"What are you doing?"
I had my blanket over my body while staring at the deck above. As I glanced, I saw Raine looking at me with spite in her eyes.
"I said do not look at me with those eyes," she turns combing her hair. "It is already dawn. We have to leave the quarters."
I rose from the bed and took my clothes from the pillow. "I will be of no use if I cannot see with my eyes off." I wore the waistcoat over the bodice and kept my hair within a mobcap.
Raine faced me. "I never said to take your eyes off. I only said not to look at me." She puts her comb under her pillow and dashes to the doorknob. "We shall go."
"Your mobcap." I said as she stepped out.
While Raine went back in to get her mobcap, I stepped out. "I was about to get it as soon as I open the door." I heard her panting behind me. "Hey, I never said to leave me." As I continued to walk in the corridor, she caught up with me.
She opened the door to the kitchen. "We must go together. You must wait for me." Raine walked fast to the next door and disappeared.
I looked around and saw a woman preparing plates, bowls, trays, and glasses on the table. Among the pots and pans was a man who just finished cooking. He starts serving portions to the plates while the woman serves the soup to the bowls.
"Do not just stare. Help up prepare, lass." The woman said without looking at me.
"What must I do?" I walked to them.
She frowned looking at me and continued with her work. "Prepare six trays. Two breads, two bacons, one fowl leg, a salmon, one egg, and one soup for every tray."
I grabbed the trays from the counter. I started placing plates with bread and fowl legs on each tray followed by the portions of bacon and egg. I abruptly feel my stomach hurt. The woman puts the salmon and soup on each tray while the man serves claret on the glasses.
My stomach growled. They could hear but ignored it. As we finished, they begin to clean the counters and the table. Three women arrived from behind. Every one of them took a tray and left.
"Take the moving cart with you, lass," the woman said while washing her hands. "It would be hard for you to carry a tray. It is right there." She pointed at the corner of the room.
As I went to get it, Raine came out from the dirty kitchen door. "Let us go." She was bringing a mop and a pail. She walks to the other door while the woman helps me carry the tray to the cart. When we stepped out, Belinda and a man in a black suit went in.
We walked to the corridor barely seeing what is before me. We passed in a parlor and several doors before we arrived at the stairs climbing it. A few moments later, Raine stopped before a huge door and opened it.
As she went in, she started to wipe the furniture. The curtains were still covering the windows. Before me are a couple of couches with a table and a wide desk next to the windows. On the right was a huge canopy bed while bookshelves are on the left. To think that Father's room could be this big, mine used to be only half of this.
"Kid," Raine whispered, "wait there until His Lordship wakes up. Do not do anything unnecessary, just stay there."
Will he wake up anytime soon even though he slept late? My stomach hurts. I wonder if Raine's stomach also hurt. The sixth bell rang. The blanket on the bed suddenly moved and a moment later Lothar rose.
As soon as Raine noticed, she bows saying, "Good morning, My Lordship Lothar." Her hands gestured to me and I bowed. "Your breakfast is ready." We raise our heads. "Serve it," she whispers while gesturing and rushes to open the curtains.
Lothar sits on the couch as I move the cart and serve the breakfast on the table. He slices the fowl and starts to eat. I stare at him eating. My stomach growls for the second time. Hearing it, he glanced but continued to eat. I watch Raine instead wiping the shelves. Even after thinking of death, my stomach still wants to eat. Ironic, it is.
"Did Sir Karl arrive already?" Lothar spoke.
"I have not seen him."
"I see." He sips the claret. "You should have eaten before coming here." I looked at him. So, that was an option. He stands after finishing his meal, "You cannot eat breakfast until I have dismissed you." I did not know about that. As he walks to the wooden screen, I take the plates back to the cart and move them aside.
Raine walks to me. "His Lordship is going to take a bath. Take his robe and put it away. Follow him where he goes and what can you do to be of service to him." After whispering, she walks away.
As I arrived by the wooden screen, Lothar was already dipping in the ceramic bath. I took the robe from the floor and put it in the basket nearby. When I got back, I thought about what Raine had said. "Should I scrub or help you with the soap?"
Lothar looked behind him, staring at me. He sighed. "What do you think will I do after bath?" I wonder what was wrong with my question.
"Change clothes."
"Do that instead."
Raine arrived behind me with a set of clothes. She gives me a long cloth. "Give His Lordship that when he gets out of bath and carry these." She hands me everything she had in her hands and walks away.
