" You're finally here, took long enough. " Lady Belhe said the moment she saw them walk through the door.
" Sorry ma'am. He was asking too many questions. " The built man answered.
" Anyway now that you are here I'll tell you your tasks around here. " Lady Belhe said to Sen. She seemed to be in a hurry but was trying as much as possible to hide it.
" Lady Belhe, there is something I need to tell you. " Sen interrupted.
She turned her eyes to him. They were serious as though waiting to hear something important.
" I… I can't cook. " Sen said in a flat disappointed tone.
The room grew quiet.
Suddenly Sen felt a grip clasp onto his neck. It was tight not giving him room to turn even if he tried his neck would just snap… like a twig. Then his feet rose from the ground. He struggled, kicking his legs up and about, trying to resist the involuntary lift. But it was futile. The man lifted him off the floor with ease, like a paper from the top of a table.
" This no time for jokes. " the man grunted.
Sen could feel his heavy breath run across his face. He was angry… really angry.
" No need. " lady Belhe said brushing off Sen's unneeded humor.
The man released his grip dropping Sen onto his bottom.
" Your role here is the same as the one at the warehouse. You'll be assigned an attendant who will guide you through the activities assigned to you. Follow them to the letter and interfere with nothing. " she commanded.
She walked towards the door leaving Sen trying to get up from the floor.
She was mid way through the door when she suddenly halted.
" Also, he'll be watching you. So behave. " she said then exited the room.
The man eyed the rising Sen. His gaze was filled with indifference as he watched his dust off. He grunted .
" Grab a broom. " he said.
" Great. " Sen commented before heading for a pile of brooms close to the door.
***
Gruesome is what he could describe it, the aching days he had spent under lady Belhe's care. He understood why he was bound to that fate but now and then a thought would pop up to run and never look back. He was a measly commoner and she was a noble , chances were she would not care if he escaped. But then there was the vouch.
" What was I thinking? " he soliloquized.
" Was I even thinking in the first place? "
He remembered he was bound to her by a vouch, but he didn't remember him making that decision. From the few rumors he had heard was that a vouch was a deal between merchants, where one merchant steps up for another in their time of need and they would be bound to each other through the vouch.
" But why did she even vouch for me? " he asked.
From the few flashes he had, he remembered being dragged to the guild under the circumstance of attempted theft. But then lady Belhe swooped in and helped him with the vouch. He didn't question it then but now it was more than obvious that there was something up with her.
" Maybe she wants something from me? But what could it be? "
" Judging by the respect she's shown around here she must be a high ranking noble… so then what? What could make her want to vouch for a stranger she had just met? " he thought.
His thoughts paraded on the idea but as usual he drew a blank. He swayed his broom right to left clearing the last bit of dust on the restaurant door mat. It was a few hours past noon and hungry customers had stomped in and out of the restaurant after getting their belly's fill. Most of them were nobles and come to think of it Sen had hardly seen any lower caste members step in to eat.
It was strange. Most of the working force of Laptove was mainly the commoners. The markets, the warehouse even in the eateries all of them were populated by working commoners. But in his time manning the front door mat from dust, not a single one had walked through.
Inside the servers were finishing up on the last few dishes on the tables. They were diligent and efficient, smoothly tidying up the restaurant's front end and in minutes the tables were sparkly clean and with polished golden lamps being brought in and placed onto the tables.
" They must be for the tonight's meals. " Sen concluded.
The lamps were unique. They were simple, similar to normal trident candle holders but instead of candle holders they had an obsidian colored crystals. They were dark with the stray light from the windows barely making past its opaque luster. Sen's eyes raised and on the hanging chandelier the same crystal was placed in its sockets.
Sen was sure he had seen them before, but where exactly was hard to pinpoint.
" I'm sure its somewhere I've been at recently. " he thought.
But then his thoughts were pulled to a different subject that was sparking up amongst the servers.
" Aaah, finally the last plate. " a server lady with short hair sighed as she dropped the last plate onto the counter leading to the kitchen.
She pulled up a stool and lazily dropped onto it.
" You shouldn't be resting this early, your shift isn't over. " another server, male said handing her a couple of the lamps.
She hesitated to take them but a few minutes of intense glaring wore her down. She took one and set out for an empty table.
" Why do we do this? " she asked.
" What? " the male server asked.
" Prepare so early when their next meal is hours away. It's pointless. " she answered.
The other server sighed before answering.
" It's how it is."
" Is that even an answer? "
" You've seen how many of them come here. The nobles that is. "
" Oh you mean how they flock here like they don't have anything better to do? " She asked.
" Yes… no. " he corrected himself. " If we don't do this earlier on they arrive while we are still preparing… "
" Yeah like doing it six hours earlier really helps… most of them don't even come that early. " she interrupted ridiculing his idea.
" Even so we still have… "
" Yeah, yeah we still have to set the lamps. " she said taking another lamp.
As she walked towards the next table her eyes were caught in the light refracted by the windows upfront. Her eyes twitched in response obscuring her estimation of how far the table was. She bumped into the side of the table making her to stumble off balance.
In her stumble her grip on the lamp loosened. She could only watch as the lamp launched from her hand.
" Watch out. " the male server shouted.
In next to no time the lamp spiraled through the air its trajectory set for the tiled floor.
" Catch it! " the male server screamed trying to alert her of their impending pay cut.
Her eyes instinctively closed in anticipation of a crashing and cracking sound, her head turning away.
Instead of a cracking sound, silence with a thick layer of tension was all she got. Her head shot to the direction of the lamps trajectory, slightly swinging her short dark hair.
Standing in place of the expected lamp debris was a boy and in his hands the lamp. He held it carefully as though he was holding a fragile piece of glass. His silver eyes slowly rose meeting the short haired girl's glossy eyes.
" Think you dropped something. " Sen said ushering to the lamp.
" Thank the gods, " the male server sighed as he walked quickly towards Sen.
He carefully drew it from Sen's hands and placed it on the table to the side.
" Do you realize how much this cost…" he questioned the girl.
" Do you? And with the recent robbery cases we would need to work for the rest of our lives to repay this… " he fumed.
The girl he was shouting at was drops away from tearing up before them. Her heart beat had scaled to levels she had never thought of. Even with the wave of relief rushing through her it never seemed to drop. Her tongue was tied as she slowly stepped towards Sen, trying to figure out the words to say.
" Thank you…Thank you… I'm so glad that didn't break. " she said in a quick breath. There was slight tremble across her body.
"Aaah. " She sighed in relief.
" Its not a big deal. " Sen answered.
" Not a big deal? You just saved us from an eternity of debt. " The male server said.
" How did you even do that? You were at the door and then poof you have the lamp in your hands. " the short haired girl asked.
" Wait, "
" You can use arcane ? "
" At least show some restraint. " the male server reprimanded her. " And no matter how he did it, it doesn't concern us. "
" Yes listen to him and get back to work. " a familiar voice commanded from the kitchen.
They each turned to find a woman standing observing them as she dried her hands with a towel.
" Leave Sen alone and finish up. " She added.
" Yes miss Nellie. " the girl said hurrying into the back . The boy followed shaking his head in disbelief.
" Don't mind them, they are new too. " Nellie said.
Sen had a questioning look on his face.
" Oh I guess you don't remember me do you. Okay then introduction time. I'm Nellie and I'm going to be your attendant. "