Lester pulls the fabric together and laces up the back as she speaks. "The Sir told us, staff members, that you are to be treated as a guest, but you are to complete tasks given to you by the head maid, as well as himself." She draws the lacing to a close and stuffs the rest of the string into the back of the dress.
"Are you the head maid?" I ask in hopes that I'd get to be with someone that isn't strict.
"Unfortunately not, that role belongs to Calandra. But don't worry, she's quite nice but she does take her job to heart. So just be sure to do your job and you'll be in her good books." She leans over my shoulder to smile at me.
"You know...When the Sir told us your name, I thought it was so beautiful. Genevieve is such a unique name, it rolls off the tongue quite nicely. How did your parents come up with it?" She innocently questioned.
"I'm not really sure, but my brother told me that I was named after the Woman who believed in my father or something?"
"Oh, my parents named me after their favourite cheese, but they can't write so it's not spelled exactly like the cheese." She shrugs at me, causing a smile to form on my face before letting out a laugh.
"They named you after cheese?"
"You're named after a random woman." She fights back, in which I immediately shut my mouth, knowing I had lost this strange argument.
"Well, you're officially dressed, let's meet Calandra." She stood with her hands on her hips and proudly analysed her outfit choice, which was just a simple decorated green dress. Which wasn't as extravagant as a noble lady's dress, but was a step up from the common dress of the working folk.
Making our way down the steps, I had seen several maids as well as several young lads carrying baskets of laundry and complaining. "Lester, why are those boys doing the laundry?" I questioned her, thinking that all the women were to be made to do all the household chores, as like the pre-modern time in the life I had lived.
"Caspian likes all his apprentices to learn life skills alongside their knightly training, as they may find themselves in a place with no-one but themselves to care for." She proudly admitted, as if Caspian was the only knight in the entirety of this world to force upon such customs onto his men. "So that when they are knighted, they could be anywhere and still perform to the best of their abilities because they know how to care for themselves. Though most of the pledged knights to Caspian no longer help around the castle, some still do." She points to a burly man I had seen on my expedition with the group, carrying a large amount of bed sheets, maids gushing over his strength as he did so.
"Lester, are the men that no longer help around the castle married?" I ask her, intrigued if my suspicion of these helpful men was right.
"Yes? How did you know?"
"I figured." Seeing the burly man loving the attention of the female maids.
Furthering into the castle, the noise levels pick up and we turn into a large open room, filled with hanging vegetation and herbs. Stacks of food lining the sides of the room and large stoves and fireplaces lay lit within the walls of the large room, and a large counter lined the middle of the room.
The kitchen? Will I be cooking? Me? I bless the souls of those who will become victims to my skills.
A busy, larger woman, wipes her hands on her apron before turning around to the entrance. Upon seeing the sight of me and Lester, she puts on a smile and rushes over to us with open arms. She grabs me by the arms and leans up and kisses my cheek, "Oh, it's so nice to see a new face. I'm Calandra, the head maid, but feel free to call me Cally, as most people do. Moving on from that, you must be Geneivieve. Now I've been told to treat you as both a guest and as another maid, which took a while to figure out, but I have it all settled." She word vomits at me with a smile.
"Lester, my love, you can go back to your duties now, I'll be taking Jenna from here." She pats Lester's arm reassuringly as Lester puts on a frown from leaving me, but eventually turns around and leaves the kitchen.
"Let's go somewhere a bit more quiet to chat." She suggests, grabbing my shoulders and guiding me out of the bustling room with her. We travel down a large corridor and through a large open door, which was ever so slightly smaller than the front door. Exiting the castle, we enter what could best be described as a nature reserve, with beautiful flowers, ponds and butterflies littering the back garden of this castle, making me find myself staring in amazement once again at the beauty of this world.
She guides me over to a wooden bench placed in view of the entire garden. "This is a little nicer, don't you agree." She smiles, knowing from my face that she had shown me something extraordinary.
"Now, it has been decided that you will have a maid with you to help you at all times, and for you to have your own room, as if you were a guest. But then you are to help around the castle, I haven't decided on what area of focus you'll be doing, e.g., cooking or laundry, since we have enough staff members for each role. So I'll be giving you odd tasks until I see what you excel at, and from there we'll decide on the best course of action for you." She smiles, before talking further.
"You've already met Lester, she'll be your attendant, as well as a helper to tell me what you're good at and not." Huffing, she gets herself up from the bench, the conversation of my duties now finished. "But don't worry, because today you are a guest of Castle Arken, considering you've just come back from a long journey." She smiles once more, before leaving me to my own curiosity of the castle.
My burning desire to touch the flowers becomes too much, I stand and almost leap over to the wildflowers growing near the reed filled pond, I touch the overgrown but maintained plants, admiring them as I walk through the garden.
I walk to the edge of the garden and walk through a few stone archways, finding myself now in the inner courtyard. I stand to the side of the archway and admire what seemed to be a testosterone filled courtyard, seeing many men who were training within, intriguing me with their brutal training regime.
Scanning more of the courtyard, I noticed there were stables and cottage-like buildings within, being filled with the cargo from a few wagons we travelled with.
"You really are a dirty pervert aren't you?" I snap my head around to see Lester smirking at the sight of me hiding behind an archway.
"I was just curious!" I fight back in protest at the accusation.
"Like when you were staring at the Sir from your bedroom window? Is he here now?"
"No he is-" She abruptly cuts me off by pointing into the courtyard. "There he is!" She exclaims, pointing her finger at him from behind the archway, before pulling it back.
"Oh Jenna, I've just met you and you're already a creepy stalker." She tuts teasingly.
My mouth opened in shock at the bold accusation, I just stared at her. Before punching her in the arm playfully at her teasing, "You're the stalker. How did you even find me?" I ask her.
"Because I'm a stalker, like you said." She smirks at me, causing me to disappointingly frown at her. "I don't know, I was just wandering around the garden until I saw you." She speaks upon my deadpanned look.
She holds her childish frown for a few more seconds before putting on a neutral face. "Well it doesn't matter now anyways, I've been asked to give you a tour before the feast."
"The feast?"
"Yes! Our lord is back with his clan of knights, we always celebrate his safe return and victory of war." I nod at her, understanding that their lord has done an incredible feat, a cause most worthy of a celebration. I follow Lester back through the garden and to the back entrance of the castle, the start of the tour.
YOU ARE READING
A Mark of Metal
Romance"Now. I'm gonna ask a few questions and you will answer to the best of your ability." He stops his pursuit towards me, with a good few steps between us, but not enough for me to take off and run without being caught. "And if I get a single sense tha...
