Helian and the Cunning Countess (3)

After a day, I arrived at the Solana estate. As I walked through the front gates, I could see knights and squires sparring on a large practice field. The sight made me nostalgic – I hadn’t practiced swordplay in months, and I suppose I missed my routine back home.

A maidservant rushed out from the main building to meet me. “Lady Saintess! Thank you for coming. If you like, I’ll lead you to your quarters.” She gestured for me to follow and began walking to the entrance. 

“If there’s anything you require, don’t hesitate to ask. It’ll be my honor to attend to you during your stay on the estate. I assume you’re tired from your journey and wish to rest, but I can have a bath or a meal prepared if you like.”

I nodded. “Thank you very much. A bath sounds divine… you can call me Helian, by the way. What is your name?”

The young lady blushed. “I’m honored, Lady Helian! My name is Rosa. To tell you the truth, I just started working here recently, so I hope you’ll forgive me if I make any mistakes… or if you see fit to have me replaced, I’ll understand completely. You can just ask the head maid!”

“Do all the servants here have self-esteem problems, Rosa?”

She tilted her head and thought for a moment. “I’m not sure! The head maid is quite full of herself, but that’s only proper since she’s in charge of everything and very good at her job.”

I made a mental note to be careful before asking Rosa questions in public. I wouldn’t want the girl to get fired for her honesty.

“We’ve prepared a full-sized room for you with an attached bathroom and closet, up on the third floor. The countess sent strict orders ahead that we should have everything prepared. Oh, and that the room we selected should be on her floor, as well as without line-of-sight to the training field. She must like you a lot!”

The training field? Does the countess think I’m afraid of knights? 

Rosa’s chatter continued.

“Most of the servants live in the annex next to the knights’ administrative office, but the higher-ranking servants live on the fourth floor, so if anything happens while I’m not around, just climb one flight of stairs and knock on random doors until someone comes out to help you! You might need to shout or really show the doors you mean business but that’s just how it is!”

And continued.

“The guest quarters are on the second floor, but right now we only have one guest, so I don’t think you’ll end up needing to visit that floor. In fact, according to Susan – she’s in charge of the kitchen, by the way – we rarely get guests here at the estate in general, which must be why the countess was so eager to roll out the red carpet!”

“You said there’s another guest? Who are they?”

“I’m not rightly sure, Saintess Helian! I’ve never had cause to visit the second floor, there being no guests other than the one guest, and she apparently doesn’t have any attendants or companions so there’s nobody for me to ask about her! I did hear a rumor from the steward though – she’s apparently an expert swordswoman! The guest, that is, not the steward. The steward walks with a cane and I’m pretty sure it doesn’t have a hidden blade inside or anything. Probably.”

“I see. Thank you anyway.”

Just when I thought Rosa had finished talking, her face lit up as we passed an ornate dining room.

“Oh, that’s the first-floor dining hall! We have a smaller one on the third floor for when the countess wants to dine with her ‘friends,’ but when we’re entertaining visitors or having a big party, we use the first-floor dining hall! The view through the windows is divine—floor-to-ceiling, by the way—you’ve just got to see a sunset through them at least once! Don’t go in at night though, it’s haunted. People say the ghost of one of the estate’s former lords stalks the halls of the first floor out of rage after being poisoned during his birthday dinner! Just the other day…”

“That’ll be all, Rosa. Thank you for the explanation.”

“You’re welcome, Lady Saintess!”

------

At sunrise the next morning, a handsome woman knocked on the door to my quarters to deliver a breakfast invite from the countess. The woman introduced herself as Selene, the vice-commander of the Solana Knightly Order. Upon hearing the words “dining room,” Rosa shrieked from inside of the closet (where she had been organizing my small collection of dresses and personal items).

“Breakfast in the third-floor dining room? But you don’t have anything to wear! And I still need to do your hair and makeup! You don’t even have any makeup in this bag—did you forget it? Is there another bag that got left behind? Should I go check the carriage house?”

“It’s okay, Rosa! It’s just breakfast!” I shouted.

The tiny creature sprinted out of the closet and ran to me. “Just breakfast? You don’t understand! Even distinguished guests rarely visit the third-floor dining room! The people who’ve even set foot inside probably number in the dozens at most! And you’ll be dining with the countess! You need to look your best!”

Dame Selene cleared her throat. “Unless you need anything, I’ll be going…”

I turned back and bowed. “Thank you so much for delivering the message, Dame. Please have a wonderful morning.”

Rosa waited for the knight to leave and resumed chattering. “She’s so handsome! Sometimes I catch the other maids staring at her when they think she won’t notice, but she practically has eyes in the back of her head! I’ve heard it’s because all the men she slayed on the battlefield were seduced by her beauty and their spirits follow her even in death, so she can see everything they see!”

“Rosa.”

“Yes, Lady Helian?”

“You’d best get started on my hair.”

“Of course, Saintess Helian! I’ll get right to it. But what will we do about your makeup? The bag with it must have gotten lost! I’d offer to loan you some of mine, but I don’t have anything that would suit your skin color, and we can’t ask to borrow makeup from the countess because the last person who asked her what kind of makeup she used got fired and nobody ever saw or heard from her again!”

“It’s okay, Rosa. I don’t use cosmetics.”

“I see, Lady Saintess! It must be a divine blessing! Your skin certainly looks fine without embellishment, if you don’t mind me saying that. If I was a more jealous person, I’d be standing in front of a full-length mirror, chanting ‘mirror, mirror, mirror,’ begging it to reveal the secret behind your beauty! But I guess I already know the secret, what with you being a gift from the heavens bearing historically unprecedented levels of wisdom and holy power!”

I saw that word about events in the barony had already spread. To the girl’s credit, she was skilled with her hands and managed to arrange my hair in a sophisticated style within minutes. It seemed appropriate for a holy woman, even if I didn’t feel particularly holy.

“Now we just need to see to your dress! While we don’t have many options, I have to say your taste is quite good, so I’m sure we can find something workable in here.” The young maid wandered back into the closet and sifted through the clothing before emerging with a cream-colored dress I had purchased on Marie’s suggestion (we went shopping to celebrate her new job).

“I think this one will work quite well! It’s cheap, but not in an ‘I’m cheap’ or ‘I’m poor’ way. It’s more cheap in an ‘I’m the saintess’ way, you know?”

I smiled and stared at her.

“I knew you’d agree! Do you want me to help you change into it?”

“Sure, Rosa. Go ahead.”

In a state of near frenzy, Rosa stripped me out of my night clothes and zipped me into the dress within seconds. “Thankfully we won’t need to find a matching pair of heels for this dress because the shoes you brought are dreadful! I can tell you’ve been wearing them for a while, and we really need to get you some new ones! Anyway, it’s perfectly acceptable to wear slippers here in the main building, it’s encouraged even since it protects the flooring. It’s quite old—”

“Rosa.”

“Right! Let me lead you to the dining room.”

The dining room was just two doors down from mine. Rosa knocked three times, then opened the door for me as she announced quietly, “Countess Solana, the saintess is here as you requested!” 

The young maid winked before closing the door behind me, and I felt my heart beat faster as the door slammed shut.