The Kitchen
The kitchen was more than a cooking place; it was like a web of communication networks fostered by the maids working and the royal guard in the palace.
One would think that just a network of spies was inevitably useless, but that was not the case.
Rosa, Racheal's personal maid, made her way into the kitchen with heavy breaths. The kitchen was a colossal part of the palace, spacious enough to foster the flow of miscellaneous activities.
While some maids cooked, others served, and some did the cleaning.
Rosa made her way to a ceramic jug, setting out a small teacup on a saucer. She raised the jug and bent it downwards, but nothing came out. She creased her brows…
No green tea?" She asked, turning to look at her colleague.
"The traders have been treacherous in their delivery this month, leaving out most of the important items on the list." The maid head walks in. A fat aged woman with her hair packed in a loose bun
Rosa swallowed hard.
"My mistress needs her morning tea; without it, she gets extremely grumpy." Rosa tried to explain.
"Well, there is nothing to be done. She will have to put up with it, or opt for another spiced tea." "The maid head," she said, grabbing a big wooden spoon from the counter, and she began to stir the bubbling soup in a huge pot.
Just then Tamar walks in with her head down. She has always been reticent, a half-breed, a slave saved from the streets by the mere mercy of privilege.
Linn, Jazell's personal maid, who was arranging a tray of biscuits, flashes her gaze on Tamar for a while before looking away.
"Is she the one?" A maid beside Linn whispers.
Linn nods curtly, her gaze focused on what she was doing.
"She is…the maid having feelings for the prince." Linn wipes her wet hand clean with a rag on the counter, then throws it aside.
"What a foolish thing, don't you think?" The maid talking was Hahn, Jia's personal maid. For a while Linn was silent as she arranged the tray with practiced ease.
"I do not engage myself with small talks." She finally answers, lifting up the tray.
"Why? Because you are of a higher rank than me, is that it? Hahn asked, chopping the vegetables on a chopboard with dexterity.
Linn scoffed…
"Because the maids in this palace have a taste for good gossip, and they tend to soil a good reputation with it," she says before walking away. Hahn halts in her actions for a while, her cheerful face turning sour instantly.
She grits her teeth and then begins to chop the vegetables even faster.
Celin's body hit the cold walls as the male servant's face leaned forward.
"What do you have for me?" He asked, the words quoted as always.
"There hasn't been much information passing through the webs; lately there have been reported deaths of maids within the palace. This has disrupted the balance of the network of information." She explains.
"Do you have the list of maids who are dead?" The man asked.
"No, I am not familiar with their faces; there are numerous maids in the palace." Celin says, her eyes blinking rapidly as she talked.
"Josiah, the little spy, craves for his daily feed of accurate information; you are incompetent! He groans; Celin doesn't flinch. She is used to his incessant rants.
"If I am so unreliable, then why don't you find yourself a new spy?" She shot back, crossing her hand on her chest.
The man had both his hands on his waist initially, looking displeased. But when he heard those words from Celin, he leaned forward, placing one hand on the cold wall and the other clenching Celin's jaws.
"You do not talk to me that way…
"I will talk to you however I please! Celin had some nerves; she slapped his hand away.
"You need me; I don't need you. I don't get paid enough to be treated this way." She added. But soon she felt the hand of the man raising her knee-length maid dress, his hands crawling up her thighs.
He locked gazes with her.
"It's been long since I have felt your body on mine." He grins, his hand making its way up her thighs, but Celin grips his hand just in time and yanks it away.
"You know how it works; pay first, then you get access." She had a cold gaze, but it soon softened when she watched the man dip his hand into a dirty bag across his waist. He fondled his hand inside the bag for a fleeting second, then brought out some coins.
"He took her hand and placed the brass coins on her palm.
"That's thirty coins."
"The usual pay is fifty." The maid was cocky.
"Make do with it! He said firmly. They were in a secluded part of the kitchen. The kitchen water source was a bucket on the floor beside Celin. She didn't come to fetch any water; it was an excuse to see one of her daily customers.
The man's hand swiftly goes under the dress, but then he feels a thick cloth layer obstructing his access. He shifted his gaze to Celin's face; the latter had a leering grin etched at the corner of her lips.
"It's the time of the month, the first day in fact. The blood won't be drying up any time soon." She was referring to her menstrual cycle. She picked up the bucket beside her, and then she quickly walked away.
"Fucking cunt! He cursed from behind her.
