Eritance - Chapter 6

It had been a long time since I had been able to bathe like this. In fact, now that I thought about it, I had probably never been able to take a hot bath before, as the poor around here either bathed in the cold river nearby or simply went without bathing. The lives of the rich really are comfortable I thought to myself. I couldn’t understand how the water was hot without there being a fire, but as I examined the bath it seemed that there was a system in place that allowed hot water to pour down from somewhere else in the mansion. “There must be a team of maids dedicated towards making sure that there is hot water for the residents here” I concluded.

The bath ended up being so relaxing for me that I nearly fell asleep. By the time I exited the bath, the sun had nearly set. Walking out of the bath into the waiting room between the bath and the hallway, I found a set of fresh clothes waiting for me. It was simple suit of clothes comprised of a fine white tunic, a leather belt, and pair of black pants that seemed to be made of a tough and durable material that I had never seen before. Not that I was an expert on clothing materials that is.

After adorning the handsome suit of clothes, I entered the hallway. Not familiar with the mansion I wandered down the hall towards a large room. As I entered the large room I realized that it was a large hall. With a large marbled staircase, that wound its way through four flours. It was here that I ran across one of the young maids that had led me to the bath. Noticing me she said,” follow me, dinner will soon be served, the lord is waiting”.

Silently following the young maid, we soon arrived in an extravagant dining room. It was adorned with all sorts of decorations, of different kinds and colors. In the hall there was also a long table lined with all sorts of food that I had never seen before, most importantly it was tabled filled with many kinds of meats. There were sweet meats, meats glazed, meats covered in different sauces, and of various sizes.

After I entered the dining hall, I was greeted by man I had spoken with earlier. “Welcome, enjoy the feat, we have many things to talk about” he said. “I am the lord of this mansion, Gregory Somers, what you did before was a great service” he began. I thought, here we go, a flowery speech is coming, perhaps I might even be given some sort of reward that would free me from my poverty. “Your heroism and dedication to the territory has assured that production would continue on without interruption” as I heard this a strange feeling began to come over me. The lord continued to blather on and on about how the economic security of the territory had be saved but did not once mention that the lives that were at risk mattered. That the field workers mattered. I asked him, “what about the guards? Where were they? Why did it take so long to come?”. Gregory gave a flippant response, “oh, that’s because the guards were here of course, I couldn’t let my family be put at risk, in fact, my daughter is to be sent to the emperor as his next favored concubine. This will cement our family as a power house and raise our status quite a bit in the empire”.

I was shocked, the reason the guards never came, was because they had never been sent. Instead the lord had selfishly held them back to protect his family alone. “What about the people, what about Ross?” I asked. “Field hands are replaceable, but without my family, the trade deals wouldn’t happen, the supplies wouldn’t come, and the guards wouldn’t be here. We are the most important thing for the village”. It was like a slap to the face, I knew that the rich don’t care much for the poor, but I thought they at least viewed us as people. How wrong I was though, we were less valuable than the animals raised in the village. “A young man with the talent to slay a spine bear though, you have some real prospects. Starting tomorrow I will send you off on your first job” the lord continued in a jovial tone. “Job?” I asked incredulously.

“Yes, this is a great opportunity for you. With your strength, you can protect my daughter from any danger, she’ll leave in two days to go to the capital for her wedding. You will be escorting her along with a company of guards”. It was like a repeated slap to the face. The man, who views all of us as worth less than his livestock, also wants me to babysit his spoiled brat, so that he can increase his wealth and status even more. “I refuse”, the feeling that had been building up inside was disgust. I had no desire to work closely with the lord and his family ever. “You can of course make that decision” he said as he tore into some of the chicken nearby. I couldn’t believe how casually he could speak like this while eating without a problem. It was as if the potential loss of life couldn’t detract from his meal, and it was just a normal dinner conversation for him.

“However, I will take great offense at your refusal, and you will immediately be cut off from all work in the village, and the surrounding towns as well, not to mention you won’t have place to stay, not with friend nor through rent”. At that I stiffened, while I had become somewhat of an expert at tracking and scavenging, I was not ye able to live completely off the land. Furthermore, it is very dangerous outside of the protection of the villages, as all sorts of deadly creatures existed.