We all sit and eat lunch quietly. It's more of the food I'm most used to now, the chopped up healthy stuff Selena always sends for me to eat. I wonder if it's enough that I'll grow better...

Besides that, there's something I've been wondering about. I finish with a bite of my food, then look to Claire across the table from me, eating some bread and bits of meat and vegetables she brought with her in a little, painted wooden box. She meets my eyes, so I ask my question.

"What's a concubine?"

Claire blinks.

The next moment, there's a weird gasping sound from the side and I look over to Eryk, hacking and coughing on whatever he was eating at his desk. I start to stand, but he waves me off. He croaks out that he's alright, but I'm not so sure...

"Ahem." Eventually, Claire clears her throat and draws my attention back from Eryk while he's starting to recover. I look over at her, and she answers my question. "Such a thing is inappropriate to discuss at your age, where did you hear about that?" Wait, that's not an answer...

"Inappropriate?" I wonder. "Well, a- No wait, I don't think you know about this..." I realize aloud, glancing over toward Eryk, but he's still not in any shape to help. "A noble wants to buy me to be a concubine for his son, I've been wondering what kind of servant that is. It is a servant, right?" I ask. Her earlier response is making me wonder if it's actually something else entirely.

Claire's head falls into her hands, elbows leaning heavily onto the tabletop as she lets out something halfway between a groan and a sigh. Confused by the strange reaction, I throw another glance Eryk's way. He's almost recovered from his coughing fit earlier, but not quite. Then Claire lifts her head a little, but stays leaning over in a kind of odd position.

"Aria, you should know that what you're talking about is a very delicate matter, and you shouldn't just mention it to people you don't trust. Do you understand?" I blink a little, surprised. I'm not supposed to talk about this with people? Why not? But if Claire is telling me to...

"Ok, I'll be careful talking about it," I agree.

"Good. Now to answer your question..." With thin set lips, she takes a moment to choose her words before explaining. "A concubine is a position similar to a servant, and requires you to live in the house where you serve. The position has specific duties that you don't need to know about until you're older."

I nod slowly. It's weird that I don't need to know the details, and what does my age have to do with it? Anyway, the most confusing part is how they're similar to servants, but aren't servants? How does that work? Well, I guess she's more or less answered the important part. Concubines are like servants and I'd be stuck living with the awful nobles, so I should do whatever I can to avoid becoming one...

But then my thoughts turn to something sort of related. Could the sort-of-not-servant thing be like Kelly and Charlotte, who seemed like servants, but acted like the boss of the other servants? After a few more bites of food, trying to figure out how to word it, I speak up again. "Are there different types of servants? Or levels of them? I saw a few that dressed differently and bossed all the other servants around."

Claire takes some time to finish munching on her bread before answering me this time. "I think I know what you're talking about. I'll teach you about that for your afternoon lessons. You should finish your food for now."

"Alright." I pause. "Uhh, thank you." Was I supposed to use that there? It wasn't exactly like Marrianne taught me, but it kind of felt like the right place... Claire is just nodding though, and doesn't seem to be paying it any mind, so I let it go and get back to my food.

"Given your, ahem," Claire clears her throat softly, "unusual circumstances... I'll be teaching you more about the nobility and noble houses. This should help you navigate there more safely, should you be swept up in their matters again."

I sit and nod seriously, having just settled in for my lessons after lunch.

"First and foremost, there are a few different types of people you will find within the noble district. There are the nobles themselves, the noble guard, tasked with keeping the nobility safe, and titled non-nobles."

She pauses, and I have a feeling she knows what I'm going to ask. "Titled non-nobles?" She started teaching me about noble ranks based on titles before, but that class ended before she really got very far, so all I really know is that there are people with a 'knight' title, but I don't really know what that means. Does this relate to that somehow?

Claire gets right into explaining, and she must have guessed at my confusion, because the first thing she says is, "Non-noble titles are different than noble titles. The main, and most obvious difference: they do not make you a noble." She makes a small gesture to say that's obvious, before moving on. "The Non-noble titles are 'Lord' and 'Lady,' used for men and women, respectively."

I nod along slowly, as I always seem to find myself doing during her lessons. "These titles effectively raise a commoner head and shoulders above their peers, but they remain commoners nonetheless. Generally speaking, a noble will appoint a lord or lady to manage the servants of their house." Oh, so that's why those two called each other 'Lady' when they spoke... "As you said, lords and ladies of the house are similar to servants and beholden to nobles employing them, but they still command quite a lot of respect."

