I got in the kitchen as quietly as I could, trying to avoid Marian, the cook, and get to the backyard as quickly as possible. Marian was the complete opposite of Tamara, from age to personality. Whereas Tamara was a seventeen-year-old maid who was always snooping and gossiping around, uncovering everybody’s lives in full detail to whoever wanted to listen to her, Marian was the complete opposite, a forty-year-old woman who was absolute discretion herself. However, I always suspected that there was more to her than it met the eye, as her quiet nature didn’t mean that she was oblivious to what happened around her, and she might have figured out something by now.

“You’re late, Sara. Where were you last night?” Marian said, never taking her eyes of the onions she was cutting in exact pieces with a very sharp knife.

“I woke up earlier to start cleaning the rooms for the Gathering. There won’t be any time to do that in the afternoon, especially with all the guests coming today.” I lifted the dirty laundry as evidence, hoping that she would buy it. She dropped the onions in the pan and looked at me with her grey, cunning eyes.

“Let’s cut to the chase. Who is he?”

“Since when does waking up early is connected to having a lover?”

“I woke up in the middle of the night and you weren’t there –“

“I went –“

“ – which has been something quite common by now. You say you’ve been waking up early because you feel more energized when you do that, but you look more and more exhausted every day. You neglect your own duties, you’ve been sneaking out a lot during the day to God knows where, and whenever you think that no-one is looking, you smile and sing, and you have this glow all over you that you only see when people are in love. It might not look like it, but I’ve been twenty before. So, who is he?” I didn’t want to lie to Marian. Though she was a very reserved person, she had been like a mother to me ever since I started working in that inn. She took care of me when I was ill and had supported me through some tough times, even if she was doing anything but sitting right next to me, just listening. I felt a connection to her that I had never felt with Lady T, even though she was the one that got me that work. I sighed, deciding that there was no other way to get out of this situation, but to speak the truth. I stumbled, trying to find the words to explain the whole story.

“It’s...it’s complicated, Marian, because he’s –“ In that precise moment, Tamara walked into the kitchen as only Tamara did, running and almost hitting the table, her face glowing with excitement.

“You have no idea of what just happened in the market, you had to be there to see it!” While Tamara was babbling on, Marian looked away from me and looked at her instead, listening with interest about what she had to say. I didn’t listen to a single thing, thinking about what I was going to say when Tamara stopped talking – it would take its time, but it would be over, eventually. After Tamara laughed hysterically over something, she finally noticed my presence.

“Oh, hello there, you! I didn’t see you standing there!” She might’ve noticed something in the way I looked because her eyes were scanning me, as if trying to find out what was weird about me today. “You’re looking so weird, did something happen?” I was going to talk, but Marian cut me short.

“We were just talking about how Sara hasn’t been sleeping properly, now that the Gathering’s coming up. I haven’t been sleeping very well myself, it’s going to be chaotic.” Marian spoke as naturally as she was talking about the weather, not giving away anything about our previous conversation.

“Oh, that’s because your twenty-three years are starting to catch up with you, eh! You’re getting old, just like Marian here!” Tamara said, looking at me up and down. “I just LOVE the Gathering, you know, with all the people coming up, and the –” and she was just going to keep talking, when Lady T herself walked into the kitchen. All of us froze, as Lady T stopped right at the entrance and stared at us in that menacing way that only Lady T could do.

“Oh, there you are! Here I was, thinking that my maids would already be doing the tasks they were supposed to do, but here they are, taking a break. How wonderful, isn’t it? Pity that the guests are about to arrive and the work is not done yet. What are you waiting for? Start working, immediately!” Tamara left the kitchen right away, heading for the dining room to check the drinks, Marian kept cooking and I picked more dirty laundry that was lying in a corner to wash. Lady T started walking away and I tried to get out of there as quickly as I could towards the backyard, but I wasn’t fast enough.

“I haven’t forgotten our conversation.” I stopped midway and turned around.

“Well, you seem to know everything by now, what is there left to talk about, anyway? Are you going to tell Lady T?” Marian’s thin lips seemed to be suppressing a smile as she looked at me.

“I won’t say a word. But I’d advise you to be careful. In a land of sailors, men can afford the luxury of promising a thousand things and then walk away unaffected. “

“Duly noted. Thank you for the warning.” And with that said, I headed for the backyard.