The Axe and the Throne by M. D. Ireman Page B

he would continue in the lowly business of servant management, but none could argue with the quality of his product. His lady servants were the best trained, fastest working, most obedient of servants. They were also the most expensive. They shared nothing in common, it seemed, with their ostentatious proprietor. They were paragons of civility and were renowned throughout the kingdom for pleasing—most of all—their masters’ wives with their demure nature and tireless work.
    But I would be their master , she thought, not Alther. How nice it would be to have some daughterly company in the home. Crella had felt the absence of her daughter more than she had expected since Ethel left to attend school in the Adeltian Throne. Headstrong though she was, Ethel had at least begun to dress and act the part of a lady, giving her mother some reprieve. Crella would have much preferred that Ethel had joined her in embroidery, but with Ethel’s living room chair empty at nights, there was no denying how much Crella wished to have her daughter there with some book in her lap. A lady servant is no replacement for a daughter , she conceded sullenly.
    Crella glanced around the room a final time, watching as one of the women fought her own curved spine in an attempt to reach under Alther’s bed. Such a shame, Crella thought in surrender, but I must simply endure this imperfection.
    And yet the next day, Crella found herself being escorted by one of Cassen’s many boy servants to his grand chamber’s door. She could not live with the state of her home any longer and required professional services… for my sanity , she reasoned.
    â€œHer Majesty Princess Crella to see you,” said the boy after three fast and gentle knocks. Cassen was predisposed to addressing people with titles above their station, something he must have trained his boys to do as well. It was flattery to some, but others more rightly took offense. At best it was delivered with playful mischief, but Crella knew it to be a tool used to put off-balance and provoke—and she would be neither.
    â€œYour Grace, you honor me.” With the words, Cassen performed a nimble curtsey in spite of his corpulence. He was covered by his usual silks, wrapped around him in some haphazard fashion. His jowls were weak and saggy, but his face appeared thinner in person than memory served. Perhaps he is ill.
    â€œPlease,” said Crella, already uncomfortable in his presence. “I am here against my better judgment to employ some of your ladies.”
    â€œAh yes.” Cassen’s face was aglow, not put off in the least by her quip. “But I must insist you understand that it is I alone who employ my ladies, I who house and protect them. They perform their services from the moment the Dawnstar first ascends in the east until it disappears to the west.” Cassen raised a finger. “They return under strict curfew in spite of any commands to the contrary. You and yours may be their master for a time, but I will forever be their employer, their guardian…their mother.”
    â€œAll of that is fine. As one would expect of someone in my position, I am quite busy with no time to discuss every intricacy of your… business .” It was true, Crella did have a tea sipping scheduled with Nora for later that night. “I wish to hire your ladies for their services and with haste. If that is too much to ask I will find services elsewhere.”
    Cassen appeared to have found this most amusing, letting out a silent giggle with raised shoulders. “Oh, Your Majesty must not mean the women of Shal’sezar! They will remain in your company overnight if that is what you and your husband desire, but I must insist, if cleanliness is what you seek you must look elsewhere. And I do believe there is little where else to look.”
    Crella felt the heat building under her skin. This pig of a man insults me to my face. Why the king allows