Chapter 198: Maid
Aurle was right, somehow. I did enjoy being a maid, well, as much as I could enjoy anything at this point. The maid outfits were thin and revealing, but with some effort, I settled it over the Sunpurge without igniting it. At the very least, it was infinitely better than the hell I’d been living.
The Foxkin showed me around the entire day, kindly teaching and demonstrating the various tasks we were required to perform. They ranged from dusting the walls to serving food at mealtimes. Guests, guards, and aristocrats gave us orders, like fetching tea from the kitchen or taking their coats. Occasionally, a wandering hand grabbed at Aurle, groping her ample curves, but she’d just squeak a bit, or simply roll her eyes.
"You get used to it," she whispered after one particularly frisky guard held us up for almost a minute. "It happens to all the girls."
Despite her words, I remained unmolested for the entire day. Instead of leers, I was greeted with subtle scowls and slight grimaces. I was starved and frail, with hardly a curve worth mentioning, but it wasn’t my scrawniness keeping them away, but my bloodline. Even among the other slaves, I was the only demonkin. The others were all beastkin of various races, mixed with the occasional elf.
By the time night fell, I was sore and exhausted. My fingers ached from scrubbing everything in sight, and my feet hurt from standing for so long. Aurle kindly allowed me to lean on her as we the Butler directed us to the servant quarters, her warm hands holding mine.
"The maid rotation lasts for a week. Do you know what that means?" she asked excitedly.
I shook my head.
"We get to sleep in a real bed!" she exclaimed.
She threw open the door and leaped into the small, servants’ room, landing on the bed. The old wooden frame creaked in protest, but she laid on her back, a wide smile on her face, kicking her feet lightly in the air.
"Ahhh," she sighed contentedly, "It’s been three days!"
Three days? I shuffled after her, resting my hand on the wooden knob of the bedpost. Technically, I’d slept on a bed in Alex’s room, but that hardly counted. The hard ground beneath my bedroll or the grainy planks of a cage were all I had known for months. I frowned, looking around the small room. There was only one bed.