Cambyses's Hurdles (Part-2)

"Here, mistress, have this. It is hot chicken. Eat before it becomes cold." 

Standing beside Cambyses in her large, beautifully furnished study, Mean had a complicated face when she saw the state of her mistress.

The young lady in her early twenties no longer had that usual fresh, refreshing aura about her, being instead replaced with an air of gloom, tiredness, and melancholy.

Her usually fluffy cheeks were no longer rosy, her eyes had dark patches of ring underneath, and most striking of all, she looked a lot thinner.

Mean knew she had her lady had lost a lot of weight, something that was not readily apparent when she went out and met out with the nobles as Cambyses would be draped in heavy winter clothing. But now that she was alone in her study that was being kept warm by underfloor heating alongside a burning fireplace, her light clothes easily revealed her state.

"......"