FRESH START

The following morning I packed my things and closed my room at the inn. I got myself somethings on the way and ended up arriving by midday. On getting to the castle, I discovered that I was not the only one with this idea as I met some other new workers that had taken the test with me yesterday.

Quite quickly we were registered, assigned to our various posts, given our uniforms as well as a quick lecture on the rules and regulations of the castle. We were then shown to our rooms which we were to share with three other servants in the servants quarters.

On entering the room, I saw two of the occupants inside. Looking around, the room was larger than the one I had at the inn and was segregated into four parts, with each part containing a bed and a small wardrobe.

One of the servants in the room spotted me at this point and came forward to introduce herself. She looked like she was in her thirties and was older than the other servant in the room.

"Hello I am Isla, you must be the new maid assigned to this room ". She said kindly .

"Yes I am. My name is kynna " I said introducing myself for the first time in weeks with my real name.

All the while when I was traveling to the capital, I went by moira so that I would not be traced. Pushing away the thought I immersed myself fully in the present.

"Oh it is wonderful meeting you" She said pulling me fully into the room.

"Over here is one of our roommates, Yolanda". Isla said introducing me to the other person in the room.

"Hello" I greeted with a small wave suddenly feeling nervous.

"Welcome" she said a lot less friendly than Isla. She was closer to my age but was still quite older than me.

Isla seeing the somewhat cold reception I received from her simply ushered me to the only unoccupied bed in the room. It had its own closet for clothes and was nice and spacious. There was also a curtain for privacy. The room was even nicer than the inn I rented.

I quickly cleaned and organized my space and arranged my clothes and uniform in the wardrobe. As I did that I searched quietly for a place to hid my valuable things. Although I had little in the way of jewelry, I had my parents rings, a necklace my father gave me when I turned fourteen and their lifesavings and while I did not mean to insult anyone or insinuate anything, the fact remained that I was going to be living with people that I had never met and was not certain of their traits so I could not be too careful about my things.

For a minute I contemplated taking it with me while I was working but I instantly shutdown that idea. If for any reason, the money was found on me everyone would first assume that I stole it.

Unable to come to a decision I kept them on me for the time being. Soon Isla called me for dinner so I went with her and by the time we finished dinner I could converse freely with her.

She provided me with detailed explanation on things that I did not understand and showed me around the servants quarters, hallways as well as the bathroom and convenience for which I was most grateful. I learned that she worked in the kitchen and she was in the servant quarters because she was off duty today.

After the tour, Isla and I returned back to the room. I was preparing for bed when our last roommate strolled in. Her bed happened to be opposite mine.

"Who are you?" she asked curiously as soon as she saw me but before I could reply, Yolanda responded

"You don't own the room Anne" She snapped quite rudely.

"I don't recall asking you Yolanda" Anne snapped back at her.

"Kynna is a newly recruited maid and she has been assigned to this room as our roommate" Isla interrupted in a firm voice before the situation could become more heated.

At this, Yolanda scoffed and turned away while Anne already in a bad mood turned to me.

"As you must have heard my name is Anne as long as you mind your business and stay away from my things and space, we will get along fine". She said and started preparing for bed as well.

At this point it was obvious that Yolanda and Anne did not get along but it was none of my business. I knew what brought me here and was certainly not going to poke my nose into what did not concern me. If we could all get along fine and if we could not so be it. I thought as I pulled down the curtains, settled in for the night and hoped that tomorrow would be a better day.

I woke up early and got ready for the day. As I was assigned to the hallways I was the first person to awake in the room but as I moved around, Isla woke up and got ready for her day too. Apparently, servants that worked in the kitchen and in the hallways were always the first ones up as we needed to begin and preferably finish our work before the rest of the castle woke up.

We had a swift breakfast and immediately started working. I and some others were assigned to the central entrance so we had to be very fast and meticulous.

Personally, I enjoyed cleaning, it made me feel at ease and took my mind off things and it felt quite rewarding but by the time I got to my room in the servants quarters that evening I felt like if I did not see a cleaning bucket for years it would be too soon.

The castle always looked magnificent and pristine but very few realized how much work went into making it look and remain that way and I happened to join the select few that did today. I had swept, mopped, scrubbed, polished, waxed and cleaned till my arms, back and waist ached so badly that I had no idea how I made it to my quarter in the evening nor where I got the strength to keep going the next day and the day after that but I did.

I did my best, gave my best to what I did, Isla and I grew closer and before I knew it the seasons had changed from early summer when I first arrived at the capital to autumn and soon winter would be upon us.

Over this period of time, people had been reassigned, some had been made to leave while others remained in the same position. I was in the last category.

However, by the time spring came around, I was reassigned to a private residence. The Crown prince's quarters.