Every morning was chilly this early in the year. The fire under the boiler had not been lit yet, so it was normal to arise in such frigid temperatures. Well, usually that would be the case if I didn’t have a hundred pound girl snoring directly in my ear. It’s a wonder how I never wake up when she crawls on me during the night like some spider. If spiders could smoosh you, that is. The girl continued to snooze heavily on top of me, her limbs spread out to cover the most amount of space in my bed. I grimaced, her weight pressing down on all the wrong places, making twenty pounds of pressure suddenly turn into five hundred, and with some effort, I somehow freed my right arm from under her annoyingly relaxed body.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHQnTyVTOoo
“I figured you’d finally learn after the second time we’ve been through this, Edith.” I huffed, trying to maneuver around her just right, and with a swift push of my legs, I shoved her off the bed, letting her shock herself awake on the floor.
She shot up with a sharp gasp, looking back at me, offended, like I should have just let her smother me to death.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqEHLxBzlw
“Serves you right, bed hog.” I scolded, swinging my legs out over the cold floor. The other women in the dormitory stirred, grumbling and mumbling about how it was too early for this while Edith slowly stood up with a pout on her lip, and her arms crossed like a child attempting to guilt a nanny into letting them get their way. As if her using my bed all night long wasn’t getting her way enough.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVCgHFARo31
“But Mallory, you know I always fall off of the top bed!” She whined, her hands tangling in her long locks of brown hair as she braided it.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡulBqSMEpqT
“Then tie yourself to the bed frame, you’re getting too heavy and too big to sleep with me.” I reminded her, running my hands through my own deep black hair to pull it into a simple and tight bun. My fingers caught on a few curls as I pulled it back and tied it with a black ribbon on the worn stool I used as a side table.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6MUZIoldpt
“Are you calling me fat?!” She exclaimed in faux betrayal. And with a roll of my eyes, I retorted a sarcastic yes, then handed her a ribbon for her braids.
The other two women in our company readied themselves alongside us. One slipped off her nightdress and the other brushed off some dirt from her uniform. I slipped off my night wear as well, while Edith pinned up her hair with great care. She looked back at me, doing a small twirl, her chemise fluttering around her almost like a forest nymph.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVdFLOdnWPC
“So, is my hair pretty?” She sang, her ribbon fluttering delicately with each movement.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcRivPw1Pvk
“Yes.” I confirmed, shaking my head with a sigh. “But we’re meant to be like little mice, remember? We’re not meant to be seen. You should know that by now.” I reminded her, fixing one of the pins on the back of her head. Edith blew air out of her mouth and shrugged. She never really cared about the practicality of hair styles, but at least I could pick her out of a crowded hallway just based on her hair.
The whole estate’s movements were relatively slow this morning, the two women who slept across from us were still yawning and brushing away the sleep from their eyes as we made it to the great hall for the daily briefing. The other maids and butlers of the home trickled in as the sun began to rise over the horizon. The head maid, Madam Frances, whose hair had long grayed, stood in front of the crowded hall, her gaze critical and disapproving of everyone’s inability to arrive right on time as instructed. Her eyes swept quickly over the crowd, scanning those who were present and making a note of who wasn’t. Her body language looked more exhausted than usual, a visible hunch in her shoulders as she stood before us all.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUOh3QJV3x
“Today is a very solemn day for all of Greenitch.” She announced, her eyes closed with quiet languor. “As of this morning, it is with great sadness that the first prince; Prince Azrail, has passed.” She added. A hush of whispers swept across the room before the head maid’s booming voice took back the crowd’s attention.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMpPmCOXVTB
“So,” Her voice boomed, echoing slightly off the grand walls. “Before briefing on today’s tasks, we shall have the ladies gather to the right and the gentlemen gather to the left to receive proper attire.” She commanded, and the room separated immediately. No one wanted to be scolded, much less be scolded for not adhering to mourning etiquette…
While I did not quite grasp the feeling of mourning, I–like the others–would prefer to keep my head out of the water, and followed the rest of the crowd, grabbing Edith by the wrist and lining up neatly for the handout. A woman, well into her thirties began to pass around a sleek black cap to each woman and girl, the maids’ eyes too looked exhausted and heavy. She placed in my hand a black dyed cotton cap, its fabric smooth and gentle on my palm. My eyes shifted around the room until they landed back onto Edith, who was holding her own cap tightly, with the gaze of a wounded dog.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjZJkYNnErk
“I told you that hair style was unnecessary.” I smirked, stretching the cap over my hair. Edith scowled at me, teeth bared slightly as she elbowed me.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8PUvD4IO4
“You’re cruel.” She hissed without heat behind her words.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnkO794p8cr
“And you are far too extravagant for a laundry maid.” I retorted, taking her cap into my calloused hands and covered her bun, much to her dismay.
