It was funny how many things you noticed when you actually looked. Thea’s dead-hawk-like stare trailed her servant’s features, watching with that shar-hazy stare. This was the longest they had been together alone (without a purpose anyway, such as getting the Lady ready for an event), and Thea was surprised at the little crumbs she was able to gather, the miniscule and perhaps involuntary trail that Roisin was leaving for her to pick up. It would be easy to ignore them – the subtle twitch, the pull of her lips, the vague strain of her expression – and Thea figured she probably should ignore them. She was supposed to ignore them, just as Roisin was supposed to not leave anything for her to find. In a way, servant and Lady were always in a play-role, each doing their part to keep it in working order.
She supposed this is why nobody ever talked to the help.
“It’s all I have left,” she breathed, dropping not just a crumb but a whole little piece of bread. Thea’s ears twitched forward. “The only thing that’s mine,” She didn’t want to share. She didn’t want Thea to have her one thing that she was keeping secret from them. Like a little forbidden treasure, tucked away between her bedsheets. The ghost girl was quiet again, thin muzzle tilted ever-so-slightly as she blinked at the Highlander.
“Then keep it safe.” she said. The Vanadium was not the most classically empathetic being – she did not grow terribly saddened over Roisin’s fate and her lack of autonomy or possessions; after all, it was done, and it was the way things were. That was the life of a servant, and that was the price paid for the politics of the reality they lived in. But that didn’t mean she did not feel something for her plight. An uncharacteristic sharpness and clarity came briefly across her eyes as she attempted to catch Roisin’s stare again.
“I order you not to share it with anyone– even if you’re commanded to. They can speak with me if they have a problem.” Thea couldn’t do much for her. But she could make sure that the one thing Roisin had left couldn’t be taken away – by anyone. She didn’t imagine anyone would even care to try, but now it was impossible. And, truth be told, she could see Elias commanding it, if he ever found out this juicy secret about Roisin.
So it would be their little secret.
