Worlds Apart 52
Finally I was able to write a bit!
There were only three more days until Gorlyn’s training was over and Johar-ashe would leave. They turned out to be the hardest three days of the entire five weeks. Gorlyn had never spent so much time on his feet and the hours of standing in Johar-ashe’s rooms building endurance had not prepared him.
The first of the three days was spent in the dining hall. Johar-ashe told Gorlyn that it would be his sole responsibility that the meal flowed smoothly. Two lines of servants stood in the back of the room. One group fetched the next course and the other removed the previous one. Johar-ashe told him that the flow would depend on his master. He would only have to watch one person and when that person was finished with the current course then it was over and the next one would begin. Even if other people still had food on their plates.
Johar-ashe also assured Gorlyn that his master would eat everything on his plate. After all that was how Johar-ashe had raised him. If his master failed to finish everything on his plate then it was Gorlyn’s fault and he had brought great shame to his master’s family. That did not help Gorlyn’s already over-taxed nerves.
They practiced all day with Johar-ashe posing as Gorlyn’s master and everyone bringing out and taking back empty plates. Johar-ashe would make a motion with his hand to would symbolize eating the last bite. They worked up until lunch with Gorlyn failing every time creating nothing but chaos.
“Well as much as I hate to say it. We have to try it with real food. You will oversee my lunch.” Johar-ashe announced. Gorlyn held back a moan of despair. Watching servers bump into each other with imaginary food was hard enough to watch. He didn’t know what he would do when they spilled and wasted real food. “Drass, go tell Finne what we are doing in here and explain that we will be using my lunch as practice.”
A few moments after the servant named Drass left he felt Finne request permission to open a channel between their minds. Gorlyn, as always, took the request as an order and opened up his end of the channel.
So Johar has you working on formal dining? He’s pushing it close with only three days left. So what has he told you about dining service? Finne’s voice was cheerful as he asked questions in Gorlyn’s mind. Gorlyn repeated everything Johar-ashe had instructed him to do in the dining room and nothing more.
Good he’s got you on the right path. Now the two of us will work far better then Johar and I do. You know why? Finne- ashe asked.
No, ashe. Gorlyn answered.
Because we can speak mind to mind. Johar can’t and he doesn’t know I can so please don’t tell him. In fact, you and Lord Neisk are the only two who know and I would like to keep it that way. Finne spoke with urgency to his voice.
Yes, ashe. Gorlyn answered hoping Johar-ashe didn’t find out he had another secret. He was barely going to survive three more days of the current paddling routine. The thought of doubling the strokes for a second secret made Gorlyn see stars for a moment as he nearly passed out.
Started to lose our connection for a second everything alright, lad? Finne’s voice full of concern held Gorlyn like an anchor.
Yes, ashe. Sorry ashe. Gorlyn responded.
Good now let’s give Johar a meal he’ll never forget. Finne exclaimed.
Finne’s mind connection made all the difference. He managed to get through the whole meal without a single mistake and it was so much easier. Gorlyn had a real feeling of accomplishment at the end that bordered on pride. He made sure to keep it from crossing over however, since pride would be punished by his kaspern.
“Interesting. It appears you simply needed to practice on real food to master it.” Johar-ashe commented. “Let us see if you can still do it without the food.” Johar-ashe turned his attention back to the servants and had them set up for more practice meals. To Gorlyn’s surprise Finne kept the mind connection and helped him through the practice as well. From lunch on and through dinner Gorlyn was mistake free. It was getting harder to avoid pride.
The second day made the first day seem easy as breathing. They spent the entire day practicing how to be of service to his master at a banquet or dinner party. This was something that both Yndsians and Ghuryni did similarly. The room would be full of round tables. Everyone would have an assigned seat during the meal but during dessert the guests would get up and move around to different tables to speak with old friends or to make new ones. This meant Gorlyn would have to keep up with which table his master was at while he fetched food and drink.
