Open by Ashley Fox Page B

out
laughing. “ I ’ ll draw you up
some hot water, you need to wash and change.
You ’ ll have to get straight
to Master Tomas after, or you ’ ll be late. You ’ ll
have to visit her Highness ’ tomorrow. ”
    Mera felt anxiety sink, yet again she would
be too busy to see her mother.
    “ I had heard
that her Highness had been troubled by the babe all morning.
Nothing is wrong but that and sitting through a meeting with the
ambassador tired her, so she has retired to her suite to seek bed
rest. All are being turned away from her door. Perhaps
it ’ s for the best, she
wouldn ’ t turn you away but
she needs her rest, hey. ”
    With that she turned into the bathing room,
the sound of the pump flowing out a moment later. Mera looked at
her reflection, not really liking what she saw. Sighing heavily she
turned away to put away her papers.
     

CHAPTER NINE
     
The Queen of Cups
     
     
    Llew threw
himself back onto his pallet and scowled at the ceiling. The
gardeners had heard the commotion and told Mistress Thistle, the
noble girl ’ s governess. She
was the one who had found them, or as she put it, ‘ caught them neck deep in their
deviousness ’ . She had
marched them all back to the training yards, lined them up and sent
for Captain Madder. While they had waited she gave them lessons on
the correct etiquette that should be observed between the little
lords and ladies.
    “ ... the
virtues of cleanliness and honesty, the blessings of propriety, and
how utterly and irrevocably disgraceful it is when such foundations
of correct behaviour are ignored! ”
    Some of the
girls had started to cry, but only half heatedly. Mostly they
didn ’ t seemed perturbed by
Mistress Thistle at all, and when Llew realized this he
wasn ’ t quite so intimidated
by her. Of course, he would never admit he was intimidated in the
first place. Whenever Mistress Thistle marched past Violet she
would roll her eyes at Holly, who was turning bright red with the
effort of suppressing her giggles. Which occasionally escaped in
little hiccups.
    “ I am
unfortunately aware of how difficult boys find this as it was their
nature to be horrible, but such impulses have to be blessedly
controlled! “
    All of this was shouted very shrilly, spat
from a mouth puckered with disdain.
    Soon Madder
arrived, limping onto yards. He was already aware of what had come
to pass, and soon set about getting the details. Llew had stepped
forward and told him how it was his idea, but was cut short by
Mistress Thistle ’ s squawk of
indignation.
    “ Rosalind
Herself weeps at your temerity, boy! ”
    Soon enough they found out it was the girls
who had set about the second attack with the middens. Captain
Madder and Mistress Thistle had joined together in dressing them
down, and giving out punishments. Madder gave the boys a lecture on
how to respect the fairer sex, how it was their duty to protect
them, and also to respect the labour that went into making and
caring for their garments. So he told the boys they would be
working with the laundry servants for an hour at lunch, and two
hours at the end of the day, for a week. And an added punishment
for Llew, as he was the leader, he would now have a room in the
pages wing instead of his own apartments.
    The girls had
smirked at their punishment but were cut short by Mistress
Thistle ’ s sharp voice. The
girls got a lecture on how to behave like ladies, not common bred
hoodlums, and how to respect the labour of those whose job it was
to maintain the Gardens. So their punishment was to help maintain
the pathways and weeding, for the same duration as the boys
punishment, as well as clean up the mess they had made.
    Llew could not help the smug smile at the
memory of the girls on hands and knees cleaning up the middens they
had slopped everywhere. Almost made the boys punishment worth
it.
    Doing laundry was tougher work than he
imagined it would be. The women in charge were a rough bunch and
were always laughing at the