Chapter 29

**WE** reached a shabbier part of the palace, and led us through hallways, finally stopping before a split corridor, one hall running to the left, one to the right.

“Those are the males’s quarters,” the guard said, pointing to the left. “And those are the female’s,” he said, gesturing to the right.

“Thank you,” I said. He nodded at me and stepped back.

Terran turned to us. “I doubt we’ll have much time to talk. So, three weeks—remember.” We nodded. “Nalvia be with you,” he said, and joined the soldier as they walked away.

Maple took my hand, “Come.”

We walked down the corridor, down the stairs, finally stopping in front of a large hall.

I inhaled sharply, looking around. It was nothing more than a huge, empty room, where bed rolls and straw beds were laid on the ground, clustered near the fireplaces. Despite the burning fire, there was a definite cold draught in the room.

Female in uniforms chatted and laughed, sitting on the rolls.

It was little better than my dungeons.

“Why did you never tell me you lived like this?” I murmured.

“It didn’t seem important, with everything you were going through,” Maple said softly, looking at me.

I squeezed her hand. “I will change this, when we win. Proper sleeping arrangements—”

“I know, El,” she said, before a female walked up to us.

Her black hair was tied in a tight bun, pulling her skin at the edges. Her uniform was different slightly—black with a white apron, immaculate and sharp, unlike the brown dresses and white aprons of the other maids. Her face was wrinkled, but her eyes showed no sign of old age.

“New maids?” She asked.

Maple nodded.

She surveyed us carefully. “Well, we do need scullery maids. Go, talk to Sakura, there. She’ll show you around.” She pointed at one of the girls in a group.

“Thank you,” I said. The female grunted and walked away quickly.

Maple sighed as we walked to the girl. “A scullery maid is the worst position.”

“What were you?” I asked, curious.

“Kitchen maid. Not that good, but better than scullery,” she said, as we reached.

The group fell silent as we approached.

“Are you Sakura?” Maple asked one of them.

The girl nodded. She was delicately beautiful, with pale skin and dark hair tied in a perfect bun below her bonnet, her warm brown eyes reflecting the fire. “New maids?” She asked, smiling slightly as she stood up.

Maple nodded. “Scullery maids.”

This incited a general groan from the group around us. “You poor things,” one of them murmured.

Sakura grinned. “Well, not much we can do there. Did Mrs. Anise send you here?”

“Who?” I asked quickly, as Maple opened her mouth to answer. We weren’t supposed to know who she was.

“Rubia Anise—she’s the head, she keeps the castle. We all report to her,” Sakura explained.

“Yes,” I nodded.

“Alright—we’ll put you to work tomorrow. You two, bring them bedrolls,” Sakura said, looking at two of the girls. They rose and walked away.

“Well, Vanilla and Lotus are scullery maids as well, so they can show you around,” Sakura said, gesturing to two others.

“I’m Lotus,” one of them said. She was petite—dainty, with black hair curling prettily at the tips and bright pink eyes. “That’s Vanilla,” she said, gesturing to the other.

“Hello,” Vanilla whispered, her dark eyes timid.

“I’m Tulip Wisteria, and this is my sister, Calla,” Maple said.

“Well, we hope you’ll make a worthy addition to the scullery maids,” one of them said, grinning.

“We won’t be scullery maids too long,” Lotus said, grinning at the girl.

“I’m sure,” Sakura said, sitting down again. Lotus huffed.

The other two girls came back with our bedrolls. We thanked them and spread them out, sitting down.

The girls started talking again, overlapping each other’s sentences and including us in the conversation as well.

Eventually, Mrs. Anise came back in. Her voice cut through all the commotion as she ordered us to sleep.

The bedrolls rustled and scratched as everyone laid down. They offered no protection from the hard, stone floor, and the fire’s heat didn’t quite reach us.

But still, tiredness overtook me, and I dropped off to sleep.

***

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 female, “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, “It is harder than I expected, this job.” She looked at Maple. “My condolences to you.”

Maple managed a small smile. “You and Pecan got through safely?”

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, 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.