I was not sure, now that I had a few more days of working here, why I had been so off-putting by working within the castle. The days started early, the work never ending, cold hands depending on where the work took me, but the best part was that unless it was related to work, everyone kept to themselves when on castle ground. 'The walls have ears and the guards claws' was all Violetta said. It was enough for me to understand that this was not like the grand palace of Vahellian. I sighed at the fun memory, missing the scorching hot days, light fabrics and cold drinks. Here was just cold in general, from the people, food and ambiance. I suppose as Marie, it was perfect.
I picked up the bucket of cold water, tied the cleaning cloth to the bucket handle, and made my way after Violeta. She had pointed to the bucket and waddled off minutes ago. After looking around, I figured what she wanted me to do was fill it and bring it to her. I didn't mind the labor, but she could have at least spoken the request. I walked over to where she was slowly, watching as her breath fanned out in front of her in the cold of the morning.
It was cold all of the time, if I was honest, the only difference being that night and morning won the crown for the worst times to be out and about without a coat. I had to admit to myself that I liked the ambiance here so far. The castle was surrounded by an immense forest that went farther than even my eyes could see, wild life thriving around on the daily. The trees barren as leaves fell to the ground and froze solid by night fall. Although I had seen snow before, I wondered what the mornings would look like here once snow fell.
"What are we going to do today?" I asked, setting down the bucket. Her arms were crossed over her chest, her hands tucked into her armpits as she sought the warmth of her body.
"You're awfully cheery."
"Today is a good day to work."
"Let's see how long that lasts." She grumbled, before nodding over to a group of people holding buckets of their own. Some had dazed and sleepy looks.
As long as no one looks too closely at me, was the answer.
* * *
When the midday meal finally arrived, I was ravenous. I was eating well here, no doubt, but there was a distinctive lack of meat every day. Oh how I could kill for more than a portion of meat, cooked into soup. Everyone gathered in their partnerships of mentors with their charge. Violeta gave me a face as soon as I tried to sit with her, so I quickly left her be, or friends they had quickly made. On the first day, I sat with Andy and some of the other's who were as new as we were, but on the second day there had been more distinctive groupings of people coming together.
The bread was devoured in less than four bites, while I stuffed the cheese and some grapes into my pockets. I was quick to drink the water, couching as bit when it felt as if I were swallowing a soft rock. I rubbed at my throat for a moment. I had eaten a little too fast, but I had to take this break time to explore. It was safe to explore now that a few more people had seen my 'face' and recognized me as a worker. A new face walking around would be too familiar of a memory if anything went wrong. Other girls had already gotten scolded on the first day for slacking off during work, because their curiosity had gotten the best of them. Security here was very observant to those who came and those who broke schedule. If you were given fifteen minutes to do things and finished within twenty or more, you were watched for the rest of the day.
The help was allowed a space close to the kitchens to eat and break. I suppose someone had realized allowing us to eat in the servant's quarters and then having to return would waste too much time. The break room faced the courtyard, so we had a nice view of the flowers and sculptures set. I was far more interested in walking around the courtyard, casing the doors and peering in through the windows. There were four guards at two separate doors, both far from each other. Their uniform was a dark brown with bronze colored capes and black helmets that fully covered their faces. I had never had to wear a helmet before, but in this cold, regardless of how impressive they looked, I could not imagine it providing any warmth. I took a handful of grape and cheese in one hand and began my slow walk around the courtyard, sticking to the walls as closely as possible, but keeping my head facing forward as I brought one to my mouth and chewed slowly.
This side of the castle was made of lighter limestone than the rest, almost like a shadow version of the main castle. I had only been to the lower floors, following behind Violeta to clean halls and empty guestrooms, washing the carpets in freezing water or helping out carrying boxes into the castle. Despite not getting the grand tour, there was something very obvious about this place, besides the watchful gazes and silent warnings, was the decor. There was something about it on the tip of my tongue, the dark jeweled tones and cold marble statues positioned just right, startling anyone who turned the corner to find a large winged creature's shadow being dragged across the floor as the sun arose. For the most part, the floor I had seen was made of dark cherry wood, cleaned to the point where it gleamed from any angle.
