The royal moon witch

Chapter 11 - Second day as maid

* Elvira POV *

The first day that I started as a maid in the palace, was filled with only one task: Scrubbing the main stairs clean. I had been working on it for about two hours when Valentino had come back from I don’t know where and with very muddy feet, had walked upstairs as if I was not there. This was not the worst thing though because those footsteps I could clean easily. I just had to go back up for that little bit, but then he knocked over the bucket with water and soap. The water flowed down and most of it hit me and I was soaked. So now I did not only had to clean his footsteps but also get a new bucket of water and dry clothes. Thank you prince A-hole. With all these set backs I had been done cleaning the stairs after six hours. I had missed dinner time and was tired beyond believe.

When I had picked up my bucket, the hand scrubber and the towels and brought them to where Madam Oberman had told me to bring them. After that I went straight to my small room, on my way there I saw Madam Oberman and told her I was done. She told me I could get something to eat at the kitchen but I was too tired. My back was hurting and all I wanted was to sleep and so I did just that. Once I was in my room, I put on the light and stripped from my wet clothes. I quickly picked a nightgown from the bag with clothes I had taken with me and put it on for some extra warmth and laid down. I closed my eyes and the sleep hit me right away like a brick.

The next morning I was woken up by a loud noise and I sat up right away.

‘’What is going on?!’’ I said and l looked around me with the sleep still in my eyes. I rubbed my eyes and got out of bed. I was just changing my clothes when the door of my room opened. I looked up, standing in my bra and skirt and saw Riella.

‘’Good morning, did you fall out of bed?’’ she asked with a grin.

‘’No but I was shocked if that makes you happy’’ I said with a sigh, happy it was Riella.

‘’A little bit’’ she said. In the mean time I had put on my blouse and was working on the apron.

‘’Here, I’ll help you’’ she said and took the apron from me, I turned around and she knotted it on my back.

‘’All done’’ She said and I grabbed my hairbrush. I quickly pulled it through my hair and looked at Riella.

‘’Could you make a braid?’’ I asked and she nodded. I turned my back to her and she made a braid in my hair, after that was done, I put a rubber band on the end and then she walked out of my room.

I closed the door after I had followed her and we walked towards a hall what seemed to be a canteen. Though it did look better than a normal canteen with long tables and wooden benches, here we had separate tables where between two and four people could sit and eat. Riella walked towards a row and I followed her. There we got a tray and a plate and we could fill it with what ever we wanted. There was a lot of choice and I had a feeling this was something not organized by Ma’am Oberman.

Riella and I ate breakfast together and after that we went to where we would see our schedule for today. I followed her and looked around carefully so I knew how to find the schedule myself next time.

‘’It is a maze around here.. Not just the palace it self but the servants quarters too’’ I mentioned and Riella laughed.

‘’Yeah, I got lost often in the beginning’’ Riella said. She showed me the place where the schedule was placed every day and I looked to search for my name.

‘’I’m not on it..’’ I said after looking at the list of names several times.

‘’Maybe you should check it with Madam Oberman’’ Riella said and I nodded.

‘’I’ll see you later’’ she said and left to go and do what the list said. I went to search for Madam Oberman who could be anywhere at this moment.

It took me a little while when I found her.

‘’Oh, Madam Oberman?’’ I asked and she looked at me.

‘’I was searching for you’’ we said at the same time and with anyone else I would have laughed but this time I kept my laughter in, which was hard.

‘’Good thing we found each other then’’ she said without much interest and started walking. I followed her and was wondering where she would take me this time. I was pretty sure that I would be getting another lengthy task but I had no other choice. I would show that I would not be the one giving up, even if he would try to make every task I got extra hard like he did yesterday.

Madam Oberman and I walked for a while and entered a large kitchen, she walked towards the back and I followed her.

‘’Here you go..’’ She said and we entered the part of the kitchen where the dishes were done.

‘’The dishwasher has a unknown error, so a mechanic will come soon to see what is going on.’’ She said and looked at me. The look in her eyes made me wonder why she didn’t like me? What did I do to make her dislike me this much. Or was this hate only because I am a witch?

‘’In the mean time the dishes must be done by hand and that will be your job’’ she said and I nodded.

‘’I’ll do as you say’’ I said and she walked away without explaining how what worked. I looked around and saw that there was already quite some dishes piled up.

I looked at the pile and took about ten plates from it and placed it next to the pile, with that I started to sort the dishes out and put them down in a more stable way so they would not come crashing down. After I was done with that, I turned on the water tap and waited for it to become warm. I didn’t have to wait long on that and started with the first piles of dishes to do. I was working hard on them when I got another cart filled with dishes driven into my part of the kitchen. I could hear the chef talk to his other employees and it was nice to know I was not all alone here. The voices were a nice distraction though I didn’t let it be too much of a distraction for myself of course.

