Chapter 18: The Time To Dine

"Welcome, welcome, welcome!" Lady Sutherton stood from the dining table and hurried over to Ezra. She clasped her hands, smiling and beaming with sparkling luminescence. "I trust you made it to the dining hall with ease, Mister Ezra?"

"Yes." He surveyed the sweeping sublime scapes of the dining area and the sprawling golden table where hot and steaming foods crowded the surface, and Lord Sutherton was already eating his fill. "Luckily, I found my way, but I did have a little trouble." He swiped a glance at Erin.

"Trouble?" Lady Sutherton winced, rapidly fixing her sight onto her daughter. "What kind of trouble, Erin?"

Erin pressed her tongue against the side of her mouth, a scowl easily cementing. "What?" She met her mother's concern with distaste.

“By trouble,” Ezra said, “I meant I got a bit lost on my way here. You have such a magnificently large estate, Lady Sutherton, so it was easy to lose my way. It seems I was a bit too cocky with my directional skills."

Lady Sutherton reluctantly pulled her stare away from her daughter and glued it onto him. "I see you meant trouble like that.” She sighed in large exponential relief.

"What?" Erin narrowed her eyes. "Did you think I pulled him aside and physically attacked him, Lady Sutherton?" she emphasized, hatred burning on her tongue.

"No." She gawked. "I suggested nothing of the sort, my dear."

For a time of unbreakable tension and animosity, they held stifling stares.

"If I might be so kind as to add, Lady Sutherton?" Ezra spoke up amidst their contest. "Lady Erina actually helped me find my way to the dining hall."

"Really?" Her disbelief was prominent.

"Yes." He smiled at Erin. "If it wasn't for her suggestions and compulsions, I wouldn't have found my way out of the room I was lost in, nor would I have stumbled upon the dining hall."

Erin peered at him before looking back to her mother. "Right. My… ‘compulsions’.” She turned a brief glare at Ezra. “I'm not a monster, mother, I'm a young lady and I can be hospitable. Hence why he's unharmed now, isn't he?"

Lady Sutherton took a steady inhale, brushing away loose hairs. "Haha. Right." She strained a laugh. "Well, dinner will get cold at this rate. Please come, have a seat anywhere you'd like, Mister Ezra." She gestured him toward her but the moment he took one step forward, Erin placed her arm in front of him.

Abruptly, Erin pushed him back with her forearm.

"Sit anywhere he'd like?" she bemused sardonically. "He's a butler, Anya. Service workers don't sit at the table. You know that."

Lady Sutherton's smile grew flaccid. "Tomorrow, he starts work, right now he's our guest, Erin. Guests may sit at the table. You know that is proper cordial procedure."

"Well, I don't want to sit next to a service worker, Anya." She folded her arms over her chest.

"No one said you're sitting next to him, dear." She struggled to maintain her composure.

"A lowborn sitting anywhere at our grand hall table is insult enough," she scoffed. "How do you not think so?"

Lady Sutherton anxiously exhaled. "I didn't realize you intended to come. I thought you said you were skipping dinner."

"Did I say such a thing?"

"It seemed like you were. You just stormed off, so I assumed you were up to your usual antics of bothering someone to pass time or locking yourself away in your room to brood and mope." She feigned a smile, examining her daughter up and down. "Also, would it not be better if you skipped dinner? You want to fit into those new dresses we talked about, right?"

A horrid snarl coiled on her lips. "Anya, I won't sit anywhere near a service worker. That means he sits in the service hall away from us or on the floor!"

"On the floor?" She gaped. "Don't be absurd, we can't make our guest sit on the floor."

"Goodness, Anya.” She scoldingly shook her head. "Does he not have any autonomy? Let him decide. If he's smart, he'll know what to choose." She strode forward, nearly knocking her mother over.

Lady Sutherton shot a pained side glance at Erin before directing her attention back to Ezra. "Don't mind her. She just wants to get a rise out of you. Please, take a seat wherever you like."

"Thank you." He smiled. "But I'm afraid I shouldn't do that."

"Huh?" she dejected, with a frown. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm quite certain I know what I'd like to do." He turned his eye to Erin, who was taking her seat at the far end of the table with an irritated glare directed to her father.

"But, Mister Ezra?" Lady Sutherton softly grazed his arm. "My husband and I invited you to treat you, so really, there's no need to humor her." Her face scrunched up like a soured prune at the sight of Erin, who was throwing daggers at everyone in the room.

"Your concern is admirable, Lady Sutherton, but it's quite alright." He reassuringly said before heading to the table.

Defeated, Lady Sutherton swallowed and went to take her seat next to her husband. Rigidly stiff, she left her daughter with another worrisome glance.

Erin settled into her seat with a cross of her legs, and the moment Ezra neared her way, she grinned with childish delight.

"Butler?" She beckoned him over, smugly smiling. "So, have you decided?"

He folded his hands. "How about I stand?"

"Stand?" Her elated grin faded. "I didn't give you that option."

"You also didn't deny me that option."

"Then how about I deny you now?" She spoke tersely low from the deepest part of her throat.

