The shift happened gradually, the way most real changes happened, not as a single dramatic reversal but as an accumulation of small adjustments that added up to something undeniable.
By the morning after Aldric Severn's visit, three members of the household staff who had been consistently routing their requests around me, finding reasons to bring things to Eli or to wait until Darius was available rather than bring them to me directly, came to my study instead. One was the head groundskeeper with a matter about the winter preparation schedule. One was the head of the kitchen staff with a question about the upcoming formal supper. One was a senior attendant from the residential wing with a dispute between two junior staff members that required resolution.
