Gina's POV.
My real hell did not begin until a few days later when Nydia unexpectedly sent for me. Before now I had got the impression that she wanted nothing to do with me; that I was rather too lowly for her. Although Dagen had said I was to serve her, I had not expected that she would actually need me as I was certain she would have a plethora of female servants to attend her care.
“My lady?” Diane prompted me. She had been the one appointed to run the devil’s errand.
“I heard you the first time,” I said, trying not to allow my bitterness to show in my voice.
“Lady Nydia can can be… when she’s kept waiting for a long time. She can be… you know… I think you should heed her call now,” Diane told me.
“She can be what?” I asked.
“She is a very nice lady of course but when kept waiting she can be hot-tempered,” she gave a tight smile as she said so and I did not have to guess that the burn mark on Diane’s wrist had been caused by hot-tempered Lady Nydia.
I stood up just then and followed Diane to Nydia’s room.
When the door opened I was struck at once by the exquisite designs and overall opulence of the bedroom.
I had thought that my room was nice but I knew now that Dagen had put me in a dump and perhaps the only reason I had thought my room was lovely was because I had grown up waking every day to a room that was no better than the servant’s quarters in my father’s palace.
Nydia’s room was a mixture of purple and caramel.
She had floor-length windows that were draped in caramel-coloured curtains; her floor was tiled with the most beautiful white marble that bounced off light; the wall was a deep caramel color and the ceiling had a peculiar design that enhanced the caramel and purple it was coated in. All in all, the room was enchantingly beautiful.
“Won’t you acknowledge my presence?” she sneered when all I did was admire the room. I had not even looked at her face and now that I did I could tell that she had not designed this place and I was very doubtful that the person who had done so had not known her.
The room was too warm for that hostile gaze with which she looked at me.
I cleared my throat, “my lady.”
She did not acknowledge this, she only scoffed and with condescension in her tone she said, “You are going to look for my diamond necklace; it is in this room somewhere, you will find it for me.”
“What does the necklace look like?” I asked and I saw at once that I had surprised her with my response and the tone especially I had used to reply her. Her face told me she had expected resistance but she did not know me nor did she know the type of life that I had lived until now; I was used to this kind of thing. My sisters and my father had ill-treated me throughout my life so I did not expect less from her.
“Uhm,” she faltered a bit; she had lost her composure momentarily, “it is diamond and for its pendant; it has a heart-shaped onyx.”
“Where did you last see it?” I inquired but as I asked the question I knew I was getting no response.
“That is for you to find out,” she said.
After a while of silence, she said, “I shall leave you here to look for it. If I return and you have not found it, you will be in a lot of trouble.”
That was not a warning but a threat. She was looking for a reason to punish me no matter how flimsy or it could be that she was trying to set me up. If not, why would she leave me alone in her room?
As soon as she walked out, I began my search.
It was a rather tiring search because while the room was beautiful it was a mess. Nothing was where it was supposed to be. Everything was quite literally scattered when the wardrobes and drawers were opened. I was in a fix now. Do I prioritize looking for the jewelry or trying to put things in order?
I chose the look for the jewelry instead. Arranging Nydia’s things was going to take up too much time. More so, she had a maid for these things.
My search proved to be futile in the sense that I did not find the necklace she had spoken of even after hours of searching but I did discover that when one was born right there were many fine things in life for pleasure. Was it possible that one day I would be like Nydia and have such fineries? Or was I doomed to this sort of life forever?
Many hours later I did see the necklace inside a shoe. I was not even sure what had prompted me to search inside the shoes but I guess the frustration of not finding it where it should have been kept had led me to that discovery.
I picked up the necklace; It was a beautiful piece indeed. The diamond shined like a wide ocean under a beautiful sunset; the pendant gave it a…
“What are you doing here?” The voice gave me a scare and I almost dropped the necklace. I turned to look and I saw Dagen and Nydia standing in the room.
When had they come in?
“I… I was searching…” but Nydia’s confused and surprised face stopped me. I found out what she meant to do.
She was going to accuse me of coming in here on my own. She would lie that she had not sent for me. I should have known all along that this was her plan.
“What are you doing with my necklace?”