Maid For You

Chapter 8

"Um..." Luke looked at a loss for words.

"Are you not supposed to sit here?" I asked Luke.

"Well, I'm not not supposed to sit at the common table. I just usually sit at the head table," answered Luke, pointing to a smaller, lonelier table at the front of the room, where Missus Lucille and a fashionable woman sat. There were only four chairs, all of them on one side looking out at the rest of the room.

"Oh. Why do you sit there?"

"Well, being a butler, Mister Lucas is the head of the servants, along with Mister Arthur, Missus Lucille, and Missus Alexandria. It indicates their elevated status," Jonathan answered calmly. He looked at Luke beside me. "Of course, you are allowed to sit wherever you wish, Mister Lucas. Now, I have to head back to the kitchen. It was nice seeing you again, Miss Cassie."

I stared at Luke, or Mister Lucas, and suddenly felt defeated. I had hoped we were kindred spirits, but it turned out that there was even a hierarchy within the servants. I was bottom rung while he was far above me, destined to sit at that lonely table.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you weren't supposed to sit here, Mister Lucas," I mumbled.

"Oh, please don't call me that," he sighed. "I said you could call me Luke, didn't I?"

"I guess you did. But does everyone call you Mister Lucas?"

"Well, I suppose most everyone here at the castle calls me that, for the most part. Prince Coleman just calls me Lucas. But you know, I wasn't always a butler. I was a normal person. I was just Luke." His eyes had a faraway glaze to them, and his voice was laced with sadness.

No, not sadness. Loneliness.

"Well, Luke, I'm still sorry I didn't recognize your status," I told him sincerely.

To my surprise he laughed. "Cassie, you are a funny one," he chuckled. "You worry about disrespecting me, a mere butler, and yet you fearlessly talk back to the Crown Prince of Aregano!"

"Well, you aren't annoying," I muttered.

Luke must have heard me because laughed out loud again. "Good to know." His crooked smile rose on his face as he looked me in the eyes, and I was fairly certain my heart was going to explode.

We looked at each other a moment too long before turning our heads away. "So..." I fiddled with my fork. "To avoid more embarrassing ignorance, what exactly is the chain of command in the servants?"

"Alright, it goes like this: Missus Lucille is the Housekeeper, who you've already met. She is directly over all the maids and the cleaning. Missus Alexandria is the Queen's Handmaiden. She is like the female version of the butler to the queen. She's the lady up there by Missus Lucille. Anyways, she, along with the King's personal butler Mister Arthur, are technically over all the servants. While their primary job is tending to the King and Queen specifically, and Missus Lucille typically deals solely in the matters of other servants, those two can tell even Missus Lucille what to do and can employ servants to whatever they need them to do at the time. They are technically the most powerful here. Then, after those three, other higher level staff include the head Chef, who you've seemed to have met, the clothing or fashion designer, and the Handmaiden to the Princess."

"And where do you fall into all this?" I asked Luke. He smiled sheepishly.

"Well, since I am the butler to the Crown Prince and future king, I'm ranked right under, say, Missus Alexandria and Mister Arthur."

"So you're in charge of everyone too!" I was surprised.

He shrugged. "My father has been Prince Coleman's butler ever since the Prince was born, but my mother begged him to retire. He wanted me to carry on his legacy, so I've been the Prince's butler for about a year now," Luke said, suddenly sounding distant. "It was weird, suddenly being in such an important position, essentially inherited from my father."

"That would be strange," I conceded. I paused for a moment, thinking it all over. "I guess this means you're my boss." It was an unpleasant thought. Weren't bosses supposed to be crusty and obnoxious instead of funny and cute?

"Well, you are Prince Coleman's personal maid, and I am his personal butler. I'd say we're more...partners." The term made me smile.

"I like that," I nodded. "But real talk here, where am I in the system? I assume I'm the very bottom tier."

"Truthfully, maids are typically kind of at the bottom with most of the servants, but you are above most maids."

"Why? I haven't even been here a day!"

"You are not just any maid, you are Prince Coleman's maid. A personal maid is ranked above normal ones. You see, if you ever need it, you can call upon a fellow maid to aid you, though the power shouldn't be abused," Luke explained.

"Really? Does it come with a pay raise?" I asked.

Another amused smile played at his lips. "Of course."

"Wait, seriously?!" I said. "Well, I was thinking of asking Missus Lucille to give me another job as a maid..."

"You are?" I was sure if Luke was a puppy, his ears and tail would have drooped.

He's so adorable.

"Well, probably not anymore. I mean, a pay raise is a pay raise." Also I would probably get to see Luke more, but I wasn't about to tell him that.

"Like I said before, it will get better with the Prince. Just wait, Cassie."

"Okay. I'll try to have patience," I promised. I glanced up at the head table, where Missus Lucille was eyeing us suspiciously. "So you normally sit up there, then?" I asked.

"Yes," he answered. "Can I tell you a secret?"

I nodded in reply.

"It's dreadfully dreary up there," Luke whispered, and I laughed. "I've just been waiting for the day for someone to invite me to sit down here. So, thank you."

"Of course. Thank you for sitting with me."

Suddenly, at the sound of an aggressive slamming of dishes, I turned forward to look across the tabletop to see a maid with dark hair and keen eyes glaring at me. A couple other maids sat by her.

"Who are you?" the black-haired girl snapped in her Aregano accent.

"I'm Cassie. Who are you?"

"Is it true that you are Prince Coleman's personal maid?" she demanded.

"Um, yes. I didn't catch your name," I answered.

"How long have you worked here? I don't remember seeing you around." Hostile energy crackled from her.

I realized she was jealous of my position, one that I was quite frankly very ungrateful for. The only thing keeping me was the pay and Luke.

"How long have I worked here?" I repeated the question nervously.

"Yes. Are you deaf, you idiot?" she snapped.

Oh no she didn't.                 

Author's note:

Yes, I am aware that this servant system is not like a real royal household, but remember that this is an imaginary country, so the rules will be a little different, haha.  Remember to vote for the story and to leave a comment! (If you have something to say, that is)