Mary's Path

As Mary and Zerden stood quietly talking near the entrance of the gardens, Mary heard the soft steps on the garden path gravel. Zerden must have heard it as well, as he stopped in the middle of a sentence, looking out toward the sound.

Along the path lady Sarah came walking. She looked flushed and kept looking around as if expecting to get caught doing something wrong.

“Lady Sarah, you made it safely” Zerden greeted her as she drew near.

“Zerden, I did my best and walked along the paths that you sent word about” she answered in a soft voice. Something in that voice made Mary cringe. It didn’t sound entirely sincere. But that could just be out of jealousy Mary thought.

Lady Sarah was dressed in another stunning dress, this time sage green. Her hair was impeccable, and she extruded high class upbringing and grace. Mary felt out of place and tried to make herself invisible.

“Ah yes, I almost forgot. Lady Sarah, this is my friend I told you about, Mary. Mary this is lady Sarah” Zerden introduced them. “We can trust Mary, she will not say a word about our meeting”

Lady Sarah’s eyes travelled from the top of Mary’s head down her entire body. By the look on her fae, she wasn’t impressed.

“How do you do” sha greeted Mary stiffly whit a weak smile.

“My lady” Mary responded and curtsied.

“She is well behaved at least, a maid, is she?” lady Sarah asked Zerden, not demeaning herself to address Mary.

“Something like that” he responded, and Mary just stared at him. He knew she wasn’t a maid. Not that it was anything wrong in being one, but as with anything else in the castle there was a strict hierarchy amongst the ones that worked there.

Calling Mary a maid was like saying that Zerden was an errand boy. Mary just couldn’t believe that he would do that to her. Her position was one of the few things she had in life, she had worked hard to become one of the top chef’s assistants. He knew that.

Zerden offered lady Sarah his arm and they started walking in the gardens talking. Mary followed behind them at a distance. Both trying to give them some privacy, but mostly so she didn’t need to hear their conversation. Just walking with them was painful enough.

Hard as she tried to not listen to their conversation, some parts of it drifted her way. I seemed like lady Sarah was the one talking most of the time, with Zerden asking questions or assuring that he was listening. She talked about fashion a lot, and what the other ladies-in-waiting wore and what the princess and the queen wore.

“I’m really fortunate to have a complexion and a body that lets me wear most dresses and colours” lady Sarah stated. “But that just puts added pressure on me to know what the latest trends are. You know I would never dress in something that wasn’t in trend, like that” she continued finishing with a nod at Mary’s dress.

Zerden looked at Mary and she saw that he at least had the curtesy to look a bit guilty. But he didn’t defend her. She hated that the comment made her flush with embarrassment.

The dress she had on may not have been as fashionable as the on the lady was wearing. But it was of high quality, and it was a good dress for her station. Of course, Mary didn’t point that out to lady Sarah. Instead, she lowered her head and stayed silent.

They continued walking around the gardens for oven an hour before lady Sarah declared she needed to go before anyone missed her.

Zerden made a big deal about how his pour heart would be in pieces until he could see her again. Lady Sarah promised that they could arrange a new meeting soon. As a farewell, Zerden placed a kiss on lady Sarah’s hand, and she giggled before walking away, ignoring Mary completely.

“Isn’t she wonderful?” Zerden said whit a dreamy look in his eyes.

“She is very beautiful, but isn’t she a bit downgrading toward other?” Mary asked. Zerden gave her a hard look.

“She is just trying to help other reach her level. Don’t be jealous of her just because she is above your status” he said to her. Mary could answer so she started walking.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“It’s been a long day and I just think I need to lay down for a bit” she said.

“But it won’t be dark for at least one hour”

“Sorry, but I’m really tired” she insisted.

“Okay, I will follow you. It’s a bit worrying that you are so tiered, lady Sarah wasn’t tired at all. Maybe I can ask her how she maintain such high energy. Then you can emulate that” he said.

Mary wanted to tell him that lady Sarah probably hadn’t spent the morning working in the kitchen and then the afternoon being dragged around being humiliated by her best friend. But instead, she just nodded and walked along.

As they were walking Zerden seemed to be thinking about something. As they came in the small kitchen yard he turned to Mary.

“You probably shouldn’t let that city guy walk to church with you. It doesn’t look good that you to are spending time alone” he said.

“What do you mean?” Mary asked.

“You know what I mean, we are not little children anymore. If a man and a woman spend time alone, rumours will start spreading. You don’t want that do you?”

“No of course not. But he’s my friend” she said, and by the way things were going he would soon be her only friend she thought.

“That’s even worse, he will never ask you to marry him” Zerden said bluntly.

“I, I, I don’t think I want him to” Mary stuttered.

“I know you don’t. But the only way it is acceptable for a man and a woman, that are not related, to be alone is if there is a promise of marriage or an actual marriage.”

“But you and I take walks on our own”

“Mary, you just don’t get it. I’m the castellan’s son and I have a good reputation. People in the castle know we are as brother and sister. You are safe with me.”

“Oh, I guess” she said.

“Just stay away from him Mary, I’m just thinking about your reputation”

“Thank you for telling me” Mary said, feeling utterly miserable. Not only had she endangered her reputation but now she needed to stop meeting Erik.

“You know I’m always on your side.” Zerden said with a small smile. Mary nodded, but it didn’t feel this way after the walk in the garden.

“Before I forget, mother wanted me to ask you if you would come by for some tea next week. She feels that it has been a long time since she saw you”

“Oh yes, please tell her I’ll come on Wednesday” Mary said smiling, the thought of tea with Ana made her mood perk up a bit.

“I thought that we could go meet lady Sarah on Wednesday” Zerden said, sounding disappointed.

“Well, maybe I can do both” Mary said even though she didn’t want to see lady Sarah ever again.

They said their goodbyes and Mary went to lie down on her bed for a couple of hours before dinner. She hadn’t lied, she was exhausted.

The talk with Zerden about Erik made her feel even more so. Why were her life so complicated? Why couldn’t she just get to spend time with the people she liked without any hidden agendas or needing to receive insults.