Chapter 16 - Just a few pieces of Cloth

I was woken by the morning sun illuminating the room and the birds chirping loudly outside. Then a certain feeling hit me and I realized that I had no idea where rich people did their business. I looked under the bed and there wasnt a chamber pot or anything like that so I went and looked inside the walk in closet but there wasnt one either. The pressure was raising so I decided to try the clapping to see if any servants would come. To my amazement a door opened from the perfect wood paneling just a few short moments later and two servants steeped in again with the head bowed. They were again two young women. For a short moment I was pondering what the old duke would do with the older maids but then just shook my head slightly. "How may we help you milady?"

One of them asked. She had red hair that stood out quite a lot in comparison to the other maids. "Um yes I could not find where I could do my um ... business." My legs were already begging to cross each other but I tried to stay strong. I really dont need to give a wrong impression. "Ah of course milady please follow me." She guided me straight towards the walk-in closet then opened a side door that I had not noticed bevor and revealing a large room with a bath tub in the center and a toilet like they had in the palace next to it. I could only shake my head and stood there stunned for a moment. Next to the bath was a ornamented handpump the same for the toilette.

There must be some central water tank because if it was just a normal water pump there would be no way to pump up this high. And all that just to flush some stuff down the drain. Next to the toilette was a collection of small sponges new and ready to be used. The whole thing reeked of riches however they must have done something really clever because it did not reeked of toilette. "If you are in need of anything or require more water or a bath please dont hesitate to call us." With that she bowed and both of them discreetly left the room.

I did my business in silence. It was so strange compared to a bucket but I did not miss that at all. Afterwards I did pump the water myself to refill what I had used then filled the wash basin. Interestingly enough there were two pumps for that water and after a few short pumps it turned out that one was warm to the touch. That confused me a lot. Did they have a big kettle somewhere? How did they keep that one running? And did they know that someone was going to use it or was it just heated all the time? It was a mystery, one that I would maybe solve today.

After I had cleaned myself as good as I could I looked down on the gown from yesterday. I really need to get some of my cloth here. Still i put it on since it was the only thing i had at the moment. But once I stepped back into my sleeping chamber I noticed that the redhead maid was waiting there patiently while the other dark haired one just came In with a pile of neatly folded cloth. "Please forgive us milady, but your cloth from the palace only arrived a few moments ago and we sadly did not have a talented seamstress among us that could create cloths suited for your standing within half a day."

She pointed to a neatly arranged stack of cloth on a small table next to the bed. "We have gathered a few choices for you milady and an breakfast has been prepared in the reception chamber next door. We hope it is to your liking." I nodded with a smile. "I am certain it will be better then what I am used to. It will be a blessing to have decent morning meals again." I hesitated a second. "What will you two do now?" She bowed slightly. "If you dont mind, we would like to exchange the old wardrobe with those fitted for you. Milady." I chuckled. "Thank you for that I highly doubt that any of his gowns will fit me. What will happen to them?" She hesitated for a short moment. "Whatever you wish to do with them milady. For now we wanted to move them towards the storage chamber until you have decided what to do with them."

"That sounds like a lot of work hmm ... Do you know in how many hours lunch is served in the harem?" She nodded again. "In around five hours milady." I nodded again. Five hours that I could wander aimlessly trough the palace. Hmm ... na I think I will help you with moving all this." I pointed towards the chamber full of cloth. "Um ... but .... Milady ... I um." Finally I could get a better guess at how old she was. At first I had assumed she was something like 26 or so already quite mature and secure in live.

But now that I got her out of the routine, I could tell that she was more like 18 maybe 20. So hard to tell. "If I recalled right you said to tell you if I need anything right?" I said with a soft relaxed voice. "Yes of course milady. But I meant that if you need our help with anything." I chuckled. "Well right now I need you lovely girls help to move all of this towards an attic, that I dont know were to find. So if you wouldn't mind to show me how you would move all of this towards there? That would be great." The other dark haired maid was definitely younger than her college and her eyes did glow full of disbelieve and excitement.

"I .. as you wish milady. But please forgive me we will have to use the servants walkway for some parts." I chuckled. "I know dont worry, I have to regain some of my strength and this will be excellent training. Additionally it will allow me to navigate my new home better." She rubbed her neck but then bowed. "As you wish milady but I must mention that people will talk about this if you are spotted. I hope that we will be able to protect your standing with other nobles." I chuckled again while picking up my cloth for the day. "The other nobles will think of me as a rude barbarian anyway so might as well give them some more food to believe that stereotype so that they are confused once they really meet me." I smiled a bit. "It always helps if someone thinks less of you. At least if they are your opponent. Well I will help you soon but fist some breakfast." I smiled and walked into the other room.

