ALL NOVEL Chapter 8
I stood in front of the door, my hand poised to knock. I had to do this, I reasoned, regardless of how many anxious flips it gave my stomach. Taking a deep breath, I gently tapped against the smooth wood. A moment later, the door opened, and Lena’s hand grabbed onto mine, pulling me into her room.
“Well?” she asked, as the door clicked closed. She turned to me, an eyebrow raised expectantly.
“Umm, I wasn’t able to find anything.”
She nodded, seemingly having expected this response. “Let’s head over to the temple then, after you get changed. Don’t worry, I won’t make you do this alone. We’ll go together and I’ll see what I can do to make sure Callan doesn’t overreact or do anything rash. I’ll make sure he realizes the importance of keeping this matter discreet.”
“Umm,” I said again. “About that…”
Lena scowled. “You’re not getting out of this Feli. You promised me that you would talk with him if your plan didn’t work.”
I winced. She was going to hate this. “I’ve — I’ve agreed to be a maid… for the sorceress.”
“You…” her voice trailed off, uncertain of how to respond as she stared at me. I fidgeted.
“She asked, and I said yes,” I spluttered out hastily. “It’s only until I can figure out how to get rid of the curse! And find out what she’s plotting, I guess.”
“Felix, you absolute idiot.”
“Hey!” I complained with a pout.
“And what are you going to do when it turns out she’s not plotting anything?” She stomped toward me, shoving a finger against my upper chest.
“Oww!” I complained at the sharp poke, rubbing the spot that felt strangely sore. Had she really poked me that hard?
“What if she doesn’t even have a way to change you back?”
“I’ll figure it out,” I mumbled unconvincingly, my eyes shifting away.
“What could have possibly made you think this was a good idea, Felix? I know your imagination can be a little overactive.” I huffed. “But this is beyond normal levels of foolishness. Why would you even want to pretend to be someone’s maid?” Something about her words stung.
“It — it was a good idea. It is a good idea,” I insisted. I needed this. Some part of my soul just knew this was right. And I had to find out what the sorceress was up to.
Lena stared for a long moment before finally shaking her head, exasperated. With a sigh, she said, “I don’t suppose I’m going to be able to change your mind. Not with how stubborn you are.” She gave another sigh. “This is going to come back to bite you, Feli. Hard. And I don’t know that I’ll be able to protect you this time.”
Her eyes stared into mine with a deep look of worry. She reached out to grab my hand between hers, and I suppressed a shiver. The strange sensitivity hadn’t gone away yet.
“Promise me you’ll be careful and tell me before doing anything this dumb again? And that you’ll keep me in the loop? I still don’t know why she’s even here in Sunridge.”
I nodded. “I promise. I’ll tell you everything.”
“I suppose that’s the best I can get for now. You’re sure you don’t want to drop this nonsense and just go with me to the priest?” she raised her eyebrow.
I gave her several more nods. “Certain.”
She rolled her eyes. “I should beat you over the head and drag you there.”
I gave her a grin. “You can certainly try.” There was a moment’s pause. “I should get back to her. She’s waiting in her room.” I scooted a foot toward the door.
Lena pinched the bridge of her nose before making a shooing motion. “Just remember what you’ve promised. I won’t forgive you if you break it.”
I gave her my best attempt at a curtsy and rushed out of the room as she snorted behind me. When I arrived back at the sorceress’s door, I gave it a firm knock. A second later it opened to reveal the dark-skinned woman shining in glittering white scales.
“Good, you’re back. I hope talking with your friend went well?” Camilla said.
“Relatively,” I hedged.
“I’m certain she’ll come around. Just give her time. This is a big life decision, but one that could be very beneficial for you. As your friend, I’m sure she’ll come to understand that and the reasons why you made the choice you did. Just be open with her about it.”
I nodded, not entirely certain how to respond. Was I getting friendship advice from a sorceress?
Camilla smiled. “How about I show you your room?”
