Two

I cautiously walked to the palace guards with my most confident smile plastered on my face. One looked at me from head to toe before snorting. I started to say something but did not get the chance.

"Go round back. You'll find a door there!" one of the guards said.

I looked at him, surprised. Maybe they had been expecting me? No, I doubted that. Perhaps I looked way to needy to them that they let me through. Whatever the case, I would not let that chance slide.

I slowly started towards the gates, just in case they changed their minds. But luckily, they did not. Oh my! If only I had known it would be so easy to enter the palace, I would have come here a long time ago.

I walked around the building until I found the door that the guard had said would be there. I had barely started on the first step of the three-step staircase when a woman wearing a black uniform and a white apron opened the door, took my arm and whisked me inside.

"Woah!"

She didn't seem to mind my tardiness as she continued pulling me along the corridor.

"I'm..." I started.

"Quiet! You're already late as it is!" said the woman.

Okay!

We passed some few other women wearing the same outfit. Some glanced in my direction and giggled while others just continued on with their business as if they had not seen me.

The woman abruptly stopped in front of a door with 'Head Maid' scribbled on it. She knocked once and entered without waiting for a reply from whoever was behind the door.

The lady, equally dressed like the rest except for the round reading glasses that adorned her face, looked up from whatever she was reading.

She looked to be middle aged with her black hair starting to grey out and small lines of tiredness lining her eyes and forehead.

She stood from the desk and gracefully but purposefully walked towards us. She did not spare me a glance as she started talking to the one who had brought me here.

"Here's the new maid. She's late so she should be given extra work, Mrs. Bourne," the woman who brought me said. I really needed to get her name.

And wait! Extra work? On my supposedly first day? I highly doubt that was fair.

"Ah, I see. No time to waste then," Mrs. Bourne said.

Mrs. Bourne gave me a once over and walked to the closet in the corner of the room. She rummaged through it, picked up an outfit and handed it to me.

"Ms. Baxter will take you to your room. Put on your uniform and start doing something. I want you to clean at least three rooms in the guest wing, change the beddings, polish the floors and surfaces until they are smooth. I don't want to find a single speck of dirt, you understand?" said Mrs. Bourne.

I was utterly at a loss for words as I stared at the woman in front of me. Not only did I land myself a job that was absolutely out of the blue, but I had also gotten myself quite a lot of tiresome work. Tell me about working for royalty.

But with the way things appeared, these two had been expecting someone entirely different. I had to let them know I was someone else.

"But I..." I started and was immediately cut off by Mrs. Bourne.

"What's that? Buts on the first day? Young lady, if you think you've come here to waste time and play, then you're in the wrong place. Now you may leave, I have quite a lot of work to do. Out you go."

Well, at least I tried to tell them. Though I've got more than I bargained for, at least my mother would have her medication soon and my brother wouldn't have to miss school.

Speaking of which, I had to contact them and tell them of the new developments. Apparently, I would have to stay in the palace.

Oh, lucky me!