“Are you sure you’d want to go around on your own?”

Dia’s lips pursed slightly as she held Rick’s hand. “Sir, I should have done this yesterday.” She had a slight pause, noticing the odd look he gave her. “This is to ensure things are less likely to go wrong. The better aware they are of your needs and…” Her eyes flickered at the feline currently using her tongue to groom herself on the bed. “… Monica’s… the better.”

He hesitated, but nodded. “Alright.”

Stealing a quick kiss before the feralborn cat could do anything about it, Dia smoothed her service dress and headed to the door. Monica had switched tactics and had laid down the furniture as an obstacle course for anyone wanting to enter the room. It took Dia a minute, but she managed to get out of the room just perfectly fine.

With the door clicking shut behind her, she turned towards her first true obstacle. Deneva stood a step down the corridor, wearing the regalia of a royal knight.

Dia lowered herself to one knee, head bowed deeply. “I ask forgiveness for my sister’s behavior.”

With her gaze locked on the beige rug, Dia’s only confirmation that Deneva was even there were the murisium boots on the corner of her vision. The royal knight did not move, not even a twitch, not even a sound. The pressure increased, elemental energy coiling around her and pressing down on her.

Dia lowered the second knee, gritting her teeth, she remained quiet, waiting. It wasn’t the first time a knight would put her under their scrutiny, the Baron’s held a habit of it during their visits to the medicen. But this was different, intense. She could feel the knight’s energy moving just barely within her ability to perceive it. It was like an icy dagger threatening to slice her head clean off before she could blink.

She started to sweat, the knight’s energy stopped dancing and the edge and bore down on her, pressing inwards. Dia’s instincts screamed at her to tighten herself, to raise her defenses and block, but she knew this would only make her look insincere in her apology. So she grit her teeth and waited, exposed, vulnerable.

“Leave.”

The singular word was followed by a release from the pressure.

“I thank you.”

Barely holding back from stuttering, Dia hurried to shaky feet and hastily walked down the corridor. Her back was drenched in sweat and her breathing came irregularly, heart beating at an unhealthy two hundred thirty beats a minute.

At the first corner she found, she dropped to lean against the wall, heaving for air to calm herself.

That had gone far better than expected.

If still terrifying.

Deep breaths, Dia started to force her body back down into as calm a demeanor as she could. Her focus and control wavered as she had to attempt casting the cleansing spell four times before she got it right. It had always been tricky since her energy didn’t have a fire or wind attribute. Steam rose from her body as the sweat dried and a fresh breeze blew through her, leaving her still agitated but back to more manageable conditions.

It was only when she raised her head to look around that she realized she hadn’t been alone. Three knights stood there, looking at her through their visors but not moving an inch. Protocol was strict, and their captain was clearly a stickler.

“I apologize for the… lack of decorum.”

Even if she was owned by Rick, even with her blue collar, an Earl’s knight still outranked her by a hefty margin.

“The captain hasn’t been in a good mood.” The closest suit of armor spoke. “For obvious reasons.”

Being assigned maid duty. Dia still grimaced at that. It was clearly a punishment of some sort. “She angered the Earl?”

“Nothing relating to your owner’s situation.” The response was a bit too stiff, almost as if startled. The armor blocked casual reading, but the slight shift in tone was impossible to miss.

Dia had to imagine this conversation topic was too delicate to be brought up within the potential hearing range of said knight captain. “I’m looking to familiarize myself with the staff, and my Master sent me to give help where I can.”

“Service corridor is over that way. The entrance is a bit hard to spot. Look for the golden inlay.” The knight pointed her in the right direction. “The head of the maids is likely in the kitchen right now. She’ll point you in the right direction.”

“I thank you.” With a bow, she turned to leave, but halted as she felt a flicker of energy from one of the other knights. “Yes?”

“Is it true?” The maiden didn’t move, her armored body making a perfect impression of a statue. Yet the tone oozed curiosity. “That he captured White Claw in the wilds, on his own?”

Dia kept her smile polite. “It is true. Though the details are improper for polite conversation.” Meaning that she was not going to share the juicy parts for free. “If you’ll excuse me.”

Another bow, and she walked away. Her eyes trailed around in search of the service door. Just as they’d warned, it was discreetly hidden and hard to find for the untrained eye. She approached and applied a bit of elemental energy on the area the pommel should have been. With a soft click, the door opened inward, revealing a corridor too dim for ungifted humans to see comfortably.

The layout and construction of service corridors was always more or less the same. The general purpose was for maidens to be able to move through the building unseen and without obstructing the way of the owners of the place. Dia had visited the Baron’s house enough times to know more or less what to expect. Still, it took her a couple of detours before she found her way down to the first basement of the castle. From there, she let her nose guide the rest of the way to the kitchen.

She tried not to look too shocked at the size of the place.

There were at least twenty maidens actively working on cooking one thing or another. The room was large enough to have at least twelve stoves and just as many ovens, every table and counter-top was occupied and being used. The elemental energy in the room was thick. Just from a quick sweep Dia could spot five maidens dedicated exclusively to keeping the fires burning and the ovens at the exact temperatures. Two were doing the exact opposite, using ice elemental energy to cool down the contents of two stone lockers. And those were just the ones she’d spotted right away. The cacophony alone of shouts and requests and updates was almost overwhelming.