To the left side of the room, was a small door, almost hidden away. I followed her through into a room only a third the size of the previous. A small bed and chest were all that stood within.
“We’ll have to get you a few things to make it your own, though I doubt you will be spending too much time in here.”
Despite how plain it was, I was somewhat relieved to see that the room wasn’t much different in size from my normal one. Perhaps slightly smaller, but certainly no hole in the wall. It was only then that I was struck by the thought that I was going to truly be expected to sleep here instead of at the library. As her maid, it was expected that I be nearby in case Lady Camilla should have need of me.
The sorceress closed the door as we moved back into the main room. “Before we get to learning about your duties, I thought we could perhaps get to know each other a bit.” She paused, and I stared curiously into her hesitant eyes. “Umm, why don’t we sit?”
Her clear nervousness eased my own, if only a little. She was still a cursed sorceress after all, no matter how human. I couldn’t forget that fact. No matter what, I would keep my guard up and stay wary. There was no telling when a change in her mood could spell some unfortunate “accident” for me, or when her evil nature might decide she doesn’t need me after all. If I wasn’t careful, she may decide I’d make a better sacrifice than a maid.
Politely, I nodded and followed behind her to the small chair and couch sitting in an alcove of the room. Without all the crates taking up space, the room seemed much more open and welcoming. In particular, I couldn’t help but notice the now full bookshelf as I moved by it, holding strange tomes of knowledge that I was certain I’d never seen before.
We sat in a somewhat awkward silence, me bent forward on the couch as Camilla crossed her legs in the chair across from me. My gaze flicked across the room before glancing her way.
“Umm, well,” she said.
I suppressed the nervous smile that threatened to reach my face, not daring to let her think I was amused at the awkward atmosphere. Usually, I was the one blundering through social things rather than someone else. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite sure what to say myself. What did one talk about with a sorceress? It was better to let her decide, I figured.
“I’ve never been terribly good at this sort of thing,” she admitted. “And if anything, I’ve probably gotten worse as of late.”
I looked down at my hands before a question popped into my mind. “What should I call you?” I asked.
“Ah, I’m not very particular.” She waved her hand. “In private, Camilla is perfectly acceptable. Though in company, Lady Camilla or M’lady will do. I was born the daughter of Count Owun Anselm, before being ‘selected’ to become Marked and lost my last name. So like most Marked, I sit in a strange undefined area in between commoners and nobles.”
It was news to me that nobles who’d been cursed lost their last name. Only the nobility had second names in the first place. In our little town, it was just the family of the local Reeve that had one. Lena was actually Lena Dyere, though I’d always just called her Lena.
“You were selected?” The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them. The loss of status was interesting, but what surprised me even more was the suggestion that the cursed were selected in some way. I’d always imagined that they got their powers through some kind of dark or unnatural means, perhaps by creating whatever that substance was that had contaminated me. Could it be that the Empire chose people to receive the curse? That implied a lot more involvement on their part than most people seemed to imagine, certainly more than I’d imagined. Wasn’t the Empire supposed to be stopping the curse?
A small smile crossed her lips, though I couldn’t tell if it was a happy or sad one. “I was born the third daughter of my family, a quiet lonely girl who spent most of my time by myself,” she said, almost as though she were talking about someone else. “The Empire looks for people they feel they can keep hold of their control over. Usually, that means young naive nobles. It’s supposed to be a great honor to be selected, but… Well, I don’t expect I need to tell you how the Marked are viewed by most. Once you have been chosen, they take you to one of their schools and train you,” she said simply. By the end of it, she was frowning with a scowl.
It was strange to me how annoyed she appeared at the Empire’s methods. Wouldn't schooling be a good thing? The cursed were useful in combating the wastes and protecting the Empire, I knew. It was shocking to hear that these 'Marks' were done deliberately, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that perhaps it made sense. Surely the Empire had good reasons for what they did.
“But enough about me, tell me more about yourself. I want to get to know the girl I’ll be spending so much time with and who will be occasionally sharing my bed.” Her eyes crinkled as she smiled.
