Lurai sighed as she shut the door behind her. She knew that the rest of the day was not going to be as kind as Fara's training was, and with every step down the long hallways, Lurai did her very best to understand how the manor was kept. Through her consistent observation, it was the fact that the elves inside the estate cleaned pretty much everything.
The floors of the halls were free of dust and debris, the curtains were all washed and hung using intermixing metallic hooks at the top of the banisters, and the cleaning supplies were nowhere to be seen. When looking at the windows, she saw that they were clear of markings, and what surprised her most was that she could see her reflection and the outside at the same time. After looking at the outside, she saw that the sun was already past the middle of the sky and began its way towards the descent of the day.
"They are quick and thorough," Lurai said aloud before covering her mouth to see if anyone was around her. She sighed relief as she saw that there was no one, and she continued to make her way down the hall. Minutes after minutes of wandering through the hallways, she found herself back on the first floor.
Lurai walked towards what she thought to be the front of the estate when she heard a distant yelling of a deep masculine voice. Lurai made her way closer until she saw what seemed to be a very portly man standing next to Ms. Lanz. He was red about his face as if he had received some rather angering news.
"Enough! I have heard enough. I am quite tired from my trip to even think of a punishment for those actions right now." The man spat on his floor, to which an elven maid instantly and silently ran over and began to wipe it up. The man's face spurned in anger towards the elven maid and launched his right foot out towards her face, kicking her back a meter or two.
"Mind my personal space, would you!?" The man shouted out, "I don't need your filth near my expensive clothing. Clean up my spit and your blood immediately after I leave!"
"That must be Duke Einstall," Lurai's eyes widened in horror at the harm to the elven maid.
"Sir," Lanz spoke up suddenly, "Before you left, you told the maids to pick up your saliva as soon as it hits the floor."
"Bah!" Duke Einstall scoffed as he waved his hand around, "It's not my fault if they get in the way of my foot."
"Right, sir." Lanz spoke with an almost laughing smile on her face, "I will arrange the meeting for tomorrow then."
"Meeting?" Duke Einstall raised an eyebrow before changing his expression, "Ah! Yes, that meeting." He turned to his maid that was now upright and bowing towards him, "Who needs enemies when you have slaves like these? Making me forget things. A downright shame."
The harmed elven maid said nothing as she continued to bow in front of her master. With the wave of her master's hand, she immediately returned to her duties, as did the rest of the maids. Duke Einstall sighed as he turned towards Lanz.
"Make sure I'm undisturbed until the evening. I wish to rest, and if I hear any of any commotion, I will hold you personally."
"Yes, sir." Lanz smiled as she then bowed to him, "As you wish."
"Oh!" He stopped and turned to Lanz, "Actually, see to my chambers in four hours. I have just returned, and I don't want to sour my mood with talks of a meeting when I have just gotten home. I cannot be bothered to think about such trivial matters until I am relaxed."
Lurai straightened up and fell into a bowing stance as the man turned down the hallway that she was in. The echoing sound of thumping footsteps grew closer until the footsteps stopped into her eye's view. The tension in the air was palpable as Lurai began to hold her breath in fear of this man; however, the footsteps continued onward as the man, her new master, said nothing.
As he walked down the hallway and disappeared behind a corner, Lurai looked up to see Ms. Lanz staring at her from a short distance away. A wicked smile grew on Ms. Lanz's face as she began to strut over to Lurai. She cleared her throat as she walked past Lurai into the room on the left, and Lurai recognized it as the room where she and her mother met Ms. Lanz.
"Four hours." Lanz sighed, "For humans, that's normally half of a workday, but for you—" She turned to Lurai, who was still standing outside the doorway, "It's only just begun. Are you excited to get back to work? Speak."
Lurai looked towards Ms. Lanz and nodded to her. "Yes, Ms. Lanz."
"Has your memory returned?" Lanz raised an eyebrow as she asked this.
"Only memory of the work, Miss," Lurai responded directly.
"That's all that matters then." Lanz sighed in relief, "I was afraid that I'd have to report a worthless, I mean, useless slave to Master Einstall."
"I wish you didn't use either of those words to describe me." Lurai thought, but her facial expression remained the same.
"You will clean this room today." Lanz spoke firmly as she pointed to the windows that were on both sides of the room, "The windows need to be dazzling with sunlight tomorrow morning." She then pointed to the floor, "and I'd better see my reflection in the flooring tomorrow by noon." She then pointed to her desk, "Do not touch the desk, not even a bump." Lanz then stared directly into Lurai's eyes, "Do I make myself clear?
