Sunlight caressed the young woman's face, slowly warming her skin, tickling her sub-conscious and drawing her mind into the waking world. She yawned loudly and stretched her body out on the straw. The smell of horses surrounded her senses and a chicken clucked beside her head, making her body start.
"Good morning, Miss Bella," she cooed at the fat hen, reaching her hand out and brushing the chickens feathers. She stretched again before standing herself up and making her way over to a bucket of stale water.
She quickly washed her face, staring into the dirty copper mirror with her pale blue eyes. She had average features, dull brown hair which fell flat about her head. Her body, though not plump and voluptuous as the fine ladies in the palace, was thin and her skin was rough, calloused. The only thing she liked about herself, was her education. She could read and write.
Her mother, a cook in the palace kitchens, used to sit her daughter at the giant table and teach her how to be proper, starting with reading and writing and eloquence. How she missed those days. The day she could carry a tray, or sweep a floor was the day she was forced out of the servants quarters and into the stables.
"Lotty! Are you awake? Its past dawn and you haven't brought the eggs. What is with you child?" a kind voice called from the other end of the stable.
"Yes mamma. I'm coming now," she called back. Lotty hurriedly tied her hair up with a piece of material while she made her way past the horses and into the glorious morning sunlight.
Lotty wandered up the grassy hill beside her mother, carrying her basket of eggs. Dark clouds were coming over the mountains in the distance, and Lotty turned to her mother, but was suddenly struck still.
Her mother was always pretty and happy, but her mahogany hair was beginning to grey and thin, her face was wrinkled from years of hard labour and her shoulders drooped from sadness. Lotty kept walking, but her mind had drifted from the weather to the future. What would happen to her once her mother had passed? Could she keep working?
The servants quarters sat behind the palace, above the stables, but far enough away from the main entrance, so as not to attract attention. Lotty's mother walked inside, holding the door open for her daughter, before she closed and locked it.
It was protocol to keep it locked at all times, in-case the servants should try to mingle with the upper class. It was forbidden for them to be even seen, but, on rare occasions it did happen, and that servant was beheaded the next day. It was unfortunate that the rule existed, but it did exist, almost exclusively so the young gentlemen didn't try to play around with creatures who were beneath them.
Lotty followed her mother through the off white hall. Her eyes barely noticed the flat hard beds she had seen so many times before. Personal possessions were hidden, but she noticed the odd bits of colour here and there. It was against another rule for the servants to have any kind of material objects. It distracted them from their work. Lotty didn't know any better though, so to her it was normal.
She had never left the palace grounds in her life, and didn't have an inclining to do so. Everything was provided for her by her mother. Food, water, clothing. However, there was one thing Lotty wanted, that she knew she could never have, and it made her heart ache.
The smell of dirt wafted over to Lotty, and she looked through a hidden doorway, into nothing but darkness. It was the servants tunnel. It went through the hill, and up into the Palace. Lotty sighed and walked down the familiar steps, waiting for her mother to grab a candle and lock the door.
"Don't stop there child! Keep moving," her mother snapped.
Lotty was surprised. In seventeen years, she hadn't heard her mother raise her voice once, or even be short with her. Something had happened and she was going to find out. But, as she reached the other end of the tunnel, her question was answered. There was going to be a royal wedding, and the entire staff had to clean the Palace from top to bottom. All one hundred and seventy-five rooms, six ball rooms, the throne room, and a manner of other different things. A mop and bucket was thrust into Lotty's hands and she sulked out of the cavernous kitchens.
* * *
Lotty hummed quietly to herself. Occasionally another flustered servant ran past her, and she had to re-mop the floor after them. But otherwise, she was in a normally unoccupied wing, so she cleaned at her own pace and ignored everything around her. But she wasn't completely alone. A girl was watching her. Not just any girl either. She was a concubine of the Crown Prince, and even though this new girl enjoyed being ravished by the man, her heart was heavy with longing for someone else.
"Lotty," she called softly. Lotty stiffened. She knew that honey coated voice, but she kept swishing her mop back and forth.