The breakfast was as charming, I had a large range of options to chose from. And after a bit of convincing I made the two girls some large sandwiches to eat while working too. The work of rearranging the clothing on the other hand was hard. But after a while I learned a little about the lives of my new employees and working with them made it a lot more relaxed and entertaining. The redhead name was Eva she was one of the more experience Maids in the palace and had been on the cleaning duties of the Masters bedroom since over 2 years now. The shy black haired one was Ina. She was just 17 and worked in the palace for a year now. It was her first round with this task but with Evas instructions she easily did the everything correctly. It was fun to watch how she gently corrected small mistakes of the young one.

My involvement at this stage was in the carrying and deciding if any of the old cloth would stay. Sadly the only piece that would suit me where a few capes and cloaks that seemed to have been never used. And even those did not really suit me to much. Nothing of his fitted me or interested me at all. Witch considering our differences in shape and size wasnt a big surprise. His shoe locker was full of hardly ever worn shoes of extremely elegant design and went all together almost unseen into three large bags. The only other thing that remained was the ceremonial robe of the dukedom, of course I could not wear his but it would serve as a template for the tailor to create mine.

I was amazed at the rich and untouched appearance of most of the cloth. Each piece was carefully inspected, then Eva did write an lengthy description of its content on a specific piece of the bag that was attached to a long line. Meanwhile Ina was folding them before they were tugged in and the next batch was prepared. I was mostly just getting them from the wardrobe. There was more value in cloth there then I had seen in my whole life, but I agreed that we needed to have them out of the way first and I loved the initiative that madam Laferin had taken so far. From Eva I learned that she was really kind towards her workers although she could be a bit harsh and could appear very demanding when she felt like it was needed.

She usually had a good grasp on what her workers were capable of and would without doubt realize that Eva and Ina had help. Here I had to calm her down a bit that I would of course explain to the madam that it was my wish to help to get a better understanding of the palace. After an hour or so we were finished and hat multiple large bags full of cloth each as big as a small child. Eva carefully did load up Ina making certain that she was able to carry it without having to strain herself to much, then turned to me but I had already had chosen three of them. The three bags did way around as much as the equipment I used to carry through the desert so they would make an excellent workout.

I had changed into some of the more comfortable clothing. They where designed for a bit of work like riding or something. I knew that they would most likely get all sweaty, but I was looking forward to see the palace from the workers perspective. While we walked, I learned a bit more about the layout from Eva. She explained which function the rooms ahead had. If they were occupied or if they were empty. She too explained the typical tasks of the servants around the palace after I had asked her on two separated occasion. We were walking along the main hall. She explained to me that if there were a lot of guest they could use some servant walkways but that would make the way a lot longer and harder to walk especially with these heavy bags.

I knew that with all of this, I was putting her into a difficult position, but I honestly enjoyed to hear about the ins and out of all of this and I learned a lot. Like how there were some rooms that had quite a similar function and like the deadly poetry were there to fill the empty space. If ever needed these rooms could be easily adjusted to server whatever function one wanted. Well for the most part. She was just telling me how there was a guest who wanted two of the rooms converted to a dance room and how disappointed said guest was when they told her that they could not connect these two together with just knocking down the loadbearing walls in between them, when she suddenly stopped and went a bit pale.

Ina next to her looked even more shocked and tried to hide behind me. I followed the gaze of the two terrified woman and spotted madam Laferin with a unreadable expression walking towards us. There was no hurry in her steeps but something in her stern gaze made it clear that we were her target and that we better not dared to disappear on her. I smiled a bit and steeped forward opening with a gentle. "Good morning madame." While still holding the large bags of clothing.

"Good morning milady I hope I find you well?" Her voice was gently and seemed to be really concerned. "Yes, thank you. I had a wonderful night. An excellent breakfast and right now I am getting some good charming company with some exercise on top. What could one want more?" She raised a curious brow, but you could not tell if she was displeased or accepting of my idea of exercise. "So I am right to assume that it was your idea to be so kind to assist my subordinates with their tasks?" I nodded again. "She tried kindly to persuade otherwise but I insisted. I did sit around to much the last few years and now i had this excellent opportunity to not only help a bit but get to know those that work closely around me." I shrugged. "Lifting a bit of cloth for a while will suit me just fine.