I peeked out at windows to my left, sharpening my sight. Each first floor window had thin curtains and gleaming vases near by. I stared at a lime green one, it was very pretty. Every three steps I ate a grape, having fun, I threw one into the air before catching it. Half way through my walk, I neared the two guards by positioned at the only two main entrances that weren't connected to any of the buildings around. For a castle maintained so well, it was awfully empty besides the workers. However, even we were not allowed to linger around after a certain time. The king must be a recluse.
"Good day gentlemen." I smiled politely and continued on knowing they weren't going to say anything back, and was proven correct when silence greeted me back.
I was on my last grape by the time I reached the second pair of guards, clasping my hands behind my back, I gave them a polite smile as I walked by.
"Good day Gentlemen." This time I did not slow my walk to wait for a reply that would most likely not come. As it did not, with my back to them, I grinned. Truly, maids were the best.
On my second round, I ignored the empty rooms and actually paid attention to the flowers and statues. It was a small maze garden, large shiny statues the color of onyx. They were beautiful. In a twisted way. At one corner of the garden there were two lovers, touching lips while both stuck each others hands into their lovers chest, holding the others heart. At the other end, a man in the nude, a golden sword firmly buried into the ground, but stabbed through the man's calf as his hands reached out to the sky. The final one, sitting in the center, was rather peculiar. It could have been water of fire in solid form, it was made of the same material as the others, so I really could only guess, but it seemed to swirl upwards. As fascinating as how that was even possible, there was something crouched down in the center, hidden from the eye.
"Marie! Marie! Break is over, come back." Andy called out in a loud voice. I turned away from the statue, she was leaning half out of the door frame, nose flushed red. I hurried over to her.
"Ahh, thanks for calling."
"No problem. Violeta was starting to get up, so Consuel told me I should call you over before she left you." She rubbed at her arms, before cupping her hands and breathing into them. I peeked behind her to find everyone cleaning up and tidying up the place. Violeta was at one corner of the room speaking with a few older ladies, they were all patting her on the shoulders.
"She probably would." I muttered, had I not had sharper senses than most, she would have left me behind to get lost multiple times. It was almost as if she was purposely trying to get rid of me. It made me want to stick closer to her just to rile her up, but since she hadn't really done anything out of hand, it would be a waste. "It's a good thing I'm good at tracking people down."
"Aren't you cold?" Andy whined, dancing foot to foot. I shook my head and motioned for her to step back so we could both enter. "It's freezing here. I can even seem my breath. You didn't even grab your coat."
"I'm alright, the cold doesn't bother me much." I caught eyes with Violeta for a moment and already knew there would be no time for chit chat. "Looks like I have to go. See you later Andy."
"Oh, sure. Good luck." Lifting both thumbs up, she made her way back to her own experienced partner. Consuek, I assume.
"Did you go out to the courtyard?" She questioned without a moment's notice, seeming offended by something as she glared at me in disapproval, face tense.
"Just for a walk." I answered truthfully, rocking on the balls of my feet as I stared back innocently. Dark brown eyes stared at me seriously, unblinking, before she let out a weary sigh, head dropping for a moment as she shook her head.
"Don't next time." She warned as she turned around.
"Is it not allowed?" None of the elder workers seemed to mind me stepping out, the guards certainly didn't care. I followed close behind.
"...it's bad luck." Her voice seemed to drop. My eyes narrowed at her back, I leaned forward discreetly and inhaled. There was the familiar taste of weariness and fear, but there was also sadness.
Soon everyone was walking off to do their respective chores, both of us headed to the south part of the castle. We took the long way around, through the passage made for workers. I looked down at the cold, wet stone pathway.
"What is?" Why was she sad? I had only seen few emotions from this woman, and they'd all been various degrees of disapproval and distaste directed at me.
"This whole place." She muttered under her breath, not knowing I would be able to hear her. My brows lifted at her self confession. Bad luck, huh. Not something you ever want to hear when you've already had an ominous sensation from this place.
If nothing odd happened within the week, I'll stay. If not, I'll take off. I wonder if the castle looked for runaway maids? Would it look suspicious if Marie suddenly disappeared, or would resigning be better?
