Page 21 of The Crownless Prince

“My esteemed lord is looking for servants to do various tasks asrequired of them.” Talwen stood and walked around them, then, to Marcus’s bemusement, squeezed their upper arms. “Smile.” Uncertainly, Marcus complied, and Talwen glanced between him and Edwin, then gave a satisfied nod. “My lord should find you acceptable. You both look the part of a noble’s servants, and don’t appear to be weaklings, pipe addicts, sluggards, or drunkards. Do you have experience in a noble household?”

“Yes,” Marcus and Edwin said together. This could be perfect—Edwin was well acquainted with serving a nobleman, and while Marcus would find the serving part new, he was familiar with the expectations of the noble lifestyle.

“Why did you leave your previous employment?”

“Death in the noble family,” Marcus said. “As a result of the war.”

“Ah.” Steward Talwen nodded. “You’re available to start immediately, then? And amiable to moving far?”

“Yes.” Relief crashed through Marcus. The further away from Glenborough and Faine Castle, the better.

“We depart Glenborough this afternoon. Is that acceptable?”

“Yes,” Marcus said. That was even better.

“Excellent.” Talwen flipped through his ledger to a collection of loose papers covered in writing and pulled out two. “Employment contract. My lord values loyalty, so he requires an agreement to serve for five years. You’ll be paid ten silver coins monthly, be given room and board, and be provided with clothing. Lord Thorne won’t be humiliated by shabby servants. If you wish to terminate your contract before the five years are completed, you must pay a contract severancedebt of one hundred gold. Should my lord find your service untenable and release you early, he will pay you an extra month’s wages.”

Marcus nearly choked, and he heard Edwin make a sound of surprise as well. At three silver coins to one gold coin, one hundred gold would be…two and a half years’ worth of wages. Half of the entire contract amount.

“That…doesn’t seem fair,” Edwin said.

“Do you plan on abandoning your new employment so soon? Then perhaps we do not want you, anyway.”

“Could you give us a moment?” Marcus caught Edwin’s eye and nodded away from the table.

The steward huffed. “Very well.”

They withdrew a couple of paces, and Marcus spoke in a whisper. “Do you think it’s a bad idea?” He hoped his disappointment wasn’t too obvious. If Edwin saw a problem, he should listen. Still, these positions would solve so many of their troubles…

Edwin rubbed his chin. “Your father paid me only eight silver pieces a month in addition to housing, food, and my garments, so it’s generous in that regard. However, I’ve never heard of a contract with such a high breaking fee. I initially had a four-year contract with a severance debt if I broke it early, but it was six months’ wages, so it was more possible to leave. Aside from the fact that this contract ends in five years, it practically sounds like a clever way of circumventing Aedyllan’s laws prohibiting slavery.”

“Ah.” Despite himself, Marcus’s shoulders slumped. “Then is it better to continue to search?” And hope they didn’t freeze to death,but he kept that to himself.

Edwin sighed, his expression glum. “Five years of nearly guaranteed food, shelter, and income sounds better than our current predicament, and I’m happy to get you far from Faine Castle. But we’ll be trapped if this lord turns out to be a monster. Although, I doubt a monster would pay extra wages when he dismisses a servant. Your father withheld any owed payments when a servant was dismissed. It may be a risk worth taking.”

Turning this over in his mind, Marcus nodded back toward the steward.

“Well?” Steward Talwen asked at their approach.

“A question, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course.”

“You asked why we left our last employment. Why did your lord’s previous servants leave?”

By the wide-eyed stare Talwen gave him, that was not considered an appropriate question.

“If you must know”—his tone dripped condescension—“this opportunity is available to you because my lord recently improved his status and thus requires a larger and more dignified household than he’d previously kept. You aren’t replacements, but new additions.”

Strange. How did a lord suddenly find his status so improved he needed to expand the size of his household? Perhaps for the same reason other households had released servants—war. This lord must have aided King Mortimer, which would also explain why he was passing through Glenborough on his way back home.

He looked to Edwin, who nodded once as an unspoken understanding passed between them. It wasn’t ideal, but they’d take it. Anything for some certainty…and to leave Glenborough before Adriana’s wedding.

Chapter 9

“Marcus and Edwin Williams.” Lord Thorne surveyed them with the expression of someone evaluating livestock.

Marcus tried not to look like he was assessing right back. Lord Lucien Thorne was likely in his mid to late twenties. The top half of his shoulder-blade-length brown hair was plaited along the sides of his head in several multistrand braids, a declaration of status—no man who worked for a living had the time to put that much effort into his hair. His bright-blue overtunic was spotless even down to the hem that brushed his boots, and wolf fur trimmed the thick cloak thrown over his seatback. As he shifted his attention to Edwin, candlelight gleamed on the curling end of an unornamented silver hair stick that was stuck through the leather lacing that tied his braids together at the crown of his head.

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