23

Veren could not understand his master. For months since his coming to Dymas castle, he couldn’t understand the way things were done. He had servants but none of them served him, none of them was allowed into his chambers. Unlike the other noblemen, he did not have soldiers at his command to guard his home. His servants whispered and avoided their lord at all costs.

Veren spent the nights in his room in the servant's quarters wondering what his duties were. Why did the mighty warrior of Arlankis choose him? The other servants would not speak to him, they barely even spoke to one another unless they whispered and he found it odd. Weren’t servants supposed to be the worst of gossip? Yet, here he was in a castle of silence.

The cold night air drifted in through the bare window. The servants were not provided curtains. In fact, the entire walls of Dymas’s castle lacked curtains and tapestries. If people didn’t know better they would say that Dymas lacked loyalty to the king for his lack of