A Maid's Story

My Name is Rayanne

She was a nice old lady, probably about fifty years young and wore reading glasses. She lived on the far side of Brightwall, in a two story home where the old chicken farm used to be. A young journalist for the Bowerstone Post made the journey all the way here to hear the sick old woman's story. From what the locals said, it's a doozy.

This old woman was dying, and usually had a doctor nearby, but today, the day the journalist arrived, the doctor was nowhere to be found. The Journalist found this ample opportunity to get the woman's side of the story. According to rumor, she was once a maid for the royal family, under former King Logan's rule. Apparently, this story of the old woman's just had to be told, and couldn't be lost once she left this world.

"Well, I guess I should explain myself, seeing as you came all this way…" the old lady started, as she poured herself and the Journalist some tea. "My name is Rayanne, and I am…well, I used to be a maid serving the royal family of Albion."

"You served during King Logan's reign?" asked the Journalist, as he picked up his pen and writing pad. "Yes, I served under King Logan. It just depends on what you mean by the word 'served'." The Old Woman chuckled softly and sipped her tea.

The Journalist tried not to chuckle. "Well, I was informed by everyone in town that your story about the true goings-on during the time of King Logan was quite astonishing and not something to be lost to the ages."

The Old Woman chuckled softly. "I wouldn't call it astonishing by any means, but I guess to those who didn't live it, it's pretty fascinating. To be honest, I didn't really like living it, but I did. I hate repeating the events that led me to my current…umm, 'situation' but it's a story that needs to be told, I guess."

"Why would you say your story is important?" asked the Journalist.

"Why is my story important?" laughed the Old Woman. "Well, listen carefully and you'll find out."

Rayanne didn't know where she was born. In fact, most of the time from before she entered the orphanage was a blur. But what Rayanne did remember seemed to be too painful for words. She remembered little snippets here and there, but nothing she thought was significant.

She remembered a farm somewhere on the outskirts of Oakfield, right before the turn off to Rookridge. She remembered her mother, a pretty young woman who was wise beyond her years, and her father, a man that looked like he never slept. Rayanne remembered their farm, with the cows and chickens and the big fields that she used to chase rabbits in. Things were relatively happy, as far as Rayanne knew. She was too young to know any better, but she never complained when her mother sent her outside to play when her father started to get loud.

The farm was a wonderful place and Rayanne was a happy, healthy child. It was a semi-secluded place, only one neighbor that lived just a stone's throw away. The town of Oakfield wasn't too far, as Rayanne could see it when she stood on the stump her father used to chop wood.

There was one memory that Rayanne could never get out of her mind, no matter how hard she tried. That was the day her world shattered. She remembered waking up late at night and hearing her mother yell that she was taking Rayanne away back to Bowerstone with her and that she had finally had enough of her husband's nonsense. She heard her father leave the house and her mother run hastily up the stairs, telling Rayanne to get dressed. Rayanne did as she was told but by the time she was ready, she found the front door wide open and her father hacking away at something.

The fields were on fire. It lit up the entire area, like it was still day time. Whatever her father was hacking away at was wrapped in her mother's apron. Rayanne would later find out her father had gone off the deep end and set their fields on fire. Her father looked in the doorway and saw little Rayanne, watching with her big brown eyes. He dropped the garden hoe and picked up something blunt. Rayanne wasn't sure what it was, but when her father grabbed her and smacked her upside the head yelling, "Bad girl! Look what happened!" she knew it she wasn't going to town that day.

Before Rayanne blacked out, and before her father could administer the finishing blow, the entire Oakfield guard tackled her father to the ground. As the world turned dark, one of the meeker guards ran up to Rayanne and picked her up. "She's still alive!" he shouted, wrapping Rayanne in his uniform coat. Then, there was nothing but darkness.

Rayanne wouldn't know what happened to her father until years later. She learned he had been transported to a place called "Ravenscar Keep" but wouldn't know what that place was until she was an adult. The townspeople of Oakfield, including the neighbor that got the guards just in time to save Rayanne's life, had gathered enough evidence to keep her father in irons for the rest of his life. If his insanity didn't take him first, then the rats would.

