Chapter 1: The Lady

Kailynn measured her days in small mercies.

A crust of bread left on the heavy wooden kitchen table. An hour when neither of the Tamiens called for her. The magic of the ancient farmhouse at night when she could pull a stolen book from under her straw-tick mattress and read by the dying candle light from the hall until her tired eyes gave out.

She had been living this way long enough that she almost didn't notice the pangs of hunger anymore. Almost. Her empty stomach had its own voracious opinions about that, and it made them known loudly and without shame while she watched the mud and shit-covered pig eat.

The disgusting pig and all the other animals on the farm never missed a single feeding. Her best and only friend, Annie ate with regularity. The other servants ate regular meals too, and even if they weren't bountiful, it was something. At her last count, Kailynn had been two days without a meal and stood here, thin and with hollow eyes, watching a huge pig eat. She tried very hard not to think about what that told her about her place in the hierarchy of this house.

She wasn't angry about it anymore — long ago she had found a crack in her mind and when she was hungry, angry, or sad, she would stuff those feelings into that crack. There was no point in keeping them. This was just how things were. Servants woke before the sun, ate after the master and matron did, and most importantly, they were grateful for what they got. She had been preached this sermon so many times over the whole of her seventeen years, it had become something close to a belief system.

Dinner. She let herself hope. Just the one word. Only once.

"KAILYNN!" Aunt Marissa's shrill voice cut across the large square farmyard. "Come wash these dishes, now!"

With a heavy sigh, she turned from the overflowing trough. Kailynn trudged from the pig-pen, across the farmyard. Her boots squelched in the deep mud as she walked past the massive barns that held the Tamiens prize-winning beasts of all types. Horses, cows, pigs and chickens to name a few. Her left worn-out leather farm boot had a hole that leaked muddy water into it. When she reached the large double doorway, she sat on the wood and iron threshold, pulled off her boots one at a time. With a look of disgust plastered on her face, Kailynn poured out the water from the boot with the hole in it.

Something moved in the far-off distance. Kailynn squinted at it as it moved across the trees that lined the road. A black regal-looking carriage with the royal black and red flag on it was rattling its way down the muddy lane toward the Tamiens farmhouse. Kailynn's jaw dropped as the worn boot slipped from her fingers.

"Aunt Marissa!" Kailynn called into the cavernous house, her voice echoing slightly down the hall that was lined with portraits of very serious looking people. "A R-Royal carriage is coming!"

Aunt Marissa appeared wiping her hands on a napkin with a servant girl in tow. Annie was Kailynn's best friend even though she was seven years Kailynn's senior. They constantly were in trouble for laughing too late at night in their shared tiny room in the servants' quarters in the attic. The attic was insufferably hot in the summer, during the spring, it was actually one of the nicer rooms temperature-wise. Aunt Marissa peered down the muddy street and straightened suddenly with a gasp as she recognized the royal colors.

"Kailynn get those lunch dishes done now! Then go and get out the good china tea set. Annie you help her after you start the tea kettle right away. Go girls! Go!" Aunt Marissa then went down the hall, bellowing for Uncle Morgan to get dressed.

Annie nudged Kailynn with a sharp bony elbow. Even though her meals were more regular than Kailynn's, she too was gaunt and easily tired. Annie grinned broadly.

"Who do you think it is?"

Kailynn shrugged as she watched her aunt almost run down the corridor barking orders furiously. Annie shook her bonneted head.

"Whoever it is, it definitely has Lady Marissa all fired up!"

Kailynn looked at Annie sideways. Annie called Uncle Morgan and Aunt Marissa, "Lord" and "Lady" because they had lots and lots of land called an estate or some such thing. Kailynn just called them Aunt and Uncle, unless she was in front of company in which case she never said anything. The girls giggled together and went into the outsized kitchen to get their chores done.

A few minutes later, Aunt Marissa had shooed them upstairs to the attic to change into their nicest serving uniforms with strict orders to come right back down to serve afternoon tea. Meanwhile Aunt Marissa and Uncle Morgan waited on the grand front steps with some of the other adult servants for their guests to arrive.

After changing, they rushed back downstairs into the ornate tea room. It was filled with old books antique furniture and oil lamps from the Continent that they were never allowed to touch. Only the older girls and servants were allowed to light them. Kailynn and Annie raced to the small window that faced the half-circle drive in front of the house. They pressed their noses to the glass so they could look toward the grand steps and see who it was. The carriage came rolling up to the front door. The carriage was pulled by two large prancing black horses and had very intricate designs carved all over it. It was being driven by a stone-faced man in a green and black military style uniform. He pulled on the reins to stop the horses in front of the house and after it had slowed to a complete stop, one of the male servants stepped forward to open the carriage door.

Out of the open door a beautiful pale-faced lady leaned out and then slowly stepped her way down the iron steps to the gravel driveway. She wore a beautiful green-black dress that spread out with her black lacy petticoats. She opened a small black cloth umbrella and laid the handle over her shoulder. Kailynn had seen umbrellas like that before in her Aunt's closet. Aunt Marissa called them parasols. They looked like umbrellas to Kailynn. The lady looked over at the window and smiled upon seeing the two girls, noses to the glass as they gawked. Then she stepped inside the house as Kailynn and Annie ran to their tea serving positions.

"You must be tired from your trip," Aunt Marissa was saying as they came down the hall. "Can we offer you a room for the night?"

"Perhaps." The beautiful lady had a lovely lilting voice. "We will see what time it is after we conclude our business."

"Ah. I see." Uncle Morgan opened the white painted door to the tea room where Kailynn and Annie waited. "And what business would that be Lady Beaufort?"

