FSE

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Sydney was thankful there happened to be a maid nearby who opened and closed the door to the expansive terrace at the rear of the mansion for him. The area was expansive, stretching almost to the edges of the building it was pressed up against. A few potted topiaries dotted the area and a large outdoor table setting sat pride of place near the centre of the expanse. Bordering the raised platform was a stone fence in the same sandy colour as the paving stones below the wheels of his push chair.

Wheeling himself to the railing, Sydney's face lit up with a broad smile as he looked out on the expansive gardens. The layout was clearly designed in quarter segments, each one mirroring the other yet all orientated to face the centre of the gravel pathway. The paths were bordered with blooming flowers in a rainbow of colours.

Just behind the flowers sat box hedging creating a bold defining break from the trails, the corner of each ending with a tall conical topiary. The surrounded garden beds which were in various shapes from simple squares to complex diamonds and perfect circles.

Within the hedges were tall complexly sculpted plants in various shapes, rose bushes in a plethora of pigments and designs, tall ancient trees, perfectly manicured lawns, bird baths with singing birds bathing within the shallow waters and blooms of every colour of the rainbow and possible shape he thought a flower could be.

Sat pride of place in the centre of the gardens was a grand hexagonal shaped fountain; with four raised tiers not including the bottom pool, what looked to be golden animal statues held up each level. Four large elephants stood atop a large turtle in the bottom pool supporting the first plate. Each of their trunks extended to jet water out into the primary basin.

Upon the second plane, four golden lions supported the next above them, each in a roaring pose with water cascading from their open maws. The next level were wolves, sat howling with the final basin resting atop their shoulders. Much like the lions below, water spurted forth from their howling muzzles, spraying outward to cascade into the grand pool at the bottom.

Lastly at the top was a dragon, tail curled around its feet and wings extended, its head was raised to the heavens in a roar with water jetting from its mouth straight up only to cascade back down upon itself and splash into the pools below.

Beyond all of this was a vast expanse of lawn edged in thick forests till at the base of the hills on the horizon was a river. Halfway down the vast lawn was a large gazebo; small gardens encircling it, linked by the last of the gravel path. To the left of the gardens was a huge wall fencing in a greenhouse and all of the vegetable gardens and orchids needed to feed the grand estate and all of its workers. To the right were the stables, housing the lord's steeds and carriages.

Working within the scenery were the gardeners, meandering this way and that trimming and pruning the hedges and flowers to keep everything looking pristine and perfect. Sydney could just make out the figure of Euan talking with one of the many garden workers at the edge of the lawn and pathway.

Stairs lead down to the gardens from each side of the terrace upon which he was perched, sadly prohibiting him from advancing any further for the time being. Once he was fully mobile again, Sydney swore to himself he would find any time he could to experience the beauty that sat before him up close.

Sighing to himself Sydney continued to bask in the beauty and warm morning sun, ears twitching as heavy footsteps approached from behind. The defining clop noise told him whoever it was was not a human, nor did they approach upon horseback as there was a distinct difference in the tempo of each step.

Rotating his chair on the spot, he looked up to a tall equine Surid. A Clydesdale to be precise if Sydney was correct but he could have been a Shire, the two looked so similar the fox. He wore simple brown clothes like many of the gardeners did, open chested like Sydney's own top with his furred chest on display. His fur was black with the occasional splotch of white here or there giving him a dappled look.

He was muscled but seemed to carry himself with a light grace despite his size and weight upon his large hooves. His brown eyes gazed down upon the fox, examining him from ear to paw, lingering on his missing leg. If he was disturbed by what he saw, Sydney didn't see any sign of it from his body language.

“You must be the lord's new man." he finally spoke, if a voice could be called 'solid' Sydney would have said that the stallion's defined it. It was deep, each word seeming to be purposefully chosen and left little room for any leeway in his statement.

“Yes, hello, I'm Sydney Buhrns, Lord Stanwix's new personal attendant, just call me Sydney," he greeted reaching out his hand for a shake, tail wagging a little “And you are?"

