Sacrificed to the Dragon

10. Cleaning the carpets

Katherine gets the rude awakening just after she sets down her spoon after breakfast. She thought that she could enjoy her cup of tea in peace, since nobody wants to sit even close to her, not even the girls from the other day. Even though they all said they liked her. And today they all sit in a group at the distant part of the kitchen. She will not be bothered by it and she will definitely not show it. But Agneta has other plans for her when she shows up at her side. And they don’t sound pleasant to Katherine.

“Can you play any instruments?” Agneta inquires out of the blue.

“Em. No.” Katherine answers and sets her mug down.

“Have you tried?” Is the next question that makes Katherine cringe.

“Yes. To my mothers great disappointment, I am tonedef.” Katherine hangs her head. “We tried with the violin, the flute, the harpf and even that wretched cembalo.”

“Oh.” Agneta sighs. “Well. It was a thought.”

Katherine looks at Agneta expectantly and wonders what the keeper will come up with next. She will run out of things to do inside the castle walls very soon. Maybe that will give her an opportunity for something outside? Although,the gods know that Katherine will probably mess that up, too.

“Well. I hate to do this.” Agneta sighs again. “You will have to try out cleaning. We never have enough people for that.”

“Cleaning what? The castle?” Katherine asks quietly.

“Yes. The carpets need to be cleaned. The library has quite a few of them and all the common rooms as well. The two sitting rooms on the first floor are up today, so come with me.” Agneta waves her hand in the direction of the hallway.

Katherine follows her slowly and thinks this can’t be too hard. She has seen the palace maids clean and they made it seem so easy. It might have been degrading to do this in the palace, but here she is only one of the girls, she is not a princess any more. She might even be good at it. It’s manual labor and there is nothing elaborate about it.

Agneta leads her to the first of the sitting rooms and there are three girls already there. With buckets of water and rough looking brushes. They all glance at her and not even one gives her a smile or a greeting, but Katherine decides to ignore the lack of manners and greets them cheerfully.

“Good morning.” She smiles at the girls and gets a few grunts in response. She guesses they are not morning people and would rather be asleep right now.

“Fine.” Agneta smirks and gives a few instructions before she leaves them to work at hand. “It is a simple thing to do. You take a brush, dip it in water and scrub the carpet. In one direction only. Divide the work and you will be done faster.”

“You start by the window and work your way to the door.” One of the girls says. “It’s not good to walk over the carpet when it’s wet.”

“Get on your knees princess!” Another one laughs with glee.

“Let’s see what you’re made of.” The third smirks and hands Katherine a brush.

Katherine dips the brush in the water and shakes it off over the bucket. She did remember hearing once before that water is bad for the carpets and the brush should be wet but not dripping. Who knew that listening to the maids would be useful someday. She walks over to the corner and gets on her knees. So undignified! But she will have to endure it for now. Maybe she can plan her escape while she scrubs? Well, planning will have to wait. She tries very hard not to listen to the girls or flinch at every foul word they say to her and about her.

“Oh, look at her!” A girl exclaims. “She’s got down on the knees part all figured out. I wonder how often she went on her knees to blow someone?”

“By the looks of it? Often.” And they all laugh at Katherine's mortification. Where did they even get the idea? Katherine is fuming with anger, but she keeps her mouth shut. She doesn't want to antagonise them any further.

It turns out that staying quiet did her no good. They just keep adding to the insults. From insinuating that Katherine went down and dirty with every man she saw and a suggestion that she did it with her own brother. Damn, they are vile and poisonous, she thinks. They are bound to run out of steam sooner or later. Hopefully.

Katherine klutches her brush tight and tries not to ruin the carpet with overzealous brushing. She even tunes out the girls and hums a song in her head. If she doesn't listen to them, their words can’t hurt her. She is a rock, strong and unyielding. Nothing can hurt her... Nothing can hurt her… If she repeats that mantra in her head, she might even believe it.

One of the girls even goes so far as to set the bucket right in Katherines path and she bumped into it, spilling the dirty water all over herself and the carpet. She shakes in anger and stands up. The water is dripping off of her dress and hands and she can feel that even her hair got wet. There is a trickle of water down her back and it grosses her out. The trio is laughing even harder and they’re calling her the swamp princess.

