Vara

Chapter 2

It was nearly sundown when Vara was given a platter stacked high with Alpyte meat from the kitchen. Freshly cooked, she could still see the steam wafting off of the dish as she carried it as quickly as she could down the mirror-like halls. She nearly missed a turn on the way to the prince's parlor, wanting the food to be still hot when he received it. She slowed down when she got closer to the large double doors, observing it as she fumbled the dish to rest on one arm so she could knock. Vara's arm strained from the added weight, shaking slightly as she raised her fist and gave three hard knocks. Though the umber wood felt soft on her knuckles, she knew the wood was hard and enough not to break easily. "Enter." Jorik's muffled voice echoing from the other side of the door.

She sucked in a breath, tugging the adamantite pull handle, and slipped into the room. The heavy door shut right behind her, almost hitting her as she walked towards the prince with a blank expression. "Your highness," she greeted, her voice low. The parlor was fairly large, containing four tea tables in the center, each of them with two chairs. On the right and left of Vara, two walls were covered from floor to ceiling in intricate wainscoting. The remaining two walls in front and behind her were a plain light beige hue, hung with paintings that reminded her of Gehana's Garden. Lovely shades of green covered most of the artwork, dappled with splashes of other colors from flowers to break up the monochromatic color scheme. "Oh, slave." Prince Jorik was perched in one of the chairs, a tea set in front of him, and a book in his lap. "Truthfully, I did not expect you to return at all." He continued, setting the book on the table.

Vara did not respond to his statement but instead walked over with the meat plate and set it carefully on the table in front of him. "I believe you requested a large plate of Alpyte for you and your," she paused, eyebrows furrowed as she looked around the almost empty room. "Your friends." She finished her sentence. The male nodded, leaning back in his chair. "I did say that, didn't I?" he hummed. She nodded in response. "Well, I best be off. Have a good ni-" She stopped midsentence, staring at his raised hand, motioning her to stop. "I did request this... but I do not want it anymore." He stated, motioning to the meat. "I wanted these hours ago when I was entertaining my guests. Take it away."

Vara stared at the prince, eye twitching slightly. Obviously, she was annoyed, even to the prince, which in turn made him smirk. "What is the matter, slave?" he hummed, glancing at the food again. "I didn't think you'd actually be able to hunt, let alone kill, an Alpyte. How about as your reward, I shall let you have the plate. It's been a long time since you or any of the other slaves had meat, yes?" he offered. Her mouth watered, glancing at it. The meat was expensive; it was infrequent for slaves or servants to be given any. But Vara hesitated, debating on whether or not she should tell the truth of how she had truly come across the Alpyte. How the hunting party had picked her up and allowed her to have one of theirs.

"Should I take your silence as a no?" Prince Jorik raised a brow, snapping the girl out of her thoughts. "No! I mean, yes." She cleared her throat, shaking her head. "I apologize, your highness. I had meant to say thank you. I would be honored to have it." She stammered. "The scent must have so enticed me, I could not think of anything else." She added, making him roll his eyes and gesture to the platter. "Then you may have it. Just eat it elsewhere and send a maid to refill my tea." He spoke, the girl nodding with the biggest smile, placing the palms of her hands in front of her thighs and bowing from the waist. "Thank you, your highness." Vara was ecstatic. She hadn't eaten all day, and the prince was kind enough to allow her to have the food that he no longer wanted. Vera took the plate, not wanting to give him a chance to change his mind, and took off with the plate to the servants' quarters to eat.

The servants' quarters were small in terms of space. Four huge rooms clustered together, with an inner door connecting two. Two of the rooms were for the men, the other for women. Small beds with lumpy mattresses and ratty blankets lined the walls on the women's side, with a rather large umber bedside tables on one side of each bed to hold their personal belongings. In the center of the room was a large table with wooden stools that have seen better days, a few so old and broken it was amazing it could hold any weight at all. Vara set the platter in the center, a small smile on her face as she looked around for something to cover the meat with. With meat being too expensive to waste on servants every night, the only thing she could find was a large metal bowl that they all shared.