Chapter 398: The Scolding

Chapter 397: The Scolding

Lyria’s POV

I moved quickly.

My fingers found the edge of the book and slid it beneath my pillow. The scrolls followed a moment later, tucked safely beside it and hidden beneath the fabric. I smoothed the front of my gown and adjusted my posture, attempting to arrange myself into the appearance of someone who had spent the afternoon doing nothing more scandalous than resting.

For some reason, I felt shy.

I did not want Elara to know that I had been reading those books.

Nor did I particularly wish for her to discover the scrolls.

There were certain things a respectable lady ought to be permitted to study privately, and I had a strong suspicion that this was one of them.

I cleared my throat.

"Come in," I said.

The door opened and Elara stepped inside.

The other maids followed behind her, with Pippa pushing a trolley laden with covered dishes. The guards closed the door behind them, leaving the chamber suddenly considerably more occupied than it had been moments before.

I kept my hands folded upon my lap.

Elara approached the bed and regarded me in silence. She stopped near the foot of it and clasped her hands before her with the particular composure of a woman who had something to say and had already decided precisely how she intended to say it.

"Your Highness," she began, "I am quite aware that you take considerable pleasure in learning, and I have no wish to discourage an inclination which is, in itself, most commendable."

I looked at her cautiously.

"However," she continued, "there is a distinction between devotion to one’s studies and allowing those studies to become so thoroughly absorbing that one forgets the rather more immediate business of remaining in good health."

I lowered my gaze.

"I d-did not f-forget."

Elara lifted one eyebrow.

"You did not?"

I immediately corrected myself.

"I m-may have."

"That," she said calmly, "is precisely what I feared."

Pippa suppressed a smile as she began removing the covers from the dishes.

Elara continued without pause.

"You require more flesh upon your bones, Your Highness. You are all skin and bone as it is. How do you expect to recover your strength if you persist in neglecting your meals? And what, pray, does it reflect upon us — your maids — if our lady grows weaker because she has been too absorbed in whatever occupies her mind to attend to the most elementary necessities of her own person?"

I opened my mouth to speak.

She raised one finger.

I closed my mouth immediately.

It was almost like being scolded by my mother, and the realisation settled over me with a warmth I had not expected.

Elara gave a small nod, evidently satisfied that I had understood the wisdom of remaining silent.

"It is nearly evening, Your Highness," she said. "And you have eaten nothing since breakfast."

My eyes widened.

I had not realised it was so late.

I glanced toward the windows. The light had changed considerably, though I had been far too occupied to notice.

"Pippa came to you earlier," Elara continued. "She knocked. You did not hear her. She waited, knocked again, and called upon you. And she had come even before that, Your Highness. We believed you were resting but it appears that was not entirely the case."

I looked away rather quickly.

For reasons I could not entirely account for, this felt considerably more mortifying than when Kathryn scolded me.

"Your Highness," Elara pressed on, her tone unwavering, "I am well aware that you do not neglect yourself deliberately. That is precisely the difficulty. Once your attention is captured by something, the rest of the world might as well cease to exist. That is precisely why someone must occasionally remind you that it has not."

She gestured toward the table.

"You may pursue every scholarly interest you please. You may read until your eyes grow weary, provided you remember that you are still a living person who requires sustenance and rest in equal measure."

I nodded.

Elara’s expression became almost solemn.

"What good is knowledge," she asked, "if you are not well enough to make use of it?"

I was quite certain the question was rhetorical and wisely did not attempt an answer.

A soft meow broke the silence.

I turned. The cat had positioned itself on the bed beside me, its golden eyes fixed upon Elara with an expression that suggested it too felt implicated in the proceedings.

Elara turned toward Pippa.

"Adjust the timetable for Her Highness," she instructed. "There must be something available between meals at all times. Fruit, bread, small pastries — whatever Her Highness is inclined to take. We shall not wait until she announces that she is hungry, for that announcement would never come if I am to be honest about the matter. We shall not wait for the proper hour either. By then, she has in all likelihood forgotten the concept of hunger entirely. We must make it a habit whether she wishes it to be one or not."

"I shall see to it," Pippa said with a nod.

She then placed a small plate upon the floor, filled with fish, and the cat sprang from the bed toward it with remarkable enthusiasm and began eating without ceremony.

I moved from the bed to the chair.

The food before me was warm and inviting. Roasted chicken, its skin golden and crisp, surrounded by buttered vegetables. A bowl of thick soup sending up curls of steam. Fresh bread in a basket beside a small pot of honey. A glass of watered wine catching the last of the evening light.

I ate quietly.

After a while, Debbie spoke.

"Your Highness."

I paused.

She was standing near the table, making a very unsuccessful attempt to appear as though she had not been watching me throughout the meal.

"Have you had the pleasure of going through the books I provided?" she asked.

There was an unmistakable glint of mischief in her eyes. I noticed, too, that the other maids had drawn somewhat closer than before, as though proximity might improve their chances of hearing my answer.

I hummed thoughtfully and broke off a small piece of bread.

"I h-have not had the t-time, if I am b-being entirely h-honest."

Debbie’s expression fell.

"Oh."

I observed the disappointment settle across her face and said nothing further for a moment.

I chewed quietly and swallowed.

Then I continued.

"After all," I said, "I have b-been rather o-occupied with t-thoughts of my l-last visitor and what he m-meant by my b-being in d-disguise at m-midnight."