Chapter One_A Young Woman Spoiled To The Heavens

Tull Kingdom.

Firma Manor, House of Terif.

It was a large bedchamber, very tastefully furnished, and equally extravagant.

A beautiful young woman sat in bed, surrounded by many soft pillows.

She was Lady Saru II, named after her mother.

The last child and only daughter of Lord Iza and Lady Saru, Firma Manor, one of the branch families of the House of Terif.

House of Terif was amongst the four great Noble Houses, of the Tull Kingdom.

Lady Saru II's four brothers were all serving in official capacities for the Tull Kingdom.

Of worthy mention was her eldest brother, Lord Rein, who was the second-ranked grand general of the Tull army.

She earnestly wished to marry into the Tull Royal Family, especially to Third Prince Dan, as he was the most charismatic of the Princes, and was her eldest brother's best friend.

•••

Lady Saru II had just woken up, and as she thought of something, she became agitated instantly.

"Torza!" She shouted, asking for her personal maid.

"My Lady!" A woman close in age to her rushed in from outside the room, knelt down, and saluted her with her head bowed, patiently awaiting her instructions.

"Has he done as I ordered him to?" Lady Saru II asked cryptically.

"Reporting to My Lady; Nem has filled your bathtub with fresh, clean warm water.

"He has also washed your clothes, prepared your breakfast, and right now, he is standing outside the room with a tray filled with your favourite foods.

"When you finish with your morning preparations, he will proceed to clean your room." Torza informed her, and saluted again.

"Hmmm," Lady Saru II smiled darkly, then said, "It appears he doesn't want another punishment.

"Have him enter," she commanded.

Torza bowed, and rose up to go usher Nem into the room.

Nem came in, bearing a wide silver tray laden with appetizing foods in closed dishes.

"A pleasant morning to you, My Lady," he respectfully greeted and bowed, still bearing the silver tray.

Lady Saru II snorted, then replied him, "How can the morning be pleasant, with you here dirtying my eyes?

"Drop the tray and get out of this place!" She shouted, waving her hands angrily at him.

"Yes, My Lady." Nem calmly replied, and did as she ordered.

He made to leave, but she stopped him.

He slowly turned to face her.

"Torza, check the food for poison," Lady Saru II ordered the maiden, that had been kneeling quietly by the side of her bed.

A look passed between them, as the maiden deftly rose up to carry out her Mistress's command.

Torza plucked out a silver needle from her sleeves, opened all the covered dishes and drinks, then gently inserted the silver needle into them, one after the other.

There was no poison in the contents of the tray, but as she closed them, she sneered, and made a disgusted expression with her face.

"What is it?" Lady Saru II asked her with fake interest.

"...My Lady," Torza began, then paused for effect, "The dishes have a weird smell, like they are stale.

"Maybe Nem prepared your breakfast with rotten items....," She carefully reported.

"How diabolical and outrageous!!" Lady Saru II screamed, as if she couldn't bear it.

She hastily rose up from her bed, marched barefoot to where the tray lay on a table, grabbed it with both hands, and proceeded to baptize Nem with all its contents.

Nem stood unflinched, but covered his head and face with his hands, as the hot dishes and drinks rained down on him.

"Son of a Witch!" Lady Saru II swore at him, then began to beat him heavily with her hands to express her rage.

She beat him until she grew tired, then roughly pushed him away from her.

Nem staggered but regained his ground, his hands still covering his face and head protectively.

Panting hard, Lady Saru II ordered him, "Clean this mess up, then get yourself out of my sight!"

"Yes, My Lady," Nem replied in a calm, clear voice, not leaking any pain at all, and began to do as he was ordered.

•••

Such was the daily morning routine of Nem with Lady Saru II, in the Firma Manor.

A young woman spoiled to the heavens by her parents, and pampered silly by her brothers, she could bully Nem and any of the servants all she wanted, and no one would bat an eye.

But she had it specially out for Nem, ever since they were little.

Lady Saru II saw Nem as an eyesore, and never hesitated to remind him of the vast difference in their stations in life.

Nem and his mother Sheina, were a pair of mother and son taken in by Lord Iza, head of the Firma Manor, one of the side branches of the House of Terif, as servants, while he was on an official duty in their village, Aseikah.

He had saved them from being burnt alive by the mob, because Nem's mother had been accused of being a witch.

Having rescued them, Lord Iza took them with him back to his Manor, and had them become part of his many servants.

He had told his wife, Lady Saru, of their circumstances in confidence, but she, being loose-lipped and narrow-minded, spread the information to every member of the Firma Household.

This prompted the bullyings and ill-treatment of Nem, and his mother.

Lord Iza had turned a blind eye to it, feeling no further obligation to the duo, and this emboldened the others.

When Nem turned fifteen, sadly, his mother died of a fever that would not recede.

He always felt that his mother died of a broken spirit, and not of any illness.

He felt that way because Sheina was a very capable healer, and knew some mystic arts.

So how could a mere fever slay her?

His mother's death left Nem very open to more ill-treatment, as he was bereft of her love and protection.

But one positive thing he held onto, was that his mother taught him all she knew, and made sure he could practice them very well.

They were not freeloaders at the Firma Manor, as they helped in doing house chores, farming, and most importantly, healed the Firma Manor's inhabitants of their various ailments and wounds.

Still, their service did not bring them any favour before their hosts.

The hatred on them persisted, and bitterly so.

•••

Nem completed the task given him by Lady Saru II, and left her quarters to go begin his other chores for the day.

He haboured no resentment for her, as he knew she was just ignorant, and acting based on what others had told her.

Her mother was blind, and so was she.

•••

After completing some of his chores, and having his bath, Nem went to the family stable to take care of the horses.

But he found out to his consternation, that the stable doors were open, and some of the horses had escaped.

He quickly checked around, but could not find them anywhere in the manor grounds.

This led him to conclude that someone had deliberately let loose the horses.

As he was debating within himself on what to do, some servants of the manor came to inform him, and rudely so, that Lady Saru was looking for him.

He immediately followed them, and when he got there, he was met with a harsh slap from the angry woman, whipped, and commanded to go bring back the escaped horses.

Failing to do that, he would go out alone at night to fetch firewood, from the Evergreen Tull Forest.

Nem had borne his punishment, and dragged his body to go look for the horses outside the Firma Manor.

But try as he could, he couldn't find any of them.

He knew what was going on, but who could he complain to?

Obviously, Lady Saru had set him up, by ordering some of her lackeys to let loose those horses, and hide them, so that he would be blamed, and punished.

He wandered around the streets till late evening, and when he finally returned to the Manor, he was laughed at by the servants, and rudely informed by them to go fetch firewood, from the Evergreen Tull Forest.

Needless to say, dinner wasn't for him.

Nem had silently hooked a wooden cart to an ox, dropped an axe, a bundle of rope, and a matchet inside the cart.

With a lantern in his hand, he slowly drove the ox with the cart outside the gates of the Firma Manor.

Night had properly fallen, by the time he approached the entrance of the Evergreen Tull Forest.