Lurai's eyes widened as she heard those words come out of Ramira's mouth. She gulped loudly as she hadn't thought about the duties that she'd have to undergo as an elf now. It blindsided her, but she did her best to remain calm and collected.
"Maid-work…" Lurai thought as she brought her right hand to her chin in wonder. She attempted to recall all the duties that maids in her old household did, and that's when her mind fell on the old memories of Meirah, and sorrow filled her heart again. She shed a tear and quickly wiped it away, but the tear didn't go unnoticed by Ramira.
Ramira stared at her daughter with a concerning smile as she went over to her daughter and whispered into Lurai's ear, "More of those memories, again? I understand. It's going to be alright."
Lurai smiled back towards Ramira with a nod.
Ramira sighed as she looked over Lurai, "It's going to be hard to adjust after not remembering your duties fully but remember that I'll do my best to teach you everything again." Ramira laughed to herself and crossed her arms, "It only took me seven years to teach you when you were younger, but now I think I can do it faster."
"Will it make you laugh to see me make the same mistakes again?" Lurai couldn't help but shyly ask.
Ramira laughed louder as she hugged her daughter, "A parent will always be there to witness the mistakes of their children. It's no difference if you are ten or seventeen, I'll just assume that you will still be difficult to work with."
"No more than these boys." Kamai said with rolling eyes, "Seriously, one thinks he can do it all and makes the problems worse, while the other thinks he can't do the work and needs to pick up his pace." He shot a glance at the boys, "It's already been a two years of saying the same things, and these boys still don't listen."
The boys pouted at the remarks, which prompted Kamai to say with a smile, "But they still do good work."
"Were you different when you were younger, Kamai?" Ramira asked with her eyebrow raised.
"Well…No," Kamai said abashedly as he turned to the side, causing both girls to laugh.
"If we are going to hit that double quota, we best leave now," Kamai said standing up from his chair with a low groan of pain.
"Wait," Lurai said as she walked over to him and held out her hand. Kamai, instead, held up his own and shook his head.
"I am fine, Lurai." Kamai smiled, "Us elves are built to heal quickly and take a bit of violence. I should have been able to prevent this whole thing, so this is my pain to bear."
"Won't this affect your work though?!" Lurai said with worry in her voice as she lowered her hand.
"No. I'll just whip these boys into doing more work today," Kamai said with a smile.
"Cial. I'm gonna do twenty trips to the field today!" Lykas said with a gleaming smile. "I'm gonna do it this time!"
"I—I am gonna do ten." Cial said with a look of uncertainty on his face, "I think I can do ten. Maybe eleven."
With a simultaneous nod, both of the boys ran out of the tattered curtain before the parents or Lurai could say anything more.
"Lykas, Cial." Kamai sighed as he raised his hand to his forehead, "What am I going to do with the two of you?" He then picked up a large sickle that was leaning against the table before saying, "I'll see you two tonight. Take it easy. Okay, Lurai?"
"Okay, Ka'pa." Lurai said more comfortably as she waved to him, and she couldn't help but notice a smile widened across his face as he turned away. Lurai then turned to Ramira, who gave her the same eyebrow raised look from before. "What?" Lurai asked after a few moments of silence.
Ramira chuckled nervously as she turned away to grab a small satchel hanging on the corner of a chair near the table. The satchel was of makeshift cloth and seemed to be sewn together with master-like skill. "I have the feeling that today's going to be a long day, but I do need to teach you one important thing before we go."
"Oh?" Lurai asked curiously with confusion on her face, "Is there something I need to know exactly about maid-work?"
"There is a lot actually, but you need to know the golden rule of this estate." Ramira's face turned stern as if the only emotion she could have at this moment was seriousness as the next words from her mouth came out slowly, "If anyone tells you to do something, it must be done. No exceptions."
"Of course." Lurai nodded instantly before frowning, "The last thing I'd want to do is cause any more trouble for this family."
"I'm sure your heart is in the right place, Lurai." Ramira said softly, "We are more worried for you, honestly."
"Huh?" Lurai, again, asked with the same look of curiosity, "Why worry about me?"
"Because of you, silly." Ramira sighed with a warming smile, "As you just saw from a bit ago, your actions don't exactly line up with what elves here commonly do. We don't attack the guards or defend our families with actions."
"Why not?" Lurai rebuked a bit too loudly as she took a step forwards, "What's wrong with protecting one's family? It shouldn't matter if you are a human or an elf!"
"Simply put," Ramira, frowning, put her hand on her daughter's shoulder, "It's because our families don't matter to them. In truth, most of every human you will see here will treat us the same as that man did."
"T—That's not fair." Lurai frowned as she slowly removed Ramira's hand from her shoulder.
