Spoiler safe after Page 130 Chapter 13, first scene

“So, explain your lady to me.”  Shana wiped the table down with a wet rag.  “Is she a noble or is she not? Because she’s confusing me.”

Clover sighed. It was a fair question.

They were sitting in the kitchen.  The sun had barely risen, and the tea in her cup was hot and aromatic. She’d made a pot this morning, and it had turned out just right. Shana had taken over the kitchen, but they both agreed that Clover’s tea brewing skills were superior.

When Shana showed up in the chainmail and carrying a mace, Clover wasn’t sure they would get along. It took her less than 24 hours to realize that when it came to household staff, they couldn’t do better.  Shana was experienced, practical, and capable and she was… solid, somehow.  There was something about Shana that said “Mom” to her, although her mother and Shana looked nothing alike.

Back home, she and her mother butted heads. There was a time she couldn’t wait to get out. When the Maid Mother came with the offer to take her to the capital, Clover had jumped on that chance.  She could still remember her mom crying when she was leaving, but her own eyes were dry. She’d been too excited and eager. Divine, she was such a stupid baby five years ago.

Now… There were times when she wanted her mom so intensely, she cried quietly into her pillow. Too much had happened, and most of it wasn’t good. There was a time in Derog’s basement when the loneliness tried to strangle her, and she thought her life was over.  And then Lady Maggie came, and everything changed.

It was important that Shana understood that Lady Maggie was special.

“She is a lady,” Clover said. “Without a doubt. She looks you in the eye when she talks, and she keeps forgetting to bow her head, like she isn’t used to it. She is very educated.  She knows things others don’t, and she can’t do her own hair. When she needs it put away, she makes a three-part plait like she is a child. She has great teeth, and her hands are soft.”

“But?” Shana asked.

“But she carries herself as if she isn’t.”

“Why?”

Clover sighed again.  “I don’t know.  When we took the house from the slavers, she cleaned the kitchen with me.”

Shana paused. “This kitchen?”

Clover nodded. “On her hands and knees with a rag. Like it was nothing. I tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen. I really tried. She just…”

Clover imitated holding a rag and scrubbed the invisible floor with it. 

Shana stared at her.

“She washed the blood off and everything.”

“Are you serious?”

“It happened.  There is more.”

Clover hesitated. This was a very sore point, but she’d been struggling with it for days now, and it was so nice to confide in someone.

She leaned forward and lowered her voice.

“I went to dump the dirty water. When I came back, she was in the bathroom. Scrubbing the toilets.”

Shana blinked. “Divine, preserve us.”

“She told me that we had to clean the house top to bottom to make it ours.”

Shana frowned. “I would have scrubbed the house too, just to get the stink of those fuckers out, but she is a lady. Toilets?”

Clover nodded slowly.

“If you don’t stop her, she will try to do things. Brew her own tea, cook, try to do the laundry…”

“Does she not understand it’s an insult to our skills?”

“I don’t think she does.”  Clover gave her a slightly helpless smile.  “I think she wants to help.”

Shana put her hands on her hips. “Oh no. This stops now. She is not cooking in my kitchen, I’ll tell you that. I have never needed a noble woman’s help to do my job, and I am not about to start now. Everyone has their duty. I’m the cook, you are the lady’s maid, and she is the lady. She needs to stay in her own carriage.”

Clover sighed. “If only.”

Shana reached over and patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. There are two of us now. We will steer her back on the road. If you have any trouble, come and get me. I will set her straight right quick.”

That was right.  She was no longer alone. She had Maggie and Kaiden, and Reynald, who could kill anything, and now the Magnars. It felt like she’d been wandering in a dark forest for so long, she couldn’t even remember what the sun felt like and then stumbled out into a clearing with a fortress in it. The fortress wasn’t in prefect repair, but it was solid and strong, and there was sun shining on it, and everyone inside would defend it with their lives.

Clover smiled and sipped her tea.