A life of comfort, in exchange for absolute servitude. That was the life she had chosen for herself. And though she had been able to avoid the prostitution aspect of her work, that night was different.
It wasn't any other guest that had requested for her, nor was it a man she held deep contempt for. No, it was something deeper than that. In a strange twist of fate, her first request, her first time, was to be given to her first love.
Due to the nature of requests, she was not supposed to feel as giddy as she did. In the grand scheme of things she was just a maid fulfilling her duties for her master. But how could she not feel good about it, he wasn't just her master, he was her dream. Like a fairy tale that has come true the peasant girl was to be betrothed to the handsome and kind prince. It was all too good to be true.
"Miss Baranda, if you'd be so kind as to withdraw your head from the clouds so we can be done with this!" Baranda jumped at hearing the tired and raspy voice of the older woman.
"Yes Madame Jess, right away." She moved on to the next table. Cleaning it as fast as she could. All the other maids looked at her with contempt. Out of all of them she was the one who received favorable treatment from her masters, despite messing up the most.
Baranda was aware of this, of course. She knew how lucky she was compared to the other maids, and that her position alongside Maze could win her favor even with Grandmaster Schmidt. Apparently, Maze was a major problem before her arrival that not even the experienced Madame Jess could tame.
Getting Maze to behave wasn't hard at all for her. In fact, Baranda would argue that her younger sister was much worse.
She paused.
Placing her hand on her chest to feel the little bump under the fabric. A necklace that was shared amongst her and her sisters.
She shook her head and continued with her clean up, she didn't have the time to waste as she was assured of their safety. Her older sister was able to keep them alive all on her own, her being in a better place was just one less thing her older sister needed to worry about.
It took an hour to complete her duties and all that was left to do was for her to tuck Maze to sleep. By then she imagined that her brother had finished discussing what he needed to discuss with her. She gripped her apron trying to eject the thought of him from her mind. She knew what was coming, so she pushed the thought to the back of her mind and focused on other things. Like the layout of the mansion.
There was an elevator to get to the third floor quicker, but all servants were not allowed to use it. The first floor was the dining hall, grand kitchen and where all the security slept. The second floor was where the fitness center, library and meeting rooms were located. She could recall the multiple meetings in the path where the maids would discuss various topics and problems to tackle that she was mostly not a part of, since her duties mostly focused on Maze. She was as good as absent to the rest of the maids in those meetings, but her duties compelled her to attend, nonetheless. Most of the general staff had rooms there too.
Then the third floor, where all members of the Schmidt family resided. Next to their rooms were rooms reserved for personal maids. The heads of the family had up to 10 maids on standby including Madame Jess. The young master had 4 on standby with a room where they slept on either side of his room. She'd regularly get teased by them about her feelings for him, but it was an open secret at that point. Then there was Maze.
Baranda stood beside Maze's door, empathizing with how sad her life was. She was the only maid entrusted to Maze, but it was obvious that Maze was an afterthought to her parents. Maze was barely in her preteens when Baranda was hired. So full of energy but lacking the grace her family demanded of her.
Baranda sighed to herself. She has changed so much since then… I wonder, was domesticating her free spirit truly what was best for her?
She twisted the doorknob and entered into a room that was in shambles. Pillow fluff, candy wrappers and destroyed lamps littered the floor and in the middle of all this mess, was a resting Maze cuddled with her accomplice Tiffany. The two girls' fingers and lips were sticky with the remains of their candied chocolate.
It was a cute sight, seeing her snuggled so closely to her dark-skinned friend, but the cute sight before her wasn't enough to sooth the rising fury burning with in.
The audacity those girls had to make such a mess and sleep in the middle of it so carelessly. Were they expecting me to clean all this up? She gripped her dress at the thought. Oh they've got another thing coming. She closed the door behind her as not to be heard by any of the other maids.
"MAZEKIEN SCHMIDT!!" Her voice jolted the two awake. Maze rubbed the weariness in her eyes only to be met with her auntie's infuriated glare.
"Are we in trouble?" Tiffany asked groggily.
Sensing the danger Maze grabbed her friend by the arm and tried to make a run for it, but by the time she got to the door it had already been locked.
"Going somewhere, are we madame?" Baranda walked up to her with a plain smile. Maze felt a chill run up her spine as she drew near with every step.
__________
"Argh, this is so unfair! Why was I roped in on all this mess!?" Tiffany protested, leaning on her broom for support. She was sent into a nice chocolate-induced coma alongside her best friend, only to be rudely awoken by Maze's neat freak of an aunt.
"Aunt Baranda, isn't it a maid's job to do all the cleaning? I don't want to do this anymore." Tiffany pleaded, unleashing her blue puppy dog eyes at her. But her cuteness was ineffective.
"Shut up and keep cleaning you little twerp, being rich and important isn't any excuse to be lazy." Baranda harped back, cleaning a window painted with chocolate handprints.
"Auntie says… that cleaning after yourself is important… if you want to live on your own." Maze said in between huffs as she picked up all the litter on the floor.
Both girls were exhausted as it had been a long night. Baranda knew that they craved sleep more than anything else, but who was she to allow her little twerps to sleep in an untidy room. Worst case scenario, the girls actually learn how to clean after themselves. A win-win in her eyes.
It took short of an hour to clean the whole room. Maze and Tiffany were about to call it a night before Baranda pulled them back from their heaven once again.
"Shower, now." She demanded.
"But I already took a shower." Maze complained.