A maid was seated on a small stool, her lashes wet with tears, her fair face flushed red, as she sniffed uncontrollably.
"He did it again?" Tamar peered at the maid, and she nodded.
"The sound of her cry makes me sick," Hahn says, rolling her eyes.
"She's not used to it..." Tamar said.
"She should be by now! It's the system in the palace." Hahn says with spite and then brings her face close to that of the weeping maid.
"Oh, for Pete's sake, stop crying, take this..." she says, and then she puts a wrapped substance on the maid's hand.
"Take it in the morning and evening, and you won't get pregnant with the bastard prince." Tamar says, tapping the maid lightly on the back.
"Maybe we should tell Madam Clade to let her switch positions with another maid. With that chest of hers, Prince William won't be letting her be anytime soon." Tamar then shifts her gaze to Hahn.
Hahn says nothing; she clicks her tongue. But something seemed to be brewing in Tamar's heart; here she was, always trying to get the prince's attention, but he simply ignored her existence.
Linn strolled into the kitchen quietly, then placed the tray of used plates inside a big basin, where another maid was seated beside it, washing the dishes. Linn's face had red handprints evident on her face…
"Who was it this time? Rosa asks as she walks up to the maid washing the dishes; she places some plates along with the other piles of dirty cutlery. She had noticed the conspicuous marks on Linn's cheeks and was moved by pity to ask about it.
"Lady Jazell." Linn answers her, her cold gaze dark and unwitted.
"She has been cruel to you. You serve her so well; I do not understand why…
"You do not get to judge. She is my mistress; she has the right to do whatever she wants with me. I am sworn to her in loyalty." Linn barks at Rosa scornfully.
"Loyalty, you say? And that too at the expense of your life?" Rosa said, taking hold of both sides of Linn's shoulders, she turned the latter to face her.
"I fear for you, Linn; you are simply blinded, too indebted to…"
"That's enough; I have work to do." Linn pulls out of Rosa's grip and then maneuvers her way around the kitchen, wiping her hand on her dress. Rosa sighed, shaking her head from side to side in pity, before getting distracted by Madame Clade's voice.
"Gather up everyone." The maid head walks in, her deep voice loud enough to catch the attention of everyone within the kitchen surroundings. All the maids lined up in rows and columns, not new to this daily summons.
"Another one of us is dead." The words bounced around the room, bringing about deafening silence. Madame Clade said with a heavy voice, but her countenance was firm. The maids gazed at each other, not taken aback by her words.
"We must be more careful; keep your eyes open, and if you see anything suspicious, don't hesitate to inform me. Be your sister's keeper, tell the other maids, and most importantly, be safe."
These were the words Madame Clade said before dismissing the maids, and they got back to work.
As a maid walked down the desolate halls of the guest room, she could hear erotic moans coming from a chamber. Intrigued by the low but exciting sexual sounds, the maid leans closer to the door of the chamber.
She could now hear the sound of the moans clearly. Suddenly the door she rested on pushed open slightly; the maid became alert, but seeing as the people inside didn't notice, the maids still stayed put.
She could now see what was happening in the room from the small space of the open doors. It was Vashi, with another maid pleasuring her. The spying maid felt her thighs becoming wet; she bit her lips hard as she watched her right hand slowly gliding up under her dress…
But what she sees next stuns her. The maid pleasuring Vashi suddenly rolls over the bed and falls on the floor…dead.
The maid's left hand flew to her mouth as her eyes shone in shock, her other hand quickly coming out from under her dress. She quickly turns around and leaves without anyone noticing.
....
It was midnight; there was a lady draped in a black cloak, her face concealed as she made her way to the kitchen. A maid was waiting for her there, and immediately after she arrived, they started conversing in a low tone behind the great doors of the kitchen.
The maid conversing with the lady draped in a black cloak was the same maid who had seen what had happened to the maid who was pleasuring Vashi.
That's right! The smart maid was now using her information to fill her pocket with coins. The lady draped in a black cloak brings out a small bag of silver coins and then throws it at the maid.
"Keep an eye on Vashi for me, and you will get more than this." She says to the maid, and the latter nods excitedly. Soon they go their separate ways, the maid to her quarter and the lady to her chamber.
Immediately the lady gets to her chamber; she takes off the black cloak, and it falters on the marble floor, reflecting the flames of the candle in the dimly lit room.
The lady was Jazell, and she looked more ominous than ever.