Servant selection

I woke up the next morning. Arti is already awake and has started preparing for the day. According to our mom, the interviews will start in two hours. We will need to go to the appointed meeting room. The candidates will be sent one after the other. Arti and I will be conducting the interviews together. When we have interviewed all 15 candidates, we each will have to pick one.

Since the interviews are two hours away, I decided to hit the training hall for my usual workout. Arti went to the library. The workout was good. I inspect myself in the mirror afterward. I look really good. My body has clearly defined muscles. I don’t look as muscular as Owen, but that’s fine. I don’t want to look so buff anyway. I return to my room. There is some time before the interviews begin, so I clean myself in the shower and get dressed in fresh clothes. I arrive at the meeting room just in time for the interviews to begin. Arti is already sitting there behind a wooden table with a sheet of paper and a quill in front of him. Beside him is a chair meant for me. I sit by his side and he passes me another sheet of paper and a quill.

“Thanks,” I say. “Are you ready for this?”

“Not sure how I will be able to choose someone from just talking to them once,” he replies.

“Don’t worry, I am here as well. You won’t have to go through this alone,” I say smiling at him.

“Thank you,” he smiles back.

A minute later there is a knock on the door. The first candidate arrived.

“Come in,” I say.

The door opens and in walks a girl our age. She was slightly overweight, wearing a simple dress, with her dark brown hair tied in a tight bun.

“Please, take a sit,” I gesture at the chair standing in front of our table facing us. She sits down.

“Introduce yourself,” I ask.

“My name is Katalina,” she starts. “I was born in a small village to the east of the capital called Beckton. My parents were tanners. They died when I was little. Since I didn’t have any relatives, I was brought to Annson and placed in the orphanage here.”

“What duties do you have in the orphanage?” Arti asks.

“I tend to the chickens and help do the laundry,” she replies.

“How do others treat you in the orphanage?” I ask.

“Everyone treats me fine,” she says.

“How would you say you treat others?” I again ask.

I notice her stiffen at the question. “I think I treat everyone fine as well.”

Something tells me she isn’t being truthful. We continue with questions for another 10 minutes before we thank her for coming and she leaves. Next several candidates followed the same pattern. They weren’t completely truthful about one aspect of their lives or another. One after another the candidates come on go. We were eleven candidates in already.

While we were waiting for the next candidate, I spoke to Arti. “What are your thoughts so far?”

“I feel like all of them weren’t completely truthful. It’s like they are hiding something and giving us answers they think we want to hear,” Arti says.

“Yeah, I noticed as well,” I say. “I hope at least two of the rest of the candidates will just speak their mind.”

There is a knock on the door, more forceful than the previous time, indicating that another candidate has arrived.

“Enter,” I say.

The door opens and a girl walks in. Just like the rest, she had a simple dress on. Unlike the rest, she looked foreign. She had tanned skin, dark hazel eyes, and long black hair tied into a long braid behind her back. Before I can invite her to take a sit, she walks to the chair and takes a sit. Interesting.

“Welcome, please introduce yourself,” Arti says.

“My name is Larisa. I was born in the Kingdom of Markadia. My family and I lived on the border near the Principality of Hadria. When I was six, our village was attacked. They disguised themselves as bandits, but it could be seen that they were Hadrian soldiers. Bandits don’t fight so professionally. They razed the village, killing my grandparents, parents, and two older brothers. They wanted to sell me into slavery. I was probably being transported to the Empire. One day I got a chance to run away and I took it. My dad was a hunter and he taught me how to forage and navigate the forest. I was traveling north until I reached the Grand Duchy of Roredenia. I met an elderly couple living in the rural area of Cavenwall. They fed and cleaned me, but couldn’t let me stay. They were too old to raise a child. I was brought to Cavenwall and was at first placed in the orphanage there, but it was overcrowded with orphans from all of the refugees at that point. I was put on the wagon with some other orphans and was brought here to Annson. I have been living in the orphanage here ever since,” she tells us her story. Her voice, however, sounds irritated. Also, her hands were clenched into fists to the point that her knuckles became white ever since she walked in.

“Can’t imagine how you felt through all of that,” Arti says sympathetically.

“If I may, you sound…irritated by something and I don’t think it has anything to do with your story,” I observe.

“I made peace with what happened. My whole family is dead and there are thousands of kids with similar stories like mine,” she says.

“What is it then,” I ask.

She stays quiet for a moment before finally letting a series of angry words out. “Those evil wretched girls. They cut Rina’s hair while we slept. How could they!”

“Slow down, Larisa. We don’t understand,” Arti speaks up.

Larisa takes a deep breath. “The girls that are here today for this interview, cut my friend Rina’s hair while we slept last night. Rina is a candidate today as well.”

“I understand that they wanted to sabotage your friend, but why only do that to her?” I ask.

“Rina has very beautiful hair. These girls were always picking on her because they were jealous of Rina. They didn’t think she would be able to finish the servant’s training, so they decided to cut her hair while she slept last night. Rina woke up with a head of uneven patches of hair. She had been crying all morning and didn’t want to come. I had to drag her here. And they even dared to laugh at her while we were all in the waiting room. Ugh, I want to hurt them so badly,” Larisa keeps fuming.

Well, I wanted someone who spoke their mind and there she is.

“We haven’t seen a girl with hair like that yet. I imagine she is one of the three candidates left?” I ask.

“Yes,” Larisa replies.

“Very well. This will be all. Thank you for coming,” I say making a note on my sheet of paper.

“Huh? That’s all? But other girls were in here for much longer,” she says confused.

“Yes. We got everything we needed. Please call the next candidate,” I reply.

“But…yes, I understand,” she says looking upset. Larisa stands from the chair and walks out of the room.

“That explains it,” I note aloud.

“Yeah,” Arti says. “They were hiding the fact that they bullied one of the girls.”

I sigh. “At least Larisa was a breath of fresh air. What do you think?”

“She has got spirit,” Arti says.

“That she does,” I reply.

Patreon (posting 7 chapters ahead of public release)