A Way of Honor (Champions of the Crystal Book 2)

Chapter 9.3

The next morning, Sabrina woke early and helped Mara get dressed for her all-day meeting with the Council of Ministers. She then asked Mara to ask Tirqwin to bring himself and Scotty to her rooms for lunch and hurried off to get ready for her meeting with the household staff and Selémahs.

Selémahs was there first; Sabrina felt this was unsurprising. The Miahn waited patiently while Sabrina had a quick bath, then sketched out the structure of the Guardian staff for her while she dressed. She also helpfully ordered breakfast from the palace kitchens. It came just before the Queen's staff began to arrive.

Sabrina lost track of the names almost at once, wishing she dared make notes during the introductions. She did manage to hang on to the names of the ladies-in-waiting: one Lady, Aliza, and three Princesses, Sæhäèri, Reauwina, and Rndara, whom she remembered Prince Zav mentioning as his rival claimant. They all seemed very young to Sabrina, but not as young as the pages. She thought she remembered hearing that the pages were supposed to be young adults, but these barely seemed out of adolescence. They were all meticulously polite to her, however, so she supposed she had no reason to complain.

Selémahs had ordered breakfast for two dozen, so there was plenty of food to go around. Everybody seemed a little unsure of their etiquette; they kept glancing at Sabrina, who in turn kept glancing at Selémahs. It was one of the most excruciating meals Sabrina had ever endured. Only Selémahs' reassuring tranquility made it bearable at all, she thought.

They finished eating quickly. The others had all had something before coming, and Sabrina was too nervous to eat much. Selémahs, after waiting a moment to give Sabrina a chance to begin the discussion, said, "Her Majesty has asked us to find ways to consolidate her two staffs, to our mutual benefit. I think we can best do that by identifying positions on the two staffs with the same basic jobs. Everyone should be included, but their periods of service may be shorter."

Everyone seemed to relax a little, and Sabrina realized that the household staff had been afraid of being slighted. "Yes," she said. "Everyone will get a chance to serve. I'm not very familiar with the Guardian staff, but it seems to me that the chauffeurs of both staffs could be made into one group to share a rotating duty schedule."

The two chauffeurs present nodded. One, a young woman, said, "Miss Devon, I'm sure you already know, but Subcommander Mukryilla asked me to remind you that our schedules must be approved by Defense Control."

"Yes, of course," Sabrina said, grateful for the help. She hadn't had any idea.

"And," Selémahs said, "it becomes fortunate that Her Majesty, when she was solely Guardian, never chose a lady's maid. The Queen's maids will do very well."

The four maids, sitting stiffly at attention, looked gratified.

"It seems to me," Sabrina said, "that the main thing we have to focus on is how to integrate the Guardian's attendants and the Queen's ladies-in-waiting."

"The difficulty there," Selémahs said, "is that the post of lady-in-waiting has been largely ceremonial, and the post of attendant involves a great many practical duties. Eight attendants were chosen for Maratobia when she became Guardian, but since she has never formally organized her staff, they have spent the time on their own studies and duties. With an ordinary Guardian, they would travel with her, attend her at functions, and assist me with research and travel arrangements. Whereas the ladies-in-waiting are only present on royal formal occasions, to assist the Queen in choosing her outfit and attend her at ceremonies."

"It sounds as though it might be better to leave those separate," Sabrina said. "At least for now. If we see an opportunity to coordinate them later, we can readdress the issue. Well, that wasn't so bad. Now, duty schedules. As I understand it, almost all of you work on a rotational schedule...."