The day drew on, and the glowing sun rose further into the sky, warming the ground like a softly lit oven. However, in the wash-house–which was a good five minute walk from the servant’s back exit–was almost blistering hot as the wash copper steamed and hissed at me. The air was wet and scalding, the open doors and windows did little to evacuate the collection of steam on the ceiling. The coolness of the outside air called to me like a moth to a flame as I wiped the sweat from my browline and kept stirring the boiler with the worn wooden dollie. Its several legs, once thick and straight, were now thinning in some areas and heavily warped in others. But still, the tool was ever useful, allowing just a bit of relief from the burning steam. After I assured that the garments had been properly soaked, I removed the dripping dollie from the cauldron, setting it onto the metal hook on the wall. That too had been worn with time, sagging slightly, even under the light weight of the dollie.
Wiping the sweat from my brow, I glanced over at the heavily stained pile of garments that remained in the wicker basket. A freak wine incident, someone had claimed. It looked more like a crime scene than simply an incident involving wine. The blood red liquid was on almost every single article of clothing. The trousers, the blouse, the tunic, the corset, the stockings, the overcoat, had they simply bathed in a pool of wine? Picking up one of the practically ruined pieces of clothing with a face of disbelief, I turned it over. Hell, it had even gone all the way through to the back, just how big of a wine spill were they talking about? A frown creased my face and I released the tunic, letting it fall back down towards the heaping pile.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq8tN1K9Zaj
“And they didn’t even bother to blot any of their clothes before it set either.” I groaned with a deep sigh and an even deeper roll of my eyes. I bent down, grabbing the handles of the basket, a small drop of sweat running down my face and dripping from my chin.
The cool breeze of the outdoors felt like heaven on my soaked skin as I stepped out of the wash house and sat on a wooden stool that stood in front of a large wooden basin full of lukewarm soapy water. Grabbing one particularly stained garment from the pile, I dunked it, making sure the water was soaked up thoroughly into its delicate fabric. To my side lay a small bowl filled with liquid and a bar of lye soap, the liquid smelled faintly acidic and just slightly sweet while the bar of lye smelled of fat, oils, and ash. Reaching for the lye with my wet hand was quite the task. The bar kept slipping out of my hands each time I grasped it like a live eel trying to slip out of the hands of a skilled fisherman. I grimaced, reaching for the bar once more.
A short, cold and small gust of air blew past my ear, making my back shiver and my neck twitch with discomfort. My hand slipped and spilled the contents of the bowl, some of its contents splashing onto my apron and the rest onto my hand and the grass below. With a grunt my eyes swiveled, catching Edith standing behind me, her hand coming up to cover her mouth to keep from snickering at me.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjCNXUPCnUe
“Something funny to you?” I snapped with a glare, steadying myself back up onto the stool, lye bar now in hand.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4FquTftDBM
“N-No. definitely not.” She stuttered, her face reddening, trying desperately not to laugh.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwulicaRwO6
“Mhm…” I growled, grabbing the top of her apron with my soaked hand and rubbing it dry. “How about smelling that for the rest of the day.” I smirked with condescension. Edith took a quick, panicked sniff of her apron and gasped.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTnqnQ49tL
“Mallory! Now I smell like vinegar!” She wailed, almost gagging at the scent of it.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWKVOP2TfKY
“Good, maybe you’ll learn your lesson not to startle me if I end up pickling your favorite dress.” I snapped back, heading back into the wash house, the heat still overwhelming and grabbed a bottle of vinegar and half a lemon.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDHHD7Iyuj
“Don’t even joke like that Mallory, I’d never get the smell out!” She groaned, grabbing her own stool to sit next to mine.
Her movements closely followed my own, scrub the stain on the washboard, dunk the garment, wipe off the excess water and repeat. Both of our sleeves were rolled to our mid arms, avoiding the water from the basin, but also warding off the heat being generated by the building behind us. Birds chirped, the cauldron boiled, and bees pollinated the nearby daisies, their round little bodies constantly almost slipping off the delicate white petals. It was a calm sort of atmosphere, one I could see myself staying in forever. Where a certain someone would talk the other’s ear off for hours and never grow bored.
Edith spoke freely and quickly, like if she stopped she’d lose her train of thought and have to start over from scratch.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9KHTovux3
“So I was walking back from the west end of the estate, where his highness’s body is being kept till the royal doctor from the capitol arrives, and I heard the most preposterous thing!” She exclaimed, rubbing extra hard on an especially stubborn stained tunic.646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQYFY68niIT
“Really?” I replied, half listening to her, but mostly focusing on removing these stains so we could finish work early and go to the communal baths. “What exactly did you hear?”646Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ66ZaU95fAk
“Well, apparently, the second prince, has just been accused of his brother’s murder.”
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and then Add to home screen.