Raising a Hero

Chapter 69

The first month of my stay also resulted in the beginning of relationships between me and the gray clad maids of the house.

At first, my ultra nice room didn't come with servants. It had been all Roman could do to push the room on me, let alone people who would wait in me, one who'd done everything for herself since toddlerhood. But, I soon found myself a little overwhelmed with upkeeping the room and my clothes when my day was crammed full of lessons.

I, as fortune would have it, found my solution when a young maid came in during Dr. Mustache's clinic hours with terrible, terrible acne. Just looking at her face made me both wince with sympathy and want to just burn the whole thing off so a new one could grow in its place.

Poor girl looked like she wanted to do the same.

"I've done everything you suggested," she said tearfully as she pulled on her ginger pigtails. "If anything, they just get worse!"

After examining her, the Doc hummed to himself, then turned to me, as he had come to do when the more impossible clients of the household came in.

"What do you think, student?"

I blanched. "Why are you asking me?"

He just looked at me.

Okay, the first two times he done this I could understand, the first guy had appendicitis and was going to die if I didn't do anything and the second was a woman an infection of the bone. Both would have required surgery even in modern days. But we had been able to cover up my use of my healing powers. What would be the excuse now?

The docs dull, gray eyes seemed to read my thoughts, as he said, "You need help with your hair or laundry, correct?"

My hands went both to my head and my dress in time. "What's wrong with my hair?" And my clothes? What, did I smell?

"It's like a cat died on your hair and you've worn the same dress for a week. That may have worked for you as a tavern wench, but you're in the noble position of personal physician to the first born heir of the Ducal Duchy. You're practically nobility yourself." He turned to the bemused girl and said, without my permission, I'll have you know. "The girl has trace amounts of divine magic. I'm sure you can work a deal with her to heal your skin condition."

The little maids eyes went instantly wide with both awe at her luck and desperation.

"I'm really good with hair!" she cried. "I can come in every morning to do it and you can heal my acne then! And I know another girl who works in the kitchens with pretty bad acne too who'd be up to doing your laundry!"

I blinked. "Uh, you got anyone who could clean my room for a little something too?"

"I can sure check!"

"But you got to keep it on the down low, kay? I don't have that much healing power. I think three in the morning with acne is as much as I can do."

"Of course!" she all but squeaked with delight. "Oh my god, I can't tell you how---I can't tell you how—" and suddenly she was bawling. "Does this mean I could get married?"

It was worse after I healed her face and she saw her reflection in the mirror.

"I'm beautiful!!!" she wailed.

The doctor whuffled like a tired bulldog through his mustache and gave me a wan look.

"A thank you would be appropriate," he said.

"Oh, yeah...thank you." For telling me I looked unkempt, stank, and spilling my personal information without asking. Nevermind the fact that I'd been considering wearing a hijab and veil over my face after the third knight for the week came to me with flowers and asked me to go on a date with them. I'd only been there for a week and a half by this time, you see.

"And when you get paid buy some new clothes, for Nehcor's sake. That pink dress of yours is especially bad."

I took especial offense to that. I liked my pink dress, thank you very much.

Thus, I got three maids, two with terrible acne and an older one with terrible carpal tunnel and dandruff, to help me with my room upkeep, laundry, and hair. The ginger was Mary, her fellow zit-proned friend with a prominent nose and dark features of the area was Lizzy, and the greying old maid Ulyssa.

Gus was happy that I'd manage to collect more girlfriends, especially since they paid him no more attention than required of 'the apprentice' or some random squire, which he was going to be, despite his rare silver hair. Though I did catch Ulyssa giving him an odd once over once or twice with a little frown.

All and all, I was grateful. Especially when I got compliments on my hair by all my acquaintances, Gus included, even as he frowned and pushed for my hijab and veil idea again.

I didn't want to shop for dresses. I would much rather take any handmedowns my new girlfriends could offer, but they all stared a good deal when I had asked, as though wondering what kind of horror had occurred in my past to make me like this.

"I just don't want to go to town again," I said. "People stare, and the cold is making my hands hurt."

That's right. Hiss! People. Socializing. I'd even gotten tired of the baker boy Glen's awkward attempts at flirting, probably because fresh apple season had passed. Wow...I just said I didn't want to be around someone because they couldn't give me the food I wanted. See what you've made me into, Nehcor? I could excuse myself with saying what I was really tired of was damage control between Gus and Glen's fragile ego, which was true, but I could always make an excuse to go when he was running laps somewhere.

Even so, I didn't get around to buying new dresses until that weekend at the end of the month when Gus was out for the count in the room nextdoor. I came to think of it because the book I was reading was talking about kinds of material useful for keeping the body cool while working in the field without being too difficult to clean.

"Though I'm sure the doc would have an aneurism if I came in something a farmer would wear while they spread out poop in the field," I said to myself with a puff. "Maybe I can sneak out for a bit and get some. Dang it, why don't they have mail order?"

They probably did. For the gentry, that is. Nice room aside, I still saw myself and my status as the same as when I'd lived back in Red Swallow Inn. No amount of socializing with Roman or rolling around in a bed that could fit a family would change my mind.

Though taking bubble baths in that shiny, magic tub sure helped...

So I took a luxurious bath before I went, my purse jingling with silver and new gold coins I'd never seen up until I'd been paid at the manor.

________________________

Almost done replaying through Poke'mon Leaf Green for the first time in forever. I never thought I'd be grateful for the newer generations adding on all those new fancy moves, but dang, is Ninetails boring without them. And fire blast, thunder, and blizzard were never that awesome since they seemed to miss most of the time. Now if only I could get in touch with that sense of 'I got nothing to do' that I had back then. Ah, childhood. 

Aw wait, it's Valentines Day! What the heck are you doing sitting reading this? Wait, what am I doing? I'm brooding alone in my house with my kids because my wonderful, scrumcious hubby went to do weld tests for jobs in Alabama. If you think single life sucks, life after you've tasted the nectar just to have it run off to spend most of its time providing for you sucks worse, especially when you don't even like shopping or spending money. I just want him around...