Sage in the Sea

Rules

The kitchen was still a flurry of activity. Everyone was hard at work, each of them with their own orders. Eleanor was in deep conversation with the dark haired boy she had been eyeing earlier, who was now peeling potatoes. She glanced over and saw me, causing her to straighten up and turn away from the boy, speaking with a woman cutting onions.

I looked away from Eleanor, slipping past the cooks to find the head cook. He was an older man, his hair grey with streaks of white. He was barking orders at two young women, who were stirring something on the stove. He turned towards me, the annoyance on his face shifting into happiness.

"Hello, princess," he said, giving me a smile before he started cutting up the raw chicken in front of him.

"Hello," I replied, glancing down at the paper in my hands. "Leroy, I was wondering how preparations for tomorrow were coming."

"Very well, princess. We're working diligently to ensure that we have everything up to the queen's standards. Everything is on schedule," he told me as he tossed the raw bits of chicken into a pan, turning to tell the girls to not let what they were cooking burn.

"That's comforting to hear," I replied, picking up a sprig of parsley and fingering it. "If you need any assistance, please do not hesitate to ask. Cooking, as you may be aware of, was something that I excelled in during my training."

"That's very kind of you, ma'am, but I think we have everything under control," he said as he started cutting up another piece of chicken. Of course they had it under control. Who would want to disappoint the queen?

"Very well," I replied, putting the parsley down and backing away from the table. "I shall return later to see what progress you have made."

"As is to be expected, princess," he told me, giving me another smile, before he turned to check on the girls.

Right. Because I was only there to keep order, not to help. That was going to take some adjusting. I wasn't used to sitting on the sidelines. Even during training, we were actively involved in activities, never sitting around and doing nothing.

I spent the day wondering between the kitchen, the ballroom, and the windows. Each time, I offered to help, but I had no one who accepted those offers. It was hard to not jump in and take a vase to set on a table, to chop up some vegetables, or to pull some weeds from the flowerbeds. During our training, we had been trained in every task necessary to run a household because not everyone would be in a position where they were not required to lift a finger. We had been trained to handle each task with poise and efficiency. I wanted to put those skills to use; I wanted to be helpful. However, I was the princess and that wasn't the job of the princess.

It seemed repetitive, to keep telling myself that, and to keep repeating the same tasks, but Piers' requests were that I ensure that everyone was doing what they were assigned. Keeping those requests meant that I was also keeping the queen happy. No one wanted an unhappy queen.

Piers had told me that he wanted me to take the day to explore the castle, to become accustomed with how the household was ran. While it was true that I was upholding his second wish, I had yet to do so with the first. I kept walking the familiar path from the ballroom to the windows in the entranceway to the hallway near the stairs to look into the maze, then downstairs to the kitchen. Over and over I made that trek.

Around lunchtime, I ordered Eleanor to make my meal so I was able to wonder about. It was important that I kept Piers happy and that I was able to find my way around the castle. It wouldn't have looked good at the ball if I had been there for a day with a limited amount of responsibility and still was unable to find my way around the castle. Granted, it was much larger than what I was used to.