Chapter 30

DAISY was a scullery maid as well.

The scullery and kitchen maids awoke the earliest, leaving the luckier ones to sleep on the floor.

The dawn cold bit at my skin. The uniform we'd been given was thin, not enough to keep us warm.

Vanilla and Lotus had shaken us awake, and we'd seen Daisy in one of the groups of maids. She'd seen us too, and smiled. She walked over to us as we went up the stairs as a group.

"You got in," she whispered.

"So did you," Maple said, smiling.

Only a few of the maids carried on the conversation, while most, including me, were still trying to blink sleep out of their eyes.

We stuck close to Vanilla and Lotus, who led us to the kitchens — huge rooms with pots and pans, all of which would need to be cleaned, by us.

There, we were told to light the fireplaces, while the kitchen maids started preparing for the morning meal.

"Keep your heads down and don't talk back," Lotus whispered as the cooks came in. "That's the head cook," she said, gesturing discreetly to a plump woman, "She's alright, but some of the others are quite harsh."

"Now!" The head cook said, stepping forward. All of us stopped what we were doing and turned to her. "I want everyone to work fast today — aside from the usual, several lords are dining with the Queen today! I expect you to all work hard."

There was an accepting murmur, and we got back to our work.

First was the servants' breakfast, which the kitchen maids served in the servants' dining quarters. We served and then sat in the large hall, where long benches ran from one end to the other, and fires burned in the walls.

We sat next to Sakura and the others, eating quickly. We'd been allowed one piece of dry bread, hot porridge and a cup of milk each, but she passed me an extra slice of bread under the table.

Maple and I tried to look inconspicuous while looking for Aster in the large hall.

"There," Maple whispered, pointing at the far corner.

We walked over to her quickly, before the cooks called us back. She spotted us coming and stood up, walking to the corner.

"We're scullery maids," I said quickly, looking around.

"Laundress," she said dryly, "I never thought this day would come."

"You and Pecan got through safely?" Maple asked anxiously.

Aster gave us a sharp nod. "Yes. You should get back now. Nalvia be with you."

We echoed the wish and went to the cooks, who were ready with a long list of duties.

There were a variety of duties for us to do — cleaning the servants' chamber pots, washing dishes, cleaning the kitchen, scullery, pantries — I had new respect for Maple by the time we were allowed to have the afternoon meal.

"My knees ache," I groaned, sitting down, "How do you do this?"

Lotus chuckled. "You'll get used to it."

"What do you do?" I asked Sakura, scooping up a bit of stew.

She held her palms up. They were dry and cracked and calloused. "Laundress." I grimaced slightly, giving her a sympathetic look. "It's not that bad," she said, "The pay is good."

"Are you saving for something?" Maple asked curiously.

Sakura smiled wistfully, "I have five younger siblings to provide for, in my village. I send home my salary."

We nodded, but before we could say anything more, the clinking of boots filled the hall.

"Oh, wonderful," One of the girls, Jessamine, said.

I turned curiously. Soldiers had come in, without most of their armor, walking around the tables. Why were they here?

"The soldiers sneak in for lunch, usually," Sakura said, eyes twinkling, "Some of them fancy our girls." She looked pointedly at a maid, Poppy, who blushed.

"Oh, please," Poppy said, as we laughed.

"That's quite romantic," Daisy said, before turning around. Looking for Jonquil, I supposed.

I twisted in my seat as well, trying not to look too desperate as I scanned their faces, looking for Aiden. Or Arden, Pecan, Terran.

Finally, I saw the twins, brown hair and brown eyes coming out from the mix of soldiers. They'd spotted us as well. They were accompanied by another, older soldier, who walked straight to us.

"Hello, Poppy darling," he said, coming up behind Poppy.

"Hello, Adair," the rest of the girls chorused, grinning madly.

"Oh, stop, you all," Poppy said, turning around. "Adair," she said, smiling brightly.

I looked at Aiden, at Adair's side, whose eyes shot straight to me. I gave him a small smile, and he nodded, his lips turning up slightly.

"Sit," Adair said, looking at the twins. They squeezed into the bench on the other side of the long table. "Ladies, let me introduce two of the new soldiers, Sparrow and Linden Amaranth."

Aiden was Sparrow. Arden was Linden.

"Nice to meet you," Sakura said kindly. The twins nodded at her.

"Tulip, can I talk to you for a moment?" I asked, glancing at the twins once. Maple nodded and I left my empty plate on the table as we walked to a deserted corner.

A few minutes later, the twins joined us.

"Are you alright?" Arden asked.

"Fine," Maple nodded, smiling at him, "I'm glad you made it."

"We're soldiers. I'm not glad," Aiden said grumpily.

I grinned at him. "And we're maids."