She gives me another pause for questions, but she already answered the main one I had, so I let her move on. "Of course, there is much more to nobles granting lordships and ladyships than that, but it isn't relevant right now, we'll discuss it in your proper lessons, when we get there. The next positions to know of in noble houses are vassals, servants, and slaves."

When she mentions them, it reminds me that I sort of know about them already since Reena mentioned them and sort of filled in what they were when we were talking about it, but I'm not really clear on the details.

"First, I'll get slaves out of the way. You probably won't see many because there is little reason for nobles in a large city like this to bother with them since there are plenty of servants more easily available. Generally, it's the rural nobility who use slaves for field work that deal with them, so don't worry too much about slaves."

"Huh..." I mumble when she explains it that way, but don't interrupt.

"Next are servants, which you are already familiar with I'm sure. They either live on the noble's property in servant quarters, or they have their own house outside the noble district, and travel in for work each day. I believe most servants commute, rather than live-in."

"And finally," Claire continues on, "there are vassals. Unlike servants who simply work for a noble, these are people pledged into the service of the noble. They live in the noble house, in their own separate quarters apart from the servants. It can actually be considered closer to slavery than just being a servant if you think about it, but on the other hand, vassals are placed under the protection of the master they're pledged to, almost like part of the family. They are treated better and are expected to serve the noble family closely, with more loyalty than anything that would be expected of a mere servant."

I'm frowning a little, not quite sure how to take that. They're more like slaves, but more respected? "Think of it this way," Claire starts to explain further when she sees my confusion. "When a vassal makes a pledge of fealty, they become a part of that family. They're trusted with the sort of family secrets that no one would share with a servant- a servant that could decide to quit, to take up a position in a rival's house instead, taking those family secrets with them."

Just as her words are starting to make the whole thing click for me, a memory comes back, from my time with Nana in the noble district. When we were traveling through those tiny halls out of sight, we came across another servant. All Nana said was 'Ordlyn secret,' and the that servant completely ignored us. Is that the sort of thing vassals get involved with, family secrets they don't share with servants? Is Nana a vassal? And that other servant she met too?

"Ahem." While I'm getting distracted by my own thoughts, Claire clears her throat to bring my attention back.

"A-ah, sorry, I was thinking about something I saw there," I say, pushing away those thoughts for now to focus on the lesson as she continues.

"Umm, I have a question. It's not... exactly related." We hardly have any time left before the eighth bell, so I want to ask while I have the chance. We've already covered all the basics of vassals compared to servants, like how they're dressed and treated, and their duties, so I wanted to get to this while there's still a little time.

"Yes, Aria?" Claire prompts.

"I was wondering about... little halls. Like, narrow little places in noble houses that aren't as decorated as everywhere else. I saw a few while I was there and I was wondering what they are."

"Those?" she questions, actually tilting her head a little, like she's surprised by the question, before recovering. "Yes, those are servant passages. They're built discretely, to allow servants to move about a house quickly and without being seen. However, those are common in any house with servants, not just noble houses."

I blink a couple times. "Wait, Eryk has servants at his house, I've never seen anything like that there..."

Claire quirks her lips, like what I said was amusing somehow. "As I said, they're built discretely, so they're intentionally difficult to notice if you aren't looking for them. The point is that servants only appear where they are needed, rather than being seen walking all over the house by guests."

"Mmm..." I consider that for a bit, wondering where those spots might be in Eryk's house, before the bells ring, ending my lessons for the day.

Before Claire leaves, she drops a number of papers on the table for me, things to read and learn at home so I can catch up on my lessons. That's a lot of homework... Gulping a little, I tell myself I'll do my best.

After she heads out for the day, I sit down at the table as usual, my homework resting next to my little borrowed blackboard. It's weird, getting back into this routine after it was disrupted by the last battle. Weird... but nice.

"Alright..." I mutter. Today is Arcaday, so I should have work too. I turn to Eryk to ask about it. Last I heard, the blacksmith was still working on our order for a coil made of copper thread. "So, have you heard if the new coil is done yet?" I ask once he looks up from the work at his desk.

"Now that you're back, that's what we'll be checking on today," he says, standing up from his desk. I guess he means right now, so I hop off my chair too. I send a glance back at the papers on the table, but decide that they're safer in his office than if I try to carry them around with me. Maybe I should get a bag like Claire has to hold papers, especially if she keeps giving me homework like this...

My mind wanders over those thoughts while Eryk waves us through the door to leave. He pops into the workshop for a bit to get Patrick, then we head out.

John comes over and picks me up, carrying me without a word. I smile a little, grateful since this will keep me off my leg.