Siv's Day
Abandoned again. Well, not abandoned, but that's what it felt like. Siv brushed down the front of her long bekae, which was a long piece of sky blue cloth she pulled over her head and cinched at the sides with a wide violet sash. It allowed her a lot of movement as it didn't restrict her legs. Yes, her hips showed easily, but she didn't mind. She preferred the freedom of movement. Not only that, she had trained as a smekihanxa with the Peridot Order of House Aldinav. As a courtesan in training, it meant she was used to being around people of higher ranks than most maids and was much more familiar. Siv had learned the art of the laugh, the witty banter, and how to touch someone's arm or shoulder in just the right way to make them relax. Unfortunately, she wasn't cut out for courtesan work after causing a rather embarrassing situation between two houses. Since then it had taken practice to remember how proper she should be.
Siv shivered at that thought but focused on what she was doing now. She was an Estate Maid of the 1st Order and a Mistress Apprentice. Those were big things to focus on, but the young woman had earned Mistress Maevin Maer's trust. Siv had been left in charge as Mistress in Standing since Maevin had to handle the Council of Servants for the planet. That was not something Siv wanted to be involved with.
Smoothing her dress out once more, checking the red silk scarf around her waist and running her hands through her two-tone hair, Siv gently rapped on the wooden door of her Lord's office.
“Come in!”
Henry Patton always sounded so exuberant. His curiosity and fascination always brought a smile to Siv's face. He was even gentle with her and the servants, which endeared everyone to him even more. The young woman stepped in, placed one hand atop the other at her waist, and bowed.
“eta mleteematae Siv kive, xixihanvashav.” Siv is here to serve, my master.
“Oh! Siv!”
There was that smile. Her lord was quite excited today. He had a bunch of compu-pads all over his desk, their crystal screens catching the sunlight through the window at odd angles. The entire desk had the look of someone who had been digging through information for the better part of the morning. The window behind him was wide open and a nice breeze was blowing through.
“I have something for you to do. Maevin was going to handle it but things got moved up; she's on the other side of the planet you know.”
Yeah, she knew. The world of the Houses was always moving and it was a delicate dance due to how much the houses could mistrust each other.
“What is it that you require me to do?”
“It's about the veehanaeset.”
The Soft War. Yhe meeting that Lord Henry was putting together with the estates on the planet. The woman's heart jumped slightly at the word. Yes, of course there were other estates here. Victory was an important hub, though House Avernell was the dominant one. Unlike smaller planets that may only have one estate, this planet meant the dance was much more subtle and intense.
“And how can I help with that?”
“I have been informed that Iron Forge, Black Fall, Morning Dew, and Crystal Spring estates are going to be here later this afternoon. They're sending representatives to hammer out the details among the orders before their lords and ladies arrive.”
Siv swallowed. Now she wished she was at the Council of Servants. What Henry was telling her was that she was going to be responsible for negotiating with rival houses on how the entire event was going to go. By the gods, she wished Maevin were here. When it came to her training, Siv did not have much.
“Do you have a list of those who are coming as representatives?” Siv asked, trying to sound calm and not as nervous as she was.
“Let's see. Mistress Niva Atama of Iron Forge, Steward Vedarat of Black Fall, Lady Halesia of Morning Dew, and Estate Maid of the 1st Order Minaka of Shova.”
A lady. Siv swallowed. Not only were there two servant leaders coming but a Lady, a lady who, if memory served, was the first wife of the Duke of House Nevakev.
“Are you alright?”
Lord Henry's voice cut through the chattering voices in her head. The maid bowed more deeply to hide the embarrassed flush in her face. “I apologize, my master. I was simply caught off guard by the rankings of those coming. I am only a Mistress Apprentice.”
Henry nodded and then set down the compu-pad he had been holding. “Siv.”
The woman looked up to see her master looking right at her.
“While Maevin is gone, you are my mistress. I don't care that your title has 'apprentice' attached. You are to be respected like a mistress, and if they don't, I expect you to tell me. No one is going to be insulted here just because I'm human.”
Siv's heart trilled a bit in her chest at such a vehement defense of a servant. No wonder so many maids had crushes on him.