He huffed, leaning against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest, "I just want the attack to happen."

"Aiden!" I said sharply, looking around. Thank Nalvia, no one had heard us.

"Sorry," he said quickly, straightening. "I just — " He broke off, exhaling sharply and looking away.

"I know. But it's necessary," I said softly.

"While you do your duties, try to scout a safe way to the Queen's chambers," Arden said, lowering his voice even more. I nodded at him.

"We get an hour in the evening free — we'll do it then," Maple said.

"We shouldn't spend too much time here," Aiden warned. I looked around. The hall was emptying. "We'll try to meet you later," he said, looking down at me.

I swallowed, suddenly aware of the danger they were in. "Be safe."

He gave me a sharp nod. "You too."

They walked away, following the rest of the soldiers, and Maple and I got back to work.

When our duties were over, we made an excuse about wanting to explore the castle. The others gave us warnings to not go to the West Wing.

Naturally, we went to the West Wing.

It was where Ivy's chambers were — and, from my vague memories, where my own used to be.

We didn't get too far when a guard stopped us. "Halt!" He said, so sternly that I flinched. "What are you doing?"

"Delivering laundry," I said, holding up the stack of clothes we'd offered to run for Sakura.

The guard eyed us suspiciously. "You cannot pass at this time."

"But we need to, sir," I asked, pleading him with my eyes.

"No," he said firmly. I exchanged a glance with Maple.

She sighed. "Let's go back," she whispered, soft enough for only me to hear. I nodded at her, and then the guard, who continued watching us with narrowed eyes.

We turned and headed back to the laundry room, leaving the clothes there before going to the servants' hall.

"Did you deliver the clothes?" Sakura asked as we came in.

"No," I said, shaking my head, "They didn't let us go through."

"I thought they wouldn't. It's alright now," she said, smiling.

We unrolled our bedrolls and sat down on them. We were closer to the fire today.

"Let's do the story!" Poppy said.

I exchanged a glance with Maple, who looked utterly understanding — before she caught my pointed look and made her face confused.

"What's that?" She asked quickly.

"Well, it's like this. First, all the new maids make a story — each says a line. The rest of us listen. Then all of us will do it."

I nodded slowly.

"You'll understand," she said before standing up. "Everyone, listen!" The conversation quieted as everyone looked at her. "I think it's time for tonight's story!"

They burst into agreeing cries, and Sakura looked at us. "New maids, come ahead!"

I stepped forward, with Maple, Daisy and five others. Sakura sat down. "Any of you, tell any line you'd like."

We exchanged looks.

"Sit down!" One of the old maids did.

We did so. None of us started, however.

"Don't be shy!" Another said.

I cleared my throat. "I'll go." I thought for a moment before saying, "In the valley, on a stormy night, a young man was standing in the rain, getting drenched."

Maple continued, eyes sparkling, "For he was waiting for a pretty village girl who'd promised to meet him in the dead of night."

Then another maid, grinning. "But the girl was a cheat, you see."

The older maids began laughing. I grinned.

"She didn't want to meet the young boy at all — only make a fool of him for pursuing her."

"As she'd told him she didn't want to be with him," Daisy said softly, blushing.

"She finally came out and gave the foolish boy a solid talking-to."

"He understood that her heart did not belong to him."

"And he went home."

The hall burst into cheers and claps and laughter. I hadn't expected the story to go that way, but it was good.

"Now everyone!" Sakura said, gesturing to us. We scooted back to our bedrolls as the rest of them lined the walls, making a large circle.

"One day, a man drank water from an enchanted stream and fell in love with the first woman he saw," proclaimed a red-haired girl at the far wall.

"That's Rose. She always starts the story," Sakura whispered.

"Only, she was in love with another man."

The story continued on and on. By the time it reached us, the man still loved a girl who loved another man who loved another girl who did not love anyone at all. And another girl loved the first man.

And the enchanted stream was also a key character.

"The girl stumbled on the banks of the stream as well, and she was attracted by the sparkling water," Poppy said, eyes twinkling.

"Both men and the other two girls reached the banks as well — they stared at each other for a moment," Sakura said, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"They decided to drink the water from the stream, as the first man said it was very sweet," Maple said, giggling slightly.

"The stream reversed its effect on the first man!" Daisy said.

"Those who loved fell out of love, and those who did not love fell in love," I said, raising my voice dramatically. The others clapped, and I grinned.

The others took up the story, and it finished in full circle with no one loving anyone at all, but seeming perfectly content on their own.

Then, Mrs. Anise stormed in and shouted for us all to go to bed — so we did.

Did you like the group bonding? I kind of borrowed it from another book (Princess Academy by Shannon Hale)...I know it's kind of plagiarism, so I'll have to figure out something else. I feel bad about it. Any suggestions?

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