Crowned 8 - Salary Day

 

CHAPTER 8

 

It was salary day.

All the maids were queued outside of Count Aramia’s office, armed with expectant eyes and whispering mouths. All but Clary, Yuna, Lira and Elvira; they were busy compensating for the loss of manpower around the estate.

Yuna was on garden duty outside, Lira and Clary were handling the kitchen and Elvira was left to clean.

Her back was beginning to heal but her heart still felt saddened by the lack of monetary compensation granted to the oddities. Upon seeing the jittery queue every year, Elvira would be reminded of the time she demanded Count Aramia to pay.

They were inside his office, an enormous room with glaze brown furniture and big imperial windows which overlooked the garden. Elvira had a rag in her hand, which she involuntarily clutched, dripping water on his hardwood floor. Her cheek was bruised in response to her demands, a slap to ask for a salary.

“I harbour a curse within my very home, is it not kindness enough? The roof on your head and two meals a day are worth more than what any of you could earn in a lifetime or give back to the society. So, be obliged that you’re alive, I’m doing you a favour because I own all of you.” All, he said, eyeing her up and down.

The sting of his words hurt more than her reddening cheek.

“A bruised heart holds colour much longer than a bruised body,” Elvira mumbled as she scrubbed the rag all over the hardwood floor, until it sparkled under the hazy morning sunlight.

“I do not understand how we’re worse off than humans…” Lira began as they sat down to mend the fraying uniforms of the staff. “They do not have magic and they’re living just fine. Have you heard of the Montrose heiress from Zinnia? She is from the inner world, a human, became a Crown Princess, went to the magic academy in Willow and made friends with a Saintess and other mages. She is so lucky… and here we are.”

“We were born in the wrong place…” Yuna sighed. She rested her back against the wood wall, “And maybe in the wrong families.”

“How was your life all of this?” Elvira asked, curiosity brimming in her eyes.

Clary grinned as she leaned forward, “I’ll go first!” she exclaimed and continued after receiving a nod of acknowledgement from everyone. “I was the daughter of the village seamstress. I had a younger sister and two younger brothers. My father was an Alchmey Type and died in the middle of an experiment so mumma and I had to sew a lot of clothes to make a living. Our villagers were kind enough to never let us go out of work. I know it sounds hard but it was so much fun, sewing new clothes, seeing people smile when they liked their clothes not knowing all that happened behind the scenes. There was this one time my younger sister tore up a piece of very expensive fabric to make a dress for her doll! Mumma and I had to spend two days going to town to buy it. It was fun though, we camped outside, saw the stars, sang songs…I was happy.”

By the end of her narration, Clary’s throat choked up and she blinked to let go of the tightness in her eyes.

“I was the daughter of the town chief, you know, my mother was, is, I dunno, she was a Grand Knight in the Royal Army of Lunaria. My father was the chief and they were both always busy so I would spend a lot of time outside, my town raised me more than my family…and when I failed the awakening, the townsfolk were the first to kick me out. They left me in the Linch Forest to die or with the Kindlers, I don’t remember exactly…” Elvira reminisced, staring out of the square window above Yuna’s head.

“I am an orphan; I did not lose much because I never had much to begin with. There was a boy I liked, we promised to marry each other when we were twenty-five and well established in our lives. We had plans, but I failed my Awakening and I was brandished,” Yuna pointed at the mark on her left arm, “Left to fend for myself.”

“What happened to the boy?” Clary asked.

“I do not know,” Yuna shrugged, “Everything happened so quick, I never got a chance to say goodbye. I was wandering around the outskirts when Count’s men caught me and I have been here, ever since.”

“Wah…that’s sad…” Elvira sighed.

“What about you, Lira?”

