"Unusual of you to stay and complete the paperwork for someone else." Rose was considered old for most servants, pushing adulthood. Most moved forward into the rear or main castles, if not out into the small communities that catered to the castle.
"Our lives sucked less." Idly responding as the older sister maid filled in the noble's enrollment form. She had already filled out her training record instead of abandoning the noble to her own devices.
"You were pulled out of Plainville orphanage; I heard it was rough." Rose wasn't much older than maid Jac, and the two had similar background, struggling to survive in poor childcare.
"Those people were just a mess, as far as I can tell, they planned and organized how they were going to hurt and abuse her." It wasn't limited to just that, the ruined body spoke for itself. Rose had responded by being a spitfire, while Jac had been apathetic, avoiding her responsibilities.
"The scars are too regular, and the healing appears be planned. Her instructors also harassed her, corporal punishment for failing to be perfect. One of the men appears to have sexually harassed her as well, but I don't think she knows what it was…" Rose always maintained a blizzard of an appearance, as if the world failed to accommodate her.
"Bloody wrong, when is the cog shattering?" Almost imperceptibly her angry looking features softened.
"As soon as Bandersnatch is found, I'm going to ask him to rush the blood test." Finishing the form, the maid handed the teacher it before looking over. From the small huddle on the floor, the three earnestly built towers and castles out of bricks.
"It looks better if you use two colors. If you do three it looks wavy and odd."
True to their commitment, the small children were teaching the noble how to block. Each tidbit was revealed to the older girl in the mix with a sense of wisdom and sageness that looked adorable on the small children.
"Wait, she's ten?" Rose wasn't looking at the three children, trusting them to not do anything rash with the large block toys.
"Yea, shrimp aint she?" While Rose ignored, Jac soaked up the cute rays that the three children were projecting. Even in the short time the maid had worked with the child, she was earnest in all her actions. Since her block teacher said to use two colors, the noble diligently rebuilt the offending sections. Rose continued to pursue the written form.
"If you're joking with me, I'm going to sign you up for advance linguistics. That girl is a noble?"
"Has to be, no one acts like that otherwise." Jac responded as Rose stared at her sort of younger friend. If she was and had received formal education, it wouldn't be too much to expect her to pass orientation, third level, and a dozen other courses in a very short time frame.
"No wonder they were so methodical, they are practiced." Most of the servant suffered in one form or another. These were more offhanded rather than deliberate harm. Getting hit for being mouthy, running from a drunk relative, harassed by the rich nobles for sport.
It was the other side of the nobility that had practiced the arts of torture and suffering as a craft.
"Take care of her please." It was the first time that maid Jac had asked for a favor from Rose without begging pointlessly. Rose stiffened, pretending to be the tough gruff instructor.
"I treat them all the same." It sounded deep but the maid knew that underneath the razor wire was a soft mushy heart who couldn't handle the suffering of others. Lapsing into silence the two focused on the three children still in the room. The other instructor had the class today, so Rose was a regulated babysitter for the two youngest siblings of others in the castle.
That was until the block castle collapsed.
Staring down at the ruins of her block-built castle, the noble had accidently knocked a brick out of place. When she went to fix her ramparts, sleeves caught and demolished the whole tower. There was a soft silence as the noble refused to cry, despite that her eyes had become wellsprings.
"It's otay, we can rebuild." Softly patting the older girl on the back, the small cinnamon roll known as Matt gently consoled the noble.
"He's right, I'll help you make it better than before." Trixy responded, as her senior in block building, she would take care of her older sisters. In light of such an assault of cuteness it was the instructor and maid's turn to lose their souls, as the small child group redoubled their efforts to make block buildings.
Opening her eyes, the noble felt that the world of blocks was deeper than she could imagine, and that the two small children were well deserving of the title of senior block construction. She hadn't planned on sleeping but the two children eventually settled and became sleepy. Scheduling was fluid for the small children, but they were clear that there was a nap to be taken prior to dinner.
Refusing to let their new friend out in the cold they insisted on sleeping with Tiffaney. Rose looked angry but still arranged the mats so the three could rest together without problem.
Dinner had been far lighter than their lunch and without too many problems the noble was once more in her shared room. Her orders had been to report to the classes first thing in the morning to assist the instructor in taking care of the tykes.
Despite the nap, the noble slept quickly if not restlessly. Once again, the bed across from her was slept in but not made.
"If your bedding is messy, they will take it away." Taking the moment to fold sharp conners into the top cover, the noble admired her work.
"Maid Tiffaney are you there?" Startled at the youthful voice the noble hurried to the door. There was the dark-haired Mare, smiling brightly with her dark hail neatly pulled up behind her mob cap. Like most commoners' dark hair was the norm, driven by eons of work in the toiling sun. It was something that was always abused, her dirty brown hair befits of an unwanted child.
"Ah yes lady Mare, are you escorting me to the classes today." Stifling a light giggle at the noble's formal tone.
"Breakfast first." The words 'three meals a day?' died on her tongue. The noble had been smart enough to realize that she didn't have a say in the matter. It was obvious that the house of Dyne was they was in league with her father's family, secretly treating her well only to drop her into hell once more. If she stayed here, she would play into the devious entrap.
"It doesn't matter, I will escape this house and seek refuge in the south!" The young noble told herself.