"When have elven lives been fair or even kind?" Ramira shook her head in shame but then motioned to Lurai before moving towards the curtain. "We best get moving. I'll have to explain what they are to expect from you."
"What to expect?" Lurai asked slowly as she began walking behind her.
"Mhm," Ramira chuckled nervously, "because I have the feeling you haven't ever done a single chore before. You may have different memories, but that body is still my daughter, and it knows how much she used to do. Hopefully, it comes back to you soon."
Lurai stopped as Ramira's words struck her heart. She was right. Like Brenda, she never had to do any chore as it was always another maid that did the work for her, and that made her think of Meriah.
The feelings of sorrow welled up in Lurai's heart as she recalled her silver-haired maid of old, and how Meriah was closer to her than her parents were. As long as Brenda lived, Meriah was there, and while she can't remember her first moments with Meriah, it was very clear that she viewed Meriah as a second mother. Meriah had been there for her first steps, her first words, and many other of her "first" events. She was often told by Meriah the joy that she had brought to her elven heart.
"Meriah…" Lurai spoke softly in a tone of melancholy as she recalled all of this. "I am sorry that I couldn't say goodbye to you."
"Something the matter, my light?" Ramira said with utmost concern in her voice, "I'm sorry if that came out wrong. I know you are going through a lot."
"N—No!" Lurai snapped back to reality with a jolt, "Sorry. I know it must be troubling you more than it is me."
"We will handle this together," Ramira said comfortingly, "as a family."
Lurai couldn't help but smile strongly at that. She reached out to grab her mother's hand as Ramira moved the curtain to the side to let the sunlight in and them out into the world.
The sunlight from above beamed down on Lurai's face as she moved through the opening of the home, and while it had only been a day since she became Lurai, it felt like the sun was old to her. The next thing that Lurai saw was more of what she somewhat noticed yesterday, as she was intentionally watching her soon-to-be brothers lead her to this home, and that was the look of her surroundings.
The shacks to the sides of her were more illuminated with the sun rising over the eastern hills, revealing some of the shacks to look utterly abandoned, despite their already unfortunate appearance. The grassless terrain around them was mainly dirt with no sign of plant life anywhere in sight and considering that the tree that Lurai had fallen from was a good distance away, it was almost as if any onlooker was meant to see a dying wasteland instead of a lively community of elves.
Around some of the homes, Lurai saw other elven figures around them, and she saw that most of them were women, both young and old, and young children, which looked no older than the age of five. She saw that these children were either wearing very tattered clothing or nothing at all, and she couldn't help but frown at this situation. The sound of crying from infants filled the air as Ramira and Lurai passed by some of the houses, and with each wail, Lurai's heart broke more and more as she realized that most of these infants were mothered by tired and worrying young girls that looked near her age.
"This is painful to look at," Lurai said to herself, but Ramira heard her quite well.
"I take it that this is a new sight to you?" Ramira inquired with blankness in her tone, "The guards almost refuse to come to the living quarters because of how pitiful it can be. For us though, this is all we have."
"I know." Lurai agreed sadly as she picked up her pace after realizing she was trailing behind. Her voice fell to a lower whisper that only Ramira could hear, "I just don't understand how someone can allow people to live like this."
"It's because we aren't viewed as people, Lurai." Ramira bit her lip before letting out another one of her caring sighs, "Y—You probably shouldn't think like this when we get to the manor. I realize you are in shock, but you are an elf too. You have to get used to this quick, okay?"
"I'll try my best." Lurai nodded as she looked over towards the side, and she realized that she made eye contact with another young mother with an infant in her arms. The young elven mother gave a weary smile as she rocked her child in her arms slowly before turning to go back inside of her home.
The rest of the walk through the living quarters was met with melancholic feelings and weak smiles from Lurai, and they continued to walk for a matter of minutes until they came up to a large metal gate connected to a larger stone wall. This stone wall seemed to stretch left and right as far as Lurai could see, and two guards with helmets covering their faces were standing in front of this gate, where once stood next to a large lever and the other stood with a large, embroidered spear.
Ramira quickly reached into her satchel, pulled out a piece of parchment, and then handed it to the guard with the spear. He very quickly glanced at the parchment before giving a gestured signal to the other guard to open the gate. The large gate creaked as it lifted into a slot carved in the stone above it, allowing Lurai and Ramira to pass underneath the gate, and closed harshly after they had passed under it.
On the other side of the gate, Lurai saw a completely different sight as a vast garden entered her vision. She instantly noticed that the grounds were greener than the trees of the forest outside of Oakal and that elaborate, widened stone-paved paths circulated the plethora of large fruit and flowering trees that resided in the center of the garden like an immaculate beacon of beauty. It was these stone-paved paths that allowed one to traverse through this beautiful garden on foot or by wagon like a silent guide, and to the sides of the paths were numerous shrubberies of flowers, which exhibited all the colors that the world had to offer in one place. It was these shrubberies that acted as borders so that visitors wouldn't be allowed to stray away from the holiness that this garden represented.