“My village is up in the North, it was being invaded and the army was reluctant to help so the Village Head forced an Awakening on us…I failed and we were attacked. I got separated from my family and then I was here,” Lira replied, “We come from an average household, my father and mother were Enhancer Types so they worked in the mines. We never starved or had any memorable days…we just existed. I’d wake up, eat breakfast, go to school, come back, do homework and my parents would be home in the evening, we would make dinner and eat together. I miss it now…”

“Are we so bad that we have no place in this world?” Clary whispered.

“Eh…I don’t mind being rid of my life,” Yuna mumbled.

“You’re so lame,” Clary grunted at Yuna.

The brunette rolled her eyes and continued darning.

“Who was invading your village?” Elvira asked, frowning, “There is no way the Royal Army would be reluctant to help, my mother was always on some mission.”

“Oh, no, no, it wasn’t any other empire. It was this chaotic duo, they have been really active in the recent years, you know the K—”

The door to the work room flung open and the head butler glared at the group of girls, “Less chit-chatting and more working. And you,” he pointed at Clary, “Come with me.”

Clary kept her work aside and stood up, her lips pursed and face in a grimace. She hated being singled out, it reminded her of her early days at the Estate, when she was all alone as the only Oddity in the Count’s possession.

“I’ll be back,” she whispered.

The girls nodded and got back to their darning.

After an hour of Clary not coming back, Yuna picked up Clary’s work and finished it for her. Yuna was nimble with her fingers while Lira was good in the kitchen. Clary could do it all and Elvira was best at taking hits for everyone else because she wasn’t particulary good at anything else.

“How did you people finish it so quickly?” Elvira sobbed, staring at her pile of clothes while Yuna and Lira’s were already darned and folded.

“I’ll get done with the kitchen work, take your time,” Lira smiled before picking up her pile and walking out.

“I’ll feed the animals,” Yuna said and walked out with Clary and her own work.

Elvira sighed, cooped up in the small room, she struggled with the needle and thread, looping the fabric away, wishing she could piece her life as easily as it.

Though, it wasn’t until night basked the estate that Clary’s disappearance rang alarm bells in her friends’ heads. It was Elvira who noticed it first because Lira and Yuna had been busy keeping up with their share of chores.

“I haven’t seen her all afternoon…wasn’t she busy with the laundry?”

“No, I just came back from the laundry room, no one’s there.”

“She wasn’t in the kitchen as well…”

Elvira sucked in harsh breath and raced up the basement stairs to the upper level of servant quarters. There, she uncourteously slammed open the aged butler’s room and demanded, “Where is Clary?!”

The man merely raised an eyebrow in disappointment, his poise remained unimpacted by Elvira’s tone.

“She is with the Count.”

Elvira banged the door shut and hastened her step above another flight of stairs. Her hands were beginning to grow clammier against her uniform and her heart thundered within its cage. She prayed to all the stars who might be listening, she hoped Clary was okay. She desperately hoped. Her teeth clenched in her mouth as she knocked against the Count’s office door.

Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

“Milord, I’m coming in!” she faked a glee and pushed open the door only to find it empty.

She ran inside and pressed her face against the window. The garden was covered under the thick cloak of night. It was Clary duty tonight to light the Garden lights. The estate was visibly missing her presence.

Elvira rushed out and ran all the way to the west wing, the Count’s living quarters. They had never been allowed in the West Wing and understandably so, she was stopped at the door by two guards.

“You are not allowed to enter.”

“No, hear me out, um, did you see a girl come here today? She’s tall and slender, curly blonde hair, light brown eyes, wearing a maid uniform from the Oriental Wing?” Elvira asked.

“We are not allowed or obliged to tell you anything,” the other guard countered.

“No, you see, she has this problem where she begins coughing blood if I don’t give her medicine, if she dies…you understand?” Elvira rolled up her uniform sleeves and showed the guards her marks.

They vocally cringed and looked away.

“Please understand, it is quite serious.”

“Okay, you may enter, but be back within ten minutes or we will alert the other guards.”

“Also, register your name with us.”

“Yes, yes, it is Sinclair,” Elvira replied, using the head butler’s assistant’s name.

“You may go inside.”