life. I was a constant reminder of what he didn’t have the backbone to become and now he knew that I was not entirely what everyone thought.
The days passed and Oscarion avoided me. Since no soldiers came, I began to suspect that he planned on using the information in a different way. My mind invented hundreds of ways that he could extort me. The first came when he began ordering me around. I complied if his orders fell within my duties, but firmly refused or delegated when he asked for things that I was not required to do as the housekeeper.
He once demanded that I lick up something he had spilled on the floor. I asked one of my subordinates to mop the mess up and left him fuming. He came to me later and threatened to tell if I didn’t do as he said. When I asked what he would tell, he became confused and began to question what he had seen. I played on that seed of doubt until I felt certain that he wasn’t sure enough to make any accusations. I found him in the library reading a book on the races that spoke of every race that dwelt on Den’dra. Suspecting that he wanted to learn more about elves, I hid every book I had come across that mentioned them.
I had already read anything that mentioned elves and knew that all the elves in the south were supposed to have a light golden or blonde hue to their hair while mine had become a pure white. I read in another tome about another race of elves called the dark elves. Their men and women were described as having white hair. The wording described it as a color that one would expect to see manifested in an organism that dwelt in a cave deprived of all light. While I wouldn’t have used those words, the fact remained that I resembled the description given these dark elves. I also read that dark elves had been on the side of evil during the Millennium Wars and had been hunted to near extinction after the wars had ended for the part that they played. There was no chance that I wanted Oscarion to know that facet of my heritage.
As things would go, Oscarion left me alone for a couple years. He and I barely acknowledged each other as we passed in the hallways. Things would likely have gone on in this fashion except Lady Loneka died suddenly. Lord Estavo stayed home for a time following the death. He began to feel the effects of mortality and began thinking about what would happen to the noble house of Loneka after his demise. He saw that his son was unfit to rule in his place. Oscarion had not one whit of qualification beyond that it was his right to inherit. Until that time should come, the lordling sought to pass the time and did so in many ways that Estavo found to be damaging to his reputation and that of his house. To correct this, he refused Oscarion any spending money until he should reform.
Oscarion flew into a fit of rage and naturally blamed me for his misfortune. He grew morose and ill tempered. He no longer had access to the company he had kept and I was forced to deal with the servant girls that he began to turn his unwanted attentions towards. One day he attempted to drag a lavender into a closet right in front of me. I snapped and gave him a thorough dressing down in front of the lavender and a few of the other servants. He glared at me the while before slinking off to nurse his pride in the privacy of his room. I cautioned the servant girls to stay a safe distance from him and thought no more of the incident.
The familiar surroundings and the bitter disappointment of his wore at Estavo so returned to Shienhin sometime after the incident with the lavender. He wanted Oscarion to go with him, but the young man had steadfastly refused. Once his father was gone, he returned to his old lifestyle with glee and abandon. I chased several of the local whores out of the house on multiple occasions. He confronted me when I removed the valuables and placed them under lock and key with myself having the only key after they had begun disappearing. He was incensed and ranted about me having no right to interfere