“She can take it up to His Highness if she wants to so much. I don’t want to argue over something so silly.”
Cassandra’s tempered tone greatly contrasted with Nebora’s attitude, making her sound twice as petty, especially now that she actually had the tray in her hands. But that didn’t calm her down. Annoyed by Cassandra’s display, Nebora threw the tray on the table with a bang. One of the plates fell, shattering loudly and tossing some of the bread on the floor. She started yelling, not even looking at the food.
“Who the hell do you think you are?! You are not to make deci…”
Before she could end the sentence, Cassandra slapped her.
A heavy silence fell over the kitchen as three pairs of eyes looked at her in total shock. Even Patrina had no idea how to react. Nebora put a hand on her burning cheek, trying hard to process what just happened. She was looking at Cassandra as if she was some kind of monster.
“I don’t care if you don’t have any respect for me,” Cassandra stated. “But at the very least, you should learn to have some respect for the food, and the people who spent time preparing it, for His Highness!”
Walking past her shocked colleague, Cassandra crouched down to pick up the bread and put it back on the counter, cutting off the parts that had touched the floor. Nebora looked shaken by her words. Her anger had somewhat disappeared and was replaced by a visible red hue on her cheeks.
“It… It... It’s just some bread…”
“It’s His Highness’ bread,” corrected Cassandra. “I have seen people whipped and killed for a lot less than dropping their Master’s food.”
Once again, she spoke very calmly, while Nebora finally seemed embarrassed by her actions. As she continued picking up the broken pieces of plate, she suddenly cut her finger on one of the shards. Marian hurried to help her pick the rest up. When they were done, Cassandra handed it all to Marian and picked up the tray again. She headed for the stairs, but stopped in front of Nebora, who was in her way.
“Some people are starving and would do anything to get some bread,” she said to Nebora. “Patrina spent a long time making this, too. So, if you want to bring this to His Highness, you are responsible for it the entire way. Do you want to take it or not?”
Taken aback by her question, Nebora looked at Cassandra and saw that she was asking seriously, without a hint of anger or hatred towards her. That made her feel even worse, and she shook her head while looking down, completely remorseful and embarrassed.
“Alright. Then you can lead the way for me, I don’t know where to go.”
Again, Nebora was rendered speechless. After the scene from earlier, was Cassandra still completely willing to let her come along? Unable to utter a word, she nodded awkwardly and turned around leading the way to the stairs as Cassandra followed behind her with the tray.
Still standing in the kitchen, Patrina and Marian were speechless.
Climbing the stairs in front of her, Nebora didn’t dare raise her head. She could still feel the burn of Cassandra’s slap on her cheek, but the most painful thing was her wounded ego. Now that she had calmed down, she indeed realized that her actions from earlier were too childish.
She stole glances at Cassandra as they went up the stairs, intrigued by the young woman. They were probably around the same age, but Cassandra’s body was marked from her years as a slave. She had scars all over her pale skin. The oldest ones had turned white and faded with time, but Nebora could see there were also more recent ones that were still red and fresh.
That and her skinny body aside though, Cassandra was obviously very pretty. She had gorgeous green eyes and long brown hair, with a reddish tint. Nebora, on the other hand, was quite average; she had brown hair, dark eyes with sun tanned skin, and was too tall. Her only assets were her ample breasts and curvy hips. For a long time, she had hoped these would help her get a husband and a comfortable life as a housewife. However, no one had gotten serious with her and she became bitter as the years passed.
She had thought herself lucky when she was picked to be a servant to the Castle, two years ago, and appointed to deliver the Prince’s meals. What woman wouldn’t want to be close to a Prince! With every tray she had carried, she had held on to that little hope inside her that maybe, just maybe, the Third Prince would finally see her.
When they finally reached one of the higher floors of the Castle, the walls subtly started to change. Cassandra hadn’t noticed before, but the Castle’s walls were black, not white or grey like those of the Palace. They emitted a unique smell, too; something acrid and smoky, like charcoal.
As the two women kept climbing, the matte black suddenly turned into a shiny, smooth texture. The area felt colder, too. If her hands weren’t busy carrying the tray, Cassandra would have touched it. She could almost see her own reflection in the millions of little facets!
“What is this…?” she asked in a whisper.
“Onyx stones. According to legend, this Castle must always be black, tainted by the ashes of battlefields, the home of the War God… It was built on a sleeping volcano, the previous owners added those black gemstones when they expanded the Castle,” explained Nebora.
“The home of the War God...?”
The servant nodded.
“For generations, only the best fighters and generals in the Empire have lived here. It is said the Castle will collapse, or the volcano underneath will burst in anger if the owner is unworthy. It can even stay empty for years if the Imperial Dragon believes no one merits the title. The Castle was gifted to His Highness four years ago after his victory against the Eastern Republic and the Barbarian Tribes. Before that, the Castle had been empty for nearly sixty years.”
Sixty years! No wonder it looked so empty and desolate. With no one to live here, most of the rooms they passed through didn’t even have the most basic furniture, or if they did, it was old and covered in dust.
Did that also explain why these lands seemed so… uninhabited? Cassandra remembered the vast empty fields they had flown over. She had been surprised by how few villages and houses she had seen. The weather wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t bad enough to justify the lack of people. Though without a Lord to watch over the area, and govern and regulate it, no wonder the locals had been forgotten about and left on their own.
“These are the Prince’s apartments.”
The two women stopped in front of a set of large doors. Nebora hesitated a bit, but Cassandra’s hands were obviously busy with carrying the large tray, so she stepped forward to push open the large doors.