As I look back to the bath, Lothar already had his feet on the floor with water dripping from his bare body. I hand the towel to him and he wipes himself. "Have your other arm free." I did what he said and he places the towel on it. My sore arms are asking for relief. He grabs the undergarments followed by the remaining clothes and wore them. Afterward, he leaves the bath.
My eyes search for Raine, and as I found her, she was taking sheets off the bed. She noticed me and pointed to put the towel in the basket. "Good morning, My Lordship Lothar." Karl arrived while I went to the basket.
"What do we have today, Sir Karl?" Lothar spoke as he took the seat at the desk.
"Earl Rudolf will arrive this noon for a lunch and Her Highness Giselle will visit for a tea later." He arrived by the desk.
"I see." Lothar opened a book and looked at me. "You can leave now. However, return at the eleventh bell." He looks at Raine and continued, "Finish that later and both of you have your breakfast." He returns to his book.
Raine walked taking her pail and mop while I went to the cart. "Why the sudden early dismissal?" Karl asked. As we leave the room, we hear him continue speaking. "You are strangely soft this morning."
We walked downstairs silently. "What did you do?" Raine asked me. "So, what should I call you?"
"Talia."
We arrived back in the kitchen. Raine heads to the dirty kitchen while I put the plates, bowl, and glass in the sink where the woman is washing other plates. "You are back earlier. Berta had prepared our breakfast at the back."
After returning the cart, I head to the back and see Berta washing dishes and Raine putting her pail away while Lossiana and another woman are eating on the table.
"Get your plate. There is bread and egg here," Lossiana said offering the seat beside her.
As I sat beside her, I took a plate and placed both bread and egg. I start to eat while Raine takes a seat across me. Three women I saw earlier arrived before us and took their seats to eat. While they eat, their eyes did not leave me.
"Is she the new aide?" The woman beside Lossiana asked.
"It seems," the other woman replies. "I am Emery Nuttal, Her Ladyship Ottilia's maid, by the way." I looked at her. "That is Aquila Ogden," she points to the woman beside Lossiana, "That is Petra Greenwood," Petra smiled. "And this one beside me is Aleph Harred."
"So, what is your name, lass?" Aleph who just finished her meal asked.
Noticing that I would not answer and continues to eat, Raine answers her, "Talia, she said."
"Are you the spokesperson now?" Emery laughs a bit. "She can speak, can she not?"
"She can." Berta turned her head, smiling. "Rarely, though. It is hard to predict when she speaks."
Aquila grins. "Then, what is the use of a small lass who cannot do proper work and seldom speaks?" She sips the glass. "I do not know why His Lordship would buy the most expensive slave just because of how she appears."
"You should better stop right there, Aquila," Petra said.
"Am I not right? Or did you perhaps use your witchcraft?" Aquila continued.
"Stop it," Raine slams on the table.
Aquila finished her meal and stood. "I once worked for a peddler and I always hear rumors from one nation to another." She put the plate and glass on the basin and walked to the door. "Do you not think witches should be banned?" As Raine stood in rage, she disappears into the door.
"She is definitely jealous!" Raine bites her remaining bread harshly.
Petra looked at me. "Forgive Aquila's mouth, Talia. She must have a bad morning."
"I will be on my way first," Lossiana stood, put the plate away, and left. Aleph and Emery follow her. I finished my meal and took the plate to the basin.
"You returned earlier today. Have you finished His Lordship Lothar's chamber, Raine?" Petra asked.
"No. We were told to have breakfast and come back afterwards." Raine replied. I returned to my seat for I have nothing else to do.
"Is there something wrong with His Lordship today?"
"That is what I want to ask. I think it is because of Talia."
Petra laughed. "So you mean, His Lordship is into kids?" I looked at her. "It is nothing." Adults sometimes speak of things they only know. "I do not want to think about it. It will ruin of how I see His Lordship," she stands and puts the plate away, smiling. "I have to leave, folks. I have to attend Her Ladyship Elouise in her lectures." She left.
Raine follows her, saying, "I shall return to His Lordship's chambers." I stood to follow her. "You stay, Talia. His Lordship said you should return at the eleventh bell." I returned to my seat while she left.
The dishes rattle as Berta washes them. "Do you have nothing to do?" She glanced. "Why do you not go around the estate and familiarize the place? You will not get lost if you are needed to go somewhere."
