The Lost Queen Book 1 - Alden

26. Breakfast Dessert

Knock, knock, knock.

I roll over on the couch and check my phone. "Bloody hell it's 5:30." I sit up and pretend to be awake. "Come in."

Jenny comes flying in. "I know you're still sleeping, but I need you to do something. I don't know if you know, but I know that you should know. You got an advisory panel. Usually, 5 or 6 people who you trust advise you on stuff and can make emergency decisions. I need to be on that panel. I need to move the servants from the other castle, and it's impossible to move them without being on the panel. And I need the servant area redone here, but I can't do that either. Please sign me onto the panel, so I can get all this started."

I take the paper she hands me. "What? And how much coffee have you had this morning?"

She ignores me. "You get to appoint kings' advisors. They are people you trust. People that will help you. Do research for you or whatever you need. Like me, Clark and Victor are doing. Right now we are on the bottom of the totem pole. The top goes King and Queen and their children, king and queens, royal guard, royal guard, king and queens advisors, other royal family, other people who hold offices in the castle, Kings Police and so on. All the way down to the bottom, which are servants. I am barely above servant, I'm a commoner. It would be very helpful if you would sign me as an advisor, so I don't have to get everything I ask for signed for by you."

I can only make sense of half of what she is saying. I'm not awake, and she's talking way too fast. I can only stare blankly at her.

"I'll stop waking you up at 5AM to sign papers if you sign this 1."

"That sounds perfect." I sign the paper. "How is everything going with the servant issue?"

"I'll tell you later. I'm trying to get it sorted out by 2. See you at the meeting." She runs out the door.

"Ok, then." I look over at the queen. She is peaceful. "Who in their right mind is that awake at 5:30? Let's sleep more." I cover up and get comfortable.

Knock, knock, knock.

I let out a big sigh and sit up again. "Come in."

This time it's Emberlynna. "Sorry to bother you so early. I have a few items for you to sign. 3 of the contractor teams are here and ready to start. We need a couple of last-minute approvals. And the place is much cleaner. I feel better about the queen being here now."

I take the contracts and check them over. They are going to start redoing an entire wing, right now. "Yea, I was cleaning in here half the night. It's only going to take 6 days for this entire wing to be done?"

"I have 9 contractor teams, 7 plumbing teams, and some cable guys each working on different areas. And they had better be done in 6 days, school will begin again in 7."

I sign the papers and hand them back to her, "Thank you. Enjoy the rest of your sleep."

"I don't know if I should try to get more sleep or make coffee. What do you think, my queen?" I smile at her, "Sleep it is."

At 9, I finally wake up for good. "Good morning. I'm going to go take a shower and get breakfast. I'll have the guard stand with you. I'll be back soon."

I go to the ballroom kitchen. There is someone in there. She seems to be a servant, but not our servant, and she looks like she's starving. She's skin and bone. Her hair seems like it's never been brushed, just repeatedly placed in ponytails. Her clothes are holy and dirty. "Good morning." I try to sound as friendly and pleasant as possible.

She jumps and stares at the floor. "Good morning, sir. I was finishing up with the cleaning of the kitchen, sir. Would you like some breakfast, sir?"

"Do we have eggs?"

"No, sir. Miss Jenny has ordered the livestock and poultry to this castle, but it has not yet arrived, sir."

"So we only have leftovers from the ball and pizza then?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'll go take a shower. You can go back to whatever you were doing."

I go into the king's relaxing room, and it's picked up. Everything is organized and on hangers. Even the socks are sorted on a shelf. "Servant!"

She runs in and stares at the floor by my feet. "Sir?"

"Did you organize this room?"

She is scared. I can see her hands shaking. "Yes, sir. The clothes were in piles. I was afraid they would get wrinkly, sir."

"This is amazing. Now it's a walk-in closet and dressing room. Thank you. This is so much better. You did such a good job."

I see her relax and almost a little smile as she stares at the ground. "You're welcome, sir. I'm glad it pleases you, sir." Then she immediately turns and goes back into the kitchen.

After my shower I realize I am really getting hungry. As much as I don't want leftovers again. No one has been shopping for food and I have to eat something. I go back into the kitchen. There is a table made up. It has 10 different dishes of food on it.

"I'm sorry we do not have eggs yet, sir. But I went through the refrigerator and put together breakfast. Bread, cheese, fruit, roasted potatoes, tomato slices with sauce, a meat plate, consisting of red meat, fish and shrimp, blood, hot tea, and water. Do you require anything else, sir?"