They had turned the ballroom into a banquet room with dozens of small round tables and lining two walls were long tables. One side, he was told, would hold drinks and the other food ranging from pastries to sorbets. Johar-ashe has several servant pose as valets to other invisible nobles while Johar-ashe again took the role of Gorlyn’s master.
In addition to having to manoeuver through the tables carrying a drink or plate or both, he had to avoid the other servants. And if that wasn’t hard enough Johar-ashe had randomly placed bricks in some of the paths to simulate nobles not knowing how to keep their feet under the table. Johar-ashe assured him that none of the nobles would trip him on purpose but there were a fair amount of nobility with less than proper upbringing who let their feet stick out from under tables.
Gorlyn could almost believe that if it were a Yndsian party. However if his master attended a Ghuryni party there was no doubt they would try to trip him up. They would all see his kaspern even if his master made him wear his brown clothing.
Under Leisa’s tutorage he had served a few small parties for Ghuryni nobles. Nothing as big as what Johar was training him for but rather a group of noblemen or woman (never both genders together) sitting in large comfortable chair sipping wine and eating light food. They all seemed to take great pleasure in tripping him up and then beating him for his clumsiness. Leisa kept track of his beatings and matched them with beatings of her own back in the training room. Later he learned that the nobles had made a wager before he arrived of who could cause him to make the biggest mess or trip him the most times.
The difference was it had only been him serving and he was the only one moving about so it had been a bit easier to avoid tripping. Here and now with other people moving about and the fact he couldn’t keep his eyes down since he had to look and see which table Johar-ashe had moved to he spent a good amount of the practice time stumbling around.
Finally in the last hour he had memorized where all the bricks were and had figured out that, although the servants had been told to randomly walk around they all formed patterns. Once he knew all that, it was easy to get around.
The third day was the weirdest training he had ever had. Johar-ashe informed him of his duties should his master attend a ball. In all his training with Lesia she had never mentioned that he would have to accompany his master to a ball. He learned to dress both a nobleman and a noblewoman for such an occasion and how to care for clothing after they returned but as far as he was trained he would be spending ball nights in his master or mistress’ rooms. Either cleaning of simply kneeling in his assigned corner and not moving.
It was starting to become clear to him that Yndsians never went anywhere without their valet. Briefly he wondered if he would have to accompany his master to the privy.
“Now your role will differ slightly depending on if it is a Yndsian Ball or a Ghuryni Ball. Either way your place will be along one of the walls. You want to pick a spot where you are out of the way of servants but also where you can see the entire dance floor.” Johar-ashe instructed. “You will hold on to this.” Johar-ashe handed him a stiff piece of white paper that had been folded in half. “This is a dance card. Inside you will find a list of the songs that will be played for each dance. The song will determine what kind of dance it will be. If it is a fast dance, a slow dance or a line dance. Next to each one are three blank lines.”
Gorlyn opened the card and found exactly what Johar-ashe described. He had a feeling he had seen one before but it didn’t make any sense to him. It must be one of those partial memories he had from his days as a nobleman. Sometimes scents or sounds would feel familiar and he thought they should bring up memories but there were none to bring up.
“At a Yndsian Ball every noble will have brought a dance partner with them. Typically if one is married it will be their spouse but if the spouse is ill or away then they will bring another relative or close friend. If they are not married it will be again a relative or a close friend. The first dance will always be with the person’s dance partner. Every dance after that is open for someone else to dance with them.” Johar-ashe explained. “It is through such dances that nobles socialize with each other if they are married and if they are not it is where they try to find suitable prospects for marriage. During the first song ,and every song after, the maids and valets of nobles will try to get their Lord or Lady’s name on the dance card of a noble their Lord or Lady would like to dance with. Between the two nobles it is the lower noble who must approach the higher noble. Lord Neisk’s rank is such that you will be the one being approached and unless he wishes to dance with his mother, will never have to approach anyone. Repeat back what I said in your own words, so I know you understand.”
