Chương 48: Chapter 47 - Getting Everyone Home

It wasn't until they were outside of Easton, travelling over the bumpy country road, that Kiara had a sudden feeling of dread settle on her. It must have taken a certain type of person to work as part of Lord Grivalt's guard unit for any extended period of time. These weren't the type of people she should have left alone at that estate with the servants, especially after the power structure had collapsed with the death of Lord Grivalt and Trevon.

The servants had been scared by the fighting, and rightfully so, and she had simply told them to return to their quarters! Her instruction to use Baron Norshod's name to protect themselves until she returned had assumed they would be dealing with people that would listen to reason. Now that her mind had settled somewhat, and she had time to think about it more deeply, she doubted the guards left on the estate would be anything approaching reasonable.

She quickly explained her thoughts to the driver of her carriage, then leapt from the carriage onto the road to run ahead. She quickly accelerated into a full sprint, leaving the carriages far behind. Within a minute, her breathing was ragged and her heart was pounding in her ears, and she was forced to slow down a bit, although she still maintained a faster-than-usual pace. A few minutes later, she burst onto the grounds of the emeritus-Lord Grivalt's estate, leaving a visible dust trail behind her.

No guards stood at the gate, and she didn't see any on the grounds, either. She quickly ran to the main house of the estate, her worry building with each step. No guards stood at the doors, even on the inside, once she opened them. Moving with more caution now, although still urgently, she made her way to the servant quarters, nervous about what she might find. The servant quarters at this estate were made up of a shared living room type area, with individual bedrooms coming off of it.

The only way into the servant quarters was through one of two doorways, both of which led into that shared living room area from different sides of the room. She found both doors shut and barred from the inside. After finding the second door shut and barred, she paused momentarily, considering what that might mean. If the servants had shut themselves in, they may have done so for protection, and trying to force her way in would cause them undue alarm.

If they were in any danger, however, then pushing her way in would be the quickest way to get to their aid. She only contemplated for the briefest second, then decided to gently knock on the door. If no one answered, or if the reply sounded distressed, she would try the more aggressive option. Her first knock went unanswered, so she knocked again, more loudly this time.

"Is anyone in there?" she called out loudly. After a short pause, a hesitant voice responded.

"We are under the protection of Baron Norshod! We won't open until he arrives himself." Huh. I mean, that's good, I guess, since it sounds like they took my advice to heart, but I was hoping they would at least open the door for me. Although… they probably don't know that it's me.

"This is Shian Yountal." Kiara's hearing had improved with her Mind stat, and she picked up whispers from the other side of the door. The whispers weren't loud enough for her to pick out exactly what they were saying, but it seemed as if a quiet argument had started on the other side of the door.

"Is everyone okay in there?" she queried. If they didn't want to open the door for her, she at least wanted to know that they weren't in any danger.

"We're fine," came the response, still guarded.

"How do we know it's really you?" Ah, so it was a trust issue. They didn't want to open the door for just anyone. That was probably wise, for all the reasons she had worried about herself while running here. She considered the most convincing way to respond. The servants were the only surviving witnesses of what had happened in the dining hall earlier in the day, so maybe she could tell them something about the fight they'd all seen?

Or maybe she could ask to speak with one of the people she had interviewed, and discuss something that only they would remember from the interview? She wasn't even sure who she was speaking with now.

"Who am I speaking with now?" she asked, trying to sound gentle while still speaking loud enough for her voice to carry through the door without any issues. More whispers followed, still too soft to quite make out.

"Is either Spencer or Ron there?" she asked.

"I could mention some things we discussed in our private interviews earlier. What kind of proof of identity are you hoping for, here? I came back to make sure everyone was okay." This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. After a moment, she added, "I paid off all of your debts with the city offices in Easton, and carriages are on the way to help take anyone wherever they wish to go. I shouldn't have left you here alone earlier, and for that I apologize.

My guards were critically wounded, and I needed to get them to a healer in Easton before it was too late. I didn't realize until later that it may have been dangerous for you all to remain here unprotected." A moment of silence was followed by the sound of furniture being dragged away from the other side of the door. The scrapes of furniture on the floor got louder as more and more pieces of furniture were moved.

It took longer than she expected, and she was honestly impressed with how thorough their little barricade had been, but eventually the door opened just a crack and someone peeked out.

"It really is her!" the voice called out, followed by more scraping as the last pieces of the barricade were removed. The door opened wide, revealing seven men, including both Spencer and her dad. The rest of the servants were nowhere to be seen.

