Blood and Stars

Princes

Princes

Mia learned to keep her trap shut pretty quickly. There was two other maids working with her and Nicki to prepare the dining room for dinner. Mia had been given a mop and bucket to clean the already spotless floors while Nicki dusted all of the decorations. The other two girls started setting the table.

At first, she had tried asking questions. Nicki wasn't able to answer, as she was bustling around to clean. The other two maids gave her strange looks, as if talking wasn't allowed. Considering the chatter in the maids' quarters, it didn't make sense to Mia.

She soon had the large floor cleaned well, and the rug under the table was soon cleaned neatly by her hand. By the time she had finished, she had to admit - she was proud of her work. Even though she detested cleaning, there was something mildly satisfying about seeing it sparkle. Though that feeling vanished as soon as she remembered who she had just cleaned it for.

She and the other three maids barely escaped before the royal family and their guest, Lord Javier, entered. Other maids were rushing past with platters of the meal on their hands, preparing to serve them. Mia didn't miss the whispered hope of a good tip from Lord Javier.

Mia eyed Nicki as they waited to be called for clean up of the dining room after the meal. "Is it always this hectic?"

Nicki shook her head. "No. We've been short handed recently, and our pay gets docked if we start slacking off. Four new maids have applied for the job, so we should be a bit better in a few weeks."

The seasoned maid eyed Mia. "Did you never work for a large home?"

Mia replied easily, "No, just Lord Javier. He is usually by himself."

Nicki nodded instantly, believing the lie as Mia's magic swept over the woman. "Well, welcome to the big shots, Harper."

---

Two days passed, and Mia found herself nearly worked to death. After all, she wasn't used to such work. She was a thief, not a maid.

As she had the night shift, she worked all through the dark hours. That usually meant cleaning the halls and polishing the common decorations. Many times, she had caught herself eyeing something priceless and barely managed to keep her hands away. She slept during the day, which was incredibly difficult. Maids scampered around during the light, often yelling for help or dashing past, waking Mia.

Hilary, the maid before Mia, must have been a deep sleeper. Mia got nearly no sleep. By the time she began to doze, it was her shift.

She hadn't gotten the chance to get into Margaret's room yet. The Queen's sister never called for a maid at the night. In fact, none of the royals had called for a maid at night. It was as if they suddenly knew she was waiting to get into one and snoop around.

Mia was getting frustrated. She hadn't signed up to be a maid - she was here to get her thousand gold. Lord Javier had already departed, as staying for too long would be suspicious. She wanted to leave already, despising the work she was doing.

Mia would have left, if the eight hundred hold she was waiting for was being dangled in front of her nose like a carrot for a mule. Grudgingly, Mia stayed.

On her third night, Mia had been on her feet for several hours. They ached as she cleaned the hallway floors under the rugs, finally returning to the dark and empty kitchen to refill the bucket and wring out her mop.

Everyone had gone to sleep. A few maids were cleaning the kitchen silently, and one cook was dozing on a chair for on-call duty. Mia allowed her steps to be completely silent as she began to clean the bucket.