Gorlyn repeated it as he understood and was rewarded with a nod of Johar-ashe’s head.
“Good.” Johar-ashe approved his answer before continuing. “Now you have three lines next to each song. That means you will get the names of the first three ladies who wish to dance the next dance with his Lordship. You will write them down in the order they approached you. When the song ends his Lordship will come to where he left you on the side wall. You will show him the women on the list. He will rank them in the order in which he wishes to dance with them. You will then hold up the number of the first lady and look for her maid. When you spot her and she see’s your hand she will raise her hand and copy your number. Which means her Lady is ready. You will tell his Lordship and the two will meet on the dance floor. Now I doubt you will have this problem but the Lady in question will have her maid get three men willing to dance with her in a certain order. If by chance his Lordship was her second or third choice and her first choice was to chose her, then when you make eye contact she will place her hands behind her back as a signal that her lady is already taken. You will then locate the maid of the next person his Lordship chose.”
Gorlyn wondered why the nobles didn’t just talk to each other this all sounded overly complicated just to dance. He was already imagining how he could screw this up.
“Now like I said except for his mother there will hardly be anyone present he does not outrank. However it is not impossible. If by chance a member of the royal family is present then of course his Lordship would have to send you to get put on that person’s dance card. So should that happen you want to be the first one there and you want make sure your dress and manners are immaculate. It would cause great shame if you embarrassed his Lordship in front of the Royal Family. So as you can see I have both male and female servants here with us they know what to do let’s start practicing.”
The worked until lunch and then took a break. Gorlyn got a chance to again practice his dining service during Johar-ashe’s meal. After Johar-ashe’s meal Gorlyn got a chance to eat a quick meal while Johar got a new shift of servants ready for practicing a Ghuryni Ball.
“Now the main difference with a Ghuryni Ball is that only nobles who are not married will have dance cards. If a nobleman is married he will dance only with his wife. If his wife can not come for any reason he will not dance but spend his time in one of the side rooms reserved for the male guests where he will spend his time mostly drinking hard liquor and smoking. If a noblewoman is married and her husband can not attend the Ball then she will like wise spend her time in the side room reserved for female guests. I have no idea what the women do in those rooms mind you.”
Gorlyn did he had served in both. He now realized that those parties he had served at had always been either all men or all women. He remembered they had all be dressed as if they were attending a Ball as well. Also there was a memory of Leisa telling his master or mistress might not always attend such parties but that he was to obey all the guests as if they were his master or mistress.
“Now not all noblemen present will have their own personal valets some will simply bring a butler or the like. Each woman however will have a male servant with her. The man is considered a chaperone and is in the employ of the lady’s father. The male servants will have a list of men the Lady’s father deems suitable dance partners and will only allow those men to put their name on her dance card. So as you can guess you will be approaching them to request his Lordship’s name be put on their cards.” Johar-ashe continued to explain. “You will speak only to the servant, never the Lady, and he will tell you one of three things. Either Lord Neisk can have the dance, Lord Neisk is not on the approved list, or the dance has already been given to another. If the response is either one of the last two you will then go and find another Lady his Lordship wishes to dance with. He WILL give you several options. Once you have found him a partner you will find him and tell him who it will be. There is only a short moment between dances so you had best be quick.”
Gorlyn felt his stomach drop. The Yndsian Ball routine was far out of his comfort zone, and now the Ghuryni was so far he couldn’t even see his comfort zone from there. What if he didn’t approach with enough respect? What if his master wasn’t on the list? What if he didn’t know which person served which lady and he picked the wrong one? The overall potential for mistakes made him wish he was serving in the side rooms instead. At least there he knew that if he made a mistake it would only cause him pain. What if he ruined the dancing for his master?
Someone was snapping fingers in front of him. “Pay attention. Did you hear a word I just said? Repeat it back.” Johar-ashe demanded.
