The Knowledge I Live With

A month has passed since that day at the market. Today started normally. Mother and I were making breakfast and father went out to get water. Then something unusual happened. While father was away, we got a visitor. He was a young messenger boy who brought us a letter. Now this was unheard of. A commoner family received a letter. A letter made of actual paper. A letter that had a noble stamp on it! It has to be from Lady Rowetta. Mother didn't want to open it before father got back so we waited.

"But why..? What did we do..? Why did we get this..? Why?" Mother mutters to herself. She was scared. She should be. I too thought had the scary thought in my mind. 'What if we did something wrong?' 'What if I offended Lady Rowetta?' 'What if that letter isn't from her?' These thoughts scared my mind, but I still tried to stay calm. Everything will be fine. Now We'll just have to wait for father to come back.

"Darling!" Mother yelled out in despair after seeing father come home.

"What is it?" Father asked. Mother pointed to the letter as if it was a wild beast. Father walked up to it, took it in his hands and looked at the stamp it had.

"Don't worry. It isn't the royal stamp. Even if they were to fire me they wouldn't send a letter." Father said.

"Thank goodness." Mother said releafed. So that's what she was scared of. It is good that father hasn't lost his job yet, but I don't think that should be the first thing to be scared of. Father slowly opened the letter. He took out a piece of paper and started reading out loud.

"Lady Isabella De Rowetta invites the family of Edwin the guard to her tea house today at 12pm. She has already arranged a free day for the whole family. Lady Rowetta vices to meet the parents of the young girl Linette who she met resoundly. The family of Edwin doesn't need to bring anything, but is expected to dress with the tea houses dress code in mind. After arriving to the house, the family of Edwin will be escorted to the room where Lady Isabella waits for your arrival." Fathers face went pale while reading. Mother couldn't say a word. I was speechless as well. She actually send a letter to us. She actually invites to a noble tea house. For commoners something like this happening is something to take lightly. Commoners are prohibited to enter noble tea houses. The only way to get in one is by getting the permission of the owner or by working there. The tea house we were invited was Lady Rowetta's tea house. That means that it is the Rose-Tea house. It is the tea house were all nobles gather for all their social gatherings. It will for sure be full of nobles.

"What should we do?" Mother suddenly asks.

"Isabella De Rowetta..." Father says. "The letter says that she has met Linette." Father says. They both look at me. "Linette. Have you met a noble lady. Try to remember. They wear big dresses and have lots of money." Father says. Of course, I remember. Maybe I should act m.a.t.u.r.e now. No... My voice still sounds like a child's. Well whatever.

"Yes! She was at the market with her children. They were buying sweets while I was buying sweets, but then the seller said the wrong price for the sweets and I told him the right price!" I said. Oh dear. My voice isn't the only thing that is like a child's. It's like I can't even make a full sentence without mistakes.

"You helped Lady Rowetta's children? That can't be the only reason we are getting called to meet her." Mother says.

"We also talked for a little. She was a nice Lady and even gave me candy! She asked me how I was so smart and I told her. She also asked me about our home and I told her." Mother and father got even more worried. "I don't think she liked me that much. She didn't like my voice or words." I tried to get them to calm down. It didn't really work.

"We still have to go and meet her." Father said. "Lady Rowetta is a noble and so if we don't listen to her, we might get killed." Father said.

"We have five hours until it's 12pm. We need to find clothes. Linette doesn't have a decent dress. All she wears is a long shirt." Mother says. A dress for a child? It will cost too much money! We can't afford it. Where does mother think she can find a dress for a child?

"Finding a dress for her will be difficult. Why won't you try to decorate her shirt in some way? That will be cheaper and I think that with your skills it can look beautiful." Father said. Yes! Do that. It isn't that hard to make my shirt look decent. Mother and father both have good enough clothes. Mother will wear her wedding dress and father his work uniform. The only problem with my clothing is that I don't have shoes. Because of that father ran to the market to get the first shoes he could find that would fit my feet. After four hours the dress was done and father found shoes that were cheap and looked good enough. Father and mother dressed up as well and then we all went on our way. I really hope that everything will be fine.