Silent Pain

23

Weeks passed on from Thanksgiving and it was currently cold, snow littered the ground, and every step Marie stood made a crunching sound. She sighed, she wasn't able to go home because of an idea Alcina and Miranda had.

Strolling up to the castle gates she laid her hand on the pattern and sighed, pushing the gates open she walked in. Going past the vineyard and stepping into the entrance, the painting of the daughters hung in front of her. Taking a deep breath she noticed buzzing around her. "Oh my goodness! You're here. Oh, I'm so excited." Daniela pulled her inside, "Mother, my sisters and I have been waiting for so long for you to come by, the seamstresses are the best hired all over Romania you're going to look so awesome-" "She's tracking mud."

A voice interrupted her sister as Bela formed into view, leaning on the pillar next to the stairs, Daniela winced when she looked back, they were halfway up the stairs, and from the looks of things Marie had done her best to avoid not only the carpets and rugs but tried to get her shoes off while being tugged on by the ADHD redhead who was going much faster than her legs could carry her.

The redhead flinched when she heard a gasp and a water bucket and mop fall to the ground, "Are you kidding me!" Marie looked over to Ingrid, who was at first very excited to get everything done. She had gone through the entire castle, swept all the floors, mopped them, buffed them, and then waxed them. It was leading past curfew and she had one room left to do until she entered and saw the swerved muddy footprints leading to the two women on the stairs.

Marie looked slightly guilty while Daniela looked at the poor head maiden with wide eyes, the girls held respect for the woman. They honestly liked her, she wasn't scared of them, nor would she run away from Alcina, and tended to their needs almost 90 percent of the time. Ingrid walked up to the carpet runner on the stairs and whined, she had also spent all of yesterday scrubbing, sweeping, and batting every ounce of dust, mud, dirt, blood, and anything from all the carpets and rugs, taking a good portion of her days to do just that.

The maiden looked up at the two in front of her, "Explain... This instant." She growled, "Ingrid... I'm sorry, I tried getting my boots off at the door to be cleaned but Daniela was faster than my hands and she started dragging me up the stairs. I tried staying off the carpets but..." She trailed off when heels clicked on the ground and all four women looked up to the matriarch and her middle daughter, "What's this nonsense? Ingrid, I thought you were going to clean all this?" Alcina leaned over the rail and looked at the floor.

"I was mistress... however seems like Daniela had other plans. I was almost done, I had swept, scrubbed, and got every ounce of dirt or mud off the floor and went into the kitchen to grab a mop and bucket to finish. When I came back it was like this." The matriarch hummed and looked at her daughters, seeing Bela leaning against a pole and knowing her eldest wouldn't lie to her she asked Bela.

"Dani got excited, she heard Marie come through the doors and was the first to get there, she dragged her in before Marie could clean her boots off and switch shoes." Daniela looked up at her mother in shame, "I'm sorry... I just... I was..-" "There's no need to be upset, I understand you wanted to see her in everything however you can't drag her through the castle. Daniela, I always tell you to watch your surroundings don't I?"

The youngest nods, "Now while I enjoy spoiling my daughters this will indeed need not go unpunished. So I say you have to help Ingird not only scrub the mud from the floors but also clean the carpets and floors completely and help her till she's done. Understood?" The redhead nods and sighs, slumping down the stairs back to Ingird who handed her a scrub brush and bucket of water, pointing to the carpets first.

Marie was finally able to get her boots off and switch to a pair of combats while hers were being cleaned. She slipped the combats on, laced them up, and traveled the rest up the stairs with Bela and Cassandra in front of her, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause any trouble." She said, "You didn't, Dani is hard to stop when she runs and runs. Sometimes you just have to let her go until she realizes something is wrong." "Spiratic huh?" Marie's tail wagged as she walked into the room.