"Yes, Miss," Lurai spoke instantly as she fell into a bow.
"Excellent." Lanz said as she walked towards her desk and sat down behind it, "I think I'll entertain myself in seeing how your cleaning training refreshed that memory of yours. I have nothing else better to do." Lanz sighed as she noticed that Lurai had none of the tools needed to carry out the job, "Well, what are you waiting for? Go get the supplies and return at once."
Lurai nodded as she walked out of the room in haste towards the main hall. She had stopped in her tracks as an instant thought came to her mind. "I have no idea where the supplies are."
Lurai continued down the hallway until she came to a small open closet near a stairwell. She quickly peeked inside to find numerous brooms, cloths, and buckets. Lurai, in haste, grabbed one of each of the items before noticing a small drawing on the door.
The drawing on the door was that of the manor's first floor, and in a large, darkened line, it showed the path to what seemed to be a drawn fountain. Lurai peeked down the hall to see other elven maids traveling with buckets, both empty and with water, from both directions. She sighed as she put the cloth inside of her sleeve before heading down the hallway with a broom and bucket in hand.
Passing by the elven maids, Lurai couldn't help but think distraughtly as she noticed various lengthened and visible tattoos across the bodies and faces. While her words couldn't leave her mouth, her thoughts spoke loudly in her head. "What kind of punishment have all these maids faced? Is this to be my fate too?"
At the end of the hallway, large stone basil was extended from the wall, and above this basin was a silver faucet with a single handle. Lurai noticed other elven maids draw the water into their buckets, turn off the water, and leave without a word to any other maids. Lurai, finding it best to follow suit, did the same as she drew the water, filled her bucket, turned off the faucet, and left towards Ms. Lanz's room.
"That's strange." Lurai thought as she felt the weight of the bucket with hidden amusement, "I never thought I'd be able to hold this bucket up, let alone carry it down a hallway. It seemed heavy at first, but now it's manageable. Is this body this strong yet looking so weak? I guess I don't know my strength—I mean, how could I?"
When Lurai reached the room again, Ms. Lanz was nowhere to be seen. Despite that fact, Lurai began working immediately doing as she was instructed by Fara, while her body seemed to do better and better as she continued to work. She soon found the room was a lot dustier than she had originally thought, the windows were clear but lacked shine, and the various ornaments of furniture around the room that she didn't have time to notice before seemed a lot more disorganized than desired.
The white-bricked walled room had aligned bookshelves near the doorway on both sides, and the bookshelves contained various books that were seemingly thrown onto the shelves where they were meant to reside. The two large windows that resided on the walls to the left and right of the desk had dusty brown frames, dark brown silk-like curtains, and split panes that allowed the lower half to rise for the room's cooling of high temperatures. The floor was tracked with mud and grime, and to Lurai, it would take a lot of broom sweeping and water to make this shine.
"I wonder where I should start—" Lurai said very lowly to herself as she turned towards the bookshelves. Lurai took the cloth from her sleeve and began working away, as she saw the daylight within the room slowly diminish as she worked endlessly. After making her way around the room multiple times, she stood near the doorway to admire her work.
The room, for the most part, was almost done cleaning. The bookshelves were neatly aligned with books, the windowpanes were dusted, and all that was left of the room was the floor that needed a fine washing. Lurai went to take her cloth to the water when she realized that she forgot about something.
"How am I going to wash this floor without any soap?" Lurai couldn't help but sigh deeply within her mind, "I didn't even see soap in the closet! How else am I going to clean—" She stopped her inner words as a single idea came to her head. She quickly went over to the door and shut it quietly, and then she moved over to each of the windows and drew the curtains.
Once safe, Lurai got on her knees and touched the floor of the room with her right hand. In a low breath, she said quietly, "Cleanna." The moment the word was spoken, the grayed-brick floor beneath her hand began to shine brightly as a wave of light began to cover its entirety. Lurai stood up slowly to admire the quick handiwork of the spell, but her eyes widened as the light quickly spread from the floor to the walls, windows, and ceiling before the room was filled with a flash of that light.
When the light settled, Lurai drew the curtains of the windows to let the dimming sunlight back into the room, and when she did, she couldn't help but be amazed by the effect of the spell. The white-bricked walls were almost reflective, the windows now were like crystal in clearness, and the floor showed Lurai's reflection. Lurai began smiling for the first time in hours until her smile became an expression of horror as she noticed that Ms. Lanz's desk now had a shiny varnish-like layer to it.
"That—"Lurai spoke to herself in a low breath, "might have been a bad idea after all."