Fly-On-The-Wall

The house had been in rare form all day with the preparations for the party. Even Lord Vasant had been too busy to deal much with the staff himself. He had even left Islana alone for the day, giving her a much-needed reprieve.

The girl had been tasked with helping in the kitchen, doing the menial tasks that the cooks were too busy to attend to themselves. Currently, that task was the prepping of root vegetables for some of the savory tarts and other foods which would grace the dinner table.

“Slave, come with me.” The man who ran the household staff commanded Islana.

Drustin was one of those men who seemed as if youth had never graced him. He wasn’t cruel, more very much in charge of his area. One would just never think to disobey him.

The redhead followed the man with the full head and beard of grey, her head down as if not worthy of even looking at his back. They arrived in the main area of the house among the bustle of the party preparations.

"Lord Vasant wants you to serve tonight. I am going to have one of the other servers show you what to do. I suggest you pay close attention. Mistakes will not be tolerated. Do you understand?” Drustin’s voice was firm, lacking any real emotion to it.

“Yes, sir.” In contrast, Islana’s voice was meek boarding on having none at all. Being in that house had eroded her internally till there wasn’t much left.

She would spend the next few hours learning and practicing how to serve the guests. Any slight slip-up would mean repeatedly practicing the same task over and over until everything could be done perfectly. It was the first time Islana was given such a job and one of the last jobs she wanted, as it was too easy to gain the ire of Vasant when he could see everything the girl was doing.

Evening came too soon and the party guests began to arrive. Lord and Lady Mallo owners of the largest logging company in all of Torja among the first to arrive. Lord Kapsom of Salos had made the journey with Lady Cumbelin. Both were younger and betrothed to one another. Both represented shipping families from the Empire. There were other Lords and Ladies which graced the party. A few more respected scholars had made their way there but none of them was the most important person that night.

The one whom even Lord Vasant would bow to in his own house. Duke Gett. The man was infamous it seemed but for reasons which would be revealed later to the redheaded slave. The Duke was a tall man, relatively speaking, probably standing about 6’3” with dark-colored hair and dark almost piercing eyes that seemed to be missing a soul. He had arrived with his wife in tow, and the announcement of the two entering made the entire room fall silent. It would seem out of respect but clearly there was something else going on as well.

It wasn’t that Islana had never heard the name of Gett growing up but politics and people of power were rarely spoken of in her family home as if just saying their names might invoke them to make their presence known. However, even young Torjan children were taught to beware of slave traders and it was known that some high-ranking officials had their hands in that nest.

Isana set about with her the task of serving the Duke and his wife, as she had been given that responsibility. There was a thought that Vasant wanted her to make a mess of things just so he’d have an excuse for what would come later or maybe he wanted to punish her in public, as a show of strength. Neither would have been out of the realm of possibility.

The one thing all servants, even slaves, tend to have is a fly-on-the-wall quality. People just tend to talk as if the servants aren’t there at all. Such was the case of Duke Gett in speaking to Vasant and some of the party attendees. The man spoke of his own slaves and it sounded as if the man had not just several by possibly hundreds of them. The reason for so many was a little lost on Islana as that part was never made clear. She was far too young without much life experience to make the deductions herself.

One by one various party-goers made their way to speak with the Duke. There was the Baron Sux who was clearly a landed Baron and owned a Keep somewhere near the border of the forbidden lands. There was Lady Nosset who was a widow, though it was unclear how the Nossets' had made their money clearly they had much of it, rivaling Vasant as one of the richest families in Torja. The Mallks, a noble family from Garrath, had brought their eldest daughter (apparently they had seven children - all girls) who had refused to marry any man she met. With the young woman well into her twenties, it was a bit of a scandal among the elite.

At one point in the night Lady Vasant even made an appearance from out of her room. Staying long enough to briefly greet everyone before returning to her room. The woman’s illness seemed to have reached a plateau for the moment and while she wasn’t any better, she also didn’t seem to be getting progressively worse. That would not last.

The evening went about fairly well, Islana managed to serve and not make any mistakes much to her, and likely the staff’s surprise. Then one by one the guests left, seen off by their host. This was the first party that Islana actually worked the party itself but it wouldn’t be the last.