Amy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kitchen_maid) wrote2012-08-11 09:18 pm
kitchen_maid) wrote2012-08-11 09:18 pm
Continental Breakfast Included
The King and Queen have a great many parlors at their disposal, ranging from the very grand to somewhat very grand.
And then there is this one, which is generally reserved for the use of the family and their closest personal friends. It is a comfortable, sunlit sort of room, where one may find the children's toys and the Amy's embroidery and Perry's carving projects.
It is also where Amy has instructed her staff to lay out a breakfast for her friends this morning. They were all shown back to their rooms for what was left of the night before after their adventures, to at least attempt to get some rest.
Amy herself is a bit busy at the moment catching up on Official Matters: giving reports to the Deputy Captain of the Palace Guard and the Court Historian, seeing to the palace's new ghost (she's settled him in the Northwest tower, which is, she assures him, a perfectly lovely place to haunt), and reassuring her husband that yes, darling, she really is perfectly all right. She'll be along when she can.
In the meantime, everyone is free to make their way into the parlor in their own time. When they arrive, they will likely find company, and definitely find a table laid with everything the kitchens could find to send up: bread and jam and marmalade, cakes and pastries, eggs and bacon and sausages, a giant bowl of fruit, tea and juice and milk.
And then there is this one, which is generally reserved for the use of the family and their closest personal friends. It is a comfortable, sunlit sort of room, where one may find the children's toys and the Amy's embroidery and Perry's carving projects.
It is also where Amy has instructed her staff to lay out a breakfast for her friends this morning. They were all shown back to their rooms for what was left of the night before after their adventures, to at least attempt to get some rest.
Amy herself is a bit busy at the moment catching up on Official Matters: giving reports to the Deputy Captain of the Palace Guard and the Court Historian, seeing to the palace's new ghost (she's settled him in the Northwest tower, which is, she assures him, a perfectly lovely place to haunt), and reassuring her husband that yes, darling, she really is perfectly all right. She'll be along when she can.
In the meantime, everyone is free to make their way into the parlor in their own time. When they arrive, they will likely find company, and definitely find a table laid with everything the kitchens could find to send up: bread and jam and marmalade, cakes and pastries, eggs and bacon and sausages, a giant bowl of fruit, tea and juice and milk.
no subject
'So how did you go from that, to becoming queen?'
A beat.
'Don't tell me - glass slipper?'
no subject
"I actually met Perry in Milliways when I was Bound, and we figured out that we were coming in from the same place and time. And I told him I was a kitchen maid, and he told me he was a man of all work, and I was really a Princess and he was really the King. I don't think either of us fooled the other for long.
"And I fell in love, and I decided that maybe I needed to rethink my policy of never, ever getting married. And that having Perry was worth putting up with crowns and courtiers and councilors for the rest of my life.
"Besides, he likes my freckles."
no subject
'Well, who wouldn't?'
He can't understand why anyone would have anything against freckles.
'He seems like a decent guy. And you know, it is possible to get by with only a couple of really trusted staff. One, in my case.'
Another beat.
'Though probably not if you're actual royalty.'
no subject
As to the rest . . .
"We certainly have a small group of really and truly trusted staff. And we probably could get by with a much smaller staff than we have.
"But then where would those people make their livings?"
no subject
He says it, and immediately checks himself.
'I mean, I'm just talking about my world. Things are obviously different here.'
Royalty is a symbol for people, and he knows all about those. It's probably a lot more complicated when you get down to the logistics of staffing, and whatnot. People have expectations.
no subject
"Directly or indirectly, Perry and I provide some or all of the livelihoods of, oh, easily half the Capitol.
"If we stop, there really aren't enough other jobs for them to take."
She shrugs a little.
"So we probably could get by with a smaller staff, but I'm not sure we should. It's not just about what we need or want."
no subject
He stops.
'But actually, there aren't that many jobs around there, either. So yeah, I see your point.'
He's not sure how they got on to this, but it's interesting that some problems seem to be universal.
no subject
"Which is not to say that there aren't occasionally days I wish I could walk down a corridor without having a half dozen people ask me if there's anything they can fetch for me."
no subject
He would, if Alfred were that persistent.
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"But you mustn't tell."
no subject
'Secret's safe with me.'
If all royalty were like Amy, the world would probably be a much nicer place.