The chance to observe more closely was spirited away as a Hound emerged seemingly out of nowhere. She was clearly nearing her forties and wore a golden collar along an immaculate white dress. The matron had the homeliness to mark her importance, but the clear sternness on her face of someone who believed in strict discipline. “I know who you are.” She proclaimed, frowning down at Dia. “I am the head maid. You can call me Pristine.”

“I apologize for not being able to come sooner.” Dia bowed her head, making sure to stay away from the veritable mess of people mulling around and hurriedly making sure she wouldn’t bother anyone’s work.

“I’ve heard you come from a small village, so I’ll keep it brief. The lord’s healers all have copper collars and think they’re too good to come down here.” She placed her hands on her hips. “I’m guessing you know how messy things can get when someone sneezes at the wrong time, so you’ll help keep my girls tip-top until things slow down.”

“Sorry!” someone shouted from the other side of the room.

“I will help however I can.” Dia smiled brightly.

“Down here we don’t have sunshine, keep the smiles and rainbows for when there’s someone who cares about attitude over results.”

With a slight shudder, Dia rolled up her sleeves. “I’m ready to help.”

Pristine shot her a savage grin. “That’s more like it.” A firm nod followed. “Before that, my girls are terrified of going into the guest wing. Knight captain is hard to approach, but we know how to handle it. Your sister is more rumors than facts, none too pretty.”

“She is known as White Claw, her-.”

“Stick to the notes. How do my girls work around her.”

Dia took a deep breath. “Don’t make sudden moves, keep your eyes down and don’t show aggression. Don’t push, don’t run away, and don’t try to drug her or you’ll regret it when she wakes up. She will give a single warning if you’re close to crossing a line. Carry some boar jerky to apologize, but leave afterwards rather than risk making a second offense. If you do, and my Master isn’t around to stop her, she will break bones without hesitation.”

“Master?” The tone was amused, and a chuckle crossed the kitchen staff.

Dia’s cheeks lit up, the blush creeping all the way down her neck. “She is territorial over people and specific items, not over an area.” She coughed loudly, trying to get the words to stutter their way through. “Her priority is my owner first, her food second, and being the strongest thing in the room third.”

“Service?”

“My sister will rub herself against anything my owner wears that doesn’t already smell of her. So his clothes can smell nice or look nice, not both. Don’t use scented candles or incense or strong soaps. My owner already has a strong penchant for hygiene and with my sister around him, it’s best to keep scents mild or gone. As for food, he doesn’t like sweets and has a preference for meat.”

“Don’t they all?” Pristine laughed.

Dia felt her hackles rise. “My owner is an otherworlder, the first one this kingdom has seen in generations.” Her voice was firmer, louder, her expression abruptly stern. “He grew up having meat or fish almost every lunch and dinner. A world with so many sweets that diabetes affected a significant amount of humans. And in this world, my owner was a professor.” She squared her shoulders, making sure to stand as tall and proud as she could, even if she couldn’t match Pristine’s height. “Not just any professor, either. His services were highly sought after. Hundreds of human women and men came to learn from him every year. The number of students he has taught numbered in the thousands. I swear this on my bond.”

The kitchen had gone considerably quieter. Pristine’s eyes widened only marginally, the barest show of surprise on her otherwise stern face.

“My owner enjoys reading but has had to busy himself with my sister so much he has had no chance to indulge. He is considerate enough to the Earl that he won’t ask for the library since my sister may break something, so offering to bring books to his room will be a quick way to ingratiation,” she said, “He also desires to teach my sister how to read and write, so children booklets and toys are another option.”

“Enough with the accolades.” Pristine quickly barked, turning to the rest of the kitchen once clear they’d been slowing down to hear more attentively. “And get back to work!”

“Yes ma’am!” Everyone responded.

“I know what you’re trying to do, girl, and even if your owner were the King himself, you keep it out of my kitchen.”

“Sorry ma’am.” Dia’s bravado faltered, a shy smile replacing the stern mask.

“Just give me the “don’t” now that you shouted out the “do”.”

“He doesn’t think of maidens as inferior, but as equals.”

“That doesn’t tell me anything.”

“It’s a comprehensive perspective. Would you whip a human woman for having done her job poorly? My master would not suggest such a punishment, let alone idly stand by when witnessing it.”

Pristine kept her nod tight. “What else?”

“With the rumors circulating about my owner, the Earl might send someone to his bed as a show of hospitality. It is best that he does not do so.”

That got her a quirked brow. “I can’t go against the Lord’s orders.”

“Then he should be informed that anyone he sends will come back in a box. Likely several boxes.”

“Even if your sister is not around to play rude games?”

“The threat wouldn’t be my sister. It would be me.”

Pristine let out a bark of laughter, nodding. “Very well. I’ll try to warn about it, but if the order comes down, I’ll run them through you first.”

Dia’s shoulders loosened, and she sighed with relief. “I’d appreciate that, ma’am.”