Queensmen

Chapter 23

~Direct Confrontation~

"Can we really do that?" Mayree asked. "I mean, is that the only option?"

"No, it's not the only option." Oris said, her mind already made up, "but it does the least damage, at least where it concerns Andrea."

"What do we have to do?" Seline asked, her voice low and steeled. "I will do whatever you say, Mistress."

"It's a simple really," Oris smiled. She made it a reassuring smile despite knowing that they wouldn't see it. "You just have to follow my lead."

"What are you going to do?" Mayree asked and leaned forward. "I cannot allow, no, I will not allow you to do anything that will endanger your safety, even for Andrea's sake."

Keziah reached toward the older maid and patted her twice on the knee. "Trust our Mistress."

Mayree held the girl's gaze then nodded in agreement though the action still had a hint of reluctance. "We will follow our Mistress' lead and when we get Andrea back, I will give her a proper scolding."

"You don't have to," before she could stop herself, Oris immediately defended her youngest maid, "this might be a good thing."

"What does Mistress mean?"

"Thinking about it now, my previous plan might have been to passive." Oris adjusted her veil and sat up straighter. "Wait for the people's cry of injustice? How long will that take? Maybe it was wishful thinking on my part that all this would go down peacefully."

"Then now? How will we get into the palace?"

"Defend the people."

"Defend the people?" Both Mayree and Seline echoed in confusion while Keziah's eyes lit up.

"Brilliant," she cried.

Turning to Oris, she said, "Mistress, you are brilliant."

In that instance, Oris felt something change. It was almost imperceptible and it could as well have been her imagination but in that moment she could have sworn that Keziah's words held a deeper meaning that she couldn't interpret.

"Come," she told the three maids, and Keziah took hold of her hand.

With her mind still considering the consequences of what she was about to do, Oris moved to descend the carriage along with the silent girl, the door big enough to accommodate two people exiting are the same time. Much different from the one she and Faeradaigh at travelled to Asharath in.

It was when she and all three maids had gotten off the carriage that Faeradaigh was finally made aware of her presence.

"My Lady," the head eunuch started and Oris held up her hand to stop him. She did not unleash the aura of a queen but that of a spoiled consort, not that she had much experience to source from-she had seen enough of her adopted mother's rich customers to glean an accurate description of how the average snob of a woman behaved.

"I do not like to be ignored," she began, remembering that this line was more popular than the rest. It could make the most unimportant people seem dignified.

"My Lady-"

She cut him off again. "I told you that my maid was missing and you did nothing about it. I will not inconvenience you further. Move your horse, take the guards, I shall find her myself."

"My Lady, the mob-"

"What you are so afraid of are people!" Oris made sure to raise voice now as Mayree and Seline crowded around her and urged her to calm down. "They are people," she repeated, and noticed that some of the peasants were now looking in her direction.