We entered through a side door close to the Southeren kitchen. There were a lot of people here, I knew that at once. Everywhere I looked, there seemed to be someone bursting through one door and running over with something, never looking over. The maids here wore red ribbons around their waist. I looked over at Violeta, but she shook her head at me. Alright then. We walked further south, away from the bustling section. The further we entered, the emptier and darker everything got, old wallpapers falling at the corners, door knobs covered in dust as paintings faded of color hung up at a tilt. High ceilings with far less elegance, large wooden beams where chandeliers with melted candles swung where a draft came in, was where we were in charge of cleaning.
Charming. I let my finger drag along the chilling walls, tempted to pull the wallpapers loose, but resisted the urge. I would have to change it afterwards, no doubt. That would be no fun, cleaning up after my messes never was.
"These rooms are reserved only for the guests that have permission of a night's stay. They haven't been put to good use for a couple years, but will be used soon. We're here to remove the first layer and find what needs replacing."
"Permission to snoop?" I asked playfully. My question caught her off guard as she smiled for a moment in amusement at how I phrased it. Catching herself, her smile disappeared as she waved me off.
I took on the easiest chore and began cleaning the windows, while she started removing the mirror coverings and wrapping the white clothes around her hands, before leaving a pile close to the door. As I whipped diligently, I couldn't help but wonder what she meant by 'will be used soon' if the rooms had been unused for years? Was there something about to happen in the castle? We went room to room on one side of the hall cleaning and looking for anything that was deemed old or that needed to be replaced, when Violeta suddenly let out a surprised shout, flinching back sharply as she took hold of her wrist.
"What's wrong?" I began to stand up to head her way when she shook her head. She rubbed at her wrist.
"Something poked at me when I went feeling the inside." She leaned forward, sticking her head into the armory as if to glare at the offensive thing that had injured her.
"Keep cleaning this, I'll tell one of the boys about this." She put her cloth on the side of the bucket with a tired sigh, placing her hand on her knees to inch back up into a straighter stance. "Need's to be replaced before it gets noticed."
"Alright." I confirmed without looking away from the window. I felt her eyes linger on me for a moment more before she went out of the room. I didn't step away from the window until it was fully clean. I focused on the sound of her foot steps until I could hear them no more, then scanned round to see if anyone else was near by. When I knew no one was, I dropped the cleaning cloth on the ground, stepped over it and walked out of the room.
The southern part of the castle was perhaps the most desolate part of the castle I had seen so far. The staff here are scarce and the cobwebs plentiful. It was not lacking in furnishings, the better pieces covered in white cloth to prevent the dust from sticking, but the rest. My nose scrunched, resisting the urge to sneeze. I snooped around, opening drawers, and looked for anything that might have been left behind by a previous guest. I could only find empty drawers and empty hangers. Shutting the door with a disappointed sigh, I moved on. On the walls there were beautiful paintings with golden frames. I lifted a couple to see if anything would slip out. Like a lovers note for a rendezvous, but no such thing came out. Well, even if there wasn't anything worth keeping, it was good to know what the rooms did not have within them and how often they were looked after.
I was about to make my way back into the room when I heard the rush of foot steps on the other side. I didn't think much of walking over to the archway entrance. It wasn't Violeta, they were lighter and faster, like a child. I peered down, waiting to catch a glimpse. I didn't have to wait for long for a little girl wearing a beautiful purple dress and white stockings to come rushing into the hallway. Her curly long hair, parted into two bouncing pony tails, was black at the roots, but towards the end it turned a pale pink that looked nearly red at the bottom. She wore a gray coat on top, white lace gloves, but when she turned and caught sight of me, I got a real glimpse at her face as she skidded to a stop.
She looked around six or seven, her face round and full of youthfulness. Her skin was far from pale, rather she was rather warm colored, with the exception of the almost green flush across her cheeks and beneath her eyes. Was she sick? Large black eyes slightly slanted downward and neatly kept brows lifted, widening at the sight of me as she bit her small lip in a worrying manner as she turned to look behind her and then back. My ears twitched, as more footsteps approached, this time adults. I knew a run away when I saw one. I smiled at her. Her eyes narrowed, making my smile turn into a grin. I motioned over to the archway with my head, she must not have wanted to be caught, for she ran over without much thought. I turned, watched as she ran into the room I was in charge of cleaning. Oh, joy.
