The Altercation Of The Heart

Chapter 3

The sun had barely risen when she had put her belongings away and prepared to do her job for the day. She got the bucket she and Harriet used from a closet that was in the 'belongings room', Emmeline decided to call it. As she made her way through the kitchen, she realised that many people had arrived and were hard at work. The cooks had the most difficult job, some were kneading dough on the smooth stone island, others were stirring at the stove, putting baked goods out to cool and putting more into the oven. Windows were opened to give way to the cool breeze of the early morning.

Emmeline hadn't realised, being so focused not to get in anyone's way, that Marissa was calling for her. "Emmeline, sorry to take you off schedule but, please, be a dear and clean the three main corridors in the north wing. Then, when the clock strikes for six in the evening, come here. You will be serving the King and Queen."

"O-okay." Emmeline nodded. She made her way back into the large, dark closet to get out cleaning supplies.

When Marissa instructed her to clean three corridors, she thought that that task would be easy enough for her to handle and thought she would finish quickly to take a rest before having to serve the King and Queen. However, it was now midday and she had just begun mopping the floors of the second corridor and she started around five in the morning. Maybe it was because she was distracted by the golden sparkles that were engraved on the tiled floor.

Two hours later, Emmeline had finished the second corridor and was preparing to do the third corridor but Marissa had just come up to her to say, "I have someone else cleaning the corridor, I need you in the kitchen."

Marissa held out her arm for Emmeline to scurry in front of her to get the supplies into the closet, which she did quickly.

As soon as she hurried back into the kitchen, in which smoke had risen from the pots the cooks were stirring. Emmeline was called by Marissa, who she rushed to.

Marissa put both hands on her shoulder before looking her in the eye, "I need you to decorate the plates of food. They need to be precise so watch carefully."

A nervous Emmeline nodded her head multiple times without hesitation. Marissa showed her how to plate up the food for dinner. The asparagus surrounded the top of the large piece of fish which lay in the middle of the plate and lastly, a moderate amount of salt was sprinkled on top of the fish to enhance maximum flavour.

"Ok, I have now shown you. Ask me for anything, if you're unsure. Please try and finish all the plates before six."

Emmeline inquired, "How many plates must I complete?"

Marissa walked away and shouted, "Make 50, please."

Emmeline felt like she had failed, failed her mother, failed her sister and herself. How could a two-hour job become an eight hour one? Cleaning the corridors was the easiest job of all and she couldn't complete it. She didn't want to be fired, it was not an option for her. Her mother and sister needed her. Even though her paycheck yesterday was hefty, she still needed more. She was paying debts to people who loaned her money for food, rent and her mother's hospital bills. As well as having to still put food on the table, paying for Esme's books and tuition.

All that she knew is that she couldn't fail again, she couldn't get fired. While thinking about all of this, she had finished ten plates in twelve minutes. She needed to finish within the hour as it would be six soon. The time the King and Queen ate.

DING DONG! DING DONG! The bell rang for six o'clock and Emmeline had finished with the plates. She observed them, proudly.

"Okay! We will be serving food in about five minutes. The guests are already here." Marissa announced. Everybody nodded in acknowledgement before hurrying to finish preparations.

Those who were serving the guests had already taken a plate and stood a line in front of the door that Emmeline had never seen used until now. The door was opened and the maids walked out with a graceful flare. Emmeline saw how they placed down the plates in front of the guests, in the middle of the black circle that laid upon the table.

A few minutes later, King Silas and Queen Zella were seated. It was time for Emmeline to hand them their food. As Emmeline was about to lift the last two plates left, her stomach growled in need of food but her face blushed with embarrassment even though she was alone in the kitchen.

'Focus, Em. Get the food out.' Emmeline shook her head and quickly lifted the plates. Making it to the door the maids had earlier left out of, she took a breath in and out before proceeding with the plates of food to the most important people on the table.

Emmeline took each step with caution and hurry. She placed the plates in front of the King and Queen, then bowed after. Glasses of water were already there for them.

Emmeline copied other maids and stood to the side so if the King or Queen needed something then she would be close by. When Emmeline stood to the side with the wall close behind her, she scanned the room and realised it wasn't a big room per se. 'It's probably because there are not that many guests,' she thought.

The dining room was fairly small but it accommodated the fifty people that were around the long table. The walls were cream and the huge chandelier in the middle of the ceiling lit up the room as well as other candles attached to the walls. The tiled floor in the room was white marble. Chatter filled the room between the Queen and some of the guests, this brought the room to life. Made it feel homely, made the Queen feel a little less alone.

She stared into space for a few minutes and during that time she had not noticed that she had an admirer. King Silas had been disregarding what the Governors (the guests) were saying and took in the beauty standing to the side of the room.

When Emmeline glanced up she realised that King Silas was looking right at her. Their eyelines connected and everything around them moved slower. Emmeline's breathing hitched and her lips parted. Silas noticed this and her plump, pink lips were his focus but before he noticed her long, wavy brown hair that fell so effortlessly; her sparkling brown eyes and her doll-like facial features. While he was in awe, Emmeline's thoughts were intrusive, 'Emmeline, look away. Look Away!! You can't lose this job.' But her mind slowly became blank, she noticed every feature on Silas' face: his sharp jawline, his silver-blueish eyes, his curly raven hair with a golden crown on top of it. He was dressed in fine clothing fit for a King, while Emmeline was embarrassed that she was wearing the same attire she wore the day before yesterday.

The world began moving again when Queen Zella spoke, "Silas, darling, are you alright?" She put her hand on his shoulder. Zella was a beautiful woman, she had long, straight ginger hair, slightly tanned skin and had freckles on her cheeks and nose. Zella had an elegant flare about the way she carried herself.

Emmeline broke eye contact by looking at the floor and Silas' eyes darted to his wife. He breathed in before coming back to reality and he breathed out when he nodded to his wife. Silas took a sip of his drink and let his eyes disobey his mind and studied the maid, who was now looking down at her feet.

When it was time to take the empty plates away and bring in desserts, Zella gave Emmeline a side glance and continued to talk to the Governors but Silas thanked her when she took away his plate.

Silas had realised that he had not been paying any attention to this ridiculous dinner party that Zella wanted to throw. Non-important events like these are the type of things he didn't want to be trapped in. He usually left this to Zella but she was persistent that he comes to the dinner party. When she brought up situations Silas hated to be in, it made him angry. Why couldn't she understand? He didn't want to be here, telling her several times meant nothing to Zella. She wanted to put a non-existing united front for everybody to see but it annoyed Silas.

Emmeline came back with desserts and cutlery. She stood to the side again, keeping her gaze downwards. The dinner came to an end and the table was cleared.

Making the journey home, she thought of that single moment. 'The moment that probably meant nothing to the King.'

Or so she thought