“As you wish, my master.”
The living room was not really massive, but the way the furniture had been placed gave the area a feeling of grandeur. The sofas had been placed against the walls, with another lush one close to the center. There were a few large, firm cushions for people to lounge on if they preferred to stretch out. Comfort was the spirit of House Avernell.
The hardest thing was waiting. Siv had asked Nish if she would escort the arrivals to the living room. That woman was very steady and level-headed, unlike her lover Abiva. The Mistress Apprentice wanted to be there herself but that would weaken her position. Maevin never went to meet any other servant except when it was a person of high stature. It twisted her gut trying to decide how to treat Lady Halesia, and the Emissary maids were no help. The protocol for the wife of a lord who didn't hold a title except by marriage was a very big gray area. In the end, the young woman had decided to wait here and ask Nish to show far more deference to her than to the others. Hopefully that wouldn't get her into trouble.
When she heard the patter of feet coming, Siv took a deep breath, smoothed down her dress, and turned, trying to smile warmly but in charge. The group of people who came in were jarringly different from each other.
Nish led the way. The woman with the blonde short-cut hair placed one hand on the other in front of her waist and bowed. Siv appreciated the fact that the Arch Maid bowed much further than she needed to, helping cement that Siv was in charge. Behind her came the others.
The first was someone that Siv recognized immediately. They had had enough dealings with Iron Forge Estate that only the newest people did not know Mistress Niva Atama. The woman was the opposite of how the Mistress Apprentice was dressed. A long charcoal black robe trimmed in gold wrapped around her, the rich material catching the natural light as she moved. Her silver hair was in three braids that wound down her head and faded into a dark brown, almost blending with her clothes. A rather ornate gold crown sat on her head, the gems dangling from it bouncing as she walked. A thick dark yellow sash was wrapped around her waist and she wore matching gauntlets of metal that gleamed in the light. For anyone else this would be a weapon and forbidden, but Siv knew she had earned those by fighting off a Drull attack in a different star system. They were her badges of honor, and the Mistress Apprentice had no pressing reason to ask for their removal. The way that Niva watched her, Siv was pretty sure she was waiting for a challenge.
The next to come in was a tall man wearing simple pale blue robes that fit him well and had larger, pointed shoulders, a style common among House Devenek. The silver sash around his waist denoted that he was a Steward, the male equivalent of a Mistress, and this had to be Vedarat. The man gave her a nod of acknowledgement.
The last two came in together, one all gentle smiles and the other quiet.
“xikihanma daexugee!” Lady Halesia said, reaching out with both hands, striding forward, and taking Siv's in her own. “It is so wonderful to meet you. I have heard of you and your training under Mistress Maer. It is sad that she is not here for me to compliment your skills.”
Siv did her best not to blush. A Lady of another house complimenting her?
Halesia carried herself with an effortless grace that drew the eye immediately. Long, wavy hair cascaded past her shoulders, pinned back with a delicate bow that softened the sharp elegance of her features. Her face was warm and open, lips curved into a smile that suggested she knew exactly the effect she had on people and probably enjoyed it.
Her outfit hugged her figure closely, a fitted bodice cinched at the waist, paired with sleek dark leggings that disappeared into tall boots. When Halesia spoke, her voice carried a practiced charm, her words chosen with ease. She had made no visible effort to do anything except greet them, but Siv already felt that she could easily take over the discussion. So many powerful figures here and she was on her own.
Don't screw this up, the Mistress Apprentice scolded herself.
The last person was Estate Maid of the 1st Order Minaka of House Shova, and it took everything in her not to startle. Large, jagged white scars ran down the left side of her face, marring her look. Her dark eye on one side moved while the other was a white electronic eye with electric blue veins. This woman had been through something. The sitting room felt smaller with all of them in it.
Siv gestured to the sofas and cushions, keeping her expression warm and her voice as even as she could pull off. “Please, make yourselves comfortable. Refreshments will be brought shortly.” She had already arranged for Burdak to have a few of his maids bring tea and the eflen cakes that were a specialty of House Avernell's kitchens.
