Elaine Elloy had straight, long hair. It swayed when she walked. Elaine roamed the streets at night, searching for food that was maybe thrown out by vendors, her small pale hands tearing through old clothes and wreckage. Any food the young girl found was eaten the moment she got it, or else another child would come and take it back.
She fought for days and days by herself, foraging and scavenging.
Her war never ended.
She was chased by men, dogs and people. Rocks, bread or rotten vegetables were thrown at her.
She had scars down her back, her arms.
Elaine Elloy had thought she had seen the worst of it.
One evening, Elaine was sitting outside a pub. The water droplets hit her brown hair from the ledge of the roof, making her scalp itchy. She scratched her head, feeling the soiled knots. Elaine was hungry, it ate her insides like a fire, tearing her flesh apart, destroying her. Every inch of her body trembled due to the cold.
The pub door swung open and a woman in a coat stormed out. Her dark hair was down in a bun, her green eyes staring ahead. She pulled out a cigarette, lighting it and sticking it in her mouth. Her fingers were calloused and long, her eyes tired and dark.
Elaine stared.
"Want sometin kid?" The woman hissed. She flicked her cigarette, orange ash falling to the ground. Elaine's eyes were wide and round, like a deer, her lashes were clumped together because of the rain.
"You don't talk much, do ya?" The woman crouched down. "Ya hungrey?"
Elaine nodded.
"Here, take dis." The woman took the cigarette out of her mouth, using her other hand to reach for money in her pocket. "Go get yourself food. Across the street."
Elaine snatched the money from the woman. She stood up and ran across the street. She never felt so excited. Never felt so exhilarated, and never felt so vulnerable. Anyone could have seen them exchange money, and anyone could attack her right now. She slammed the money on the table. The smell of grease and the sound of beef sizzling on the fire made her mouth water. The woman gave her four silver coins, which was maybe enough for two skewers.
Elaine's heart raced, pounding across her chest, making her lungs tighten. Every second meant safety, every moment here meant being full for another night.
—
"You like skewers?" The woman didn't stop at one cigarette, she pulled another one out and smoked it until it was nothing but lost ash, then another and another. The entire time Elaine ate her skewers
She nodded.
"I don't do this often, kid." The woman bend down to eye level with Elaine. Her green eyes stared into Elaines. "But tonight I'm feeling kind, plus one of the maids left the manor." Rolling her eyes, she flicked her cigarette.
Elaine listened.
"Can you clean?"
"Yes." The woman smiled. "So you can talk."
"Yes.."
"Okay, will you do it for free? If it means living in a house, getting fed, being washed?"
"Yes."
"I guess," She took a huge whiff of the cigarette, before letting it out in one go. "I have my answer. Wait for me here, I'll be done by midnight. If you're gone, I'll assume you never wanted to come with me."
The woman dropped her cigarette before Elaine's feet.
Without another word, she opened the door of the pub and walked in. Elaine sat there and watched the door shut, the light from inside disappearing and leaving her to the darkness of the street.
She watched the cigarette's light get dimmer and dimmer, before sizzling out, leaving her again, alone.
—-
Life in the manor wasn't so bad, if anything, the work there was much easier than anything Elaine endured on the streets. She was fed at the end of the day if she did her job right, and bathed with the other maids. They all adored Elaine, since she was cute and worked hard.
The maid who took her in was the head. Her name was Aurora, but most of the maids who worked in her quarters called her Sal. She was strict, rough but was honest, and always treated Elaine with respect, even if she was only a kid.
Elaine spent her days roaming the manor, finding work when Sal had nothing for her to do. It was the biggest house she's ever seen. From what her friend Konnie told her, the manor was separated into four separate sections, there was a head maid who had her own quarter to care for.
Two quarters belonged to the Duke and Duchess, and the other two belonged to their children.
The Duke and Duchess had three kids, their firstborn, Ceasare, eleven and a young mage and knight, their second son, Johanson, eight, and their youngest daughter, Esmeray, who was six years old.
Elaine was the same age as Johanson, so often she dreamed of playing knights with him, or maybe eating bread and tea with him in his garden. She never spoke to him though, he was almost never home.
Konnie explained that their part of the manor connected to Ceasare and Esmeray's bedrooms, and that often Esmeray had tea parties in the garden and greenhouse when the weather was good, but told Elaine to never approach them if she sees them unless spoken to.
Elaine didn't stick to that rule.
—-
It was the end of a fall day when Elaine met Esmeray. She was picking dirt and grime from the window sills, creases and under furniture, since her hands were small enough to pick it. She was emptying the dirt and grime into a small cloth she carried with her, before dumping it into a bag.
She was working in the hallways that connected Ceasare's and Esmeray's rooms, and although Ceasare was away at school, Elaine wanted to see him.
She had developed a small crush on the firstborn son of the Houlston Dukedom. Cute with defined features for a fourteen year old, strong physically and magically, smart in his studies, he had no flaws.
He was also very kind to his servants. Although he never spoke to her, he often smiled at her when she was working and they made eye-contact. Sal told Elaine, "do not take that boy's smile into account, he is doing it for mere formalities." But Elaine didn't believe Sal.
She didn't want to, even if what Sal was saying was true.
Elaine tucked her hair strands behind her ears, her braid was useless since they kept falling out and getting in her face. She emptied the chunks of dirt into the small bag.
Ring. A bell rang from the daughter's bedroom. She needed something.
Oh no. Do I answer, or do I get another maid? Elaine looked around. The sun lit the hallway through the tall glass windows. The sunset casted a orange glare on the white and ivory walls. No one was in the hallway. Ring. Again.
Elaine approached the door, hands shaking. She knocked and opened the door.
Her chest tightened.
Esmeray, like her brothers, had deep navy hair, and yellow eyes. She was more divine than them, more petite. Her wrists were small as her frame. She had a talent for painting, and she loved to design her room in splashes of colour.
Esmeray turned to her, the tall stained glass windows behind Esmeray and her canvas, let the sunset dance across the room, but instead of the orange glare, it let a beautiful ray of blues, reds and purples shine.
Elaine stared and studied the bedroom, a beautiful bed with silk and smooth fabrics, couches with artistic flowers as the covers, a vanity larger than Elaine's bed, and a closet with the grandest door frame, gold trimming and velvet carpets, all covered in the blanket of colours. All fit for the firstborn daughter of a duke.
"I need something, can you refill this vase of water and bring me some cloth?" Esmeray gestured to the vase with brown water.
Elaine jumped. "U-Uhm, yes!" She hurried over, grabbing the vase and moving like a demented sloth, being careful to not let a droplet of paint water hit the fluffy carpet.
Esmeray giggled.
Elaine smiled.