✔ Mrs Mandray

9. Breakfast

Isabella

Having slept fitfully last night Isabella was in no mood for the fae and their bullshit. Except they were still here and she still had to play nice. She had spent the night pacing, sometimes inside, sometimes outside but the thoughts in her head were always the same.

The judgement.

She could feel it. A physical, tangible thing that appeared in the men - males' eyes when they looked at her. Part of her was so pleased, so excited at her sister finally having good, loyal people in her life. The other part of her wanted to scream and roar but she never could. She was never very good at expressing her emotions.

That was why she and Nesta got along so well. It was harder once she married Tomas but she could see it in the quiet moments like now. Nesta chopping up fruit for breakfast as I cook off a few packets of sausage and bacon. We were silent. Yet she knew Isabella needed company.

Arguably Nesta was here to be a good host but anyone who has met her twin even for a few minutes knows she would never intentionally lower herself to cooking and working as a servant. Our mother had raised her too harshly and with too much judgement and prejudice for that.

But that was accounted for in their judgement. As they stared at my sisters and decided that we were all selfish. It makes sense, Isabella guessed. There's two sides to a story and their's seems obvious. Isabella was Nesta's twin so of course they share traits. Including that self preservation and their mother's cruel disposition. So of course Isabella must have married out of fear of poverty and foolish love.

Not that she had any intention of suggesting otherwise. Not now. Not when they would only pity her, suggest ways of getting away from Tomas that would most likely include becoming dependent on someone else's money. No. It was better this way. At least with Tomas she had some control over her life. Over her son's life.

Isabella smiled down at the little boy in question. He was quiet today as he often was. She supposed it was stupid to get her hopes up yesterday. That his game in the garden would mean a turning point in his attitude and happiness. What had she expected? That he would suddenly have a better life after one moment of happiness?

As if understanding where her thoughts had gone, Nesta appeared by her side, handing her plates and trays laden with food before murmuring about taking them upstairs. It was a job to do, a distraction from the life she had condemned her child too.

She had expected Oliver to stay with Nesta as he did most mornings here. Her harsh attitude tended to ward off any servants or guests from bothering him and her son had been preferring solitude as of late. Which Isabella was not at all obsessing over and worrying about. Except he hadn't stayed with Nesta. He'd merely grabbed the bundle of cutlery from the side, the rattling noise of metal loud and harsh in the silence as he struggled not to drop any. A soft smile bloomed on Isabella's face but she made no attempt to help him knowing full well that not only was this a simple skill he had to learn for himself but that he would also throw a huff at her attempts to 'baby him'.

There had been an argument about that. It was more of stamping feet and 'wanting to be big like you' and she had instantly lost because he was so adorable. Neither Nesta nor Isabella had made any move to tell the boy that he wasn't really doing adult things but he seemed so proud every time he copied one of their movements and so long as he was initiating her or her sisters and not Tomas then Isabella was happy.

Which is how Isabella found herself helping her son carry tray after tray, and objects both needed and random up to the dining room. He'd even determinedly attempted to drag up the low backed chairs that Isabella had pulled out of storage last night until she stepped in. The chairs were quickly tucked into place at diagonals from each other and then Isabella took a step back to admire their work. It was a lovely spread. Simple foods of eggs, bacon to sugary waffles and pancakes that Tomas made her learn how to make one summer. Not to mention the brightly coloured imported fruits that no one in the village could even afford to look at let alone sell or buy.