Jav couldn't stifle the laugh that bubbled up in him at the sight of her. "It'll work." He composed his features and walked to the gate.
The guard nodded to him. "Khrysaor. Who's this you got here?" He stared at Rose, a strange look on his face.
"The new maid." Jav looked at her, wondering what she wanted to call herself.
Rose nodded a little. "Anne." She said simply. It always felt strange to use a different face than her own, but she could do it. She would rather have a different face than be assaulted by a guard, that was for sure.
(HAPPY BIRTHDAY!)
The guard sneered at her. "Not a very pretty face, is she?"
Jav rolled his eyes. "No, but she's my cousin. Be nice to her," he said, scowling threateningly. The guard gave a short nod and let them pass.
"You'll have a room all to yourself," Jav whispered to the Princess as they moved toward the castle. "I managed to get you a small room to yourself, instead of making you share it with someone else, but it's really small."
(thank you!!)
Rose narrowed her eyes at the guard as they walked inside, then turned to Jav. "I see." she replied. She only needed to be here long enough to get Korain out. She knew that this monster, this killer, it wasn't her brother. Not really.
( :) )
"I'll be busy, so if you need me, you might have to wait awhile," he told her.
She nodded a little. "I don't think I shall. I remember the layout of the palace well enough, and I know what I'm here for." she still hadn't told him.
"If you say so." Jav shrugged. "Well, come on." He led her down the hall, until he got to a small, narrow door. He knocked on it, then opened it. It was so short that he had to bend over slightly to look in. "Margret? I have the new maid I was talking about," he said. "Take her to her room."
Rose was quiet, greeting Margret with a faint wave. She was already planning how to get to her brother, how to get him out of this place and out into the world again.
Margret, a charming old lady with the body of a supermodel, smiled at Rose. "Yes, of course, young man. I will take good care of your cousin, never fear."
"Thanks." Jav nodded. "Well, see you later." He closed the door and left.
Margret grinned at Rose. "Glad he's gone. He must drive you insane, doesn't he?" She shook her head. "I'm Margret, like you heard him say. You can call me anything you want. You are?" Her tone was warm and friendly.
Rose nodded a little. "He does indeed." she replied. "I'm Anne." she curtseyed a little bit, summoning up a quick smile for the older woman.
"Nice to meet you, Anne," she said. "Now, come. You must be starving, it's almost dinner time." She led Rose through a few halls, to a the kitchen, where people were bustling around, all over the place. "Today, you don't have to start working yet. I will get you your uniform and send someone to help you find your way around the place, but for now, you can eat."
Anne nodded, letting Margret guide her through the castle, even though she still remembered the layout like the back of her hand. Still remembered running through those hallways as a child, racing Korain to the kitchens.
The kitchen was warm and cozy, with quiet, friendly chatter echoing around the place. Margret smiled. "Here." She led Rose to a table and told her to stay. "I'll be back with some food.
She left, and soon returned with two bowls of stew. "Now, my dear, why have you come to the castle?" She asked.
Rose smiled faintly in return. "I'm here for work." she replied, taking a bowl and blowing on it to cool it down. "Jav said that this was a decent place, and I didn't have much place else."
"I understand," she said, smiling and putting her hands on her hips. "I shouldn't have pried, I'm sorry."
Rose nodded a little, taking a small sip of the soup. "Right. It's alright, though." she replied, glancing up at the other woman for a moment.
"The purging has made a lot of us jobless. You're lucky that your cousin got you a position like this. Otherwise, you'd be out in the streets. They don't usually let girls like you in."
"What do you mean?" Rose asked, frowning a little. Did the other woman mean her looks? Or what?
"The guards are usually very picky about how their maids look," Margret said, giving an apologetic smile. "Which usually, though, the uglier ones are harder working. They just don't know what's good for them."
"I see." she replied, touching her nose and eyebrows, the things she had changed. Her hair was coarser too, less silky smooth than it had been.
"Oh! I hope you don't take offense," Margret said, looking horrified.
She smiled a little, shaking her head. "Not at all." she replied. "Better to be ugly than taken advantage of." she shrugged a little, taking a bite of soup.
"That's true." The old woman sighed. "Those poor girls who were assaulted. Men just don't know how to treat girls like ladies anymore, do they? It's terrible how the world has changed."
She nodded a little bit. I'm going to change it. "Yeah." she agreed quietly, taking another sip of the soup and looking away for a moment.
"Not much of a talker, are you?" She asked, laughing a little. "Don't worry about it. The first weeks are usually the hardest, but I'm sure you could handle it." She patted Rose's hand. "Well, I'm needed in the kitchen. I'll see you later. If you want more soup, just ask one of the workers in here, and they'll get you more." She smiled. "We're all in this together, after all."