I don’t know how long exactly I was working on the dishes, but it had been a few hours already when one of the helpers came to me with a sandwich.

‘’Oh, thank you’’ I said and she smiled.

‘’You’re welcome’’ she said and I dried my hands. I took a quick bite and that was when I noticed how hungry I had been. My stomach grumbled happy from that first bite and I took another bite to make my empty feeling go away as quick as possible. While eating, another cart with dishes were brought and I had a feeling it were more dishes than on a normal day. I quickly finished the last bit and started back at square one and worked on organizing the cart that was brought in.

I threw away the leftovers, even if it was a waste of good food in my opinion. Then I placed the plates on a pile, size by size and the same I did with the knives, forks and spoons. After that I did the bowls, the cooking utensils like ladle’s and spatula’s and as last the pots and pans. Every time that I was halfway with a card, a new one came in and that started to be quite a pattern. I didn’t know what time it was because I saw now clock anywhere but judging by the smell that came from the kitchen, it actually was almost dinner time. I looked at my hands and saw that they were wrinkled from the water but I didn’t mind it. They did also hurt a little from the scrubbing but not as much as they had done yesterday after cleaning the stairs.

Just about the moment I was done and wanted to put the last plate on the pile of clean dishes, a cart was pushed into my way and it hit me, making me lose my balance and I tipped over against the box with cutlery, which fell with a loud bang on the ground but that was not the only thing I let fall down, also the pile of plates that stood next to the box fell on the ground. I couldn’t believe my eyes and tried to catch the plates before they fell but it was no use. The chef and the other workers came rushing in and saw the mess.

‘’Are you alright?’’ a male asked and I looked up, it was the same guy that brought me a sandwich and I nodded slowly.

‘’Yeah, I am not cut’’ I said and he nodded.

‘’Where can I find a broom?’’ I asked and someone came walking with one and I took it from her.

‘’Thank you’’ I said and started sweeping the floor. The pile had been a amount of fifty-something plates so it was quite some sweeping.

After sweeping half of the floor, I picked up the cutlery that was not free to pick up and I slowly put them back in the large sink. Those would need a new bath. I then continued sweeping and went to search for a trashcan and a dustpan. The dustpan I had found easily and the trashcan too I found out after I had asked where it was. I had been looking over it the whole time. I smiled a bit to myself and then slowly shoved the shards on the dustpan and threw them away. I was about done with half of throwing the shards away when I heard a familiar voice in the kitchen, it was Riella.

‘’Yes, she is in the back’’ a voice said and then Riella came walking in.

‘’What happened here?’’ Riella asked when she saw the mess and I sighed.

‘’A cart came out of no where driving into here and it bumped against me, then I bumped against the box with cutlery and a pile of at least fifty plates’’ I said and she looked at me.

‘’I don’t want your pity’’ I quickly said but Riella didn’t say anything. She just nodded and started to help me clean up my mess.

‘’No.. you have worked hard already’’ I said and she shrugged.

‘’You are my friend and friends help each other’’ she said and I sighed.

‘’Well, come on..’’ she said as she held the broom. I sat down again and held the dustpan on the ground. She slowly pushed the shards on the dustpan, which worked much faster, and then I threw it away.

In fifteen minutes we were finished with cleaning the kitchen from every shard we could find. I felt happy that it was done and tired from the whole day doing dishes.

‘’Well, that was it.. Let’s go eat’’ Riella said and pulled me with me. I looked back at the large piles and wanted to get them into the cabinets they belonged in but Riella was quite strong and was not letting go. I walked with her back towards the canteen and there she pushed me into the line to get us our food.

‘’So, how was your day?’’ I asked and she smiled.

‘’I was on laundry duty, which means you go by all the rooms to pick up the laundry but also by the houses of the employees with family living on the castle grounds’’ Riella said.

‘’So, you also went to Sam’s house?’’ I asked and she nodded. I wiggled my eyebrows but she didn't see it and I just smiled.

‘’His brother opened the door because Sam was obviously working but he is so sweet and cute. He even asked me if he could help me so I made him call Sam, on speaker of course because never trust a kid that is eleven years old, and when Sam said it was alright, I let him help me’’ She explained and she seemed really happy about today.

‘’I’m glad you had a great day’’ I said and then yawned.

‘’I’m sorry’’ I said and she nodded.

‘’It’s alright’’ she said and we continued to eat.

After dinner I went by Madam Oberman’s office but she wasn’t there, so I decided to go to my room and just relax a bit. Because of the lots of standing and scrubbing, I was really tired. I tried to read some but I couldn’t focus and put away my book. I put on my pajama and brushed my teeth. After that I laid down in bed and let a deep and dreamless sleep take over.