The next thing Rayanne knew, she was on her way to Bowerstone. She couldn't be excited about it, as her mother wasn't the one taking her. Rayanne would later find out her mother was buried in an unmarked grave in the Oakfield cemetery. When Rayanne was old enough and had money (and learned a little more about her mother), she bought a gravestone to be placed there. She believed what was left of her mother deserved a proper resting place.

Rayanne woke up to the carriage stopping and a gangly looking nursemaid being told her story. The nursemaid made horrified gestures and showed the guards where to put Rayanne. Rayanne was physically weak, so she went in and out of sleep. When she woke up again, the nursemaid was rewrapping her bandages. Rayanne innocently asked when she was going home. The nursemaid smiled a bittersweet smile and told her, "This is your home now, Rayanne…"

The Bowerstone Industrial Orphanage was a filthy place. Rayanne often described it as "A run-down barn on an abandoned farm. Now, put some beds and some children in there, and you have the Bowerstone Industrial district's orphanage." The worst part by far was probably the smell, which she really didn't care to remember. Sometimes, she and the other children woke up to the room a bit foggy. The older kids said it was smoke that came in through the windows when the nursemaids forgot to close them at night. Smoke from the factories run by that Reaver.

Despite the horrid conditions, life at the orphanage wasn't bad. They were always fed, if one can call that food (she didn't). The staff was friendly, which some of the kids thought was as good as having parents. The head nursemaid kept constant vigil over Rayanne was her wound recovered. Whenever Rayanne asked about her parents, the nursemaid would just stare at her and smile. "Don't worry, Rayanne, an adorable girl like you will be adopted in no time." That was always her answer.

For the most part, she was right. Rayanne did get snatched up pretty quickly. At about five or so years old, Rayanne found her ticket out of that place when a skinny old man came to the orphanage. He was joined by a pudgy old woman in a maid's outfit, and she seemed to be skimming the hallways for something. The nursemaid told the children to line up along our beds. They always did this whenever prospective parents came. She didn't know about the others, but Rayanne always felt like a cattle at auction, waiting to be sold to the highest bidder, than going off to who knows where. Sometimes, the prospective parents would stop at her, examine her, say a few things, and then go off to the next kid. Usually, they'd pick a boy. From what the older kids said, most of those "prospective parents" were just farmers looking for farmhands they didn't have to pay.

As it turned out, the skinny old man and the pudgy lady were actually servants for the royal family. They were instructed by the royal family to find new "charges" so to speak. Rayanne figured training children was cheaper than training adults. "We have enough boys, now just need a few girls." said the Pudgy Lady.

"Why do you insist on getting girls?" asked the Skinny Man.

"Because, Jasper, I'm running short on maids. Most of them are grown up and getting married, meaning they are quitting to start families. I don't care how many butlers you train, but I need maids." By the look on his face, Rayanne could tell the Skinny Man didn't like arguing with the Pudgy Lady.

Out of all the children there, four were adopted that day, Rayanne being one of them (and the only girl). The paperwork was filled out and the children were loaded into the carriage to start their new life.

When they arrived at the castle, the pudgy maid took Rayanne to the servant's area and gave her the first real bath she had gotten since moving into the orphanage. To this very day, it was still the best bath Rayanne could say she ever got.

The servant's quarters were near the garden, though there aren't many windows. Only the head servants, like Jasper, the Princess's attendant, get their own rooms in the castle, but sharing a room with two or three other maids didn't seem to matter at all to Rayanne. Her first set of roommates (and there would be many others through the years) were three teenage maids waiting for another room to open up.

"Alright, Little Maid…" said the teenage maid she shared a room with. "Alright, Little Maid" was always the first thing any of the maids ever said to Rayanne until she was at least ten. "…you were adopted for a reason. You have been given the privilege of becoming a servant for the esteemed royal family. I advise you not to squander such a gift. Most children from the orphanage end up on the streets or in brothels." The teenage maid told Rayanne on her first day of training.

"Now, Little Maid, you will be training under Miss Marigold. You met her the day she and Jasper went to the orphanage to fetch you. She is the head maid to the Royal Family and has been for many years. You are to treat her with the utmost respect, call her "Ma'am" as much as possible, and don't talk back when she gives you an order. Just do as she says, and you'll do just fine here." The teenage maid held Rayanne firmly by the arm and took her into the castle.

