Elsa’s POV
The stone floors gleamed beneath my raw hands, though no one would thank me for it. My body ached, my stomach hollow and growling, but I dared not pause. Crystal’s words from earlier echoed mercilessly in my head:
“If she doesn’t scrub every inch of the palace clean, she doesn’t eat today. And if she’s not finished by night, you will pay, too.”
She hadn’t even addressed me directly. She’d said it to the high maid, her tone light, as if discussing weather rather than my survival.
The high maid, a woman who had long since learned to bend beneath Crystal’s cruelty, simply nodded. “Yes, my lady.” Then she turned to me with weary eyes and said, “You heard her. Don’t expect supper.”
So here I was, on my knees, hands raw from scrubbing floors that already shone, knowing that no ma