Lurai became captivated by this wondrous sight and found herself standing still for a few seconds, imagining what it would be like to spend days inside this garden and observing every inch of it. The feeling of nostalgia came from inside of her heart, and for a fraction of a second, she could have sworn that she felt the air of familiarity. To her, it was as if her heart was incredibly happy to see this garden again.
A low whistle came from in front of her. Ramira smiled at her and giggled as she stared at her. Lurai, slightly embarrassed, picked up her dress slightly as she ran up to her mother.
"Why are you giggling?" Lurai asked with a coy smile that showed that she knew what Ramira was going to comment on.
"Because I am still seeing the young girl that I brought here for her first time ten years ago." Ramira continued to giggle as she began to lead the way again when you saw this garden for the first time, "You always loved this garden, and it seems that love still stayed. You know, you cried when I had to pull you away from this garden for many years because you always wanted to see more."
Lurai turned slightly red as she looked to the side in embarrassment. She knew that Ramira wasn't directly talking about her, but she still felt embarrassed by the comment. Lurai, puffing her cheeks, turned back to the path and followed Ramira the path.
Lurai noticed that this single path lead from the gate to another gate on the north side of the garden, and this path, a lot narrower than the other paths, was separated from the ones that circulated the garden, even though they led to the same gate. Lurai also noticed that a few elven males were tending to the garden in various spots, and they were doing tasks such as trimming and pruning. This garden was made possible by these elves, but Lurai sighed as she knew they wouldn't get the credit they deserved.
"So, we have to pass through this garden to get to the manor?" Lurai asked as she walked up to Ramira's side. "Was the giant building I saw in the distance yesterday the manor?"
"Yes." Ramira answered directly, "The manor is a distance away from the gardens, and it's not separated by the walls."
"So, why are we passing through the garden then rather than just heading to the manor?" Lurai interjected, "Wouldn't it be easier to just walk across that large plain?"
"Yes, it would be." Ramira agreed, "But we are required to go through the garden because Duke Eainstall requires it from his guests, guards, and slaves. It is his prized possession, and he wants everyone to see it at every opportunity. According to some of the maids that have heard him speak about the garden, he made a deal with the royal families to raise his land magically so that anyone can always view the garden from his windows since they liked it so much.
"That's kind of pretentious, isn't it?" Lurai said jokingly in a low whisper, but it caused Ramira to stop and turn to Lurai in a show of instant concern.
"Lurai! Do not say things like that!" Ramira said curtly before her eyes widened, "Wait. How could you—"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry!" Lurai took a step back from her mother, "I'll watch my words from now on."
Ramira sighed and went to speak, but before she could, a loud horn blared through the air of the garden from the northern gate. Ramira quickly grasped Lurai's hand and began to hastily walk through down the path, not saying a word until they reached the opening of the gate. In front of the gate stood another guard with a golden horn to his mouth. Ramira bowed, which prompted Lurai to bow, and then they shuffled past the guard and through the northern gate as the southern gate began to rise with the loud clinking of metal.
After passing through the northern gate, Ramira and Lurai quickly moved to the side of the ending stone path onto another thin path of dirt. Ramira let go of Lurai's hand at this point and began panting. Lurai, breathing slightly hard, began to rub her mother's back softly.
"So-rry to lead you thr-ough there quickly." Ramira panted still but quickly regained her composure, "When the horn blows, every elf is to leave the garden immediately."
"Why?" Lurai asked.
"Because someone is entering through the south gate. It could mean visitors or even the duke himself."
"I see," Lurai said as she looked back towards the gate, and a small number of male elves were leaving the northern gate as well. They moved to the side of the wall and lined up on the opposite side of a guard with another embroidered spear. "I guess that elves bring an unsightly feature to the garden."
"The duke views us that way, yes." Ramira said in a sorrowful tone before pointing ahead of her towards a large, raised hill, "We must hurry to the manor. We are arriving later than every other maid today due to yesterday's incident."
"Was that the parchment that you showed the guard?" Lurai asked as she gave the satchel around Ramira's shoulder a glance.
"Yes." Ramira answered, motioning Lurai to move along with her, "It is a special exception. These are only given out when an elven family member dies."
"So, the duke does care about his slaves?" Lurai asked as she began to follow again.
"No." Ramira sighed, "This was a tradition passed down in his family line from a long time ago. We don't know why he upholds this, but we don't question him. We can't." Ramira looked back towards Lurai, "No more questions. We must hurry!"
Ramira and Lurai swiftly made their way towards the manor in silence from that moment on.