“What happened next?” Lord Radon asked. I looked up from my barely-touched sandwich and tea cup. He was watching me intently, chin rested on his fists while Sheena gave me a completely different expression. Her lip was curled in an expression of disgust, her fists were clenched, knuckles white. I watched her as she glared and my confusion grew.

“Er…” I said, looking away from Sheena and feeling my pulse quicken. “I don’t…I don’t know. I woke up in a field, miles away. Naked, mind you. I walked to the nearest town and-”

“In conclusion,” The High Lady said as she stole a quick glance at Sheena. “We have learned that first of all, the Stormveil is only dangerous upon approach. It may not be a storm at all.”

“An elaborate illusion perchance?” Lord Radon suggested. “And we know that the Duke of Axock has a shielding device that can withstand the winds of the Stormveil.”

“Very important,” The High Lady nodded. “Though you might have opened with that, Lyra.”

“Quite,” Lord Radon agreed. At that point, Sheena slammed a fist on the table, shaking the dishes; spilling Lord Radon’s tea. She threw back her chair, tipping it and allowing it to clatter against the floor. My eyes widened and I looked to the High Lady, expecting her to say something. Instead, she and Lord Radon kept their gaze on me, even as Sheena silently stormed from the room, slamming the door behind her.

“In any case, Lyra, we appreciate your cooperation,” The High lady said, giving me a smile that was clearly forced. “On to other matters, Lyra, I am short a maid for the Summit tomorrow. In typical fashion you would be in the back, managing the dishes and what have you, but Sheena will need you on the floor, serving.”

“Um…High Lady?” I frowned. “As in…like a butler?”

“Don’t be silly,” She scoffed. “You’re nowhere near that important.”

I breathed a sigh of relief; both of them noticed and the High Lady raised an eyebrow.

“In any case, Lyra,” The High Lady said with exasperation. “Following this meeting you will speak with Sheena. Herself, and my sister will be overseeing your brief training. The Summit is in just two days, and you must understand the protocol for the serving staff. Do pay attention to what she has to tell you, understood?”

“Yes, High Lady,” I nodded; all I could think about was the way that Sheena had stormed from the room. Her chair was still capsized on the floor, a ghostly reminder of the events that had just transpired.

“Lady Jenwise,” Lord Radon set his cup down and wiped his mouth with his cloth napkin before clearing his throat and looking to her. “Are you certain?”

“It must happen, Lord Radon,” She almost snapped before looking down, into her cup and closing her eyes.

“I would endeavor to speak with Lyra alone,” Lord Radon said.

“Be quick of it,” She said curtly. “The girl has duties she must attend.”

Even though Sheena had left the room I could feel the tension thickening along with my confusion.

“Come, Lyra,” Lord Radon stood, gesturing me toward the door. He took another glance to the Lady. “Lady?”

“I will hear no more of it,” The High Lady snapped. “And bear to mind that you are in my house.”

“Of course, High Lady, my apologies,” Lord Radon gave a slight bow and ushered me out of the room. We walked in silence down a corridor past a set of lancet windows that overlooked the courtyard. The silence lasted until the center of the hallway when Lord Radon stopped and let out an exasperated sigh and turned to me.

“Lyra,” Lord Radon said. “When you were riding the airship, into the Stormveil. That crawler operator, what was his name?”

“Fartham Rowan,” I said without a second thought, shrugging.

“I see. And what did he do to deserve death?”

“He failed in his mission,” I said, matter of factly. “Failure has never been tolerated in Axock. This is why I am here, I failed, I am being sentenced for my failure.”

“But you’re not dead.”

“Nobility is a different case,” I said, shrugging. “We are considered too important for such fates.”

“Why.”

“We have an important duty to the people,” I wondered why I had to explain this to Lord Radon, the Duke of Oniodale. We-”

“Without the crawler operators, would you have survived?” Lord Radon asked me.

“Likely not, My Lord,” I shrugged.

