Tristan rubbed his forehead and sighed irritably. He had grown weary of the man’s fawning from the moment he had stepped into the building, and with an impatient grunt he held up one hand. “Enough. Show me the slaves.” “Of course.” The old man bowed low and pattered nervously down the long narrow hallway. “Forgive me my lord; it is not often we have someone of your stature visiting.”
They walked out into the courtyard and the man stopped short, staring suspiciously at the large horses hooked to an empty wagon. There was a young man and a small girl sitting on the seat of the wagon and they stared back at him. He glanced up at the large, broad-shouldered man standing next to him. “My Lord, how many do you need?”
“I require six.” The man led him across the yard towards a second building. As they walked by the wagon, Tristan stopped and held his arms out to the young girl. She was no older than seven and she hesitated briefly before allowing him to pull her from the wagon seat and set her softly on the ground.
“What are we doing here?” she asked. “We’re hiring some staff for our new home, as well as a nanny for you and your baby brother.” Tristan smiled down at the girl. She didn’t return his smile, starting solemnly at him for a moment, “I can take care of Nicholas.”
“I know you can my love. But I think it would be best if you had some help.” He squeezed her hand encouragingly as they approached the building. “I could use your help in picking out the right nanny. What do you say Sophia?” She nodded, watching curiously as the small, dirty man in front of them pulled out a giant ring of keys from a pocket hidden deep within his coat. He thumbed through them until he found the correct one and unlocked the door. Its rusty hinges squealed and the little girl cringed but followed her father into the building.
They walked down the hallway; the man flipped a light switch on the wall and the overhead lights buzzed on weakly. “You have electricity here.” Tristan said, surprised.
“Aye - some days. We’re close enough to the city to latch on to their grid. But it goes in and out.” The man led them down the hallway to another door. This too was locked, and they waited patiently once more as he picked out the right key and unlocked the door. He ushered them into the room and shut the door firmly behind him as Sophia peered timidly from behind the safety of Tristan’s legs.
The room quieted as the women in the room stopped their chatter and stared at the two strangers. Tristan grimaced. All of the women were dirty and unkempt, their hair uncombed and their clothing ripped and stained. He swore softly and gave the man an undisguised look of disgust. “What kind of facility are you running here?” The man bristled, “I can assure you my lord that our slaves are of the utmost quality. Just because our facility is not as proper as you are undoubtedly used to, does not mean we don’t offer excellent services.”
Tristan rolled his eyes, “I’m sure.” He eyed the women in the room with suspicion, “How many of them are suffering from the sickness?”
“None of them!” The old man puffed himself up, trying to match Tristan’s formidable height. “If they suffer from the sickness we banish them to the outskirts immediately.” He paused, “Perhaps my lord would prefer to go somewhere else?”
“You know very well your facility is the only one within 50 miles.” Tristan said angrily. “Enough idle talking. I require a nanny and a house staff. Who do you recommend?” The man didn’t reply. Instead he hobbled towards the group of women and began pulling a few of them to the front. Out of the nearly fifty women in the large room, he separated fifteen of them into two groups before returning to Tristan and Sophia.
“They have experience in both cooking and cleaning.” He pointed to the ten women on the left. “They have experience with child rearing.” He waved his hand at the other five on the right. Tristan moved forward, Sophia trailing behind him, and looked over the ten women. He stood in front of the oldest.
“What’s your name?” “Marian.” She spoke softly, staring down at her bare feet. “What experience do you have?” “I was the head of the household for the Farthing family for more than fifteen years. Perhaps you have heard of them?” “I am not from here. Why did you leave their employment? Were you fired?” Tristan asked. She shook her head, “No m’lord. Mr. Farthing grew ill and died. Mrs. Farthing could no longer afford my services and sold me as a way to pay some of her bills.”
“How long have you been here?” She squinted in thought, “Not long m’lord. Six months perhaps?” He nodded and looked behind him, “I’ll take this one.” He faced forward again, “Who among this group of women would you recommend Marian?” She hesitated, “How many do you need m’lord?”
“Five, including yourself.” She quickly pointed to four of the other women and after questioning them, Tristan agreed to the ones she had chosen. He turned to Sophia, crouching down beside her and patting her back awkwardly, “Sophia, would you like to help me pick out your new nanny?”
“Yes Tristan.” She replied softly. Tristan stared at the women critically as he and Sophia paced in front of them. “How many of you were nannies before?” Three of them raised their hands timidly and Tristan glanced at the other two. “You’re dismissed.” They melted back into the crowd of women as Tristan began to question the remaining three women. Sophia clasped her hands behind her back and stared at the group of women behind Tristan. There was a flash of colour to her left and she glanced over at the woman standing next to the window. Her long red hair glowed in the late afternoon sun and Sophia edged closer, fascinated by the red strands.
The woman smiled at her in a friendly manner as Sophia stopped in front of her. “Hello, little one.” “Hello.” Sophia whispered nervously. “Your name is Sophia?” At Sophia’s nod, she smiled again, “That is a very pretty name. My name is Avery.” “Avery.” Sophia repeated and the woman nodded.
“That’s right. And this is my little sister Maya.”