Miss Marigold was a nice but very strict old lady, very grandmotherly and acted as mother to all the maids. With her white hair kept in a bun, Miss Marigold certainly looked the part of mother. She taught Rayanne the ins and outs of the castle and how to clean them properly. "When it doubt, do it again" was her personal mantra. "It is an easy profession and as soon as you're old enough, you'll start getting paid to do it. Until then, you are an apprentice and working for room, board, and food mostly." She never failed to tell the Little Maids, a soon as more came along. "Keep your hair up at all times. You don't want to offend he royal family with loose hair all over the place." That was the reason Rayanne always kept her hair in braid, even well into old age.

Training under Miss Marigold was tough, but nothing Rayanne couldn't handle. Miss Marigold often told the Little Maids that basically anything they did that wasn't work would offend the Royal Family. "Wake up early every morning and take a bath. The cleanliness of the help reflects upon the family they work for. If their servants look unkempt, it is assumed the family can't afford decent help. So, always wash yourself and brush your hair. The only thing that should have spots on it at the end of the day is your apron, and do try to keep that at a minimum too." She told the Little Maids as they helped her polish silver.

Following orders wasn't hard for Rayanne. She often kept to herself. She never was much of an objector, seeing as every time she talked back, Miss Marigold would smack her mouth. "Be quiet and do as you're told!" she would shout. Rayanne often thought it was that conditioning as a child made her into a quiet, stoic perfectionist in her adult years.

Rayanne never liked trouble, but often saw the other Little Maids get into it often. Once, she heard one of the other Little Maids talk sass to a butler, saying she didn't want to clean out the fireplace in the study. That little tantrum earned her three days without supper and confinement in what the older maids called the "Quiet Room" at the very end of the Servant's Area. The thought of being alone in that place for even a minute was terrifying to Rayanne, so she always did as she was told. She kept herself clean, held her head up like a proper young woman, and did all her work without fuss. The older maids often used Rayanne as an example of how the other Little Maids should be. Suffice to say, it didn't gain her many friends.

Rayanne probably went an entire year working there without seeing one glimpse of the Royal Family. Some of the older maids told her it was normal, as the Royal Family was often busy with whatever it is the Royal Family did besides run the kingdom. All they had to do was keep the place clean for them.

One day duties were called off and all the servants were instructed to prepare for a funeral. "The Old Hero Monarch has died!" everyone kept shouting. It wasn't until they lowered the "Old Hero Monarch" into the tomb in the garden that Rayanne got a glimpse of the man who would ultimately affect her in more ways than one in a few years' time. Prince Logan, a strapping young man of about maybe fifteen, and trailing behind him was his sister, the young Princess Robin, whom was about Rayanne's age (about six). Rayanne stayed next to Miss Marigold during the entire ceremony. He glanced over at Rayanne once and she believed that's all it took.

When it came to being a maid, Rayanne figured all she had to do was follow orders. As she grew into a young woman, Rayanne's flawless ability to listen to orders saw her through good times and bad. Eventually, thanks to this "talent", she was chosen to be Miss Marigold's apprentice. This meant when Miss Marigold died or retired, Rayanne would take her place as head maid. Rayanne hoped that wouldn't happen for years, but felt honored by the title nonetheless. She'd eventually make friends, and a few enemies, but what Rayanne never expected was to be the object of desire to the most powerful man in Albion.

…and that is where Rayanne's story begins…

N'cha, everyone! I'm Luna Peachie, and you are all invited to my little experiment!

This story has been swimming around in my head for a good long while, but I never really knew how to execute it. It's a pretty graphic story, and honestly. It's more of an experiment in how far my boundaries can go. And you guys are the willing lab rats! Ohhh goody goody goody!

This is partially the reason why I haven't updated my "Reaver's Servants" fic recently, but don't worry, I have the next chapter almost finished. Sadly, I had to scrap a few ideas before I found one I liked, but I think you guys will like it.

I probably won't be updating this one as much as my other one, as I've mentioned before, serious stories aren't my forte'. Luckily, this will be short, probably no more than five parts, so I hope you guys enjoy it.

Give me some criticism on it, so I'll know if my experiment is going good or not.

Fable belongs to Lionhead