Grasping Sydney's smaller hand with a gentleness that the fox didn't expect, the tall stallion returned the handshake. “Geoff Ferrer, I am the grounds keeper here and in charge of the gardens."

“Ah, so I have you to thank for this fantastic view?" Sydney asked and gestured to the grounds behind him and was answered with a happy sounding nicker and nod of that great head. “It is a fantastic piece of work, I sadly have yet to see the front. Perhaps tomorrow if I get a chance."

“If I may sir, your leg?" the horse enquired and Sydney squirmed a little in his spot “Is it true what I have been informed? It was one of Euan's devices?"

“Yes, I am afraid it is true," Sydney sighed feeling defeated, gossip seemed to spread faster than he had expected within the grounds of the estate “But I am alive and on the mend, I will recover." the stallion's head nodded once more with a deep rumble.

“Anyway, there will be plenty of time for us to get to know each other later, currently our lord has some orders for you and your gardeners," the fox announced changing the topic of conversation and the stallion stiffened a little as if he was snapping to attention “He wishes for the flowers within the solarium to replaced, he requests ferns and other low light tropical plants to be planted instead. Also he wishes for the solarium's fountain to be drained and scrubbed clean."

“Yes sir." Geoff answered with a nod and turned to leave.

“Oh and Geoff?" Sydney called gaining the stallion's attention once again “I... understand little about plants and gardens, about what flowers work best where... I also may be in over my head with this new job I have been given so... I ask for your patience with me please and if possible some simple lessons on plants."

The equine didn't react for a minute, from Sydney's perspective, the expression on the stallion's face suggested that he was processing the fox's words in his head. Finally he nodded once more with a small smile on his lips before he walked off, heading towards the stables, tail and mane flowing in the breeze.

Giving a gusty sigh, Sydney turned back to look out over the gardens once again. He hoped that the other heads of staff would come find him, he would hate having to hunt them down or sending someone to do the task for him. The Chef would be easy enough to locate; Sydney hoped that he would be within the kitchens doing his job. However the Gamekeeper would be hard to track down, same for the Butler and Housekeeper especially as they would be busy.

He sat there until a maid came to inform him that breakfast was being served. He thanked her and asked to be escorted to the servants quarters. Unable to descend the stairs within the building they had to take the servants-entrance on side of the manor. While it was considerably less decorative than the rest of the estate, there was still an air of opulence even within the winding access passageways.

Finally entering the grand servants dining hall, Sydney went wide eyed at the long rows of tables and benches. People both Surid and Humans, with Humans making up the majority, sat eating and conversing around the room. Several turned to look at Sydney as he rolled in, starting to mutter to each other as the fox progressed through the room towards an open spot.

A bowl of porridge with two slices of bread and a hunk of cold meat from the previous nights roast was placed before him once he got situated. Thanking the person who served him warmly before turning to his meal, he was unsure what to expect. It was a cheap meal if Sydney was being honest, yet he was excited to taste something made by the well trained kitchen staff.

He dug in eagerly, eyes going wide at the taste of the porridge: sweet, creamy, bold and at the same time both chewy and smooth. Having his second mouthful he found every bite to be delicious and finished the bowl sooner than he had expected.

The meat, while cold, was just as succulent and juicy as it had been the night before when he had eaten it for dinner. Once finished he mopped up the last of what was left of the gruel with the soft, fluffy white bread. It wasn't until after he realised that bread this white and fluffy was usually the preserve of the rich and upper class. Yet it was being served to simple staff members which baffled the fox slightly.

Despite the fact he had been absorbed in his food, Sydney was busy while he ate. Discreetly Sydney had been paying attention to the conversations around him. The large bulk of what he could hear being simple gossip about the coming events around the manor, some of which he took note of. However there were specific conversations that he zeroed in on. The talk in these were about him, and how he had 'stolen' his new role from someone else.

Sydney could feel a growing sense of animosity towards him coming from those groups. A surreptitious look in their directions identified all of those involved to be humans, mainly men who, from the look of their uniforms, appeared to be footmen. It was a situation he didn't want to deal with but knew eventually he would be required to. The fox decided to make a mental note of the situation and those involved as best he could to deal with once he had cemented his position.