I took a step to the side, officially standing back on the other side of the arch entrance, leaving the hall in front of them now appearing empty, and watched.
There were always maids walking around, usually carrying something or hurting to go complete a task. The only reason I stopped was because while they wore their hair tied with the white hairband, like I did, their uniform was slightly different. Well, the emerald green uniform was glaringly different from my own black and white uniform. Their aprons were frilly, lacy at the bottom, silver buttons gleaming at the sleeves and shoulders as they moved about in franticly.
They went door to door, opening the guest rooms and storming in, before flying out to the doors across. They would call for 'Princess Ruby' before yelling out a denial for whatever room they inspected. That title made me go rigid.
"We need to find a replacement." A young woman shaken voice rang out in the silent halls.
"It doesn't matter what we need, you know the Princess has to approve of her." Another woman said, "Lady Cecilia is going to skin us alive."
"Calm down, she only has a few seconds head start." The words were said almost as a way to reassure. "My Lady, please come out! We will all be scolded if found on this side of the castle."
When there was no obvious response, I heard the sound of two hearts taking off as the familiar scent of fear slunk down the hall.
"Your favorite lemon cookies are waiting for you back in your room." The other tried. "Pri-Princess Ruby!" Her voice cracked.
"..." We all stood there in silence.
"We're dead." I bit the inside of my lip and turned to glance at the room the Princess was hiding in.
"At least Sir Firat will be with her." At those words, I frowned and tilted my head. Sir Firat? I hadn't heard anyone else near by.
"Not that he ever stops her from leaving." They were getting closer as they searched this way. I turned and made my way back silently to the room.
"It's his duty to protect her, not stop her."
"If anything, it's us who were supposed to watch her."
When I walked back into the room, she was not immediately visible to my eyes, but I was fascinated to hear her little humming bird like heart coming from behind the wall close to the bed frame. Huh, hidden wall. Should have looked for that. I picked up my rag and walked over to the dresser as the sound of one pair of feet ran over to the room. This was the only room with the door wide open, the rest were shut.
"Hey, you! Have you heard anyone run by recently?" I turned to face one of the maids. She was younger than me, that I knew on sight. She had a beauty mark on her upper lip beneath her nose on the right and gray eyes. She scanned the room as she waited for me to answer.
"Not recently." I answered, setting down the rag and furrowing my brows as my lips parted. I blinked. "Was I supposed to?"
"No, never mind then." Without another backward glance, she was out and stormed the rest of the rooms. I leaned against the dresser and tapped my fingers loudly on the clean surface, listening to the foot steps get further and further away until they were at a safe distance.
I walked over to the bed and stepped closer to the wall, before raising my hand and knocking on the wall. It did in deed sound hallow. At the sound of my knock, her heart took off again.
"They're gone, your Highness." I studied the wall, trying to see if anything looked out of place, finding no discrepancies. "You can come out if you wish to now."
There was a moment before shuffling began, I took three steps back. It sounded like she had dropped, abruptly, her small head popped out from under the bed. Was the entrance beneath the bed? Genius. She studied me for a moment, before wiggling out and coming to stand to her feet, calmly dusting of her dress. Once she was satisfied with her attire, she stood proudly.
"I am Princess Ruby, who are you?" Her young child like voice, already so full of young confidence, was simply adorable. I tried to keep in mind that she was not simply just any young kid. I took hold of my skirt and bowed. It was probably an atrocious bow, but it was as polite as I would be getting when it came to manners.
"No one of importance, your Highness." I answered, keeping my head low as I answered. Her mouth parted open in an 'Oh' as she blinked at me in clear surprise.
"You don't want to give me your name?" She questioned, taken aback. As royalty, there must have been countless people trying to introduce themselves to her. Surly, I wasn't the first to deviate from her expectations? A weary feeling began to grow from my belly.
"No."
"Why not?" Her cheeks puffed up as she pouted, she looked up with gleaming black eyes. The onyx statues from earlier came to mind.
"I am not worthy of remembering." I said soothingly, this was not a big deal. There were plenty of maids within the palace, this small meeting would soon leave her mind when she next played-
"Lie." Chills climbed up from my finger tips as those onyx eyes suddenly seemed wider than before. "Give me your name." She demanded with edge.