Gorlyn nervously repeated it back stumbling occasionally on a few words.
“Good enough. Now do you have any questions?” Johar-ashe asked.
Nervously he nodded his head.
“Well out with them we haven’t got all day.” Johar-ashe insisted.
“Forgive me ashe, but how will I know which servant to approach for which woman?” Gorlyn asked. He forced himself to focus he needed to get as much information from Johar-ashe as he could before the older man left.
“His Lordship will point out which ladies he wants to dance with and the servant will be with the lady’s side whenever she is not dancing. Any more questions?” Johar-ashe seemed to be losing his patience.
“No, ashe.” Gorlyn answered for at the moment he didn’t but suddenly an idea struck him. “If it pleases you ashe, might I ask questions later if I have them?”
“Yes, yes ask questions as much as you want. I won’t be around much longer so ask while you are able.” Johar-ashe’s voice almost seemed to soften a little.....almost. “Now are you ready to begin?”
It took them well into the night before Gorlyn finally got the hang of it all. Johar-ashe left him under the watchful eyes of another servant while he tended to Gorlyn’s master. Gorlyn regretted not getting the last chance to observe but was grateful for the extra practice.
When Gorlyn finally made it to bed his master was already fast asleep and had been for a few hours. It was with much trepidation that he sat in his bed and rubbed his feet. Johar-ashe’s last order still rang in his mind.
“Come to my room two hours later then you normally do. Come in your nightshirt, do not bathe or perform any other grooming, only brush your teeth.”
What would make Johar-ashe change their routine. Coming that late he wouldn’t have enough time to get both himself and Johar-ashe groomed and get through his paddling. Unless Johar-ashe had something new to replace the paddling. Something so painful Gorlyn would be helpless to keep the secret. Leisa knew things that would make him say anything. Maybe Johar-ashe had paid her a visit. He started to sweat and then his breathing became fast and small and then he passed out. Before he could regain consciousness sleep overtook him.
There were only three more days until Gorlyn’s training was over and Johar-ashe would leave. They turned out to be the hardest three days of the entire five weeks. Gorlyn had never spent so much time on his feet and the hours of standing in Johar-ashe’s rooms building endurance had not prepared him.
The first of the three days was spent in the dining hall. Johar-ashe told Gorlyn that it would be his sole responsibility that the meal flowed smoothly. Two lines of servants stood in the back of the room. One group fetched the next course and the other removed the previous one. Johar-ashe told him that the flow would depend on his master. He would only have to watch one person and when that person was finished with the current course then it was over and the next one would begin. Even if other people still had food on their plates.
Johar-ashe also assured Gorlyn that his master would eat everything on his plate. After all that was how Johar-ashe had raised him. If his master failed to finish everything on his plate then it was Gorlyn’s fault and he had brought great shame to his master’s family. That did not help Gorlyn’s already over-taxed nerves.
They practiced all day with Johar-ashe posing as Gorlyn’s master and everyone bringing out and taking back empty plates. Johar-ashe would make a motion with his hand to would symbolize eating the last bite. They worked up until lunch with Gorlyn failing every time creating nothing but chaos.
“Well as much as I hate to say it. We have to try it with real food. You will oversee my lunch.” Johar-ashe announced. Gorlyn held back a moan of despair. Watching servers bump into each other with imaginary food was hard enough to watch. He didn’t know what he would do when they spilled and wasted real food. “Drass, go tell Finne what we are doing in here and explain that we will be using my lunch as practice.”
A few moments after the servant named Drass left he felt Finne request permission to open a channel between their minds. Gorlyn, as always, took the request as an order and opened up his end of the channel.
So Johar has you working on formal dining? He’s pushing it close with only three days left. So what has he told you about dining service? Finne’s voice was cheerful as he asked questions in Gorlyn’s mind. Gorlyn repeated everything Johar-ashe had instructed him to do in the dining room and nothing more.