“Suppose I should see the Chef while I am down here," he muttered aloud to himself before pushing away from the table. The fox looked to one of the maids who had been sat with him and gave her a warm smile “Please inform the Housekeeper I wish to speak with her. She will be able to find me in this general area." she nodded and smiled in return.

Wheeling down the narrow hallway to the kitchen door, Sydney was hopeful that if he acted a little more professional it would solve a large amount of aggravation that was targeted at him. He dismissed the thoughts for the time being as he reached the entrance to the kitchens, finding it locked. He had expected as much; the book he read had informed him that only those who were assigned to the kitchens were able to have access to them. At the very end of the passageway was another doorway which he assumed lead outside to the walled gardens. Sydney decided he may as well have a look when he got a chance.

He knocked firmly upon the doorway hoping to get someone's attention. He was forced to wait several minuted before the door creaked open and was greeted by one of the kitchen hands. The male human looked down at Sydney in a way that had the fox guessing he was trying to workout who he was.

“My name is Sydney, I am Lord Stanwix's new personal attendant," Sydney introduced himself firmly, trying to sound as professional the best he could “Please inform the Chef I wish to speak with him at his earliest convenience, I will be waiting in the gardens outside."

The man nodded then returned into the kitchen, the door closing behind him and locking with a click. A sigh escaped the fox from a breath he had been unaware he had held. Sydney pushed his chair to the end of the hall he opened the entrance to the gardens, momentarily being blinded by the bright sunlight streaming in. He hadn't expected, or seen the step that was just outside the opening and he fell face first to the gravel below.

Grumbling about his stupidity and groaning in pain as his injured leg throbbed angrily, the fox was careful as he pried himself from his toppled chair. He heard people approach him hurriedly and before he had a chance to look up he was being heaved to his foot by two men, a third righting the chair behind them.

“Are you ok sir?" the one to his left asked drawing his attention and he realised they were all kitchen workers. They sat him carefully back onto the wheelchair and he nodded.

“Yes, thank you for your help, sorry about that I got careless." he admitted while dusting himself off. Sydney also didn't want to admit his excitement about seeing the plantations had overridden his common sense at a step being there.

“T'was a spectacular sight to behold," the human to his right said, younger than the other two and Sydney chuckled as he pictured the scene in his head from their view “Just don't be doin it again ya hear?"

“I don't plan on it," Sydney responded looking up at them “I assume there is a gate to get access out of here to the main gardens? It would probably be easier to take the long way back inside."

“Yes sir, it's just over there." The male behind him answered pointing, Sydney turned his gaze in that direction and nodded once the iron gateway was spotted.

“Ah, thank you again. Sorry to have interrupted you. Please, back to work before the Chef or Butler catches you standing around." he waved them off, the three of them nodding before quickly returning to the garden beds they had been picking through.

The grow beds he looked upon were less majestic than the main gardens, having a more utilitarian appearance. Large boxes sat between gravel paths, each one containing different herbs, vegetables or fruits. They appeared to have been permitted to grow as large as they possibly could, probably in hopes of better yields. Several hot houses stretched on at the far end of the garden containing the produce that wouldn't grow without that extra help.

The orchards were also visible running along side the glass houses. They were vast and expansive, so much so that Sydney was unable to see where they ended and the forests began or if there even was such a defined boundary. Gardeners and kitchen-workers mingled amongst it all, making sure it was all thriving and flourishing or picking and harvesting for use inside.

“Well... at least they aren't all bad." Sydney muttered to himself with a smile as he watched them work. The kitchen door opened after a few minutes drawing his attention as a large, slightly overweight man came walking out. He appeared grumpy, and the chef's touque that the gentleman wore informed Sydney that this was the Chef he had been waiting to see. The human glanced around before he spotted Sydney and immediately started marching over seeming more and more angry with every step.

“Time for my second challenge I guess..." Sydney muttered watching the imposing figure approach.