maid to mistress

Settle in, scrub up, now get to work

The ride to the palace was long, the carriage rather uncomfortable. We hadn't been the only onces drafted that day, infact we were 2 of what must have been 50. A mix of males and females but more so females. Males weren't often drafted, the reward for drafting a son was considerably less than a daughter, because it was encouraged for the men to stay home and man the farms and cattle. Instead the men would stay in the villages, care for the crop and when they reached 35 they would be provided with a wife as a reward for their hard work, if they had'nt married already. 

The carriage was huge, yet cramped and dark. I sure as hell hope our living quarters are not of the same fashion. The whole atmosphere was overwhelming to say the least, some seemed excited, others nervous and a little scared, some chatted to those around them whilst others sobed at the loss of their old life. I on the other hand decided to sleep, I don't exactly travel well and the vehicle was dark enough so I though it best to get some rest before the work begins.

The carriage stops, awaking me from my slumber, and the doors are opened letting in a flood of light causing me to groan and squint.

"Alright time to go!", Its the gruff man from before. "All of you out of the carriage and follow the Miss Gen". We all rise and do as we are told, exiting the gloomy carriage into the light, Eliza and myself following the line lead by whoever this Miss Gen woman happened to be. I cannot help be get distracted by the beauty of the palace exterior. It goes on for what looks like miles. Tall golden towers and hundreds of windows, many of which leading out to golden balconys. Eliza tugs on my arm to hurry me up. I know I'm just going to be staff but one could really get used to living in a place like this; although I hope theres alot of us because this will be one heck of a cleaning job.

We enter the building, and the interior was even more impressive; tapestries, golden paint, royal blue, regal reds, paintings of the long lost royals and vases that I'm sure cost more alone than all of the work force are worth. I cannot wait to take a look around this place properly but for now i must hurry along with the others.

We enter into what I can only assume is the ballroom, A lavish large space with cherubs painted onto the ceiling.

"Line up along the markers!"Shouts Miss Gen, her voice strong and authoritive. Now I can catch a clear view of her she looks to be a woman in her 50s, muscular build with grey hair tied up in a low bun. She wears a grey maids uniform that comes down just below the knee, with a white pinny around the front. "I said line up!" She bellows.

We take out places in line, the room being large enough that we can all stand side by side and still have room to spare. Miss Gen stands herself in the middle of the space facing us. 

"Welcome to the palace, the place where you shall all be staying for the forseeable future. As a member of staff there are a number of rules that you must follow, failure to do so will earn you consequences. Rule number one: You must always look presentable; when you are working you must make sure to be wearing the correct uniform, in the correct fashion, exactly as you are told to.  On your days off you will still be around the palace so no walking around in your night clothes, a series of clothes will be provided for you in your rooms including undergarments and night clothes. When your applications were sent in they also included all of your measurements and so every item of clothing is made to measure your exact bodies. If you gain or lose weight you must take your clothes to the palace seamstress immediately. Tardiness will be punished. Rule number two: You must always be on time to start your shift, you will be given a set of daily tasks inwhich you must perform, your shift does not end until your tasks are complete. If a member of the family ask you to do an additional task, you must also do that, believe me when I say you do not want to displease the family. Rule number 3: what relationships you have here are not my priority however if you are caught anywhere other than your quarters there will be severe consequences. Pregnancies are strickly forbidden. Any pregnancies within the castle will result in your immediate removal from work. No returning carriage home and no money. And finally the main rule: If you are wanting to survive here with no trouble you must remember your place. You do not speak the family unless spoken to first, and with respect and obedience. Do not draw attention to yourselves, get you job done and put your heads down. If a member of the familyis in the room you must not make a sound, continue your work unless they ask you to leave.

Right now the main bits have been said you will find a handbook on each of your beds with the remaining rules. Be sure to get that read by the morning, along with the handbook you will find your uniforms and job roles. Based off of your application details you have already been assigned a working location but that may change over time. Now follow me I shall take you to your quarters where you can shower, read your manuals and get some rest before work tomorrow"

I take a deep breath, that's alot to take in alone without the handbook to read on top of it. The relationship rule would be fine, I have no interest in persuing a relationship anyway, afterall I never did in school so why wouldn I feel the need to now? I'm not too worried about the work load either providing I'm in the right job role, growing up I had helped my uncle on his farm so manual labor isnt really an issue for me but Eliza was always the prim and propper cleaner and cook in the house along with my mother so cleaning isnt really my area, And Ive never been noticed in my life for anything other than my hair so staying quiet and under the rador can't possibly be that hard can it? 

We are lead down to the lowest floor of the building, the staff living quarters. Safe to say that the lavish furnishings havent made it quite as far as to down here. Being below ground level means theres no chance of having a window in your bedroom, the halls are dimly lit and it smells rather stale and stuffy. 

"These are the shower rooms, make sure you have all had yourselves one before your first shifts tommorrow" Miss Gen booms. The showers alone look depressing, like something you would see from a horror movie. There's two shower rooms directly opposite one another, one I'm assuming for the males and one for the females. We cotinue down the maze of corridoors, 

"Your living quarters are down there. Each room has name labels on the doors so you know who's is who's. Theres an alarm clock in there and a map, be sure to set your alarms for 7am, be dressed and in the staff food courts by 7.30 latest. Breakfast is served on the dot. Shifts commence at 7.50am. Do not be late" Her voice monotone, clearly she's done that speach one too many times but with that she is gone. We all walk down the corridoor of doors, quiet as to not wake the other staff members, checking the doors for our names. 

"Annabeth here, we are room mates" Eliza whispers excitedly, standing infront of a blue door with our names on. We push it open and enter, pleasantly suprised at the state of the room. We have two single beds, a wardrobe each and a bedside table between the two beds. The walls are painted a royal blue and the bedding a nice teal. On our beds lie the small handbooks and our new uniforms. It obvious that we have been set up for two completely different jobs!

Eliza has a little black maids dress, pinny and coif. Black heeled pumps and tights. The dress itself looks to be on the shorter side, not a dress that you would expect a maid to be actually cleaning in. A piece of paper is laid ontop of the handbook that reads: 

'Eliza Cross, 

East wing, Prince Alexander's estate 

Maid, 

room service and house keeping '

I on the other hand I have quite the opposite. My uniform consists of a fitted yet stretchy pair of brown trousers, a white shirt and brown waist coat. Instead of pumps I have long knee high black boots with a medium heel and to finish the look a black out door woollen jacket. I take the peice of paper from off of my bed in curiosity:

'Annabeth Cross,

Royal stables,

stables maid,

 horse training, caring for and cleaning'

"Not bad, It seems we've both got what suits us" I giggle. Whilst my job role lacks the glamour of Eliza's it's certainly more up by street. It also means that I will get to spend much of my time outside of the palace and away from the royals. 

BONG

The clock strikes midnight.

We skim throught the guidebooks and then settle in for the night.