"Why do that when I could stand here to serve you?" His smile remained.

Tap.

She gritted her teeth, tapping the table.

"Did I ask for your opinion?" She drilled holes into him.

"You asked a question, so I responded." There was not a breath of hesitance in his voice, even as she continued to dig her glare into his skull.

Tap. Tap.

"Are you giving me back lip, lowborn?"

"Erin, if you came to the dining hall to eat, please do so." Lady Sutherton's voice travelled across from the gigantic table. She seemed to already sense her growing aggression towards the man.

"How could I forget my manners, you're right, mother," she loudly seethed.

Even though they were spaced apart from each other on opposing ends of the table, the burning stares they gave each other spiked the room's temperature.

"Well?" Erin whipped her head towards Ezra. "If you're going to stand, then make use of yourself to me first. I require food." She motioned impatiently with a hostile flick of her hands. "I'm the only one who's not serviced here. Everyone else has already started eating without me."

"Of course, my lady. I'd love to be of assistance." His smile didn't falter at her easy hostility. He raised his hand, gesturing to one of the kitchen staff.

Within moments, two kitchen maids disappeared into a side door and returned with a service cart and silver platters.

"Thank you." He nodded to the kitchen maids, taking a hold of some cutlery and a glass goblet. "Anything special to drink?" He asked Erin, placing the glass goblet in front of her.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

She didn't look at him before she snatched the goblet and shoved it towards his face. "White wine." She wagged the glass around his face. "Fill it to the brim."

"As you'd like." He nodded with a smile and opened the service cart. Inside, wine bottles and smaller steaming silver platters were neatly packed inside.

"You shouldn't be drinking so late, Erin." Lady Sutherton voiced out, observing her anxiously.

"Why?" Erin steadied her glass in her hand. "You're the one who's already been drinking, and I'll bet that one glass won't be your last." Her eyes landed on her mother's hand; a wine glass tightly clenched in her grip.

Lady Sutherton swallowed. She couldn't find the words left to speak and so she locked her jaw.

Rolling her eyes, Erin glanced back to Ezra. "Dullard? Hurry now and fill it to the brim." She shook the empty glass with animated passion and tenacity.

"As you wish." He nodded, pouring the creamy translucent yellow colored liquid into the glass.

The moment he filled her glass, she brought it to her lips. But in only one sip, she decided she no longer desired the drink. Thus, she tilted the glass and let the contents spill out to the floor.

"Actually, Butler?" She shook the glass, shaking the last few drops out. "I don't want white." Disinterested, she carelessly shoved the glass towards him. "Make it red." She smirked, running her tongue along the wine residue on her lips.

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"As you wish." He took the glass, not a break in his smile even as he viewed her smugly licking her lips.

She knew her parents saw, but they knew better; this would be the butler's treatment---an unfortunate fate of service workers. Thus, rather than add to the scene, they sought to detract from it. Silence then quickly fell upon them, as Lord Sutherton barely took recognition of his daughter, and Lady Sutherton only picked at her food, giving Erin continuous worried glances.

"Your red wine?" Ezra offered her glass, and she hastily seized it.

Nonchalantly, she took one sip and dumped out the contents once more. "I think not this one either. Let me try that white again."

"Yes, as you wish." He reached into the service cart and pulled out the white wine again.

"So?" Erin looked to her parents. "If I could be so bold to ask, what were you talking about when I came in? I heard a mumble about Master Outhouse.”

“Do not call Master Privy that,” Lady Sutherton quickly said.

“But it’s his name.”

Lady Sutherton gave her daughter a dead stare.

“Oh, you don’t get it?” Erin mockingly questioned. “Privy means close attendant but also happens to mean the outhouse. It’s funny wordplay, isn’t it? I mean it’s a pity his title could be the butt---,” she said, resisting a snicker. “---of a joke but it cannot be helped.”

Lady Sutherton sighed, refusing to humor her daughter. “Your father and I were talking about things regarding Master Privy and you.”

“Regarding him and me? What’s that supposed to mean?” She narrowed her eyes.

“Well…?” Lady Sutherton glanced at her husband as if seeking his approval to speak. When she received a light nod of his head, she eagerly spoke up. “He had flowers sent to the house,” she oozed joyfully. “They came in a lovely vase that he had handmade by a Fendrix Blacksmith. I didn’t get a chance to show you them, but I had them placed in that ‘little’ ‘dank’ room you like to relax in. Perhaps you saw it?"

"Did I see it?” Erin’s face dropped. “Yes, I did in fact see those awful smelling flowers in that garish ugly vase when I visited the family quarters."

Lady Sutherton grimaced with tight pressed lips. “It was a gift, Erin.”

“And now it is broke. What a pity.” Her sarcasm was apparent.

“Broke? You shouldn’t have done that. I thought it was quite lovely for him to take the time out to offer you such a rare gift, especially considering you don’t have many others doing the same." She raised her wine glass up to her lips, lowly muttering the last of her criticism to her daughter. “You are only young and fresh once. Perhaps you’d ought to keep that in mind.”