Lady Beaufort. That was her name. Kailynn thought that she had never heard such a pretty name.

"I have been sent by my father Lord Byron, the Minister of Tithes and Taxes."

"I know who your father is." Uncle Morgan growled. Aunt Marissa paled slightly at Uncle Morgan's tone. "What does he send a woman here for?"

"His daughter," Lady Beaufort corrected sternly. She straightened to look him in the eye. She clearly was used to getting these types of receptions. "He sent me because I am his best auditor. Your taxes to the King have been lessening."

"I'll not be audited by a woman. I doubt you can read! Let alone count!" Uncle Morgan bit out shaking off the hand that Aunt Marissa laid on his arm. "What is Lord Byron thinking? Sending a woman here to audit me?!?"

"I'm not here to audit you Lord Tamien."

Uncle Morgan blinked. "Oh. Why are you here then?"

"My father didn't want the gossip to get ahold of his message. So he sent me."

"My apologies, Lady Beaufort. What is his message?"

"Your taxes to the King have lessened every year for the past three years. If they do again this year, he will be forced to send an auditor. He wished to warn you privately. My father considers you a friend apparently. I would be your auditor. He wanted me to experience your famous hospitality, no doubt to show me what respectable people the Lord and Lady Tamien are."

Aunt Marissa swayed like she was going to pass out right there in the tea room. Annie quickly pulled up a chair for her and Aunt Marissa sank into it. Kailynn handed her a hot cup of tea. Uncle Morgan looked like he had swallowed something bitter and it had just hit his stomach.

"I see." Uncle Morgan muttered. "Would you like a cup of tea?"

Lady Beaufort tilted her head while looking at Kailynn. "Your servant girl looks so very familiar."

Aunt Marissa choked. She seemed to be going more pale by the second. "The uniforms are the same as the ones from your summer estate, Lady Beaufort."

"Ah, yes! That must be it." Lady Beaufort still studied Kailynn closely. "What is your name girl?"

"K-Kailynn, Lady. My name is Kailynn."

Lady Beaufort straightened up to her full height.

"Is it indeed?"

She cast a baleful look at the Lord and Lady Tamien.

"Tell me Kailynn, do you know your parents names?"

"Yes Lady, Richard and Tessia Tamien."

A strangled look flickered across Lady Beaufort's face and she swallowed. Hard.

"Tessia's daughter..." she breathed out the words. She snapped her head over to look at the Tamiens, she said, "Why is she dressed as a servant?? Isn't she your blood?"

Annie and Kailynn exchanged surprised looks. No one had ever spoken to the Tamiens like this before.

"W-well you see," Aunt Marissa began.

"She is working off her parents' debt." Uncle Morgan interrupted, his tone cold as ice. "What business is it of yours, Lady Beaufort?"

"None, I suppose. I knew her mother well." Lady Beaufort turned a cold gaze onto Uncle Morgan. "No, that is not my business."

Lady Beaufort's gaze found Kailynn and softened. She leaned down. "Kailynn, I was a friend of your mother's. She used to visit me quite a bit when I was much younger than you. I feel like she would want me to ask, do you like it here with your Aunt and Uncle?"

Uncle Morgan cut a sharp warning look at Kailynn. Aunt Marissa gave her a pleading look. Kailynn considered not saying anything. But her stomach growled and with the way that the Lady Beaufort's visit was going, dinner wasn't likely. Again.

"No, Lady Beaufort. Sometimes, I don't get to eat like everybody else."

Lady Beaufort shot a look at Aunt Marissa that made her hands shake and put down the tea. "We all have different stations in life. Sometimes, that means there are strange rules for some of us. When was the last time you ate?"

"Two days ago."

"Go get in my carriage." Lady Beaufort said gently. Straightening to her full height, she looked at Uncle Morgan and Aunt Marissa. Her eyes had gone dark and her voice was frigid. "I very much look forward to my next visit. I'm sure it will be very enjoyable."

Aunt Marissa trembled in her chair.

"Now, I'm afraid a very very in depth audit is going to be necessary. You will need to produce the last twenty years of records." Lady Beaufort paused. She watched as Kailynn inched over to Annie to hold her hand. Both girls looked scared and on the verge of tears.

"Oh please," Aunt Marissa breathed, still white as a ghost.

Lady Beaufort continued; "I think it best that I assume guardianship over Kailynn to see to her education. Perhaps the reduction in your costs will save you from an audit next year? Then of course my return would be unnecessary."

Uncle Morgan bristled. "So you mean to blackmail me? To what end? To have guardianship over that worthless wretch? Your father will hear about this!"

"Yes he will," Lady Beaufort said quietly. "I will see to it personally."

Uncle Morgan opened his mouth while turning red with rage, then he closed it. His face cleared and he smiled wickedly. "Of course, just a moment and I will give you her guardianship papers."

"Also the employment contract for this girl here," Lady Beaufort gestured at Annie. "We will require her services."

"Naturally." Uncle Morgan bowed and left the tea room.

Lady Beaufort, turned to the two girls. "Go straight to my carriage and get in. I will send for your things later."

Kailynn and Annie curtsied quickly and practically ran into the hall, almost colliding with Uncle Morgan. "See you soon Kailynn." His smile was sickly. Brushing past them, he took his papers into the tea room and shut the door behind him.

Kailynn and Annie looked at each other. Kailynn trembled slightly,

"What do you think he meant by that?"

Annie shrugged and held out her hand to Kailynn. "Let's go see what the inside of that carriage looks like!"