Good he’s got you on the right path. Now the two of us will work far better then Johar and I do. You know why? Finne- ashe asked.
No, ashe. Gorlyn answered.
Because we can speak mind to mind. Johar can’t and he doesn’t know I can so please don’t tell him. In fact, you and Lord Neisk are the only two who know and I would like to keep it that way. Finne spoke with urgency to his voice.
Yes, ashe. Gorlyn answered hoping Johar-ashe didn’t find out he had another secret. He was barely going to survive three more days of the current paddling routine. The thought of doubling the strokes for a second secret made Gorlyn see stars for a moment as he nearly passed out.
Started to lose our connection for a second everything alright, lad? Finne’s voice full of concern held Gorlyn like an anchor.
Yes, ashe. Sorry ashe. Gorlyn responded.
Good now let’s give Johar a meal he’ll never forget. Finne exclaimed.
Finne’s mind connection made all the difference. He managed to get through the whole meal without a single mistake and it was so much easier. Gorlyn had a real feeling of accomplishment at the end that bordered on pride. He made sure to keep it from crossing over however, since pride would be punished by his kaspern.
“Interesting. It appears you simply needed to practice on real food to master it.” Johar-ashe commented. “Let us see if you can still do it without the food.” Johar-ashe turned his attention back to the servants and had them set up for more practice meals. To Gorlyn’s surprise Finne kept the mind connection and helped him through the practice as well. From lunch on and through dinner Gorlyn was mistake free. It was getting harder to avoid pride.
The second day made the first day seem easy as breathing. They spent the entire day practicing how to be of service to his master at a banquet or dinner party. This was something that both Yndsians and Ghuryni did similarly. The room would be full of round tables. Everyone would have an assigned seat during the meal but during dessert the guests would get up and move around to different tables to speak with old friends or to make new ones. This meant Gorlyn would have to keep up with which table his master was at while he fetched food and drink.
They had turned the ballroom into a banquet room with dozens of small round tables and lining two walls were long tables. One side, he was told, would hold drinks and the other food ranging from pastries to sorbets. Johar-ashe has several servant pose as valets to other invisible nobles while Johar-ashe again took the role of Gorlyn’s master.
In addition to having to manoeuver through the tables carrying a drink or plate or both, he had to avoid the other servants. And if that wasn’t hard enough Johar-ashe had randomly placed bricks in some of the paths to simulate nobles not knowing how to keep their feet under the table. Johar-ashe assured him that none of the nobles would trip him on purpose but there were a fair amount of nobility with less than proper upbringing who let their feet stick out from under tables.
Gorlyn could almost believe that if it were a Yndsian party. However if his master attended a Ghuryni party there was no doubt they would try to trip him up. They would all see his kaspern even if his master made him wear his brown clothing.
Under Leisa’s tutorage he had served a few small parties for Ghuryni nobles. Nothing as big as what Johar was training him for but rather a group of noblemen or woman (never both genders together) sitting in large comfortable chair sipping wine and eating light food. They all seemed to take great pleasure in tripping him up and then beating him for his clumsiness. Leisa kept track of his beatings and matched them with beatings of her own back in the training room. Later he learned that the nobles had made a wager before he arrived of who could cause him to make the biggest mess or trip him the most times.
The difference was it had only been him serving and he was the only one moving about so it had been a bit easier to avoid tripping. Here and now with other people moving about and the fact he couldn’t keep his eyes down since he had to look and see which table Johar-ashe had moved to he spent a good amount of the practice time stumbling around.
Finally in the last hour he had memorized where all the bricks were and had figured out that, although the servants had been told to randomly walk around they all formed patterns. Once he knew all that, it was easy to get around.
