Avice smiled as she bowed to Lazarus and came to sit on the left of him as guided by the servant. She was astonished to see that the table was heavily laid out with lavish dinner. There were lamb patties, prawn pie, pear salad, sausage and potato casserole, stuffed tomatoes, fried fish with cheese sauce and so many others that she couldn't even name.
As she took all that in, she took a ragged breath. They had prepared so much. She wondered if more guests were to join them. Surely, more royals were coming. The thought was enough to excite her. She had the opportunity to butter them. That would surely guarantee her a place in the palace. She had heard that if you buttered the royals or those who held higher positions, they favored you. It was a general rule of the world and for a reason sycophants existed.
She chuckled, "Emma, this is a lot of food. I will not be able to eat so much!" In all her life Avice hadn't received this kind of a welcome and no one had ever served food. A pang of jealousy stabbed her heart when she thought that this was how Emma lived every day. This wasn't fair. She decided that she was going to be a part of Emma's life in whatever way possible and enjoy all the luxuries.
Emma glanced at Lazarus and said, "Please eat, mother." She quickly shifted her gaze to Angus and her lips curved up. "And you, young man, are too thin. Come and sit next to me." She patted the chair next to her for him to sit. Angus beamed. Without waiting for his mother's instructions, he rushed to sit with his sister. Emma was so happy to be with him that she served him food with her hands. "Have lamb patties," she said. "These will give you a lot of strength.
Avice didn't have the manners to wait for Lord Lazarus to start. She served herself with a large portion of dishes as if she wouldn't get them again. While she was eating, crumbs of bread and other meat stuck to her lips, her chin and her cheeks. She was making so much noise that Lazarus was getting annoyed, but he kept his head low. Only Emma and Angus were talking with each other with Emma mainly fussing over him.
While Avice was eating, she noticed a guard come over. He bowed to Lord Lazarus and said, "M'lord, the other guests have arrived."
"Please call them in," Lazarus ordered him.
ƥαṇdα-ηθνε|·ƈθm Avice was now all the more excited. She was sure that more guests were coming. She quickly wiped her lips and smoothened her hair without realizing that she had put some crumbs in her hair also. She stared at the door without blinking to see the royals. She was so happy on the inside that she flushed. This was her chance and she was going to butter them up more than Emma.
When the first lady came in, Avice got up and rushed to her and even without looking at her face, she bowed to her.
"Lady Avice?" a soft and surprised voice came. "Why are you bowing to me?"
Avice was thrilled. The woman knew her name and was so sweet that she recognized her position in the palace and asked her not to bow. In order to flatter her, Avice giggled and, lifting her face to meet the royal woman's eyes, said, "It is my pleasure to—" she stopped when her eyes locked on to the woman's face. "You? What are you doing here?" she squeaked, more out of fear and less out of surprise. She immediately got disgusted with herself for bowing to this lowly woman.
The woman bowed to her and smiled. When she got up, she said, "Lord Lazarus invited me formally."
Avice gulped and became furious. Lord Lazarus never invited her formally and she had to spend a night in the dungeon, but he invited her formally, so she must have received all the benefits of a guest. "What for?" Avice snapped at her. Audrey was the wife of the weaver in the village and far too lower than her in status and society. Avice cursed herself for bowing to her.
Lazarus got up from his chair. "Please join us for dinner," he said to Audrey.
Audrey curtsied Avice again and walked past her to sit on the chair in the left corner of the table as directed by the servant. Avice grumbled and followed her and glared at Emma for not telling who all would be coming. Having dinner with Audrey was below her prestige. She would not tolerate it. She sat back in her place and started to have more food when the guards announced another guest's arrival. This time Avice didn't get up and saw that another woman, Marie, from the village had come to join them. Avice was shocked. What the hell was happening? This was just too much.
Why had Lazarus called them all? And now she was tense because of a different reason. What if these women exposed her secret in the village that she had come to meet Emma? While her husband was leading a rebellion, she was enjoying the benefits of the palace. Avice gritted her teeth. Not only that now they all knew that Emma was in the palace. All she hoped that her secret of selling her didn't come out.
Her mind started conjuring up all scenarios to escape the situation, but the first question in her mind was why had Lazarus invited them.
Third lady, Hazel, from the village entered with two more and this time Avice flipped. She stopped eating and blurted, "What is happening?"
Emma smiled to all the women who were now seated one after the other next to Avice. "Welcome to the palace. We are glad to receive you."
Audrey got up from her place. She bowed to Lord Lazarus again and said, "Lord Lazarus, we are glad and grateful to you for calling us to have dinner with you. No royal has ever had food with a commoner. It was such a pleasure to note that you have one of us, Emma, in the palace with you."
Lazarus nodded to her in acknowledgement.
Avice got jealous. Audrey was just trying to show that she was courteous and flattering the prince. Well, she didn't have to show that kind of courtesy because she was Emma's mother.
Marie got up next. "Lord Lazarus, you are very kind to let us come here. I hope that you become our next king. Our support is with you."
Avice's jaw dropped. Traitors! These women had come here to support Lazarus when their husbands were a part of the rebellion? She was surely going to let Drogo know about it. But how could she convey it to Drogo? He didn't know that she was here. She whipped her head to look at Lazarus. He was just too shrewd. He called these women in secret to stop the rebellion but he never called her? Anger and fear and jealousy warred inside her. She had to talk to Emma about it. Since when was Lord Lazarus planning all this? What if these women went back to the village and exposed her?
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