Verman

12. Luther

July 30, 2055

The door of The Leader's throne room was ajar, but I still knocked on the polished mahogany before entering.

"Luther, is that you?" The Leader said from his throne.

"Yes, it's me, sir!" I said proudly.

The Leader mumbled something before calling out to me, "Come in!"

I pushed the door open and entered, eager to fulfill the needs of The Leader. "What do you need?"

"Well, I have some questions...ahhh," The Leader said with a sigh of relief.

I looked down to see one of his servants giving him a foot massage. I seated myself in a red velvet chair near the throne. I laid back into the silky cushions.

The Leader snapped his fingers and a small, hunched over servant entered the room quickly. "Get me...and Luther a glass of red wine," he said, smiling. The servant nodded, bowed, and exited.

"Come closer," The Leader said to me, his clear blue eyes piercing through me it seemed.

I reluctantly got up and moved my chair closer to The Leader. "Better?" I asked.

The Leader nodded approvingly and snapped his hand, apparently needing something else now. Another servant scuttled into the room, more hunched over than the last.

"Dismissed!" The Leader said to the servant massaging his feet.

He bowed and almost ran from the room.

"Get me some socks and slippers and put me by the hearth," The Leader said.

The servant left and I stood. "We're going to your study?" I asked.

There was a pause before The Leader said, "No, no. They're bringing the hearth to me." He pointed across the room, "They will put it there and I will be moved clos..." He stopped, sighed.

"You'll be moved closer to the hearth and we'll sit there and discuss what you need?" I asked.

The Leader sighed, "If you already knew, then why ask?"

"I--" I started.

The Leader put a ring covered hand up, "You must learn to anticipate my needs." There was a pause. "Really, you're going to have to do better than this. You certainly don't compare to Angus, my old, faithful advisor."

"I'm so sorry, I will--"

The Leader held kept his hand up in disgust before saying, "If you really want to keep this job...and your life, you're going to have to--"

There was a knock at the door.

"What now?" The Leader said, clearly annoyed.

The door opened and a servant came in carrying a tray with two glasses filled with a bubbling red liquid.

"Ah," The Leader said, satisfied.

"This isn't wine," I said as the servant handed me a glass, bowed, and left.

"No matter," The Leader took a slow, long drink of his liquid and smiled, pleased.

I tentatively sniffed the liquid and felt the odd smell of crushed roses and something else, something metallic, seep into my nostrils.

The Leader took another long, slow drink of his liquid and licked his lips.

"What is this called?" I asked.

The Leader drained his glass and snapped his fingers. A servant came in with two more glasses of the mysterious red liquid and handed one to The Leader and the other one to me.

"See how she anticipates my needs?" The Leader drained his glass in one gulp this time, "You need to learn to do the same." He took a glass from my hand, snapping and pointing to the door for the servant to leave.

I took a small sip of my liquid and felt it slam down my now burning throat. I coughed and felt a metallic taste almost overwhelm my senses. Soon, the burning, metallic taste subsided and I politely set my glass on a mahogany side table.There was a knock at the door and a servant came in again, crouching down to put socks on The Leader's small feet. The servant took The Leader's now empty glass, bowed, and exited.

I picked up the glass and took another small sip to please The Leader. Again, the liquid shot down my throat and I resisted the urge to cough. Once the metallic burning was gone, I realized I recognized the taste.

I sat up in my soft sheets, wide awake. I felt a thin stream of...something metallic drip slowly down my throat. I swallowed hard, and it went mostly away. I laid back down, willing myself to sleep. Although my brain was tired, my body wasn't and I could tell something was wrong. I sat up again and the thin, dripping sensation in my throat was back. I coughed, feeling something fly out of my mouth and land on my hand, sticky, warm, and wet. I turned on the light, afraid of what I might see. My hand had a few specks of something red on it as well as my sheets. It took me a minute to register it was blood. I got up and ran to the bathroom where I looked in the mirror. Against my dark complexion, near my lips, I saw some more blood. I quickly washed out my mouth but could not get rid of that metallic taste until the next day.

I looked up to see The Leader take my...blood drink from the table and swallow it. I winced. He set the glass down on the mahogany side table and snapped his fingers.

A servant rushed into the room and now I noticed what she was wearing. The servant's clothes were not unlike peasants'. They wore long, canvas colored dress-like things that went down to their ankles. They had canvas colored shoes and a red hat to cover their hair.

"Move the hearth in here, and quickly," The Leader snapped.

"So, um..." I trailed off, trying to remember what The Leader wanted to say to me.

"Yes?" asked The Leader, distracted.

"Sorry, I forgot what I was going to say," I said, looking down.

"Mmm," The Leader licked his lips one more time and snapped his finger for what seemed like the hundredth time. A servant stumbled in, tried to adjust her cap and bowed, her cap falling off.

The Leader rolled his eyes as she tried and failed to right her cap and fix her long, straight black hair. An older servant entered, with a sort of hearth on wheels. He wheeled it over to the wall and fixed it up a chimney. He walked back to The Leader and wheeled his throne over to the hearth, paying no mind to the servant girl struggling with her hair. I stood up, about to move my chair but the older servant picked it up with ease and set it by The Leader and the hearth. I sat down again, feeling the hearth emanating heat.

The servant bowed and exited, sidestepping the girl still trying to fix her hair. The Leader sighed, exasperated and clapped his hands together a single time. Immediately, high ranking soldiers marched in from all sides and removed the servant from the premise.

"Ah," The Leader let out a happy sigh and stretched out, feeling the warmth of the hearth.

I, too, stretched out, trying to look normal although I was still comprehending what had just happened. What were they going to do to the servant girl? Kill her? Although I'd only been in this town a few days, I had a million questions.