Persuasion in the Pantry [Maid for More #1]

Chapter 9: Stallions in the Dining Hall

Chapter 9

Tap, tap, tap.

The tip of Liara's boot was burning a hole through the carpeted floor.

Oh my God. I'm so bored..... when is this infernal dinner going to be over? she thought to herself as she continued to tap away.

It's not as if she didn't appreciate being in a room above stairs on a ball night but she was still just a maid now; acting like a duchess in the dark when everyone had gone home was so much more appealing. Liara had done it before, she has pretended to be a Princess in the parlour, curtsied like a courtier in the courtyard and even danced with a make believe Duke in those many moments she has snuck through the house unseen. She wasn't some silly day dreaming girl, she just .... well, she didn't know, but she definitely wasn't  a silly girl.

So, while she watched The Duke of Bexley's antics and wedding announcement with some amusement and a running commentary on his strange behaviour in her mind, she really didn't find it as fascinating as Verushka was, judging by the look on her face. Haha- Liara rolled her eyes. She wouldn't be surprised if Verushka started to drool right onto the Lady's head she was meant to serve.

Liara shifted her weight to her left leg.... then to her right. She watched the crystal goblets rimmed with gold filigree, being filled and refilled. They glinted in the light, sparkling like jewels. She wanted one; she wanted lots and yet the closest she would get was the washing basin where she'd be expected to clean them. The woman looked beautiful in their stunning off-the-shoulder gowns of silk and lace with pearls sewn into the cuffs and collars. They must have put something in their hair too because each strand gleamed like spun gold and a-top sat a shimmering tiara, circlet or crown.

Liara glanced down at her own uniform and chewed on her lower lip thoughtfully. Yes, her shoes were new and nice, her blouse for tonight was good, clean cotton not scratchy wool or linen and it even bore the Family's crest. She fingered the gold brocade gently. She didn't have a family, not that that bothered her- she just wanted a fantastic future. She didn't know how she was going to get it, but damn it- she would!

Liara's mind was filling with images of horse drawn carriages, lilies, Dukes and Duchesses attended her court when Mel elbowed her in the ribs and pointedly looked over at a fat Baron whose glass was empty. Liara took a deep breath of stale air and stepped forward to fill it, all the while glaring at Mel in her perfect clean and pressed uniform with not a hair out of place, so willing to please.

Well, if she really wants to please she should bend over the table next to her precious fat Baron and the ugly merchant. Liara scathed internally seeing as they had just spent the last quarter hour discussing what they would like to do to the young maid in crude French detail. Liara grimaced and almost took a swig of wine from her decanter. She looked back down at herself next to mild mannered Mel and bit back a laugh.  Curly stands of hair escaped from around her own bonnet to encircle her round face. Her skirt was pulled slightly in the left to give it a diagonal skew, her blouse showed a little more cleavage than appropriate and she had lost her apron at some stage between the kitchen and the dining hall. Liara wasn't as slim as Mina or as wide eyed and adorable as Verushka, but she didn't mind that either. She was curvaceous, if a little buxom, she said exactly what she thought, loved being a rustic farm girl who messed about with cattle and pigs, and still liked playing dress up as royalty. Oh, and one thing that must be said about Liara was that she was seductive; although she sometimes tried to curb her reaction to the way the windswept around the nape of her neck, or the way the suns warm glow caressed her face. Mina and Verushka's rolled eyes and snickers were enough to tell her that she was perhaps a little sensual, and if she didn't already know it, her band of street urchins carved it into a wall in the back alley one very drunk evening.