Felicia of House Papillon moved through the castle of Raven Moon. She was late for her duties, which was to serve the daughters of Lady Rain and Lord Lostorios. Felicia had been in the service of the Lulamoons since she was fourteen, taking care of young Orpheus, who at the time was only seven. Now, a maid of twenty-five years, she now took care of the young lord's little sisters. It was her duty as maid and a servant of the House, "Felicia!" Called the voice of Sethisto Glenmore. He had a look of fire in his eyes. Definitely not a man you wanted to make angry.
"Good morning, Sethisto," Felicia said with a bow. Her long red hair, which was tied back in a ponytail, moved with her, "How are you?" She asked, trying to be friendly, but clearly, Sethisto wasn't in the mood for being civil.
Sethisto roughly grabbed the girl by her wrist and twisted it slightly, "Why aren't you with the young ladies and the little lord?!" He asked.
She gulped clearly nervous by the man's fury, "I-I o-o-overslept sir," she whimpered out as her legs began to quiver. It wasn't a 6 she was still omitting certain truths from her reasoning for being in bed still, "I was on my way to grovel before Lady Rayne and her lordly husband." She said as tears streamed down her eyes from the pain that ruined her makeup.
"Don't lie to me butterfly. You were with someone." He said as he leaned into her neck. His nose pressed against her skin as he inhaled, trying to smell any lingering scent from whomever Felicia had spent the night with before. Felicia hoped so badly that the girl's perfume had worn off. She couldn't bear the thought of anyone learning that she and Cecelia Ravenwood had been in each other's arms the night prior.
Suddenly Sethisto had been violently yanked away from Felicia who whimpered again and began violently rubbing herself trying to get the feeling of Sethisto away from her, "Touch her again and I'll make you into a eunich." Discordius declared as he threw the other man to the floor.
"Speak for yourself half-face," Sethisto replied, referring to Discordius' face, which had been badly burned a long time ago. No one knew the truth behind the burn since Discordius never spoke of it. Discordius didn't seem to like the insult, "Oh, did I touch a nerve?" Sethisto sneered.
Discordius drew his sword from its scabbard and aimed it at the red-haired man, "If you touch her again, I will castrate you." He warned.
Sethisto smiled and went to draw his own sword, but he was stopped when a knife was held to his throat, "Don't you dare," Eris Silvermoon whispered darkly. She had short black hair and pale blue eyes. Her obsidian dagger was held tightly against Sethisto as she spoke, "you may have the Lord's favor but I swear once he discovers how much of a craven you are he will hang you from the tree himself."
Sethisto just walked away his hands slightly raised in front of him, "Very well but I'm warning you maid, when I figure out who you're sleeping with you shall be out of this castle and left to the elements just like that Miracle Child that the Lord dare calls his son." Sethisto chuckled before walking away.
"I really do not like that man." Discordius said as he sheathed his blade.
"Nor I, but we're stuck with him until we can prove to the Lord how cruel he really is." Eris added as she sheathed her obsidian blade.
Felicia had begun to panic slightly, but soon she stopped as Eris gently stroked her back, "It's OK, Felicia." She said softly.
Discordius nodded softly as he looked at the maid, "Are you hurt?" He asked.
Felicia shook her head no, "I'm alright," Felicia said as she drew her onyx dagger, "gods, I'm probably the worst Pleiades in all of Lornathia" Felicia said through sniffles. The Pleiades were gifted female fighters and assassins tasked with being the protectors of noble children. The problem with Felicia, however, was that she had never killed anyone before. She always had more fun playing with the Lulamoon children and making them happy.
"You're fine. You got scared it's natural." Eris said softly. Discordius nodded, and the pair smiled as they escorted their friend to the playroom of Trixie and Charlotte Lulamoon. Who were both extremely excited to see their protector and guardian enter.
"Felicia!" Trixie squealed as she ran towards her, giving her a big hug. Felicia giggled, hugging both girls. She looked up and saw Orpheus. No longer the sweet little boy who loved to play pretend and always wanted to be the hero of a story about chivalry and knights. Now, he was serious and no longer cared for chivalry or knights.
"How are you, Orpheus?" Felicia asked after whispering for the girls to go play. Orpheus sat down to watch his sisters with Felicia joining him.
"I'm fine, Lady Papillon." Orpheus replied. Felicia sighed as she placed a hand on his.
"Orpheus, you don't have to be formal with me." She said softly as she looked at the boy's face, "You are a good boy. You used to be a sweet kid, so please smile just once." She begged with a sweet smile as she looked at Orpheus.
Orpheus nodded, but he looked away, unable to smile at her. Felicia sighed and let go of his hand, "I wish I knew what went on between you and my sister, but clearly, it hurt you. So I'll wait until you are ready." She said, kissing his head softly before going over the girls. Orpheus just watched. He could still remember Felicia's twin sister Fiona Papillon, but it wasn't a memory he was proud of.
"Felicia?" Orpheus asked softly. The older girl turned to look at him and saw Orpheus was in tears, "Can I have a hug?" He asked, trying his hardest not to cry in front of his sisters. Felicia nodded and rushed over to her friend and hugged him tightly. Orpheus wrapped his arms around her and teared up more, muttering over and over again that he was sorry.
She wanted to ask him what was wrong but knew a proud boy like Orpheus wouldn't want to speak of it. It was bad enough that he was a pariah for the fight he had with the Unicorn Brothers, but she had a good idea of what happened since she heard rumors of her sister and Orpheus being close. Almost as close as how she felt to him.