“Then he too had an important duty to his people. He informed you, his Lord that you would likely not survive an excursion into the Stormveil, and so you had him killed?”

“Yes, a duty that he failed in.”

“Lyra,” He sighed. “The reason I hold back on you now, is that I know your father. I know what his influence has done to you, I know how it has shaped your way of thinking. But Lyra, you are wrong.”

“My Lord?”

“Look at you,” he said. “you have been reduced to the state of a peasant girl, you have endured the same hardships as the people you lorded over and somehow, in this conversation, you have show that you have learned nothing. Nothing!”

“I don’t understand, My Lord-”

“I know you don’t!” He half-turned and slammed his fist against the stone wall, I could swear I heard the window clatter in its frame. “Oh but you will, Lyra, you will learn and I’m sorry, I’m so sorry that I couldn’t help you.”

“My Lord?”

“The sins of the father extend just so far, Lyra,” He almost growled. “At some point you must awaken to your own reality and I will say that you are doing a pissy job of it. Girl, you will go to Sheena in the presentation room, you will prepare for the summit, you will do your duty, am I clear?”

“Yes…my Lord,” I said, throughly confused. As I turned to go, he turned to the wall, leaning against it with his curled fist as he rested his head against the stone. “My Lord?”

“You are dismissed, Lyra.”

Sheena seemed to be in a far better mood as I entered the presentation hall; she stood near Lady Myria who was making wide gestures toward the hall and discussing table arrangements. Off to the right I could see a group of butlers speaking to several maids who giggled and laughed. The atmosphere in here seemed far lighter than in the Lady’s office, and I was relieved for it.

“Hello Lyra,” Sheena said, smiling as I crossed the room to approach her. I gave a brief curtsey to the Lady Myria.

“Greetings, Lady Myria,” I bowed my head and offered a smile, which she returned.

“Lyra,” She smiled. “You look especially nice today.”

I giggled slightly, suddenly feeling better. I’d finally learned to apply the makeup myself without the use of a mirror. When I did finally look in the mirror, after I had finished, I couldn’t recognize any traces of my former self. It had been ages since I’d seen my own face, and this new persona, Lyra, was quickly overtaking Micah. I couldn’t be happier.

“I do rather like the improvements she’s made,” Sheena smiled and touched my cheek. I wondered if she was still angry from earlier. Was this all an act? I watched her closely and tried to determine whether or not she was faking. I couldn’t detect any deception and so shrugged it off. “Come, Lyra, let me teach you of serving.”

Sheena led me to a round table which contained a silver tray, several pieces of silverware, cups, and napkins.

“Now, Lyra, you see this one?” She held up a three pronged fork which was a bit smaller than the others. “We call this a salad fork; these are kept in the cold box, back in the kitchen?”

“Why?” I suddenly asked, and then froze, wondering why I’d thought it was okay to speak.

“A chilled salad fork, Lyra,” Lady Myria stepped in. “The guests do not like it so when they take a bite of cold salad with a warm fork.”

That made sense - a lot of sense actually; I suddenly recalled eating salad, so long ago it seemed. The fork was always cold and I never bothered to question why. Sheena proceeded to explain different food customs to me, the use of silverware, the handling of cups, and hundreds of other rules that I’d never even thought about. I was mentally exhausted by the time we moved on to the movement part of the lesson.

“A butler’s job,” Sheena said. “Is to wait on the tables, but the maid must be ready to support the footman. As such, you will stand here, along this wall, and watch for signals. If the butler makes this signal, you see? You take this to mean they need your presence. You come, find what they need, you supply them. Imagine for a moment that a guest drops his or her fork on the floor, you would retrieve the fork, take it to the kitchen, and ensure that they have a new one. You do not keep them waiting. Are we clear on that?”

“I think so?” I looked at her in confusion.

“Lyra,” She said. “You have spent your fair share on the other side of this, use your memory, think of how the servants acted, how you expected them to act. This should not be difficult for you.”

