A New Chance

"Isn't she insane? She fired the single maid who was still ready to bear her tantrums and was treating her well. What if she fired us too today?" asked the first maid who was still frustrated about the events of last night.

"It would be better. I can always go and find a job in a different palace. It would be better to handle a mad girl." said the second as the rest of them nodded their head in acceptance.

All of them paused as Anne opened the door taking a deep breath and preparing themselves for one more day in hell, when….

The pleasant smell of freshly baked cake and well arranged room met their eyes.

The girl had already taken her bath and was wearing a new dress with her hair done too.

She smiled looking at all of them but the maids only felt goosebumps on their body.

"Has she gone insane or is it her new way to torment us?" asked the forth one as she looked at the cleaned room and a smiling girl.

"No! It was a test that ended yesterday. So, I am not going to torment any of you but reward you for your honesty and loyalty." honesty and loyalty! The girls choked on her words.

They have been cursing her since yesterday and want to choke her to death. Where did loyalty come from?

"The girl yesterday was the spy of my step mother." she accepted as she looked at them with penetrating eyes, "that is why i had fired her."

Shock and anger was still evident on their faces.

"I know that you have a bad impression about me that had worsened last night but i want to ask, do you want to go with that impression and leave or you want to stay and want to look beneath the surface?"

They stared deep at her and then exchanged glances as if trying to understand what she was trying to say.

"If you want to leave, i will offer one gold coin to each of you but if you want to stay, you will get the chance to earn much more.'' They wanted to tell her that she could not offer them anything but when they looked at her sparkling eyes, they were not able to take their eyes away.

There was something that had changed in the girl. One of them pursued her lips and took a step further.

"I want to leave too." she announced, but Althea did not look annoyed at all.

As promised, she gave one gold coin and let the woman go.

The maid took slow and sacred steps towards the door but no one stopped her.

Once she was out of the door, Althea stared at all of them again.

"So.. what are you planning to do?" The three of them looked into each other's eyes and nodded their heads.

"I think we will take the risk."

......

Jane stared at the girl who was fired in a single day with seething anger. She had promised her mother that she would throw Althea out of the palace in a few days by trusting this fool!

"Mistress, I swore, I tried to be nice even when she threw food on my face or called me names. As the daughter of the baron, I have never been insulted this much." more tears fell out of her eyes but Jane could not see any of it.

All she could see was another chance going out of her hands. Althea was a fool who had danced in her palms all her life but from the past two days, her every plan was failing that was making her irritated.

"You can leave. Do not come back to the palace since you have lost your worth." she said, controlling her anger. She wanted to teach the girl a lesson but she could not ruin her kind image because of a fool.

"But.. my lady.." the girl did not want to leave but when she saw the cold eyes of Jane, she gulped and nodded her head.

As the maid left, Jane seethed with anger. She threw the vase on the table as her chest heaved up and down.

"Why! Just why? Why not leave the palace when I had already forgiven her life. Why is she so bent on forcing me to kill her!" she said with a frustrated voice as she looked at the broken pieces of the glass on the floor.

The maids knocked the door with some fear as they heard the sound of something falling and knew that her mistress was seething with anger.

"My lady, there is a letter for you." she said in a meek voice when a glass came flying on the door welcoming her.

"Could you not see that I am not in the mood after working here for years?" she glared at the maid who covered her face with the letter.

"Marquis had sent the letter, my lady. I can not decide on my own." looking at the seal of her lover, fiance of Althea, the anger vanished from her face and a smile bloomed.

"You should have said that earlier! Come here and give me the letter." she asked in an impatient voice and the maid ran to her and passed the letter to her.

"Dear Jane, I have tried to stop myself for a few days but after the incident, I am feeling too restless. Only your presence in my arms can help me. If possible, come to meet us in our usual place. I will be waiting for you there all night.

Burn the letter after reading it."

She smiled and hugged the letter. A smile bloomed on her face that brightened her whole face.

When he had told her that they could not meet for sometime, she was so worried but everything had gone back to normal.

Tonight.. She would find a new way to destroy Althea with him.