“Freya said you were short staffed.”
“We are, but that’s because the servants keep disappearing.” We headed down the steps, turning into a hallway.
“Where’d they go?”
Gail shrugged like it was no big deal. “It’s hard work, working in the palace.” She pushed open a door that led into a laundry room. The scent of lye burned my nose. Women worked tirelessly washing clothes in stone basins large enough to bathe ten people. Large copper pipes ran across the ceiling, supplying hot water from the furnace room we had just visited. We skirted the women washing the clothes and made our way toward the back, where the clothes were drying on long wooden racks near open windows.
“Did they run off?” I asked.
A second shrug followed as Gail went to a long wooden table filled with paper and ink and rapped her knuckles on it. A shrew of a woman with glasses blinked blindly at Gail, then turned her graying eyes on me.
“Hey Mabs, we need a set of sleep clothes, work clothes and two sets of undergarments.”
Heat rose to my cheeks, but in the heat of the laundry room, it went unnoticed.
Mabs backed into a closet and returned with stacks of black clothes and one red dress. The red was depressing. Holding it up, it was very similar to what Gail was wearing. A high neck dress with buttons along the collar.
“Sign here.” Mab’s voice was very low and gruff for someone her size. “The clothes will come out of your first month’s pay.”
“A month? I don’t plan on being here that long.” The blank stare I received from Mabs was enough to tell me my pleas were falling on deaf ears.
“Not my problem,” Mabs said before muttering under her breath.
“Fine,” I sighed, grabbing them from the table.
Gail watched the exchange but wisely said nothing as I looked at the receipt for the work clothes I signed for. “I feel like I was just robbed,” I muttered sadly. The cost of the clothes was exorbitant.
“That’s the way it is here in Kiln. Everything costs money, and if you don’t have money, you’re lower than dirt.”
“That’s not just Kiln,” I murmured. “That’s everywhere.”
“No, nothing is like it is here. Come on, let’s get you dressed.”
CHAPTER NINE
I hated the clothes with every fiber of my being. The high collar dress buttoned up my neck and felt like hands choking my throat every time I took a breath. The sleeves were short, and the high waist skirt flared out to give movement for my legs. The trim was heavy with hand-stitched gold threading, and I understood it to be the reasoning behind the complex price for the dress.
I had plaited my honey brown hair into two braids and then wrapped them into a figure eight at the base of my neck. When I stood next to the other maids, I couldn’t help but compare it to a bow.
We passed through the kitchen, and each took a piece of fruit and a hot pocket of croissant bread filled with minced meat. We ate as we walked, and I greedily licked every drop off my fingers. Even though I’d already eaten breakfast, my stomach was making up for lost meals.
As we walked the halls, I couldn’t help but feel like an interloper and I kept playing with the seam of my skirt.
“Stop fidgeting.” Gail’s soft-spoken warning made any comfort I felt disappear.
I stood straight, my back stiff as we headed to our first task of the morning.
“What was that?” I asked.
“Quiet,” she shushed.
“Is it another earthquake?” I asked again.
Her silence was my answer.
The throne room doors slammed open, and a tall man dressed in a black velvet doublet trimmed with gold and wearing a banded crown stormed out, turning toward the servants. Gail stepped back, her posture fearful, eyes downcast. Behind the king were two black knights. One was a giant. The armor almost couldn’t contain his broad shoulders. His dark, unreflective helmet resembled a lion’s head. A faceplate with lion teeth frozen in a roar covered his mouth, leaving only slits for his eyes. On his back, he carried a gold broadsword. The second black-armored knight was almost as tall, but slender. His helmet was that of a hawk, the plates of armor resembling feathers. At his hip hung a gold rapier.
Being new, I didn’t retreat with the other servants, but stood perplexed, right in the path of the oncoming king and the two bodyguards.
King Goddrick of Kiln. He stormed up to me and halted, scowling at me for not having moved. But now I was frozen, not out of fear, but awe as I took in the lines of his face, the angry tic in his jaw that stressed the tanned cheeks up into his murky eyes. His hair was so dark it looked black in the daylight. And all the fire was directed at me—an inconvenience that blocked his way.
“Your Maj—” I curtseyed. I saw a glint of gold as a blade was drawn and I looked up as the large, armored giant stood in front of me. With the sword at my neck, he was glaring at me, daring me to finish what I was saying. I could feel the hum, the vibrancy of magic, and I reached up to touch the blade.
Instead, a heavy boot kicked me in the shoulder. I fell backward and stared up at the ceiling as two blades crossed my neck, the thicker sword and the rapier.
The two knights turned toward the king, awaiting his order, when a rumble started low in the ground. The candles in the candelabra rattled, and I looked up fearfully toward the glass ceiling. A cry of distress sounded from Gail. Dust fell from the buttresses falling like glittering snow. The swords withdrew from my neck as the men turned to protect the king. Shields were raised over his head and no one paid attention to the poor servant girl.
Gail darted forward, grabbed my elbow, and roughly helped me to my feet so we could escape around the corner during the commotion. As the earth continued to shake, more shouting followed, and a painting fell off the wall. Gail didn’t release me or slow her pace until we had done enough twists and turns that I was lost.
We stopped somewhere near the kitchen.
“What were you thinking? No one addresses the king without an invitation,” she gasped, clutching her side.
“Why’s that bad?”
Gail frowned. “It’s just a rule. One that can’t be broken for fear of death. The king’s blades would have silenced you for good if not for the quake.” She spun on her heel and snapped at me. “Don’t get in their way and you’ll be fine.”
“Who are they exactly?” I asked.
Gail called out to a passing servant boy. “Hey Mouse, can you explain this to her while I die from the stitch in my side?” Gail groaned and clutched her abdomen.
“Yes, Miss.” The servant, a willowy boy with saucer-like eyes and a mop of red hair, cleared his throat and recited from memory. “The king’s power comes from his three blades. His right hand is strength, strong to take down many enemies. In his left is wisdom, whose strikes are quick and sure. And then there’s his silent blade called death. You never see death’s strike until it’s too late.”
“Nice speech,” I said, still just as confused.
Gail having regained her breath, rolled her eyes at me. “You met his right and left blade. I don’t know if you could survive a meeting with the silent blade.”
“Is he the one with the dragon helm?”