"Where is everyone else?" she asked hurriedly, a look of alarm on her face. Spencer bowed to her respectfully, then pointed to the bedrooms leading off of the living area.

"Inside the rooms, ma'am. We blocked these doors as best we could, but some of us stayed out here to fight off anyone that made it through. The rest are sheltered in a few of the rooms, with the doors barred shut." She nodded appreciatively.

"I apologize again for leaving you here unprotected, it was an oversight on my part. Did the guards give you any trouble?" Ron chimed in.

"A little, at first, milady. They pestered us on our way here, but no more than usual. Once we were inside, we barred the doors as fast as we could. After they discovered Lord Grivalt's body, they banged on the doors and shouted for quite some time, but we kept them from pushing their way in. After a while, they seemed to give up, and that was probably an hour ago. It's been quiet since then, until you arrived."

Kiara glanced over her shoulder down the hall, but the entire estate seemed vacant, outside of the servant quarters. Were they waiting somewhere, hoping to spring a trap? Or had they fled once they realized that Lord Grivalt was dead?

"Let's wait here together until my guards arrive," she decided.

"They are only a few minutes behind me. Once they're here, we'll make sure the estate is secure, and then we can escort everyone to the carriages safely." The seven men bowed and thanked her profusely, visibly relaxing. They had seen her fight, and knew they were safe from Lord Grivalt's remaining guards as long as she was here. Once her carriage arrived with the wagons, she heard her guards enter the house, making a commotion as they came in.

She had left them in a hurry, with only a rushed explanation of what danger the servants might be in. Now, they entered the estate in a rush, hoping to help her, if needed. She had known where the servant quarters were from the times she had come to visit her family under the cloak of invisibility, but her guards weren't as familiar with the layout as she was. It took them a minute to find her, where she was still standing guard outside the open door into the servant quarters.

Once they found her, she had them canvas the house in groups of three, looking for any dangers or threats. The house turned out to be empty, as she had suspected, with signs of looting. It seemed the guards had taken anything remotely of value and fled the estate. Her guard unit helped her escort the servants outside. A few of the servants were either very sick or injured, and she made sure they ended up in the carriage, which handled the bumpy roads a bit better than the wagons.

The rest climbed into the wagons, although she noticed a few odd looks from the men who had been barricading the servant quarters. They didn't say anything, but they looked slightly surprised at the travel accommodations. She realized she had told them they would be riding in carriages, not wagons, and it seemed they had taken her at her word. Something about that seemed funny to her, but she did her best to hide her smile, since a smile seemed inappropriate, given the situation.

She knew that several of these servants would wish to return to their prior lives, rather than working for House Yountal or living in Easton, but those decisions could wait. For today, she wanted to get them back to her house, feed them, and get the few that needed it to the healers. It had been a long day for everyone, and she was sure they could all use a warm meal, a hot bath, and a good night's sleep.

After their basic needs were met, she would let Dustin explain their new situation to them, and help arrange travel accommodations for anyone that wished to go elsewhere. * Back at the estate, Helga and the cooks had a large meal ready, having been alerted to their impending arrival. The carriage had driven to the infirmary rather than her estate, getting much needed medical attention for those who needed it.

They were now resting up on the infirmary cots, and Kiara would visit them the next day to see how they were doing. The meal Helga had prepared was large enough to fill the bellies of everyone present many times over. The servants from Lord Grivalt's estate took meager portions, most of their eyes downcast. They seemed tense and nervous, unsure how to respond to the kindness being shown to them, which tugged at Kiara's heart strings.

Even those who had seemed to develop some amount of trust in Kiara were hesitant to abandon their subservient demeanors, developed over months or years of being under Lord Grivalt's thumb. Helga's motherly presence helped somewhat. She went around, heaping unnecessary amounts of food on everyone's plates, giving them hugs and speaking to them in her kind, nurturing way. The tipping point was when Nancy Snow came in. She was one of the first six servants that Kiara had brought over from Lord Grivalt's estate.

She had been living at the Yountal estate ever since, and was a familiar face to the newcomers. Just her showing up seemed to lighten the mood of everyone in the room. They seemed bolstered by how well she was doing now. She had overcome her illness, and the regular meals had done her good. She was looking happy and healthy, and she greeted Kiara with an easy smile and a polite bow. The newcomers all watched her enter, saw her interaction with Kiara, and visibly relaxed.

Combined with Helga's incessant mothering, the room soon settled into a more lighthearted feeling. Soft chatter replaced the nervous looks, and soon, occasional laughter lifted Kiara's spirits. She knew they would be okay.