She met eyes with her mother. “And perhaps, you’d ought to keep your business away from my business or we both risk consequences.”

Lady Sutherton lowered her wine glass, peering at her daughter. They shared stares before Lady Sutherton cleared her throat and turned away. "Mister Ezra? You never finished telling us about that delightful story of yours. I'm dying to know what happened next about that time you served Lord Ecker, wasn't it?"

"I can't believe I almost forgot." Ezra heartily laughed, refilling Erin's glass. "Where was it again where we left off on that part?" He raised his voice so that they could hear him clearly from afar.

"I believe you left off when you had to translate the different languages before Lord Ecker cut off his foot off in a duel.”

"Yes, that was quite a story. You do so need to complete the next portion," Lord Sutherton spoke up, cracking a whisper of engaged interest.

Erin measured her breathing, tapping the table and sharply watching the situation unfold.

To her surprise and frustration, within moments of Ezra beginning his storytelling, the whole dining hall had lit up. Her mother and father were actively engaging in every word he uttered.

She even noticed some of the kitchen staff popping their 'frumpy' little heads in more frequently to bring in food carts. In fact, it was so often she was losing count of how many times she saw a blushing maid with perky ears and perky breasts vie for a crumb of Ezra’s fleeting glance.

Abhorrent.

Abhorrent, it was.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

As if it were the only way to repress her violent hatred, she continued loudly tapping the table with her free hand.

"I should give a little more context before we continue,” Ezra said. “You see, Lord Eckert, as I said before, was wonderful and generous on most days. But after he fought in the flash war during his youth, he had suffered an injury that was a ‘bit’ personality altering."

"What type of injury?" Lord Sutherton asked.

"Ah, it was a horrid one, really," Ezra winced. "Hilt of an enemy sword made a deep dent on the entire back of his head." He tapped the back of his skull with a pained squint.

"Yikes!" Lady Sutherton cringed.

“Yes. It was quite the indentation. Sort of like a bulbous soft spot in a baby's head."

"Soft spot on a baby?" Lady Sutherton lightly laughed.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Yes, and ever since then, he had this dent that sort of pushed out his skull and made him look like he had two heads. His doctors said because of that, he was going to be prone to abnormal behaviors and bipolar moods. As in—." He stopped, and suddenly exploded in a fit of thundering laughter. "---And." He pressed his hands against his face, mimicking sorrowful weeping.

His actions were so emphatically sudden and raw, they were all shaken by his actions.

"Mister Ezra!" Lady Sutherton giddily laughed. "Do not surprise us like that! You had me nearly fooled that you had become bipolar yourself!"

While his wife almost bounced in her chair with giddy excitement, Lord Sutherton, remained silent with maintained interest.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

He chuckled. "Well, when I worked at Duke Eckert's, every second I had to learn to expect the unexpected like that."

“Oh, but you surprised us! That really took me for a loop there!" Lady Sutherton chortled. She was laughing so hard and so truly like a high-pitched chirping bird.

How long had it had been since her daughter heard the pitch of such girlish giggles? Sebastian, Erin recalled, was the only one who could get her mother chirping like that, and that was limited to when they were drunken fools speaking gibberish.

"I apologize, but you may have to learn to expect the unexpected. There’s still more of a story to be told." Ezra coined a sparkling coquettish grin as he emphasized his words. “And who knows what other twists and turns you will hear tonight?”

Lady Sutherton was rolling with laughter. "Do you hear this, man?" She glanced at her husband, smiling and whispering with him as if they were watching a theatre play together.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Erin looked around the table, watching her parent's faces bloat with intrigue and glee every time the man opened his mouth. They were listening to him with an unbroken focus, and it became apparent that it was more than just listening. They actually enjoyed conversing with him---a butler.

He was some man that they had just met, and yet they were acting as if he were their own.

She had never received such smiles and laughter from her parents and yet; a butler was managing to get all of their attention merely by breathing.

A deep-set scowl carved into her face. The more she thought about it, the more she was set off.

Annoyed, she tossed her glass cup to the floor.

Clink!

It didn't shatter, but splatters of leftover wine splashed on Ezra.

She felt her parent’s eyes but she focused on Ezra. "Oops! Miss Clumsy over here,” she sang, placing her elbow on the table to arrogantly posture herself.

"That’s alright, I know." Ezra wiped wine splatters from his cheek.

She heard the challenge in his voice and her glare sharpened. “I’ll be needing a new wine glass. That one is dirty since it came into contact with the floors."

"Right." He smiled, turning to the service cart, searching around for extra glasses.

The moment he turned from her; Erin's eyes slowly drew to her food. Everything on the plate was expertly cooked and elegantly presented. The steak was perfectly roasted. The chopped potatoes were golden and wet with butter. And the soup? The vegetable soup was simply oozing and exuding a powerful aroma of freshly harvested cilantro, parsley, and pepper in a thick appetizing broth. It looked so wonderful that her body was craving for just a lick.

"Would you also like more wine with---.” Ezra neared her to offer the glass but as he moved, she moved.

She turned in her chair to face his chest. Then, she clutched her steaming soup and rammed it right against him.

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