She nodded then looked to Eva. "How many more rounds remain in the chamber?" She asked the maid who seemed to have calmed down a bit. "I think we should be done with three or four rounds madam." She nodded and her gaze wandered to Ina who did grew a bit more pale. "Ina be so kind and share your load with me. You look a bit to pale for my likening. Marie give me one of yours too." Her voice was calm and kind especially when she spoke to Ina but she was clearly in control of the whole situation.

She surprised me because she had not looked like someone who would share the burden of carrying stuff like this. "We will pile them up next to the drawing room. I dont trust the stairs to carry them up there fully loaded and it will go quicker this way. If you dont mind your grace?" I shook my head slightly and shoulder my bags again. "After you madam. The drawing room sounds interesting what is it used for?" I could see how Lafterin and Eva shared look and after a nod Eva answered to me. "At the moment it is not used of course, but the old dukes mother used to go there to draw paintings of all kinds. As well as visiting artist would use that room for that purpose."

She hesitated for a moment then continued. "And the old duke had it used to have some paintings of more private nature made." I raised my eyebrow but before I could ask anything madam laferin spoke up. "But that is a topic for another day. We can unload the first load here." To me it looked like any other wall panel until I noticed the well-hidden piece that could be used as a handle to open the hidden door. "All of the entrances to the servant potions are hidden like this milady to not distract you or your guests."

I nodded slightly. "I would like to see them. So can we use them on the way back?" She hesitated shortly but then nodded. "Most certainly milady." She opened the hidden door and guided us into the backways. I had expected a thin cramped walkway. But that was mostly incorrect. What I could see was wide enough that two people could pass each other without turning the shoulders. However I could already see spots were something on the other side of the wall was cutting away space from the walkways so at certain spots you could only walk alone.

I noticed that the light here came from the same foggy write lamps. In fact it seemed to be exactly the same as I saw on the other side even though I had not realized that they have been lit but now thinking back while the main hall had windows trough wich the sun was shining brightly, the lamp did seem to spend their warm welcoming light at all the times. "So how much oil do you burn for all these lights?" I asked but Eva just shook her head slightly. "They are not oil lamps milady. Please shield your eyes, they are very bright." She stepped towards one of the lights and pulled a lever next to it, moving the heavy fogged glass up.

Inside was a blindingly bright glowing crystal that was resting on a heavy iron frame. I could see dark burned spots were the iron frame was touching the stone below it, but the whole thing did not emit much heat at the moment. "They are called Firehearts milady and found near old volcanos in the center of the northern desert. They are worth a lot and when freshly charged are extremely hot. But you put them into the fire once a year and they stay bright for the rest." I nodded. "I remember now, some of the traders where talking about them. They are impractical for travels or ship because they get extremely hot when charged right?"

She nodded. "They are quite rare here but the ancestor of the old duke were the first o figure out how to keep them glowing." She gently lowered the lid again before stepping back. "We usually charge them in the winter, so the rainy days feel a bit warmer. Not by much of course but enough to keep it homey." I nodded again and we continued on our way. The last I heard one of those crystals are worth a whole house. It wasnt that they were so hard to mine or keep once you knew hot to use them, but they were in high demand and the journey was dangerous especially since the mines were not near the main routes through the dessert.

You charged them by simply putting them into a large fire. If the fire was to small they would just not shine that much. If it was to large they would get so hot they would melt iron and wen they cool down after that they would shatter, letting go of the heat over the next few days. They would be excellent for firing a forge If it wasnt such a waste. There where many different rumors about their origin but the most common one was that they were formed the day magic went wild but at the same time they could have been there for ages unchanged and waiting to be found.

I shook my head and followed the others. The way back was way more confusing. First we went down two flights of tight spiral stairs then we went into a maze of long corridors that had hardly any windows. Only some small ones on either end and whenever there were small short passages that way would guide off to the side towards a staircase up or down. There were marked doors on each side of the way that were clearly to be able to enter those rooms without disturbing others. On this level the main corridors where on the outside so this hidden away passage existed wedged between a row of rooms. In general I was amazed at how wide spread the servant corridors appear to be.

