Royal Plaything

Lilia finished her meal in record time and then stood up with her empty bowl. She wanted to wash it but as she got down from the bench, she realized that she didn know where to go.

A young and fresh-faced scullery maid was passing by at the same time and she noticed Lilia.

”Well, hello there! You
e a new face, I say! ”

Lilias face lifted up to the young girl like she was the sun, there were bandages around a number of her fingers from her menial jobs but she still had a smile on her face, it inspired Lilia.

”Whats your name, little one? ” The scullery maid bent lower to get on eye level with Lilia.

”Lilia. ” Came the quiet response.

”Such a pretty child, Im Lottie, and you are new so you should stick with me! ” Lottie beamed, clutching her hands together like she was fighting the urge to pinch Lilias cheeks.

She had bright ginger hair that was covered with a white cotton bonnet and her light brown eyes seemed to hold all of the sunlight within.

”My aunt Caitlin was kind enough to bring me a meal, say, do you know where I could wash this? ” Lilia said solemnly, holding out her bowl.

”Of course! Come with me! ” Lottie exclaimed, taking Lilias hand and pulling her along.

Lilia was taken to a large room behind the kitchen where the dishes were being washed, there were more scullery maids already hard at work.

Lottie crashed into the room, instantly brightening it up. ”Hi everyone! Look at who I bumped into! Its Cook Caitlins little niece, Lilia, and shell be joining us as a scullery maid, please be kind to her, everyone! ”

Silence reigned after Lotties loud announcement, the rest of the scullery maids went back to ignoring her after a few beats.

”So thats where you ran off to. ” One single maid responded, she leaned against the counter, her hands on her waist as she reprimanded Lottie.

”I can keep covering for you, Lottie. ” The maid crossed her arms, she had black hair that was cut as short as Lilias and there was a laidback air around her.

”Im so sorry, Joan. ” Lottie hurried over to the black-haired Joan to resume at her station, leaving Lilia standing awkwardly at the center of the room with her bowl still in hand.

”Don just stand there… ” Joan turned to Lilia, beckoning her.

Lilia was made to dry plates with a soft cloth, there were about five girls stationed to dry the plates. The youngest out of them other than Lilia was a fifteen-year-old nearsighted girl.

Her hands shook as she slowly wiped the plates and neatly stacked them up. She also had bandaged fingers like Lottie and it was from breaking plates because she couldn see very well. This gave the poor maid a hunch in her back as she looked at everything up close.

Lilia was quiet but very hardworking, she immediately fell into the rhythm of wiping and stacking. After nearly an hour of doing this repetitively, the plates from lunch were finally all cleaned up.

Lilia straightened up, her brows furrowing at the ache in her neck and shoulders, she couldn complain though.

Working in the castle wasn bad for her first day, the scullery maids were all nice and they all worked hard.

While the dishes were being done, Lilia found out why Lottie had so many cuts. The bubbly maid was extremely clumsy.

Joan was short-tempered with a foul mouth and together they made a very interesting pair. Whenever Lottie made a mistake, Joan swore and scolded her, it was quite entertaining.

”Alright, the youngest maids are assigned to scrubbing duty. ” A stern-sounding, round-faced maid announced.

They had all assembled after the dishes were done to be assigned new tasks.

”Eliza put the new maid through. ” She added as an afterthought.

”Yes, mam. ” Eliza, the oldest out of them, answered spritely, immediately turning around and heading for the door.

The rest followed suit and Lilia had no choice but to follow along, just as she left the door, she heard the oldest maid assigning the rest to curtain washing and fireplace cleaning…

She followed the line of scullery maids like herself, wondering when she was going to get her own bonnet.

Eliza was thinking the same because when they stopped by a closet to get cleaning supplies, she grabbed a spare bonnet for Lilia.

”Come. ” She called gently, helping Lilia tie the straps.

Afterwards, they were all set.

”We are to begin from the foyer of the west wing today. ” She explained to the girls as she led the way.

It was evident that Eliza took her job very seriously and felt responsible for each of them. She also looked up to the oldest maid, Agnes, and wished to be like her.

The foyer in the west wing was nothing like Lilia was expecting. It was a very large room, to begin with, the floor was made of gleaming marble that looked like a lot of work to get the dirt out of.

They all started off at a corner, brushes were handed to each maid and they had a pail of soapy water to work with. They had to be done with the floors and the stairs before supper.

Lilia had no complaints, she got down on her knees like the other girls and scrubbed hard. Her soft hands, unused to this kind of hardship, bruised and blistered but she made no sound, working hard alongside the other girls.

There was little room for conversation with such grueling work; Sweat dripped down their glistening faces as they worked hard together to finish up the room.

When the work of the day was done, Lilias fingers were bruised a painful red. She quietly washed up with the rest of the girls and went to the servants mess hall for supper.

The other four girls conversed with each other but Lilia was too young and too new to join in, even if she could, she didn want to.

Her entire body ached and she was hungry, she just wanted to eat and get some sleep.

Fortunately, that was her schedule for the rest of the evening. Scullery maids were done for the day at sunset when supper was served but there were a handful of other stations that still had some jobs to do.

Lilia didn see her aunt all day and after supper, she was at a loss, she couldn recall the way back to her aunts chambers. The rest of the girls had long left, leaving her alone and confused in the bustling mess hall.

Fortunately, Lottie found her. ”Lilia! Ive been searching everywhere for you! ” She pulled the young girl into a hug.

It had been less than a day but Lilia was already growing attached to the bubbly maid and was so relieved to see her.

”Lottie! ” She exclaimed, just as happy to see her.

”Cook Caitlin told me that you might not be able to find your way back to her chambers so Im here to help, just follow me! ”