Island
The land of Bloomfield shone with beauty and riches, and everyone prospered under the reign of King Arthur and Queen Diane. They all loved their rulers and always spoke highly of them.
It was the annual royal festival and the whole kingdom was excited to be involved in it, even though the main preparation was to be done by the palace maids, guards and servants. The excitement in the air was contagious and everyone had huge smiles on their faces, smiles that weren't going away anytime soon.
All day long, the palace kitchen maids received and recorded the donation of many gift items in preparation for the feast. The guards had more trouble putting calm to the chaos caused by those who wanted to drop their token for the celebration.
The traders had fun piling money into their pockets as dozens of the inhabitants of Bloomfield poured into shops, desiring to buy new items for the occasion.
The commotion at the sewers' shops and hair salons was nothing but a pleasant ordeal for everyone indeed.
It was a celebration that everyone looked forward to all year since the coronation of their dear king; a day that the public and the elites have fun and throw away the division caused by class.
The royal party was the biggest celebration in the kingdom of Bloomfield and all the inhabitants always looked forward to it with more excitement than usual.
The public got to see their king and queen in flesh and interact with other dignitaries that they wouldn't have been able to see on a usual day.
"When are we going to stop getting visitors in the palace?" Shanna, a palace maid, asked Agatha, the other maid beside her as she rubbed her back, wincing at the sharp pain of having to stand all day and take record of gifts from the people.
Agatha chuckled. "Stop? We are likely to be here till the end of the day. You don't know anything yet."
"Till the end of the day?" Shanna croaked, her eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. "I don't want to stay here all day, my back is already killing me."
"That was why I told you to wear comfortable shoes but you wouldn't listen." Agatha snorted with a roll of her eyes.
Agatha didn't feel pity for the younger maid. She had warned Shanna to wear sandals but she had insisted on wearing shoes. She knew she would learn her lesson when she stood for hours and her toes started to ache.
"You could have warned me till I listened." Shanna pouted.
"Why would I repeat myself?" Agatha scoffed. "You scorned my warning when I told you, I didn't think there was any need to bother myself."
"I wanted to look pretty." Shanna sighed.
"Do you have a lover among the villagers?" Agatha asked with sarcasm dripping in her voice.
"What?" Shanna asked, her eyes round with shock. She hadn't been expecting that.
"Is your lover coming?" Agatha repeated, not bothered by Shanna's confusion.
"No." Shanna shook her head.
"Then you shouldn't have cared about looking pretty."
"I thought we are always to look presentable as the palace workers."
"That is for the court maids and palace guards who are mostly seen by visitors and other palace officials. We are kitchen maids who barely get seen. Why do we have to go the extra mile to look beautiful? All we have to do is to look neat and make good meals. Moreover, the feast is tomorrow and we don't have to bother much about fashion today. You can dress all you want tomorrow because you will be serving the guests but today, you are receiving voluntary donations by the villagers who aren't even going to see you. Why dress up like you were invited to the royal ball?"
Before Shanna could reply, one of the guards walked in, carrying loads of donations from the villagers that they had received at the gate.
"Here are new supplies." The guard said, giving the two ladies a polite smile.
"Thanks, Brood." Agatha smiled warmly at him.
Brood nodded and walked off to his duty post to get more gifts from the villagers.
"Let's get to work, Shanna." Agatha said, trying to get herself distracted with work.
She didn't understand Brood. For the past few months, she had always looked at him and smiled but he always acted like she didn't exist. She had to buy a mirror because of him the last time she had a leave and was at the market. She had put the mirror in her room so she could always check herself every morning before stepping out of the room.
She wasn't ugly and couldn't understand why Brood was blind to what was staring at him in the face.
She sniffed as she sorted out what he had brought to them, pretending like she hadn't been hurt by his lack of interest in her.
"You like Brood," Shanna blurted out, grinning at Agatha.
Agatha went red in the face. "Are you crazy? What are you talking about?"
"You couldn't stop staring at him."
"Because he walks in a funny way."
Shanna snorted. "I don't think he walks in a funny way. His gait is normal to me. You can admit that you like him." She winked at her.
Agatha sighed and shook her head. "It's because you are new here or you wouldn't be doing what you are not meant to do."
This was why she hated being assigned with new maids. They didn't know the rules and were always too chatty for her liking.
"I just started working in the palace a week ago, I don't think I have made mistakes already." Shanna sighed and said in defense of herself.
"You have, dear. You have made loads of them. One of them is not knowing how stressful the work will be today and wearing uncomfortable shoes. The second one is talking to your superior about what you guessed of her love life and teasing her with information that you are not meant to talk of."
"I'm sorry. I won't have to be uncomfortable in these shoes and stand for too long if only the chef would allow the gifts to be brought directly to the kitchen."
Agatha shook her head and clicked her tongue. "I doubt you will last long in the kitchen. Would you consider working as a laundry maid?"
"Don't make such horrible jokes." Shanna shuddered.
"I wasn't trying to be funny." Agatha snorted.
"What were you trying to do then?"
"Telling you the truth."
"Why would you say such a thing?"
"Because you keep making mistakes."
"Again? So soon?" Shanna's eyes widened in horror.
Agatha nodded. "Yes. If you had said what you said earlier in the presence of the high chef, you would have been sent out immediately."
"What did I do?" Shanna asked as she adjusted her feet in the shoes, her voice rising with panic.