It took us two more rounds to move all the heavy bags towards the entry of the attic. Madam Laferin did not interfere much and only added a few details here and there. In general I had the feeling that she was testing Eva how she was going to react to unusual requests of a lord and I had the feeling she was passing with flying colors. With a bit of probing they did tell me more about their daily lifes. They did a scary amount of work. Almost 10 hours a day of just working with a launch break somewhere in between.

I had similar workhours during my time as a caravan guard but that was mainly because there wasnt much else to do, and most of the work was just to walk next to the caravan so I didnt mind. But in a city were you actually could do something, meet people or just enjoy life, being away for most of the day would mean that you hardly had the time to do anything after work. However, Eva explained to me that they had way more time to relax then most other maids out there and since they actually lived at the their work they still had time to do something after their work.

Most maids worked from sunrise to sundown and then during the night until the work was done, with maybe a day free at best every other week, more likely only if the one managing them decided that they had earned that free day. So doing anything after work was unthinkable for most of them. Besides falling asleep. Thats why when they got the chance to marry, they usually were quick to leave. That and many other reasons of course.

Even though she did not said it directly I got the impression that it was mostly thanks to madam Laferin that they had a fixed amount of time to work every day. I looked curious towards the hardworking woman beside us. She hesitated for a moment then nodded. "I simple found that no matter how hard you drive them the mind tend to wander ... a lot, especially if they have to spend the whole day just working. In opposite if they know that they will be done in a certain amount of time they tend to be focused a lot more." She spoke very matter of fact. Calm and collected.

"And a lot less accidents and sickness seem to happen. It was easy to notice once It was implemented during two months in which the duke and the family were staying in Laris. And since the matter of the maids is left to me." She shrugged slightly. "I would have preferred to reduce the time even a bit more, but the old duke refused to hire more maids to allow such a reduced workload. If you wish to know more, I can show you my observations milady." I was impressed once more and nodded. "I am looking forward to that."

We stopped with the last load in front of the small hidden door. "Well then Eva you go ahead and climb up there. Your Grace if you still wish assist us please follow Eva." I silently agreed before following Evas example and releasing my load a bit. "Ina you will be the one who carries them up the stairs, you will take one bag at the time and just leave them at the top, I will bring the rest to you." She then helped us to decide which bag to carry with us and which to drop. I followed Eva inside the same servant corridor but this time we climbed up some stairs. They started normal but it was like the build had run out of space because they could steeper so that they almost counted as ladder. The young woman ahead of my climbed concentrated one steep at a time, always grabbing the steep at head height with her free hand while in the other she kept a heavy bag full of cloth. The higher we climbed the darker it got until she stopped for a moment.

I could hear her using a strike iron to start a small flame and shortly after she had to handle a small oil lamp In her climbing hand. Even with my night improved eyes it was hard to see anything coming from the bright daylight lit corridors. Once we reached the top, she asked me to wait here please and walked carefully in the room her small light getting smaller in the distance before I heard a loud 'thunk' and along the whole left side there were a lot of window shutters opening bathing the whole room in bright day light.

It was the biggest attic I had ever seen. There were giant boxes that must have been brought up on a different route because they would never fit up that tight staircase. Old expansive furniture was carefully stacked on top of each other and at the center from the top hung large rows of similar bags. Next to each bag was a rope which guided down to the ground with written notes on the end. Apparently when ever there was cloth to be stored it was hung up here. There were three to four of the bags above each other and 5 bags wide so from what I could see there was already quite a lot stored up here.

"How often do you take stuff out of them?" I asked Eva pointing towards the row of hanging bags. "Well it depends milady. Most of them not at all, but some gets rotated regularly like the ones that are for the wet season. Or those that are for colder climates as well as those that are for the desert. Those that are in long term storage like these that we put in today usually only got taken out if the duke wanted to gift some cloth to a visitor or something like that."

I nodded and followed her when i heard a distant " Uru! Stop! Come back!" and the sounds of someone hastily climbing up a ladder. I looked to Eva who seemed to be even more puzzled then me. She most likely did only just notice the noise. The noise got louder someone was rushing up the stairs at a breakneck speed and I could hear something small rush over the hardwood floor. "URU! Stop!"

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Well then here you all go an update. 4000 words of filler :P Well It feels a bit more filler until you meet the next family member ^^ This one did write itself quite easily but the next part was eddited heavily so i had to hold onto it for a bit longer if i wanted to make changes. But now that i have solved that i finally could spend the time for editing and uploading it xD I hope that the next chapter won't take another month to upload but we will see ^^