Niva did not so much sit as install herself. She chose the central sofa, spreading the weight of her charcoal robes around her like a declaration of territory and placed her gauntleted hands on her knees. The gems on her crown caught the afternoon light coming through the wide window and threw small bright shapes across the ceiling.
Vedarat settled into the armchair to the left, crossing one leg over the other and folding his hands in his lap. He said nothing yet, but his eyes moved around the room with a slow, measured attention that reminded Siv of someone taking inventory. Hadn't Maevin said the quiet ones should be watched the most?
Lady Halesia settled gracefully onto one of the firm cushions near the center, tucking her legs neatly beneath her and smiling as though this were a pleasant social call rather than a negotiation. Minaka positioned herself slightly behind and to the right of Halesia, spine straight, scarred face unreadable, her mismatched eyes fixed on the middle distance. Siv took her place standing before them, hands folded at her waist.
“I want to thank each of you for coming on behalf of your houses. Lord Henry is honored by the presence of such distinguished representatives and wishes this meeting to be fruitful for all parties.” She paused just a breath. “I also want to acknowledge that Mistress Maer would normally be conducting these discussions. In her absence, Lord Henry has placed his full confidence in me, and I intend to honor that trust.”
She watched Niva's expression during that last part. The Mistress of Iron Forge did not roll her eyes exactly. She simply let her gaze drift to the window and back in a way that communicated everything without committing to anything.
“As your presence is a tentative agreement to participate in the veehaneaset, it is important for us to make sure that everyone is comfortable. This is supposed to be an informal gathering and my master has made it clear he wants comfort and safety to outweigh any ceremony.” Siv said, trying not to let the words all spill out.
“Outweigh ceremony?” Niva's voice was smooth and low and carried the particular weight of someone who had never been told no and had survived it. “That is a very generous sentiment.”
“Blue Blossom Estate extends it sincerely.”
“Then perhaps your master can explain how this can be maintained when tradition is important not only to my house but to others like House Shova?” Niva leaned forward slightly, the dangling gems of her crown swaying. “Tradition has been a part of our culture as long as we can remember and cannot be thrown aside at the whims of a Terran. This is fact.”
“If I may,” Halesia said, her voice slipping into the conversation like warm water finding a gap between stones. She smiled at Niva with what looked like genuine friendliness. “House Patton-Avernell holds a charter from the Empress herself. It stands to reason that this house's preference of minimal ceremony is their specific culture. It would not look good upon any of our estates if we simply dismissed their approach.”
Niva's jaw shifted slightly. She sat back.
Siv exhaled through her nose. The verbal fencing had already begun and it took everything not to tremble from the adrenaline running through the Mistress Apprentice's system.
“My master wants the representatives to feel as safe and welcome as possible,” Siv continued, drawing their attention back. “He wants genuine conversation without the trappings of prestige, for the betterment of all estates here on Victory.”
“I have heard Lord Patton-Avernell's own words offering support to my estate,” Vedarat's voice was calm and matter-of-fact. He had not changed his posture at all.
“Words are worth only the sound they make,” Niva responded with a curl of her lip.
Steward Vedarat slowly turned to look at the other peer, holding her gaze. “Which he has carried out. His lord has submitted official paperwork to authorize House Devenek's participation in the Starbase upgrades.”
Niva's eyes narrowed, something calculating behind them, but she did not say anything more. The room was quiet for a moment.
Siv glanced briefly at Minaka, who had not moved, had not spoken, and appeared to be semi-focused on something outside the window rather than the meeting going on. There was nothing hostile in it, almost as if this conversation was not interesting to her.
Siv straightened slightly and moved to the next point.
“The ancient tradition of veehaneaset carries an expectation of gifts to begin the event, something that our Emissary maids made clear to my master could not be dispensed with.” There were some things that simply could not be dispensed with.
Niva's chin lifted.
Here we go, Siv thought.
“Iron Forge intends to defer such discussions at the moment.”
Everyone shifted uncomfortably. It took everything for the Mistress Apprentice not to say something. Niva was really pushing the boundary of what she would be allowed to get away with.