Again, the pit of my stomach dropped as my back grew cold. My ears picked up the sound of a blade and knew I was being watched.
"If that is what you command," I lowered myself to my knees to look at her. "I am Marie-"
"Lie."
Shing. At the definite sound, I turned to look at the closest window by the bed, finding a pair of blue eyes already focused on me with pull intensity, their face covered with a dark hood and wrap. Sir Firat, I presume. He was perched on the tree as if he were a bird on a branch, the large frame, so still even had missed his presence. Had even missed the nearly silent beats within his chest. Just as his eyes began to narrow on me, malice directed my way. I turned away. Princess Rubby wore a sure and serious expression. I looked off to the side, before smiling widely.
"How could I dare-" I began, my voice filled with cherry amusement.
"Your name isn't Marie." She declared sure. Then all of that confidence wavered for a moment. "Are you here to hurt me?" Her hands came together over her chest as she played with her fingers. The malice from the window turned into blood lust that gave me the sensation of a fantom blade being placed on the nook of my neck.
"No." I answered truthfully, suddenly feeling nervous of her answer even though I knew the answer to be true. Whatever talent she had for discerning lies was the real deal, this I knew. My instincts were warning me that I might not be imagining the blade. I held very still.
"Truth." She nodded, hands dropping to her sides as she the petulant look returned. I did not move even after the fantom blade disappeared. Just because I could not feel it did not mean it was gone. As I had suspected long before, dealing with royals was something not meant for me.
It was true that children were very perceptive to certain things, but this was more than that. Must be some royal family secret, but if not, then what had given me away.
"And how do you know that?" I mused out loud without thinking it. I focused. "Ah, that's probably something I should not ask about." I stood up and took a step away from the troublesome princess.
"What's your name liar?" My lips twitched, she took a step forward. I took one back.
"Maire." I said slowly, with a smile in place.
"Lie." She responded, eyes narrowing as she closed in. Violeta's familiar foot steps, followed by two more, were nearing. I lifted a hand, she froze in place.
"Perhaps, but I suggest you find a new place to hide." Her eyes widened at my words as she rushed to the door, but stopped at the frame to peek out. "There are about to be more people heading this way, your highness." They were a bit too far for her hearing, but she seemed to believe me as she turned.
"Okay." She waved a hand. "Goodbye liar."
"Goodbye Your Royal Highness Princess Ruby." I bowed to her as she ran off. I did not get more from my position, there were still eyes on me for a long moment, they did not disappear until Princess Ruby's foot steps disappeared for quite some time.
Immediately I stood up and turned around, cleaning around the room rapidly as the other's neared the room. Thankfully there wasn't much to do. When they entered the room, I was removing the curtains. I gave them a small smile and continued on as they fretted at how to best remove the bothersome furniture.
"Marie, go on and start the next room." I did as I was told and left the room.
Down the hall I heard an older woman's voice, scolding the two who were after Princess Ruby. I placed the half empty bucket into the room and leaned against the door, enrolling a white sheet full of dust. I made a face.
"What are you doing here? Who is with Princess Ruby?" She all but screamed.
"The Princess is hiding again." A timid voice responded.
"How does she always manage to sneak away from you two?" The woman spit out through clenched teeth.
"W-We were getting her snacks when we heard the door shut-"
"So she managed to not only lose you, but also trap you? Unbeilveable." I chuckled at that. She had a right to be fuming, children were precious. "Come to the kitchen as soon as she is put to bed later tonight." My mouth widened at her tone, I looked off, I recognized a firing when I heard one.
"As you wish." Both women responded subdued.
"Now we've got to find her before this reaches the ears of His Majesty. If he hears of this before we find her, then you too will find yourselves in trouble."
"We will find her."
Whistling, I went back into the room to begin my cleaning. Princess Ruby and her escort were no doubt closer than they thought. Not that it was any of my business. I froze for a moment. How did I miss Sir Firat for so long? I stood and looked around the room, peering out of the window as if he would be perched up on the tree as earlier, waiting to be discovered by me. I did not like how I hadn't been able to sense him. Not at all. He was to be feared. Perhaps it was time to leave before something tied me down here. I pondered what to do as I went about cleaning.
I wish I had known leaving Zelig would be harder than entering it.