“How about it? She lost the smirk on her face!” The girl closest to her snickers. “What is wrong, swamp princess? Cat got your tongue?”

“Not so high now, are we?” Another one laughs. “I can’t tell you apart from the fishermans girls. Are you really a princess?”

“You still don’t feel low enough to talk to us, Swamp rat? Should we pour something else on you?” The last one teases and glares at Katherine.

“Stop! Right now!” Anery shouts at them. And she did stop them in the last moment as Katherine can see a wet, dripping brush hovering in the air. It would smack her right in her face if Anery didn’t stop it. “Is that how you behave? You are worse than tavern sluts. I thought you were raised better? Vile little snakes, a lot of you. And the language alone! I am so disappointed in you!”

The silence that follows that outburst is thick and heavy in the air. Katherine only breathes shallow breaths. She doesn’t want to get the dirty water in her mouth or nose. The other girls stare at the carpet with their heads hung low, but Katherine can still see their faces. They are scared. All three of them are pressing their mouths together and shaking in fear. They respect Anery and she caught them doing something terrible. Katherine wonders what the consequences will be and how it will affect her in the end.

“Katherine! Come with me.” Anery orders with a sharpness to her words that does not allow any resistance whatsoever. “And the three of you can clean this mess all by yourself. Don’t you worry. Agneta will hear about this.”

“Why did you stand up for me? I thought you didn't like me.” Katherine whispers just before they reach her room.

“Why didn’t you?” Anery asks back and there is genuine wonder in her voice.

“I thought they would lose interest if I just stay quiet.” Katherine tells her.

“Oh, sweetie. You’re so naive. They would have just kept going. And it would get uglier, too.” Anery shakes her head.

Katherine stands there dumbfounded and gapes at Anery. Is she right? Would they have kept up the torment and verbal abuse? Did she misjudge them so badly? Is she losing her touch? The wet dress is dragging her down and she tries in vain to get the clasp opened. But Anery steps in again and helps her out of the dress. She even dries off her hair.

“I do like you, as a person. I just don’t want anyone to disrupt my work routine in the kitchen.” Anery shocks Katherine with her statement. “Let’s admit that you are a total klutz and leave it there.”

“I know.” Katherine sniffs her tears back. She will not cry!

“I used to be a palace maid before I was brought here.” Anery tells her. “I was your aunt Leanna’s personal maid for a few years.”

“Oh. Do you miss it? The palace?” Katherine asks.

“No. I have it way better here. I’m the lady of the castle in everything but the title.” Anery laughs. “I do miss your aunt. How is she?”

“Oh.” Katherine looks at Anery with sad eyes and a shake of her head. “Aunt Leanna died a few years ago. She got thrown off of her horse and broke her neck.”

“The sheer stubbornness got her.  And her love for untrained horses.” Anery states that as if she knew what happened.

“The last new addition to her stables was a golden Akhal-teke stallion. She loved him, he didn’t like her so much. That horse was picky. Her son could ride him just fine, but not her.” Katherine explains.

“Oh, I can almost see her face. The conqueror got conquered.” Anery smiles sadly. “I’m sorry if that came out smug. But that is just how she was.”

“I know. We all miss her.” Katherine nods.

Katherine looks at herself in the mirror. She hardly even recognizes the face staring at her. She looks the same, but not. Maybe this is how it feels to grow up? You can’t see the change, but it’s there, all the same. The new dress that Anery picked for her is simple but still allows style. What she did with her hair is a different story. The elaborate braid running all around her head and down one side is adorned with small fake flowers and she just has to smile. She looks like she used to, but there is something more to her looks. More maturity and elegance she always had to work at, but it’s suddenly here without her even trying.

“You look presentable enough. I can’t do anything about your hands. I’m not a healer like Agneta.” Anery smiles from behind her and Katherine can see the reflection in the mirror.

“I better get used to the blisters. Until I learn how to use my magic properly.” She whispers. “Thank you for the braid. I never get it just right.” 

“You have to look good if you plan on going out with Ariston.” Anery winks.

“You know about that?” Katherine asks.

“Agneta told me earlier. He wanted to cheer you up.” Anery nods. “Ariston always dresses up when he goes riding. You have to look the part.”