I left from the back door heeding her words. As I arrived outside, I saw the tower some yards away. It is mightier than the tower I used to live in. I followed the path I took last night to the tower.
"Hey!" I heard a voice far from my side and glanced. A lad in a tunic was running towards me. "No one is allowed to enter the tower unless permitted." I stared at him. He grabbed my wrist and ran quickly. "Someone in the windows might see you." A few moments later, he stopped near the gardens.
"Did no one tell you not to go where you are not supposed to?" I did not answer him. "Last winter, a housemaid failed to heed Her Ladyship Ottilia's words. She was laid off by the house, but as she sought for another job in the city, no one would take her." He took a seat under the tree and gestured me to sit beside him. "She had no house and no money to return in her hometown. She became a peasant but the Emperor does not like peasants. The guards imprisoned her, and on the first week of spring, she was beheaded."
Leovia is some scary nation, indeed.
"I forgot to do my introduction. I am Olivier Clegg," he gestured for a handshake. Instead of taking it, I took the seat he offered. "Another event also happened recently." He continued. "His Lordship Lothar's aide ran away with his jewelries. I only heard a rumor from the servants but they said he was killed in another nation. Are you the new aide?" We stared at each other. "It seemed you are."
"How old are you? I am thirteen on the twelfth day before the Kalends." He seemed excited. "You know, thirteen. I am finally an adult." I looked away. "Is it not wonderful? I am turning thirteen, you know."
"Not at all."
"Oh, you finally spoke. Why not? The other servants will finally treat me an adult and I will have bigger meals. And, my father will give me some presents. I will be rich, then."
"Small as you are?"
"You are smaller than I am, though." He frowned. "Despite your expressionless face, you are awfully sour. Why act an adult when you are a kid?"
"Am not."
"You are."
"Not."
"You are." He paused to wait for my response but it did not come. "Adults are sour. But, I will be the first non-sour adult."
I started to walk.
"Where are you going?" He followed me behind.
"Somewhere." I heard the tenth bell rang.
"Have you heard of the ghost in the attic?" He whispered. I ignored him. "They said when you are walking near the stairs to the attic, a woman in white with no head walks up and down the stairs. You should be careful it must not hear your steps or it will haunt you in your dreams every night."
"I do not think they exist, though."
"It does. They said that the woman used to be an aide of the Earl a century ago, but after they found out that she was pregnant with his child, the Earl's wife killed her and cutted her head. They said her body stayed in the attic even now."
"You only heard the adults say them, though." I saw Emery hanging white linens after taking them out of a basin of water, but this time she was wearing a purple bodice and vest. She wore a verdant waistcoat and skirt during lunch. Do they have several clothes than other servants?
Olivier noticed me staring at her.
"That is Aubrey. She does laundry."
"Is that not Emery?"
"Emery is her twin sister." I see. I looked at the path beside the trees. Olivier continued. "On one night, the Earl asked me to bring him coffee in the library and she was there."
"Were you not hallucinating?"
"I did not see her, though, but I heard her steps on the stairs endlessly."
"You must be hallucinating, then."
"Why do you not believe me? You are like my father and Berta." He pouted. "When kids do not lie, adults do not believe, but when they do lie, they do not believe too. Even though, you are more kid than I."
"Where should I enter from here to arrive in Lothar's chamber?"
With his smug face, he walked before me. "Follow me. I will lead you there." We entered the door a few yards away from Aubrey and her laundry. "Wait, did you call His Lordship Lothar with his name only? You should never let others hear you." He stops to whisper on my ears, "They might tell you to the Earl or his children."
I continued to follow Olivier in the corridor. Several moments later, he stopped before a familiar door. "Here you go. I will be on my way too." He continued to walk in the corridor and disappeared turning right.
As I enter the room, I saw Raine mopping the floor by the couch. "His Lordship left a couple of hours ago. He should be back to prepare before lunch." She continued her work.
I stood next to the door to wait. After several minutes, Raine is mopping near the shelves. I walk near her looking at the books. As I scan the shelves, I found several books I had read before but that book must be here also considering the preferences I have seen.
While the eleventh bell rang, Raine walked to me. "I will be leaving, Talia, but I will be back to bring the change of the bed and several more." She leaves the room with her mop and pail.
Silence except for the to and fro of the wind fills the air. I want to read so much that my fingers are tingling to hold one of them. I kept my hands on my back to prevent the temptation. "You read?" Despite hearing Lothar's voice, I did not take my eyes away from where it was set. I had found it.
