Knowing Yourself - A Medieval Romance Page 23
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The sun was beginning to set when Kay heard footsteps approaching the stables. She waved desperately for Stephen to hide his supplies. He had just tucked them beneath a feed bag when Galeron pushed open the main doors, his head swiveling around the interior.
“There you are,” he called out to Kay. “I did not think to look for you in here.”
“I do love my horses, after all,” replied Kay, infusing her voice with calm contentment. “I wanted to make sure they were taking their temporary confinement well.”
“You are a good mistress,” praised Galeron with a smile. “In any case, dinner is being served.”
“Of course, thank you,” she responded, glancing at Stephen, her shoulders tight. She knew the key was in a roughly appropriate shape, but it still needed carving and finishing to reach the exact right dimensions. Could she sneak out to the stables in the evening without being detected, in order to retrieve the final result? She would have to risk it.
She nodded at the young lad, then moved with Galeron across the courtyard and into the main hall. The room felt so different to her now. The tables filled with strange MacDougal soldiers. The staff was tense and on edge. She moved along to the head table, holding back a shudder as Galeron settled himself with contentment into the main chair at its center.
Then Anne was at her side, helping her to sit and pouring her out a large tankard of ale. “I heard you stayed for us, Kay,” she whispered, her eyes wide. “You are the most noble mistress we could ever hope to have.”
Kay put her hand on Anne’s arm, giving the woman a gentle squeeze. “You all deserve the very best,” she vowed. “I will see that you are taken care of and treated fairly.”
“And we will look out for you,” returned Anne, blushing, then moving on to continue serving the rest of the table.
The food was brought out – a plain stew with only a few chunks of meat in it. Kay’s mouth quirked into a smile. The staff was showing their disapproval of the new masters.
She heard a snarl from Galeron’s other side, and looked up sharply. Jack was staring down at his food, a frown growing.
“They call this a meal?”
Kay winced. While she understood completely the feelings of the staff, she also had to keep them safe for the next day, free from the ire of the current occupiers.
She leant forward. “Galeron, Jack, where do you plan on sleeping tonight?”
Two pairs of eyes swiveled to her with bright interest. Galeron spoke first, his voice rich with curiosity.
“We had planned to stay in the barracks. We would give you some time to settle in to this new situation and grow accustomed to how things will now run.”
Kay shook her head. The last thing she wanted was for the two best fighters in the keep to be immediately adjacent to the invasion point. “I think I see the issue here, with the servants,” she explained, as if it was the most logical thing in the world. “By tradition, the master always sleeps in the master’s room. It is what they expect. Because you are staying in the barracks, they are treating you as soldiers. Once you start living as the master, they will start behaving as if you were.”
Jack glanced down at the food again, and then back at her. “Is it really that simple?” he asked, askance.
Kay innocently shrugged. “They are simple servants, after all,” she pointed out.
Jack nodded. “That does make sense,” he stated, his shoulders relaxing. “Dogs in a pack fall into line once they know who the leader is.” He grunted as Jessica moved past him, stopping to fill his ale mug up to the brim again. “The minions are well trained in general,” he conceded. “All right, then, we will try it your way.”
“You will not be disappointed,” promised Kay, hoping against hope that she would not have to find out.