* * *
Some of the girls had been standing around my door for whatever damned reason when one of them tilted her head, looked over my shoulder and asked.
"Are those your siblings?" My jaw went tight for a moment before relaxing as everyone scooted over to follow her gaze. I had put the picture on the small night stand by my bed, because it would look odder to keep the picture hidden, but I hoped they didn't start asking me for names.
"Yes." I sighed sadly, I wrapped my arms around my, pulling the blanket in tighter. "Do you have siblings?" I asked with a small smile.
"No, well, not that I know of anyway." She began and then corrected herself, before shrugging. "My father got around."
"Oh, I see." I nodded slowly. Some of the others had understanding faces, bitter or annoyed expression as they nodded.
"Have you heard anything strange late at night?" The girl from the room next to mine asked suddenly. I stiffened, glanced over at her and watched everyone, remaining silent.
"What do you mean?" Andy asked below me, sitting on the step with her green blanket wrapped around her and over her chestnut hair. The girl- Jordan- leaned in closer as if to whisper a secret. I tensed even further.
"I think there might be a mouse in here." Her nervous confession, a reif to me while the others jumped away in fright and scooted back.
"Bite your tongue!" Someone screamed, her dark purple hair braided to the side. She had very brushy brows that curled upwards in a funny way. "Do not even whisper it. There is no way there are mice here."
"I will not, if it's not mice, what if a snake has gotten in? I've heard rattling at night." Jordan continued, fixed on worrying about the midnight mystery. Annoyance, not at her, well a little, but at myself. I should have just thrown the damn thing away if it was going to start rattling every night.
"When?"
"During the night, close to midnight." Hmm, if I ever snuck out, it would be more than the guards I would have to be wry about bumping into. If I didn't want to leave a mess, that was.
"I've not heard anything." An older woman stated, nose in the air, looking elsewhere.
"That's because you snore-" Her roommate corrected. In a flash, she turned back as giggles erupted.
"I do not." Her eyes went wide with indignation. I held a snort.
"Yes, you do." Everyone corrected together. I let out my snort.
"Well," she flushed, now embarrassed. "I've still not heard any rattling. Where did it come from?"
"Oh, I think I've heard it as well." I played along, looking up at the sky as if pondering. "Was it not around our rooms? There might be mice sneaking about late at night."
"See, even Marie has heard it." Jordan pointed my way, triumphant.
"Well, I'll check around the rooms later." The older woman offered wearily, now looking around as if from afar, a beast would come out of the forest and around the corner.
"What if it really is a snake?" Andy asked, looking at the ground with distrust as her legs inched closer to her. I couldn't resist the urge to pat her on the head. She looked up and grinned.
"Then I'll scream and you'll have to go running to find Mister Gerald." I straightened up, seizing the opportunity.
"Where does Mister Gerald stay? With the other men over there?" I tried to keep my expression innocent as I asked, but I think I was a bit to excited as I asked, for she gave me a disapproving glare.
"Not quite, he lives within castle grounds, but there is a rope by the gate that calls both him and a guard, only to be used for emergencies." After a moment, she added heavily. "Of great risk."
"Why not just ask one of the men over-" I pursed my lips as I looked away, scratching the back of my head at her words.
"Why not just let the snake bite you? Are you daft girl? There's a reason the women and men are separated. Girls here tend to go missing." The woman scolded whoever asked, her tone infuriated before hardening.
"What?" I asked as we all turned to watch her lose color. She looked around with a blank look, before laughing, eyes tight.
"Oh...I-I didn't mean it like that. What I mean is that a lot of coupling goes on, and the women are always the ones kicked out." She clarified, but I was sure I wasn't the only one who did not believe her.
"Oh."
"The last one left heavy with child." She continued without pause, rambling about some girl who had fallen for a stable boy.
"Why didn't she just have it here?"
"Who would look after them?" Another interjected. It was harsh but true, most of the time the owners who hired the help did not want to end up helping, especially when the child was conceived at work.
The talk quickly shifted onto children and partners left behind with the sweet promises of reuniting one day when the timing was right, but I was still stuck on what was said earlier. Princess Ruby onyx knowing eyes. Missing girls. One more strike, and I was out, regardless if the last one was a false statement or not.
I looked up at the moon, what would tomorrow bring?