Siv kept her voice even. “Still, such things must be planned for, as allowing the insult of any estate or house is something my master will not permit.”
“My husband has prepared a donation of currency toward the upgrades of the starbase we were speaking of earlier,” Halesia said lightly, “to help defray the pressure that would put on House Patton-Avernell.”
Niva frowned and Vedarat straightened.
“Such a substantial gift for a project that one is not part of is...interesting,” Vedarat said with narrowed eyes.
“Peace, Steward,” Halesia said with a mischievous smile. “We donate it in the spirit of the veehaneaset with no expectation except as proof of House Nevakev's trust in Lord Patton-Avernell's leadership.”
The Mistress Apprentice wasn't sure if that helped or not. The politics was choking. How did Maevin handle all of this?
For the next two hours they pressed on with discussions of lodging, how many security personnel, what was expected of any honored maids, down to the mundane of how meals would be prepared and so forth. Even so, in the back of Siv's mind, she knew Minaka had not said anything, had not engaged in a single discussion point.
As they were wrapping up, the 1st Order Maid stood, drawing everyone's attention.
“Crystal Spring Estate of House Shova will not be participating in the veehaneaset.”
Her voice was low and even and carried no apology in it whatsoever. Minaka didn't bother to look at anyone but turned on her heel and left through the door she had come in. The silence she left behind lasted exactly two seconds.
“Well,” Niva's voice cut across the room like a blade finding a seam. “That is rather expected of House Shova, isn't it. They refuse to participate in anything that could put their precious knowledge at risk, even if it means insulting the ruling estate.”
Halesia's smile had gone carefully neutral. Vedarat had gone very still in the particular way of someone who was deciding whether this was his problem. Siv's heart was hammering. She could feel it at the base of her throat. Siv did not let herself swallow visibly. She kept her hands folded at her waist and her expression warm and in charge, completely at odds with the cold spiral happening behind her eyes.
“Please forgive the interruption,” she said, and was relieved to hear her own voice come out steady. “I wonder if I might impose on your patience a little longer. I believe Nish was preparing a second round of refreshments.”
As if summoned by the words themselves, Nish appeared in the doorway with a tray of small glazed pastries and a fresh pot of something that smelled of spice. The Arch Maid moved through the room with her particular brand of unhurried competence, setting the tray down and meeting Siv's eyes for only a fraction of a second.
The nod was so small it was barely a movement at all.
She heard Halesia begin to say something gracious to Nish as the door closed behind her.
The corridor outside was empty and cool, and Siv allowed herself exactly four fast steps of genuine panic before she locked it back down and broke into a purposeful stride toward the estate's front approach.
Minaka had not been hurrying. Siv caught sight of her just as the woman turned the far corner of the main corridor that led toward the outer courtyard and the shuttle landing pad beyond it. Her pace was measured; she moved like someone who had already finished a task and was simply in the process of leaving it behind.
“Peer Minaka,” Siv said, referencing that she was also a 1st Order Maid when not a Mistress Apprentice.
The woman stopped but did not turn immediately. There was a pause, brief but present, and then she turned on her heel and faced Siv with that still, unreadable expression.
Siv stopped a few paces away and kept her voice level.
“I would ask a few minutes of your time.”
Another pause. Then Minaka inclined her head. Not warmly. But she inclined it.
Siv chose her words with the same care she would choose footing on uncertain ground. “May I understand why you have refused my master's invitation? Did I not convey to you his sincerity, of safety, with no design upon you or the others?”
For a moment she thought Minaka might not answer, but she spoke. “He may speak of no design, but how can a human be trusted? Let alone any of those in that room. My estate and house are of history and of secrets. Every house has tried to vie for our favor or coerce us into obedience, to use what we know for their own gain. Why would this be any different?”
She said it without heat. That was somehow the most unsettling part.
“Lord Henry is not like that,” Siv said.
Minaka's expression shifted into something like amusement. “A Terran? Really? I would not have expected you to be so naive, Peer Siv.”
Siv stood very still for a moment. Then she made a decision. It was probably reckless. Maevin would have thought carefully about it for at least ten minutes before committing. Siv gave herself three seconds and moved.
“Come with me,” she said.
