LIT 2. Poisonous Politics
Lost in Translation Chapter 2
Amalia had already busied herself slicing vegetables when I entered the room, and didn't notice me quite as quickly as some of the other workers. I raised a hand when they started jumping to attention. "Hello, everyone, don't let me interrupt you. Actually, on second thought, let me. When did you all last have a break?"
I got a few shrugs in response. I drew myself up to my full height. "By royal decree, everyone take a ten minute break."
"Ma'am, this soup will burn..." said a man near the back, as others made their way to the door.
"I'll stir it," said Amalia, making her way to the pot before he'd even finished his sentence. "Go stretch your legs."
He frowned slightly. "You've been standing here longer than I..." She waved the comment away before he could finish it.
"Nonsense, you need it more than I do. I don't have so much leg to stretch." It was true - the woman stood just below 5 feet tall.
"I'll see to it that she takes a break." I assured the man stirring soup. He hesitated, then passed the wooden spoon to Amalia.
"Now, what's on your mind, child?" Amalia asked me, as soon all the other cooks had left the room. Fredrick hung around the entrance, and Amalia and I both pretended not to notice him taste testing the freshly made deserts.
"Who was that, just now?"
"He's one of the one's who organized this dinner. I don't recall his name. He doesn't live nearby, and this is my first time meeting him." She didn't have to tell me that last part. No one who knew Amalia would talk to her like that. For one, she was the head cook, and one of the best in the country. Secondly, she was everyone's grandmother. She had no biological grandchildren, but ask anyone in the castle and they'll tell you - she's become one of their grandmothers. I think she may have entered the world at age sixty.
"Is he organizing the entire thing alone?"
"You've lived among royals long enough to know it takes a committee to get anything done around here. He's just the only one who's come down to the kitchen." Amalia adjusted the heat coming from the stove, and looked me in the eye for the first time since I'd gotten there. She sounded warm, and nearly looked it too. But there was tension in her eyes, seeping out through the wrinkles surrounding them. "You've got a little tuft of black hair poking out from under that wig of yours." She busied herself tucking a stray hair out of my face.
"Amalia, are you okay?"
"Of course, now what did you come all the way down here for?"
"Amalia, did he say something to you..." I sighed, internally cursing the bugs crawling along the rafters, listening. "What I mean to say is, has someone said something, which, if it were said to me or my mother, may have legal consequences? Depending on interpretation, of course."
"Hmm..." Amalia stared into the pot. "I suppose it could be described as such, legally speaking. You know how lawyers can be. But nevermind all that, you didn't come down here for legal questions did you? What did you come down here for in the first place?"
I pretended not to be bothered by the change in topic. "You know me and my legal questions. My hypotheticals. No, I came down here to ask about the dinner you all have been asked to prepare. How long has this been planned? I'm only just now hearing about it."
"You and me both, child." Amalia looked me in the eye. I blinked first. "I hadn't heard anything from anyone before I walked in this morning."
"Are you cooking all of it? You and your team?"
"I'm cooking everything for the number I've been given. Twenty people." She looked back down at the pot. "I've been so busy, I haven't gotten the chance to check with the maid who's supposed to be putting the room together. I suppose I should check with her at some point." She paused, staring off at nothing in particular. "It wouldn't look very good if we had too many chairs."
"I see." I said. And I thought I did. "I suppose that's all I wanted to ask you about."
"Where are you headed next? To the maid?"
"No, I don't think that'll be necessary..." I was fairly certain she wasn't worried about extra chairs. And if it wasn't the chairs, then it must be the food - extra food from somewhere else. From someone else. I didn't need to talk with anymore people, and probably shouldn't risk it, with the bugs listening. If Amalia was worried, that was enough evidence to convince me that something was amiss. "I'll see you soon, Amalia."
"Not too soon. If you keep giving my people breaks, I'll never get this done!" She laughed, but the it didn't quite make it to her eyes.
"Oh, thanks for reminding me," I said, grinning. "By royal decree, you have to take a break when your team gets back."
