Runecarver Volume One

Chapter Two

CONTENT WARNING: This chapter contains reference to capital punishment for a relatively minor crime, and indifference to said capital punishment.

I awakened some time later feeling terrible. My back was sore thanks to all the cuts and bruises from the explosion, but that paled in comparison to my aching gut. I was also hungry, thirsty and, despite the fact that I'd just awakened, tired. I considered calling for Lucia to attend to me, but I couldn't summon the energy. Instead, I languished in bed for some time.

Muffled voices on the other side of the door roused me from my torpor. I recognized both of them; Lucia and Clarice seemed to be having an argument. Clarice was demanding to be allowed to see me, while Lucia was adamant that I was not to be disturbed by anyone. Fragments of the conversation such as "can you take responsibility?" and "her attendant is an exception!" made their way through the door.

It was enough to stir me to action. Clarice did have some redeeming qualities, and among them was her diligence. It was reasonable for her to push back against a mere commoner who was serving as her temporary replacement, especially since I'd been grievously injured when last she'd seen me. I cleared my throat and raised my voice. "Come in."

The door opened, and Lucia entered the room with Clarice following quickly after her, much to Lucia's annoyance. Clarice immediately wept upon seeing me. "My Lady," she sobbed, crouching down next to my bedside and balling the blankets in her fists. "When I awoke alone in the carriage, I was so worried."

I tried to reach out a hand to put on her head, but when I realized it would take more energy than I expected, I decided that it wasn't worth the effort. I was also struck with a sudden annoyance that I would be the one comforting her. She was completely unscathed, whereas I was bedridden with a hole through my abdomen. Nevertheless, I said softly, "I'll be alright, Clarice. The doctor treated me well, and there's no permanent injury."

"I'm so glad," Clarice said, still sobbing.

Lucia curtsied again. Her gaze was deferential as could be when she looked at me, but she did not seem to have any problem looking upon Clarice with a disdainful expression. "My apologies, Lady Annabelle. I told her that you were resting, but she would not be dissuaded. She would not even stop to clean herself before barging into your room."

It was then that I noticed that Clarice was still caked in dust and covered in the splinters from the explosion. She must have rushed to me as soon as she'd arrived at the Baron's castle. And now this commoner maid I'd just met was using it as an excuse to shame her. Clarice's expression darkened at the rudeness, but she held her tongue; it would be unseemly for her to argue with a commoner servant in front of her ailing master. She knew her place very well. Much better than Lucia, it seemed.

I took in a deep, painful breath and glared at Lucia, calling upon all the imperiousness that had been instilled in me as the daughter of the second most powerful man in the Kingdom. "You would have her abandon her duty to me for the sake of her own appearance? Or do you think that I am so narrow-minded that I would begrudge her for looking out of sorts after surviving an attack that ended the lives of all of my other servants, and which almost took mine?"

The color drained from Lucia's face at my reply. She began stammering, "M-my Lady, I..." she trailed off, unable to form a response.

I did not relent. "Answer me properly when I speak to you. Were you insulting Clarice or myself?" It was a trick question; an insult to my lady-in-waiting was an insult to me. The only hope for her now was to reject the premise of the question (that she was intentionally insulting either of us), but she was so taken-aback that it was clear she would walk right into my trap.

Still, it was not as if she could flat-out say that she was insulting Clarice. She attempted to justify her actions: "She came and demanded to enter. No matter how many times I explained to her that you -- your Ladyship -- told me that not even the Baron would be permitted entry, she persisted quite rudely."