The third day was the weirdest training he had ever had. Johar-ashe informed him of his duties should his master attend a ball. In all his training with Lesia she had never mentioned that he would have to accompany his master to a ball. He learned to dress both a nobleman and a noblewoman for such an occasion and how to care for clothing after they returned but as far as he was trained he would be spending ball nights in his master or mistress’ rooms. Either cleaning of simply kneeling in his assigned corner and not moving.
It was starting to become clear to him that Yndsians never went anywhere without their valet. Briefly he wondered if he would have to accompany his master to the privy.
“Now your role will differ slightly depending on if it is a Yndsian Ball or a Ghuryni Ball. Either way your place will be along one of the walls. You want to pick a spot where you are out of the way of servants but also where you can see the entire dance floor.” Johar-ashe instructed. “You will hold on to this.” Johar-ashe handed him a stiff piece of white paper that had been folded in half. “This is a dance card. Inside you will find a list of the songs that will be played for each dance. The song will determine what kind of dance it will be. If it is a fast dance, a slow dance or a line dance. Next to each one are three blank lines.”
Gorlyn opened the card and found exactly what Johar-ashe described. He had a feeling he had seen one before but it didn’t make any sense to him. It must be one of those partial memories he had from his days as a nobleman. Sometimes scents or sounds would feel familiar and he thought they should bring up memories but there were none to bring up.
“At a Yndsian Ball every noble will have brought a dance partner with them. Typically if one is married it will be their spouse but if the spouse is ill or away then they will bring another relative or close friend. If they are not married it will be again a relative or a close friend. The first dance will always be with the person’s dance partner. Every dance after that is open for someone else to dance with them.” Johar-ashe explained. “It is through such dances that nobles socialize with each other if they are married and if they are not it is where they try to find suitable prospects for marriage. During the first song ,and every song after, the maids and valets of nobles will try to get their Lord or Lady’s name on the dance card of a noble their Lord or Lady would like to dance with. Between the two nobles it is the lower noble who must approach the higher noble. Lord Neisk’s rank is such that you will be the one being approached and unless he wishes to dance with his mother, will never have to approach anyone. Repeat back what I said in your own words, so I know you understand.”
Gorlyn repeated it as he understood and was rewarded with a nod of Johar-ashe’s head.
“Good.” Johar-ashe approved his answer before continuing. “Now you have three lines next to each song. That means you will get the names of the first three ladies who wish to dance the next dance with his Lordship. You will write them down in the order they approached you. When the song ends his Lordship will come to where he left you on the side wall. You will show him the women on the list. He will rank them in the order in which he wishes to dance with them. You will then hold up the number of the first lady and look for her maid. When you spot her and she see’s your hand she will raise her hand and copy your number. Which means her Lady is ready. You will tell his Lordship and the two will meet on the dance floor. Now I doubt you will have this problem but the Lady in question will have her maid get three men willing to dance with her in a certain order. If by chance his Lordship was her second or third choice and her first choice was to chose her, then when you make eye contact she will place her hands behind her back as a signal that her lady is already taken. You will then locate the maid of the next person his Lordship chose.”
Gorlyn wondered why the nobles didn’t just talk to each other this all sounded overly complicated just to dance. He was already imagining how he could screw this up.
“Now like I said except for his mother there will hardly be anyone present he does not outrank. However it is not impossible. If by chance a member of the royal family is present then of course his Lordship would have to send you to get put on that person’s dance card. So should that happen you want to be the first one there and you want make sure your dress and manners are immaculate. It would cause great shame if you embarrassed his Lordship in front of the Royal Family. So as you can see I have both male and female servants here with us they know what to do let’s start practicing.”
The worked until lunch and then took a break. Gorlyn got a chance to again practice his dining service during Johar-ashe’s meal. After Johar-ashe’s meal Gorlyn got a chance to eat a quick meal while Johar got a new shift of servants ready for practicing a Ghuryni Ball.