There was a petite blonde girl standing behind Avery and she peeked around and smiled just like Avery. “Hi Sophia. I like your dress.” “Thank you.” Sophia ran her hands nervously over the stiff fabric, wincing when it rubbed painfully against the cut on her finger. “Are you hurt?” Avery crouched in front of the little girl. “I cut my finger.” Sophia showed her the long cut on the pad of her index finger. “Ouch.” Avery frowned. “That looks very sore.” “It’s not healing very well.” Sophia said solemnly. “Marshall says if I don’t make a better effort to keep it clean, he’ll have to cut it off.” “Well that won’t do.” Avery smiled at her. “Shall I kiss it better for you? When Maya and I were little, our mother would always kiss our owies.” Sophia stared at her, “I like your hair.” A strange look crossed Avery’s face, one that Sophia didn’t understand, before she smiled at the small girl. “Thank you, honey.” “Can I touch it?” “Of course.” She tipped her head forward so that her long hair fell over her shoulders, and Sophia reached out with a slightly trembling hand and gently rubbed it between her fingers. “It’s so soft, so pretty.” She whispered. She ran her fingers down the strands and Avery smiled once more at her. “I’m glad you like it Sophia.” Moving slowly so she wouldn’t spook the little girl, she gently captured Sophia’s hand in her own. “Shall I give your owie a kiss?” Sophia hesitated and then nodded. Avery bent her head and placed a gentle kiss on her finger, directly on the cut. A feeling of warmth surged down Sophia’s finger and through her hand. She gasped and pulled her hand free; she stared down at her finger as Tristan suddenly appeared beside her.
“Get away from her.” He said angrily and pushed Avery to the ground with a hard shove. Maya put her arms around Avery as Tristan pulled Sophia away. He took the little girl by the shoulders and shook her gently. “Sophia, you know better than to leave my side. Did she hurt you?” Sophia shook her head mutely, staring with wonderment at her index finger. Where once there had been a long, swollen cut, there was now only smooth unbroken skin and the burning and itching had completely disappeared. Tristan’s expression softened and he smoothed her hair back from her face. She was still looking at her finger and he took her hand and examined it. “Hey look at that - your cut has finally healed. That’s good news. Marshall was getting ready to cut it off.” He teased gently. Sophia didn’t smile, just nodded silently before looking back at Avery with wide eyes. Avery stared calmly at her. Tristan took her hand and led her back to the three women standing patiently. “Sophia, which of these women would you like as your nanny?” Sophia stared up at them for a moment before looking back at Avery and Maya. “I want her.” She pointed at Avery and Tristan sighed. “No Sophia, you must pick from these three women here.” She shook her head stubbornly, “No. I want her.” Tristan glanced at the man who was idly swinging his ring of keys from one finger.
He shook his head, “No m’lord, you don’t want that one. She is contentious and disagreeable. You know how the Reds are.” Tristan looked back at Sophia. She was still staring at the redheaded woman and he frowned. “Stay here Sophia.” He moved back to the redhead. She stared unblinkingly at him as he looked her up and down. She was wearing a dirty grey dress that was way too big for her. She practically floated in it. Her feet were bare and her bare legs and arms were covered in grime and grass stains. Her hair hung halfway down her back, a cascade of fire-coloured locks with twigs and leaves stuck in it, and her light green eyes regarded him with a cool sort of haughtiness that belied her dirty and disheveled appearance. Her face was just as dirty as her arms and legs and he wrinkled his nose at her smell. “You there – do you have any experience with children.” She shook her head, “No m’lord. But she does.” She dragged a small blonde girl out from behind her and pushed her towards Tristan. “Avery no!” the girl whispered. “Hush Maya!” Avery said fiercely and the girl quieted immediately. “Have you nannied before girl?” Tristan asked her.
The girl blushed and stared down at her bare feet and Tristan rolled his eyes with barely-concealed impatience. “Well, have you?” “No, m’lord.” She whispered. Before Tristan could turn away, Avery spoke, “She’s had plenty of experience with our younger siblings my lord. She practically raised both our younger brother and sister. She has a comforting touch with babies, and she can read and write. She taught our brother to read when he was only 3.” Tristan stared at the trembling girl and then at her older sister. “Are you that eager to rid yourself of her?” Avery flushed, “I want nothing more than a better life for her my lord.” “And what makes you so certain I will give her a better life?” he arched his eyebrow at her. She looked around the room and in a voice filled with desperation, said, “Anything is better than this. She is too bright and too beautiful to live her life in a cage. Please, take her with you. She will serve you well, I swear this to you.” Tristan frowned. The woman’s impassioned plea had moved him more than he cared to admit. He gave a short nod. “Very well then – we’ll take the girl.” Avery nodded with relief but Maya let out a loud wail, “No Avery! I will not leave you!” She threw herself into the redhead’s arms, sobbing brokenly. Rather than soothe her like Tristan expected, Avery grabbed her upper arms and pushed her upright. She shook the young girl harshly, “Maya enough! Stop your crying right now.” Maya struggled to obey, sniffing loudly and hiccupping as a stray sob escaped. “Avery, please don’t send me away.” She whispered.
