Alright, so I haven't written anything in a long, long, long time and posted it here. That's mainly because I didn't get much encouragement for my last story (but I managed to finish it nonetheless!), so for this one, I'd really love it if you all could post some reviews...? Please?
"Audrey, Mika wants to see you. She didn't look happy." Gina smirked at me from the doorway. I certainly wasn't new to Ariglyph Castle, and I had learned the hard way that the woman who oversaw the maids deserved her vile reputation.
Gina giggled as she darted away, leaving the door open. I groaned and stumbled out of bed. Sleep is hard to come by in the Castle, and I had intended to spend my free day napping. Slamming the door, I began to dress myself for a regular day of work. I didn't want to keep Mika waiting any longer than I had already, so I hurried down to the kitchen.
"I'm so sorry." Christine told me softly as I passed. I was tempted to stop and ask her why I was being summoned to see the Great Harpy herself, but Mika spotted me from inside her small office. Strangely enough, she didn't look displeased with me; I was immediately suspicious.
"Audrey, sit down." She told me in an overloud voice. I felt myself pale and I sat down with hesitation. Mika was in her late forties, with skin roughened and unevenly tanned by the sun. Rumour had it that she was an army nurse before her leg injury forced her to resign from her post there. Now she takes her frustration out on the maids of the Castle, and I seemed to be her favourite target. Something was definitely up, something big. I quickly recalled all of the pranks I had pulled within the last month; my behaviour had been strangely uncharacteristically decent, with the exception of that giant toad finding its way into Gina's stuff.
"I have a favour to ask of you." Mika said the words slowly, as though they tasted strange in her mouth. "I need a temporary replacement for a waiting maid." Waiting maids are assigned to each of the high-ranking nobles in the Castle. I frowned at Mika, and wondered why she was even giving me a choice in the matter; usually I had my orders barked at me as I walked past her in the the morning.
"Which noble?" I asked. Being a waiting maid could be a nice change for a while, but why was she asking me? Certainly there were other maids much better suited to the task, more docile and obedient.
Mika sighed and scowled once again, but I could tell that the irritation was not directed toward me, this time. She tapped her oak cane impatiently on the cold slate floor before muttering "Albel Nox." Mika looked up at me, waiting for my reaction. I felt a cold dread sink into my stomach as if I had swallowed the very essence of winter. Albel Nox, or Albel the Wicked as he was better known, had a nasty reputation for violence toward his maids when they irritated him. And it doesn't take much to irritate Albel Nox.
I was momentarily dragged back to that dreadful morning, six years ago. I was just 15, and had begun working in the Castle as a maid a week earlier. I had heard stories about the fearsome 'Albel the Wicked', but I didn't believe them. The stories couldn't possibly be true; after all, I couldn't possibly imagine not having any emotion towards well...anything. And honestly, red eyes and two-tone hair? Come on, they had to be exaggerating when they spoke of him in her home village.
Albel the Wicked supposedly didn't feel emotion except anger. Any compassion or mercy that had once subsisted within him died with his father. Supposedly William Nox had died to save his son from the searing flames of an air dragon, jumping in front of the blaze just before it reached his son. Albel didn't escape unscathed; a silver gauntlet with claws in place of fingers was attached by miracle of Runeology to his shoulder.
I let my thoughts drift away from Albel Nox. There were better things to dwell on than a piece of nasty village gossip. I was carrying a large pot full of chicken broth to the kitchen. Because I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, I managed to slip on an icy patch on the path and slosh some of the broth onto the person walking past me. I cast my eyes downward, apologizing profusely and sick with dread that I was about to lose the job that I had worked so hard to get.
When there was no reply from the stranger, I lifted my gaze and saw a pair of cruelly glittering rubies and gasped. The stories had been true about Albel the Wicked. Calling me a maggot for my clumsiness, glared and casually sliced just below my throat with his silver gauntlet, leaving three deep and long wounds there. Those cuts had kept me in the infirmary for a week, and the healer persisted in asking me where I had acquired such gashes. Terrified of what would happen if I so much as dared to suggest that Albel the Wicked had left them there, I was silent until the healer released me. I have only told one person about the incident to this day.
I shook my head a little to clear the horrible memory from my mind. Mika was looking at me, and obviously hoped that I would agree to her request. I sighed and looked out the small window. "Why do you want me to do it?"
"You've got a healthy amount of experience in the Castle, and you're smart enough not to upset him. I know you can behave when you want to." Mika replied carefully. A thought struck me suddenly, and I look at Mika suspiciously.
"What happened to his last waiting maid?" I asked.
"...She's currently recovering from a throwing knife injury." Mika flinched slightly as she informed me of this. Most people would simply lie to me if only to make things simpler. Not Mika though; she had a rigid sense of duty and would never lie to anyone. I was about to refuse when she began to speak again. "Please Audrey. You're the only one who could possibly put up with him. It's just for three weeks, and I can promise you double your normal wages." Not even that was enough to get me to risk my life to wait on some violent snot noble, and Mika knew it. She sighed loudly and I could tell that she was about to offer me something that I couldn't refuse. "Triple wages and Gina will take your scullery duty for the next two months."
Wow, triple wages and the chance to see Gina's perfect white-blonde hair stuck to her face with sweat after she had done my scullery duty? Tempting...Mika knows me too well. I hesitated a moment before answering, fingering the three scars across my collarbones. Was it really worth it? I sighed and nodded. Mika smiled brightly, in a considerably better mood than I had ever seen before.
"Thank you Audrey. You'll start tomorrow." Mika told be in her usual brisk demeanour, hiding the relief evident on her face a moment ago. I sighed and scampered back to my rooms, eager to rest up a bit before tomorrow.