"By royal decree... child, it would just ruin me if you ever became queen." She was looking down at the pot again, so she didn't see the grin leave my face. She likely didn't yet know that the king had died. I gave her a quick hug, too quick, in hindsight, and then Fredrick followed me as I left the kitchen.
"Marie!" Men have rarely had their voices described as shrill, but an exception should be made for this one. I looked behind me, having made it almost to my quarters, and saw the son of a senator from the Northern Lunar Nation. My betrothed.
He had dark hair and seemed handsome until he spoke - at which point the slight whine in his voice that hung on every syllable took off and away all of the nice aspects of his appearance.
"Edmund, what are you doing here?" I had turned my head and acknowledged him, yes, but that didn't mean I had to stop moving towards my quarters. I couldn't think of a polite excuse to escape this conversation, but I could get away with putting a time limit on it, in the form of my closed bedroom door.
"Well, my family is on tour, you know, one of those agricultural clubs my father likes to speak to, we have lobby groups and that sort of thing in my country. He gets many donations for his campaign from that club, so when they move, well, so does he, and I thought, I could go there, and see a lot of livestock, important work of course, or I could visit you."
"Just for a visit?"
"Well, yes, I'm sorry if you are at all busy. I asked around yesterday, before I got here, of course, and there didn't seem to be anything. But now I get here, and there are all these vans parked along the street, if you've noticed, I had to walk quite a bit to get to the gate. I don't suppose you know what they're all there for?"
"I hadn't noticed the vans..." I let out a small breath. So he didn't know about the king's death. He was just being a busy body.
"Yes, like I said, I checked your calendar, and there was a lot of nothing... honesty, Marie, one would think you don't get out much. Of course, I don't think that, but people do talk."
"I just don't put a lot of things on a calendar." And it was true. I did do things, but 'visit the public gardens alone' or 'go with Amalia while she buys new oven mitts' didn't really require setting day and hour in the digital system for all the world to see. Another of the late king’s security measures - strongly encourage everyone to keep digital logs accessible to other members of the royal family, her allies, and the castle staff. Thankfully, this measure was a suggestion rather than a rule, albeit a strong one. "But I am a bit busy today, so I really can't..." We'd reached my quarters. I gestured to my door, as if it was about to start making excuses on my behalf.
"Oh, I'm sorry to have bothered you then, but if you need any help with anything... Well, we are engaged now, you know, so just say the word..."
"Yes, of course..." I trailed off, trying to figure out how to end the conversation politely. Pointing out that we were only betrothed, not engaged, didn't seem like the best option. "I really don't need anything, though, thank you." He frowned, and I felt a twinge of sympathy. Was that not polite enough? Against my own wishes, I continued. "How long will you be in town, maybe we can plan a lunch sometime?"
He brightened. "Oh, I'll be in town a couple more days, what does your calendar look like tomorrow?"
"It'll be quite empty." And it would be.
He brightened. "Sound good, I'll contact you tomorrow, say 11:30?"
"Sure."
"And also, just wanted to tell you, you look lovely today. Did you do something to your hair?"
My hand flew to my bangs. Had the wig slipped? "I don't think..."
"That purple dye doesn't suit everyone, but it always looks good on you."
"I... thank you. I'll see you later, then."
Satisfied with that answer, he turned and left me standing in the doorway to my quarters to go find some other soul to talk at. I took the purple wig off as he rounded the corner. Fredrick, on the other hand, stayed right by my side, standing with one hand on the half open door.
"What now, ma'am?" He asked.
"Now you can leave me be, for the moment," I said, trying to keep a smile on my face despite the sinking feeling in my stomach.
"What are you going to do this afternoon, if I may ask?" I thought for a moment.
"I can get ready for tonight's events on my own. If anyone asks, tell them I am getting ready."
He nodded, slowly. "Is there anything else I can do for you in the meantime, ma'am?"
I gave him a quick hug. Too quick, in hindsight. "No, you've done so much for me already. I'll see you soon."
I closed the door and dragged a duffel bag from underneath my bed.