I stand there with my mouth open staring at the table. "How did you? This is... I mean... wow, that was fast. And this is all... You are amazing." I finally sit down.

"Thank you, sir. I'm glad you are pleased, sir." She pours the tea, blood, and water, then starts placing a little of each of the foods on my plate.

"No. You did amazing with this breakfast. I can serve myself. Go take a break, you deserve it after doing all this. Actually, why don't you join me? I'm sure you're hungry too and there is plenty of food here." I pull out a chair for her.

"Oh I mustn't, sir. It is against the rules for a servant to eat with a master, sir."

"Why?"

I can see her starting to shake again. "It is against the rules, sir."

"Who enforces these rules?"

I honestly thought she would say the king and queen, but what she says is, "The Madame and Monsieur, sir."

"And who and where are they?" I say with my mouth full.

"They are with Miss Jenny now, sir. They are servants like me, but they run servants in this castle. You will mainly talk with them, sir. They make sure everything runs perfect. If you have problems, you go to them, sir. I'm sure they will not disappoint you, sir."

"And what would they do if they found out you ate with me?"

She shivers. "I would be punished, sir. Servants have been killed for less offenses, sir."

This is making me mad. This poor girl can't even eat without thinking she might be killed. "So, what happens to the food I don't finish here?"

"I will return it to the refrigerator, sir. Or if it is not savable, I will put it on the servants' food table."

"Well, you may not be able to eat with me, but when I leave, you eat as much of it as you want. How many servants are here now?"

"I'm sorry, but I do not know the exact count, sir."

"Guess."

She looks directly at me for the first time. Then her eyes go back at the floor as fast as she can make them. "Of course, sir. Maybe 10 so far, sir. I know others want to join us, but Miss Jenny is doing things first, sir."

"Get them now. Bring them here."

"Yes, sir."

As she leaves, Victor comes in. "Morning man."

"Morning, how was the human blood village?"

He grabs a plate and picks through the food, "Bad. The rumors are true. They aren't allowed to leave. They are dirty, some don't even have clothes. They are raped and tortured. Whatever the king's police wanted to do with them, I guess they do. It is sad. I went in and they ran and hid. Afraid to even look in my direction. Most women are pregnant. They were scared to death. There was even a pile of dead bodies in an open area." He takes a bite. "I have no idea what to do about it. It's not like we can open the gates."

"We'll brainstorm it at the meeting. We can't keep them like that. Someone will have an idea, hopefully."

The servant comes in with 8 other servants. They are super skinny. 4 of them need a shower terribly. I stare at one of them. He has scars on all of his skin that I can see. His face and arms are covered in white lines. This is weird because vampires don't scar. I want to ask him about them, but at the same time, I don't.

They are standing shoulder to shoulder shaking and staring at the floor. 3 of them are crying. They are terrified.

"I apologize, sir, I miscounted earlier. There are 9 of us here currently, sir."

I stand up. She jumps back and gasps. I don't try to get any closer, I cross my arms, "No problem. I assume you know how to put together a buffet?"

"Yes sir." The same servant answers. She seems to be the only one brave enough to speak.

"Great. Put together a buffet for 10 people." I gesture to the table, "Include all the foods I had during my breakfast."

Victor finishes his food and seems to already know what I'm planning, "And add some of those little chocolate cakes to it, for dessert, you know."

"Oh yea, we can't forget breakfast dessert." I laugh. "And once you have the buffet put together, eat it. All of you. Sit at this table and eat it."

The servants gasp and give each other looks, but only one is brave enough to say anything, "You want us to put together a buffet and eat it, sir?"

"Yes, it's an order."

"Yes, sir."

I look at one of the Kings Guards. "When is the last time the guards have eaten?"

"We take breaks. We are allowed to go for food on our break, sir."

"Stay with them and make sure they follow orders. If not, report back to me immediately. And you are welcome to eat as well."

"Thank you, sir."

Victor stands up. "I'm gonna take a shower. I'll check in on this in a bit..." He gestures to the group of servants. "What do you want for lunch though? I'll grab fresh food for the meeting. I am tired of these leftovers. Someone needs to make a grocery list or something. How does a taco bar sound?"

"It sounds like it would be a lot of food to carry up 3 flights of stairs, but yea, tacos sound good."

"Heh, I'll make it work. See you at 2."

I shake my head and laugh. "See you at 2 and don't forget the guacamole."

"Chipotle sauce for sure." He rubs his stomach.

I grab a couple gallons of water to use with the coffee maker and take off to the queen.