed to carry the plates down the stairs to the kitchen, where Maven and Donivan would be. There they could tell both of them of the Queen's words and the worrying reaction of certain guests. At the very least, they would be able to warn Maven. She was an older harpy and a mother-like figure in the house who had been here a fairly long time in comparison to every other house staff member.
As they made their way into the kitchen, Maven was there and at one glance at their faces she quickly put the entrée plate she had been washing down into the sink, took off her gloves and approached them. The worry on her face was clear, "What is wrong? You two look as if you have seen a werewolf!"
This was a saying local to the raven clan. Similar to human's using, you look like you've seen a ghost.
Beginning to tell Maven the details of what the Queen had said and the reaction of certain guests, the words tumbled out.
One of the pantry doors squeaked, given Auro a fright.
It was only Donivan however, so he folded his arms and leaned against the side of the door and listened to the remainder of what the girls had to say.