Queensmen

Chapter 83

~Concession~

Seline attacked the soil at the root of one of the small decorative trees that lined the courtyard of the laundry hall. Watching her scoop up the wet dirt with her bare hands, Oris knew that her maid's fingers would be bloody and bruised by the time she managed to dig up whatever she was looking for.

She strangled the urge to go help her and held Mayree and Keziah back. Despite not knowing what was down there, she had confidence in her people.

Seline was a smart person. If what she had hidden was what she was going to be beaten to death for, then the best course of action was letting it stay buried forever and never be discovered. Her digging it out now, under the eyes of everyone, could only mean one thing...

Seline pulled a small tin box out of the hole. It and her fingers were smearsd brown with clay but she didn't seem bothered in the slightest. If anything, she seemed calmer.

By now, the others had noticed what was happening and turned around. There was no running from it anymore.

Seline was right there, covered in dirt and holding something she obviously dug from the ground. There was no lie that would wash the accusation off her.

The matron shoved her way to the front of the group and pointed at Seline. "You thief!"

Seline stared at her wordlessly then staggered to her feet, using the tree as as a support.

"Block her," Oris whispered and Mayree and Keziah moved to shield Seline.

Seline pushed herself off the tree and staggered back to Oris' side, managing to shove the box into her mistress' hands before falling to her knees again with a quiet apology on her lips.

Oris wasted no time and pried open the lid of the little metal container, staining her hands with the damp soil. Inside, she found nothing other than a few scraps of washed out cloth. Most of them look like rags but one piece of blue cloth stood out from the rest. It was soft to the touch and nearly reflected sunlight, just like a pearl. It was high quality silk, but it was not big enough to make a pouch. It was only a thin strip of fabric, impossible to sell.

For Seline to hide it here meant that it was important. She couldn't afford to not have it, so she had dug it up now hoping that Oris would be able to retrieve it without getting caught.

Now that such an important task had fallen to her, there was no way Oris would fail to deliver.

She laughed coldly and stared at the matron. Hiding the silk in her clenched fist, she emptied the tin without fear, knowing that there would be nothing else that could implicate Seline contained within it. "This is why you wanted to beat my maid to death. For some rags? I didn't know the imperial palace was so impoverished."

"This..." The matron stared at scraps in disbelief.

"Mistress," Seline looked up at Oris with her big blue eyes, "I... This servant is innocent."

"I know." Using the distraction to slip the silk deep into her sleeve, Oris nodded and reached out towards the maid. "I know."

When Seline was back in her arms, she turned to the matron. "This is evidence. Do you still think you can escape unscathed?"

The woman stared into the distance blankly but before she could say a thing, Anastasia's lady-in-waiting grabbed her by the arm and pointed a finger at Seline. "If she can hide one tin, she can hide hundreds. Even if they are rags, fabric of the imperial palace isn't something someone can just take."

"I asked for permission before taking anything. There are others who don't even use rags and choose fine cloth. Why didn't they get punished?" Seline asked, her tone sullen. "Why didn't they get beaten to death?"