As I turned to my left, he was standing there. He took the book and opened it. "The Changing Times by August Oveinden. Do you like Julio?" He asked closing the book.
"I do not." Does he like him?
"Why do you read it, then?"
Is my face saying I have read it? Or rather I have not finished it? "I was curious of his response to the changes."
"Would you like to borrow this?" I stared at him. "You can seldom find kids who read thick and difficult books." As I nodded, he handed the book to me and walked to his desk.
While staring at the cover, I remembered what I have come in his chamber. I placed the book on the small table near the door and head to his wardrobe. "What would be the right clothes for your lunch?" I asked while he was writing.
"On days, light-colored clothes are right while on nights the dark ones. I will only be changing my vest and coat." He did not seem to be bothered by his writing.
As I was confused about what vest and coat would be right for his linen trousers, someone opened the door and Karl emerged. "I have sent the letter to Mister Gustav Roperta, My Lordship."
I walked onto the couches with the clothes while Karl glanced at me. "The coat is touching the floor. Carry those well, lass." I adjusted carrying the clothes.
Lothar put the fountain pen back on the ink and kept the parchment in the drawers. He stood and took his coat and vest off giving them to Karl. Afterward, he took the vest followed by the coat and wore them. Karl hands the clothes on his hands and I walked to the basket.
After he properly adjusts his bow tie, looking at me, he said, "We shall have our lunch. Return after your meal." He walked to the door and left with Karl. I put the book on my chest and smiled.
I walked to my quarters and hid the book under my pillow. Afterward, I went back to the dirty kitchen to get my lunch and ate it back in my bed while reading. I returned the plate and back to Lothar's chamber where I found him, Karl, and Raine who is changing the sheets of the bed.
As the fifteenth bell came, I went to the kitchen to get the prepared pastries and tea as Karl had told me. "We shall go now." Accompanied by Raine and the cart, we left the kitchen and headed to the patio. I did not know where the patio was so she volunteered to be my company. Passing the wide foyer and another parlor, she opened the door and we arrived.
Lothar was sitting across a laughing young woman while Karl was standing beside him. Behind the young woman was a woman with a silver bonnet who looked at us coming. Upon arriving by their table, Raine placed the pastries amid them while I serve them with tea. As she finished, she bowed and left.
While they sip the tea, I watched the woman twitch her embroidered shoes and her short-hemmed skirt moves. "Did you prepare this?" The young woman's body switched to face me.
"I did not."
"I see. I overestimated." As she smiled, her rosy cheeks rounded. "Lothar, is she a new servant?"
"Yes," Lothar slices the pie, saying.
"Are you—" Before she could finish her words, she burst out laughing. "Forgive my rudeness. I do not want to think about it but I could not help it. Is there some fixation you are not telling me?"
"I have no such thing." He eats the pie.
"Why have her?"
After swallowing the pie and sipping from the tea, he replied, "I just felt like buying her."
The young woman covers her mouth to prevent her from laughing. She puts her hand down and turned back to me. "You see—what is your name?"
"Talia."
"I am Giselle, daughter of King Ephraim and betrothed to this man. You see, Talia, I have known him since we were infants and he had never decided on something just because he felt like it." She paused. "Sir Karl, could you lend me a pen and a bit of paper?" Karl hands her what she had asked from his pockets.
While Giselle writes something on the paper, Lothar spoke. "What is that?"
As she finished writing, she gives the pen back to Karl and hands the paper to me. "Send me a letter when this man starts to do something nasty or something you cannot understand unto you. Are we clear?"
I nodded and inserted the paper in my pocket. What and why, though?
Giselle takes the pie in her mouth, chewing. "This is amusing me, but if the other nobles learn of this, your reputation will be affected. And, well, mine too."
"I am only taking her as an aide. Nothing more."
"Rumors do not go around from the subject. They are spread and added by those who know lesser." Giselle sips the tea. "You know how Ottilia wants to take your succession. I bet she will do anything to have it."
"I know that much."
"However, I am not saying you should have not taken her or you should send her away. You could have sent her to me." She looked at his thumb rubbing on the cup's handle and sighed. "And, I know you will never do that. No matter, I will be supporting you anyway."
"You do not have to worry. I will see to it that nothing of such sort will happen." He finished his first slice of pie and took another.