Didn't she mean sharing rooms? Surely she didn’t mean to imply that we’d be intimate together…
Right?
“I—umm. I like books?” I stuttered out.
She nodded. “Not surprising if you grew up in a library.” She turned to look toward her bookshelf. “Feel free to peruse some of mine whenever you’re free. Though I wouldn’t let the sentinels find out. They can be a bit uptight about that sort of thing.”
I squinted. She was letting me read her books? Just like that? “Aren’t they magical, or something?”
“Most of them are in some way related to the Marked and our cultivation, yes. So you won’t get any practical use from them. Without a Mark, they might as well be empty pages. Though I suppose there are quite a few helpful tips on meditation in some of them.”
I wasn’t completely certain what cultivation was supposed to mean in this context, but I got the gist of what she was saying. Her books involved learning magic. I shivered, wondering whether they were safe to even look at. Did I dare? I might have to, I realized, if I wanted to find a way to drop this curse. I just hoped they wouldn’t drive me mad or corrupt my spirit.
I slowly nodded to myself as I came to a decision. I’d just have to be careful and hope that would be enough. The risk was worth it.
“What was it that made you decide to become my maid? You seemed quite enthused about it.”
I blinked toward her as she pulled me out of my thoughts and tried to think up a quick response.
“I like adventures. Or well, I’d like to go on one,” I said. “This seemed like it could be a chance for that.”
Had I actually come up with a believable excuse for once? I wanted to be proud, but perhaps getting better at lying wasn’t something to be very proud of.
There was another long awkward pause as we just stared at each other, neither of us seeming certain of what to say. Finally, the sorceress spoke up once more.
“Are you hungry? Dinner will be in a few hours, and I’ve been asked to attend this evening. Which means you’ll be there as my attendant. I’m not sure when the other maids here eat, but I’d recommend you find something in the kitchen. Otherwise, you’ll end up watching all of us on an empty stomach. Also, I should mention, while you were talking with your friend, I requested to have one of the maids here guide you and show you the ropes, so to speak. I expect she'll be by soon. It will be a good opportunity for you to learn before we go back to the capital.”
I hadn’t thought about the fact that she would eventually be leaving, likely sooner rather than later. What was I going to do if I didn’t find a way out of this curse before then, I wondered? Would I be able to manage it in that time? Would I be willing to travel with her to the capital?
Her hands reached out and grabbed onto my own. As she soothingly rubbed the back of my hand, I shivered and had to suppress the urge to gasp, biting my lip.
“Don’t worry, you’ll do fine. We’ll make sure you’ve got it all down before we go. And I don’t think people will mind me having a maid who’s a bit clumsy or inexperienced. I’m no Empress.” She smiled as she completely misinterpreted my concern.
In response, I gave her a nod. “I’ll d-do my best,” I managed to stutter out as she continued to brush her fingers against my skin, sending sparks of pleasure up my arm.
Her smile widened into an amused grin. “Good.”
A knock came to the door, and Camilla released my hand.
“Perfect timing.”
It opened to reveal a girl I’d seen quite a lot here at the mansion, as she usually attended to Lena. She was also the maid who’d opened the door of the mansion for me, allowing me to sneak in for my first spying attempt.
I stared at her wide-eyed, fearful that she’d recognize me and give my secret identity away. Frozen as I was, I could only watch as she glanced at the two of us, carefully not meeting the sorceress’s eyes.
Unfazed, the sorceress continued. “This is Rosetta. She’ll be teaching you the basics of your job as a lady’s maid going forward. For today, that will just be your duties at dinner tonight. Though for the most part, I believe that mostly consists of you standing there and looking cute.” She smirked as I looked away embarrassed.
The silence held for a moment before I looked up nervously toward Rosetta, who seemed to be eyeing me curiously. I gulped and moved forward, approaching her, not entirely certain what to do from here.
Her mouth opened. “You’re Lena’s friend.”
I started and then froze in shock.
Her eyes stared into mine, a clear spark of recognition lit within.