“But it was different then,” I argued. “I was…I don’t know-”

“Oughtn’t you have paid attention to the people in your employ?” Sheena cocked her head while Lady Myria stood by in silence, leaned against a table with her arms crossed over her chest. “Come, come, we will try an example. Lady Myria?”

The Lady uncrossed her arms and sat in a chair, at the table where Sheena stood behind her. From the corner of my eye I noticed something odd in the corner of the room, just before the tall window, tucked away in the shadows, the outline of a girl. I could barely see her face, but I could tell that she was looking in our direction and a chill ran down my spine.

“Lyra, here,” Sheena snapped her fingers, drawing my attention back to the table. “Go stand over there.”

Reluctantly, I crossed the room and stood in the position that she indicated. I stood watching until she made a hand signal, prompting me to walk over. I strode through the chairs, bumping into one as I went.

“Lyra!” Sheena scolded. “What do you think this room will look like when it is filled with guests?! High Lords, viscounts, barons? Do you you think that you can simply barge through like an animal? Walk with purpose, but make yourself small. One foot in front of the other, you are not a barnyard beast!”

The lesson stretched on seemingly forever as I grew more and more exhausted with every passing moment. A few times, I glanced over toward the window and saw that the shadow was still there, watching my every move. As the hour grew later, however, I noticed that it had disappeared. A figment of my imagination, perhaps.

“Lyra!” Sheena called out as I tripped on my way to the table; the Lady Myria had been long gone, off to attend some other duty. “You can’t tumble all over, have I not shown you how to walk?”

“Look, Sheena!” I snapped. “I shouldn’t even have to do this, I-”

“Why?” Sheena demanded. “Because of that ‘noble’ blood in your veins? Your money’s no good if no one’s taking it, Lyra. You are as us, you will be us, and you ought accustom yourself to it.”

“For less than two years,” I said defiantly. “I won’t be here forever!”

“Right, your sentence,” She rolled her eyes. “and what is it that you think you’ll take away from here when you leave?”

“Not the silverware.”

Yes, yes, you think you’re such a jokester,” She said. “Now show me your walk.”

I let out an exhausted sigh and proceeded to walk in the way that she had shown me, feeling awkward at the way my legs rubbed together. She watched me with a semi-approving expression, moving her mouth as if making mental notes the entire time.

“I’m sorry, it’s hard,” I said as I stumbled again.

“Lyra, I learned this when I was a child,” She said. “I spent my entire life learning to please people like you. If, as a noble, you believe yourself to be above it, then surely you can pick it up quickly.”

I wanted to argue with her but she was correct; this was a simple task and I should be able to pick it up quickly. But I couldn’t. We practice for another hour until Sheena finally announced that ‘good enough was good enough’.

“I shouldn’t do this,” I told her as we walked toward the exit. “Put me in the back, please, I can scrub dishes like always. This summit is important to the High Lady, I oughtn’t ruin it for her.”

“This is not your decision, nor is it mine,” She pushed the door open and ushered me out into the hallway. “The High Lady has spoken.”

“But why?” I said, practically begging. “Why must I? Ought not someone else do it? Someone with more…someone better?”

“And what is this I hear, Lyra?” Sheena turned to me in surprise. “You admitting that there is someone better? And here, you had led me to believe that you were the best at everything because of your noble blood!”

“Sheena-”

“First Girl,” She corrected me harshly, glaring. I was beginning to see some of the anger from earlier resurfacing in her stone cold expression.

“First Girl, I have not said that in-”

“But you act it!” She said angrily. “You prance about this palace as if you own it, you speak to the other girls as if you are above them! Even if you fail to realize it, I have watched you and I know your mind! You do not act a part of this, you act as if you are separate from this! Lyra, I believed we had been making progress with you, but I can see your mind and your intent.”

“Sh…First Girl…” I felt crushed, I had truly been trying my best to fit in. What had I done wrong? I searched my mind, trying to think of something, anything. “I…I’m sorry…”

“Not yet,” She assured me. “Go to bed now, Lyra. We greet the day soon.”