"Tell that to your fudge filled cheeks." She retorted as she dragged both girls to the shower. Even while they were showering, they shared many gripes about Baranda, but she didn't care. As long as things were done properly, and in their best interest then they could cry her a storm.
Finally having done with their shower and all dressed up for bed, Baranda allowed them to climb under the covers of Maze's queen sized bed.
"When I tell daddy about this, he's going to be so mad at you. You'll probably get fired." Tiffany complained.
"That's not how these things work dear," Baranda climbed in the bed with them, having removed her stained apron. "You can't rely on your daddy for everything."
"Oh yes I can. He's the most powerful person in Newark. He can make anything happen." She boasted.
"But what if your daddy hurts you, will you feel good about him then?" Tiffany paused her rebuttal as she didn't have to think hard on how she'd feel if that happened.
"I-I wouldn't feel nice." She timidly admitted, betraying her usually loud self.
"You can't always rely on others to save you dear, which is why I'm trying to teach you to fend for yourself." Baranda brushed her hair with her fingers, still moist from her recent shower.
"Can you two keep it down, I'm trying to sleep." Maze groaned, being the inactive middleman of the conversation as she heard it all before.
"Be nice Maze, I'm trying to teach your friend here a valuable lesson." Baranda said flicking Maze's buttoned nose with her index.
"Well can you do it faster. I just want today to be over." Maze turned away from her auntie and tucked her head under the covers. Baranda sighed at the girls antics, but that's when an idea hit her.
"Oh shit, auntie is getting naked." Tiffany pointed, peaking Mazekien's interest as Baranda undid her a few buttons from her maid's dress.
"Oh shut it you, only one man is worthy enough to see my body." Though she was boasting, the mention of him reminded her of what was to come like a slap on the face. She shook her head to get the thought out of her mind to focus on what she was trying to tell the girls.
Baranda pulled out a silver necklace shaped in a wing, by it's design the two girls could see that it was missing two pieces.
"Wanna hear the legendary tale of how I got this necklace?" She asked, twirling the piece of silver on her fingers.
"Is it, magic?" Maze asked, seeing the light glow of moonlight bounce of it.
"Well… sort of."
"Sort of?" Tiffany asked with her eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, legend says that no matter how far apart each of its pieces are they will always make it back together." She swung the chain in a swinging motion as she animated herself to show its importance.
"This story better not be boring." Tiffany said as she snuggled up on Maze.
Seeing the girls' eager eyes, Baranda prepared herself, feeling a tingling sensation run though her gut. It had been a while since she recounted this story and it'd be the first time she was telling Maze. Why had she kept this story back from her for so long?
Had she simply forgotten? No, it was something deeper than that. It was because she was selfish. Too selfish to share their story with anyone, desperately clinging to it as one of the things she held dear.
But that night was different, after those girls fell asleep and she closed their door behind her, nothing would ever be the same. As much as she fantasized about it there was no denying this truth.
She caught herself in her moment of hesitation, gripping tight on the necklace as she opened her mouth.
"Once upon a time, there were 3 princesses who lived in a falling kingdom. The queen had died, and the King was sent into a deep despair. Night in and Night out he'd spend his riches on the most extravagant wines and indulge himself with his friends all night. The eldest sister got sick of this and told the others. "Let's runaway, to a land faraway. A land with no monsters under the bed and demons out in the night. A land where you can eat as much cake and drink as much apple juice as your heart's desire. A land where you will never have to cry. Let's runaway, to a faraway land." Taken by their big sisters' ambition the 3 princesses snuck out during one of the king's many drunken gatherings and never turned back.
On their journey to this faraway land, they would encounter monsters that hid under the bed, and demons that wandered in the forest, but the 2 younger siblings never worried, because their big sister was a warrior like no other. She fought tooth and nail to ensure none of her little sisters were hurt. The middle sister would cook extravagant meals for them to eat with what she could find in the forest, tend to her big sister's wounds and play with the youngest sister all day. The youngest sister would often get into trouble but always had her 2 sisters to protect her.
One day the eldest sister was approached by an angel, one that promised to take only one of them to the promised land. The offer came with the one condition, that the one he takes must be above 13. He first offered to take the oldest sister, but she refused. Then he offered to take the youngest sister, but she was still too young. Then he offered to take the middle sister. The middle sister did not want to leave her sisters behind. They had gone so far, and lived for so long together that she felt her heart would break if they ever were to part.
So the eldest sister gave her this, saying. "One day we will reunite. Whether be it in the land faraway, or in another, they would always be together." and so it was written in their souls. That one day, in a land faraway. The 3 sisters would once again reunite."
Baranda hadn't noticed the tears that escaped her as she retold the tale. The two girls were fast asleep, snuggled up together as if neither wanted to let go.
Sighing to herself she got off the bed. She made her way to the bathroom and washed her face to hide the fact that she'd been crying. Baranda studied her features reminiscing at how similar she looked to her sisters. Her walnut brown eyes and her bronze hair that was close to being as red as her elder sisters. The little mole under her lips that she shared with her younger sister.
She was like them both, but unique. Like a blended picture that somehow retained its originality, what she'd give to see them both.
Turning away from the mirror she undid the bun that held her curly locks up and made her way to the door. Her hand landed on the knob, but she hesitated. She could feel her heart beat against her chest, but it was too late to turn back. She turned one last time to see the two girls, but even that couldn't stop the shivers that tremored across her body.
Is this how you felt big sis? She chuckled to herself before pulling the door open before she overthink it any further. Stepping out into the dark corridors as she approached the point of no return.