My eyes flicked open when I heard someone enter my small grey room. Of course, it's only Christine, and I relaxed.
"Already on your guard? Probably a good habit to get into." Christine said quietly.
"How did you know?"
"Mum knew the old waiting maid. I guess she interrupted his practice and he chucked one at her. Still don't know if he meant to hit her or not...I take it you accepted?" I nodded in response. "Well, be careful. Who knows what he'll do to you if you pull any pranks."
"Contrary to popular belief, Christine, I'm not stupid. I'm also rather fond of my limbs and life." I roll my eyes. Like I'd try anything against him after our last encounter. But wait...what could possibly be more perfect? Finally I had the chance to repay him for these horrid marks, and have some fun while I'm at it.
"Wait a minute Audrey..." Christine was giving me her look that said 'tremendously stupid idea, Audrey'. As always, my thoughts had been perfectly displayed on my face for her to read. "He nearly killed you for spilling chicken soup on him!" Her voice had climbed to a dangerously high volume. The servant's quarters had notoriously thin walls; excellent for eavesdropping on others but when you wanted privacy yourself...not so great.
"Shut up! You know as well as I do that there are ways of making things seem like...accidents."
"Audrey." Christine hissed, still giving me the look.
"Come on! He wouldn't dare do anything to me, not when he's under such close scrutiny for his past slip up. Right?"
"Wrong." Christine finally sighed and I could tell that I had nearly worn her down. "You know what could happen, and I can't stop you. Just...don't get killed. I can only imagine what permanent scullery duty with Gina would be like." We grimaced in unison at the thought. I smiled reassuringly at Christine and slowly drifted off to sleep again.
I always woke up with the sun. Anything later is frowned upon in the castle, and I silently thanked the generous amount of sleep I had gotten the previous day for vanquishing any early morning grogginess. I got dressed and exited the room just as Christine awoke. All of my things had been moved up to Albel Nox's quarters except for the single uniform that I currently wore. Waiting maids lived in their noble's room with them.
The Castle was bustling with activity, even at this early hour. Meals were being prepared, runners sent into the city proper for ingredients the kitchen needed, and waiting maids carrying steaming dishes of delicious food to the nobles they served. I picked up the dish set aside for Albel without meeting the questioning gaze of some of the other girls and walked up the stairs to meet my doom. Curious to see what the Wicked One ate for breakfast, I lifted the silver lid of the tray. To my vast disappointment, there was no dragon bacon, no cockatrice eggs, and not a single exotic fruit. Instead, all that rested on Sir Nox's plate was a glass of orange juice, a few lean pieces of ham, and apple slices that had been spray with a touch of lemon juice to keep them from browning. Disappointing to say the least.
Once I reached the door, I hesitated before knocking. How was I supposed to introduce myself? I'm your new waiting maid since you almost killed your last one? Was it even proper etiquette to knock, or was I supposed to let myself in so that I didn't disturb him? Like Albel Nox could possibly become any more disturbed than he already was. My dilemma was solved a few moments later, when the door opened to display none other than Albel himself. I twitched violently when I met his eyes, almost spilling the orange juice, but thankfully the glass managed to stay upright. I quickly averted my eyes away from the glittering rubies that seemed to be piercing through my soul. Oh gods, what am I supposed to say now?
Albel grunted and glared at the tray of food I was holding. Suddenly, I felt very small and insignificant next to him, despite all of my awkward six feet in height. He snatched the tray from me and slammed the door, leaving me staring stupidly at the beautifully carved maple door. No one treats me like that, not even Mika on her worst day. Feeling a rush of blood to the head, I knew that I was about to do something incredibly stupid as I silently lifted a glass of water from the tray of a passing servant. No questions were asked of me except for a confused frown. I knocked briskly on the door, vowing this time not to let myself be spooked into submission by those cruel eyes again.
The door opened, and I had never received a colder stare in my life. I threw the contents of the glass into his face, aiming for his eyes. I was tempted to run, defiantly wasn't an option; I would have to be a coward to run from him again, and besides that, there's no way that I could possibly outrun him. Without a word he reached out and dragged me into his room using his powerful silver claw.
"You little maggot! This will not go unpunished." He took a threatening step toward me. I masked my terror, and stared back at him.
"Are you going to slice me up like you did your last waiting maid? I don't think that Mika will assign you another if anything happens to me." I told him, my voice full of confidence that I didn't possess. His eyes darted to the neckline of my uniform, and he took a meaningful look at the scars partially hidden there before replying.
"You're the replacement? I didn't realize the Castle hired from brothels for waiting maids." He smirked as though he had just said something enormously clever. I kept my face carefully controlled and smiled back. "Where did those come from?" He asked as he motioned toward my scars. That bastard didn't even remember what he did to me?
"Well, some of the customers at the brothel like it rough." I mirrored his smirk and was rewarded when a flash of annoyance crossed his face. Obviously Albel wasn't used to having information withheld from him, especially by a waiting maid.
I heard his next movement before I felt it. A resounding smack filled the air around me and for a moment, I thought that he had sliced me with his blade. I could already feel the mark on my cheek reddening. I blinked sudden tears from my eyes quickly and kept my expression blank. "My servants do not speak to me as such." He raised his hand again, this time slower and I flinched instinctively.
I heard him laugh a few seconds later and I realized that he had no immediate plans to strike me again. Keeping my eyes down so that I didn't have to meet that poisonous gaze, I retreated silently into the small room allotted for waiting maids. At that moment, I hated myself; I hated my job and the Castle and I even hated Mika for begging me to take this assignment. But more than any of those things combined, I hated him.