The southern garden was not the estate's most impressive space. That distinction belonged to the formal courtyard near the entrance with its sculpted hedges and fountain that caught the light at dawn in a way that made visitors stop walking. The southern garden was where things actually grew, vegetable beds, herb rows, the stubborn sprawling tangle of something that Burdak had been cultivating and refused to explain. It smelled of turned earth and something green and faintly sweet, and the evening light came through the trees at the garden's edge in long, low bars of amber.
Siv slowed as they approached the garden wall and held out a hand, briefly, to stop Minaka beside her. She positioned them at the corner where the wall's shadow was deep and the sightline through the garden gate was clear.
Lord Henry was on his knees in the third vegetable bed.
He had what appeared to be dirt on both forearms up to the elbow and was pulling weeds from the base of a row of something leafy with the focused enthusiasm of a man who had absolutely no intention of returning to his paperwork. Two maids worked nearby, one on each side of him, and the sound of their voices drifted across the garden in the evening air.
He was laughing. Something one of the maids had said had caught him entirely off guard and he had sat back on his heels and laughed with his whole face, with no performance in it whatsoever.
The maid was grinning, far too comfortable for someone working with a lord of an estate, but that was the point Siv was trying to make.
Henry said something back. Siv couldn't catch the words but she watched the maid laugh again. Henry went back to his weeding. He did not look up toward the wall. He had no idea anyone was watching.
Siv looked at Minaka. The woman was very still. Her scarred face was turned toward the garden and her expression had changed in some way that was difficult to name. The electronic eye moved, tracking slowly across the scene. The dark eye beside it had something in it that it hadn't had before. The silence stretched out between them, easy now in a way it had not been in the corridor.
After a long moment, Minaka exhaled through her nose. It was a small sound. Almost nothing.
“He has no idea anyone is watching him,” Minaka said quietly. It was not quite a question.
“No.”
Minaka was quiet for a long time. Down in the garden, Henry said something that made the maid cover her mouth with her dirt-covered hand, though she quickly composed herself, while Henry looked very pleased with himself.
Minaka watched this. She watched all of it.
Then she said, without looking away from the garden, “This one time.”
Siv turned her head.
“House Shova,” Minaka said, “will send a representative.”
She said it the way she had said everything else today, flat and even and without decoration. The weight on Siv's shoulders lifted and she almost took in a ragged breath.
“Thank you,” Siv said. She kept her voice just as quiet.
Minaka turned from the garden and straightened her shoulders. The scarred face was composed again, the moment tucked away somewhere Siv could not follow it.
“I will see myself to the landing pad,” she said.
Siv nodded and watched her go.
There was definitely a look of disbelief on everyone's face, especially Niva's, when Siv returned to inform them that House Shova would be participating. She did not go into detail, as it was time for everyone to leave.
The moon was shining bright as Siv looked over the belvedere wall, noting the maids returning in from their shift. She also noticed Abiva swatting the backside of a certain yellow-haired maid who had probably screwed up something yet again.
“I am impressed.”
Siv nearly came out of her skin at the cool voice beside her. Siv turned with a start to see Mistress Maevin standing there, looking out toward the woods in the distance.
“xikihanmaav,” Siv said with a quick bow. “I did not see you there.”
Maevin raised a hand to ward off the politeness and turned to look at the other girl. “House Shova has never accepted invitations. They have always sent a representative but never followed through.”
There was a glitter of curiosity in Maevin's eyes. “I would not have been confident that even I could have gotten them to agree. What did you do?”
Siv thought about it. Yes, she had gambled and it had paid off, but she had also exposed her master's private life in a way that could have been used against him. Siv would either be rewarded or tied to the pillar. So she lowered her head.
“You once told me that we must learn how to navigate things ourselves and to find ways of getting things done,” Siv said.
“Yes?”
“I have found a way.”
“You don't plan on telling me,” Maevin said with a hint of amusement and irritation.
“What sort of mistress would I be if I gave away my secrets?”
That did get a chuckle out of the imperious woman who ruled the estate with an iron fist.
“Go to bed, Siv. You've earned it.”
Yes. She had.