Chapter Text
Famulus
"Miss Famulus? There is a problem." Mary, a petite mouse splice, skittered up to Famulus with a jumpy look on her face.
"What's wrong?"
"Mr. Titus—"
"Lord Titus," Famulus reminded Mary. Mary had just started working there a few weeks ago, but she needed to learn the appropriate ways to refer to Entitleds if she wanted to remain employed. And alive, for that matter.
"Yes. Lord Titus won't wake up. I've tried 3 times, but he keeps—," she fumbled a bit, her eyes glistening, "he keeps yelling at me to get out. And I don't know what to do."
Famulus put her hand on Mary's shoulder. "I'll handle it. Now go get some chocolate truffles and bring them to Lord Titus's room. Make sure to leave the tray on the left table by his bed." Famulus gave her an encouraging smile. Mary nodded tearily and practically bolted down the hall.
With no one around, Famulus let out an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes as she walked to Titus's bedchamber. She reached in her bag and pulled out some Sloina, a drug that erased the effects of hangovers.
As she reached the door to Lord Titus's bedroom, she smiled at Thog, Titus's newly appointed head bodyguard, and enormous bear-splice. He nodded to Famulus respectfully while attempting to grasp at the doorknob with his gigantic paws. Finally, he succeeded, opening the door as quietly as possible. She slipped in silently.
Titus's bedroom was about as extravagant as could be expected. White marble floors and walls gleamed in areas that weren't covered by ornate rugs. The wall of windows opposite the door were covered with rich red curtains. The circular bed was on the same wall as the windows with sheets, blanket, and pillows all the exact same shade of red as the curtains. To the right of the bed was a liquor rack filled with Titus's favorite alcohols. To the left of the bed were locked bookshelves (maroon, of course) filled with books that Famulus had never been able to discern. The glass enclosing the bookshelves were opaque, hiding the titles. She'd never understood why Titus wanted to hide something like books, but she didn't ask.
Famulus worked methodically. She started by playing Titus's favorite song on the record player by the door. Then she went by Titus's bed and opened the curtains.
The form under the mess of covers stirred slightly. A head (thankfully, just one) popped up. Titus squinted sharply at the light change and immediately submerged himself under the blankets again. "Oh, planets, no! Go away!" He moaned.
Famulus rolled her eyes and ignored him. "Good Morning, Lord Titus," she said cheerfully. " Would you like your Sloina pill now, my lord?"
A hand shot out from the bundle. Famulus gently placed the pill in the hand before it disappeared again.
Famulus heard a muffled sigh of contentment from under the blankets and grabbed a RegeneX shot out of her purse. Titus always used a bit every day.
When Titus finally heaved himself out of bed, he walked past her to his bathroom without a glance. Famulus frowned, confused. Titus always had his RegeneX shot first thing in the morning. Or whenever he woke up.
"Lord Titus, would you like your RegeneX later?"
He turned to her, his eyes lost. "What? Oh. Yes. The RegeneX. Right." He lumbered back over to her slowly. She inserted the needle in his arm, avoiding his gaze. He'd never acted like this before. So...out of focus.
"Lord Titus," she ventured, looking up at him, "are you, perhaps, unwell? You seem quite unlike yourself."
He shook his head. "No, I'll be all right. Thanks anyway, Famulus."
As he turned and walked away, Famulus stared at him, perplexed. Titus rarely thanked anyone. No Entitleds were taught common decency when it came to non-Entitleds. In fact, she couldn't remember Titus thanking anyone who he wasn’t trying to swindle, ever. But he had just thanked her. Why?
Perhaps it had to do with Balem's death. Titus had been decidedly more...pensive, since he'd heard the news.
Mary entered Titus's room cautiously, eyes large as suns. She quickly placed the truffle platter on the table by Titus's bed and bolted towards the door.
Famulus called out to her, "Mary, wait." Mary did stop, albeit reluctantly. She sadly turned around and walked towards Famulus, her tail dragging behind her.
"Yes, Miss Famulus?"
"Please send a message to Aegis headquarters. Tell them that the fee for last month's...incident will be sent by next week."
Mary brightened immediately, probably due to her new assignment not requiring being near Titus. She nearly skipped out of the room, her tail now perky.
Famulus smiled after her and shook her head. She couldn't blame Mary for her attitude toward Titus. He could be utterly infuriating when dealing with others sometimes. Take this past encounter with Lady Jones.
Famulus had not approved of how Titus had chosen to handle that situation. He'd almost always left the diplomatic maneuvering to her. And the moment he didn't, disaster struck. What a surprise.
Fortunately, Famulus had managed to convince the Aegis that all attempts to kill Lady Jones could not be proven. That Lord Titus's worst crimes were the attempted murder of the escort and the attempted coercion of Lady Jones into marriage. And that those three problems could easily be overlooked by a few canisters of RegeneX to the heads of the Aegis. The Aegis had agreed upon ten canisters.
Famulus sighed impatiently. Titus was taking an unusually long time to finish getting ready. Balem's funeral was that afternoon, and it would be unbecoming to be late. She'd rather not have to try and smooth over the damage from yet another Abrasax family dispute, especially since the result of the last one had been...unsavory.
When he finally exited the bathroom with a red towel around his waist, his eyes were still dazed. He disappeared inside his closet and tossed his towel outside.
"What's on the schedule today, Famulus?" Titus asked her from the closet.
She frowned. Had Titus really not remembered? "My lord, Lord Balem's funeral is this afternoon."
There was a long moment of silence. "What time?"
"In about three hours, my lord."
Titus exited the closet wearing black pants, a shimmery, dark grey turtleneck and a black trench coat.
"I seem to recall my brother liking his living environment as cold as possible. I doubt Chicanery will change any temperature settings for us." He looked at her dress with concern. "You should wear something warmer. It wouldn't do for you to freeze."
Famulus's ears perked up in surprise. "I'm going?"
At last, his eyes brightened a bit and he smiled at her. "Of course you are," he said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Now go get changed and meet me at the ship."
She curtsied and left the room. She stopped at the bedroom entrance and addressed Thog. "I'll be accompanying Lord Titus to the funeral." Thog nodded.
As she walked to her room, Famulus thought back to the many funerals she'd heard about. People from her farm who'd died thousands of years ago.
Of course, she hadn't taken time off to go to them. That just wasn't done. And it wasn't expected of her. No advisors left their work unless the Entitleds said they could. And it wasn't proper to ask.
As such, although she'd been around for over 7000 years, the only funerals she'd been to were for Titus's servants and other staff who died. And Lady Seraphi Abrasax, of course.
Still, it had been quite some time since then. She wondered what this one would be like.