“Now the main difference with a Ghuryni Ball is that only nobles who are not married will have dance cards. If a nobleman is married he will dance only with his wife. If his wife can not come for any reason he will not dance but spend his time in one of the side rooms reserved for the male guests where he will spend his time mostly drinking hard liquor and smoking. If a noblewoman is married and her husband can not attend the Ball then she will like wise spend her time in the side room reserved for female guests. I have no idea what the women do in those rooms mind you.”
Gorlyn did he had served in both. He now realized that those parties he had served at had always been either all men or all women. He remembered they had all be dressed as if they were attending a Ball as well. Also there was a memory of Leisa telling his master or mistress might not always attend such parties but that he was to obey all the guests as if they were his master or mistress.
“Now not all noblemen present will have their own personal valets some will simply bring a butler or the like. Each woman however will have a male servant with her. The man is considered a chaperone and is in the employ of the lady’s father. The male servants will have a list of men the Lady’s father deems suitable dance partners and will only allow those men to put their name on her dance card. So as you can guess you will be approaching them to request his Lordship’s name be put on their cards.” Johar-ashe continued to explain. “You will speak only to the servant, never the Lady, and he will tell you one of three things. Either Lord Neisk can have the dance, Lord Neisk is not on the approved list, or the dance has already been given to another. If the response is either one of the last two you will then go and find another Lady his Lordship wishes to dance with. He WILL give you several options. Once you have found him a partner you will find him and tell him who it will be. There is only a short moment between dances so you had best be quick.”
Gorlyn felt his stomach drop. The Yndsian Ball routine was far out of his comfort zone, and now the Ghuryni was so far he couldn’t even see his comfort zone from there. What if he didn’t approach with enough respect? What if his master wasn’t on the list? What if he didn’t know which person served which lady and he picked the wrong one? The overall potential for mistakes made him wish he was serving in the side rooms instead. At least there he knew that if he made a mistake it would only cause him pain. What if he ruined the dancing for his master?
Someone was snapping fingers in front of him. “Pay attention. Did you hear a word I just said? Repeat it back.” Johar-ashe demanded.
Gorlyn nervously repeated it back stumbling occasionally on a few words.
“Good enough. Now do you have any questions?” Johar-ashe asked.
Nervously he nodded his head.
“Well out with them we haven’t got all day.” Johar-ashe insisted.
“Forgive me ashe, but how will I know which servant to approach for which woman?” Gorlyn asked. He forced himself to focus he needed to get as much information from Johar-ashe as he could before the older man left.
“His Lordship will point out which ladies he wants to dance with and the servant will be with the lady’s side whenever she is not dancing. Any more questions?” Johar-ashe seemed to be losing his patience.
“No, ashe.” Gorlyn answered for at the moment he didn’t but suddenly an idea struck him. “If it pleases you ashe, might I ask questions later if I have them?”
“Yes, yes ask questions as much as you want. I won’t be around much longer so ask while you are able.” Johar-ashe’s voice almost seemed to soften a little.....almost. “Now are you ready to begin?”
It took them well into the night before Gorlyn finally got the hang of it all. Johar-ashe left him under the watchful eyes of another servant while he tended to Gorlyn’s master. Gorlyn regretted not getting the last chance to observe but was grateful for the extra practice.
When Gorlyn finally made it to bed his master was already fast asleep and had been for a few hours. It was with much trepidation that he sat in his bed and rubbed his feet. Johar-ashe’s last order still rang in his mind.
“Come to my room two hours later then you normally do. Come in your nightshirt, do not bathe or perform any other grooming, only brush your teeth.”
What would make Johar-ashe change their routine. Coming that late he wouldn’t have enough time to get both himself and Johar-ashe groomed and get through his paddling. Unless Johar-ashe had something new to replace the paddling. Something so painful Gorlyn would be helpless to keep the secret. Leisa knew things that would make him say anything. Maybe Johar-ashe had paid her a visit. He started to sweat and then his breathing became fast and small and then he passed out. Before he could regain consciousness sleep overtook him.