Harriet Potter woke up to the feeling of long fingers pulling at her hair. She moaned grumpily and abruptly turned to her stomach, jutting her face into the stuffed pillow and sighing contently.
"Harri, Harri, wake up, wake up!" A small voice said near her right ear and she opened one eye sneakily, tilting her head slightly and suddenly exhaling, blowing a gust of morning breath onto her poor victim.
Jacquez's world spinned as he jerked back and wheezed out the dirtied air.
"Ew! That's gross! Now, you know better. Get up, it's time to start the day!" Harri showed no penchant for doing just that, and Jaq had an inkling of a better way to get her moving.
"Hey, did you know that the prince has arrived from Germany? The king is certainly pleased to have him back."
Harri sat up slowly and blinked the sleepiness out of her hazy green eyes. "Which part of this concerns me? It IS wonderful that the prince is back, but why does this justify a reaction?"
Jaq smirked coyly "Nothing at all- It doesn't, my dear sister, why I was simply luring you out of your sleepy state with idle talk!"
Harri ran her deft fingers through her long, black hair and glanced at the dull and dusty petticoat awaiting her. She smiled at her brother in fondness and said, "Silly boy. Alright now, shoo! I'll get dressed- hopefully- before the bells start ringing."
Jaq kissed her on the forehead before he left the room in search for his buckled shoes.
Once the door closed softly behind him, Harri sighed, her person deflating as she looked outside of her small, dingy window. Pink settled on the horizon and the sun was creeping over the edge of the hills, reflecting magnificently on the tall glass windows of the castle in the tiny kingdom.
Her gaze was drawn again to the ratty petticoat and she sighed again, walking towards her closet and getting dressed as quickly as a lady may. She tied up her long black hair with a green ribbon and rested an off-white bonnet onto her hair, masking it from view and giving her an air of modesty and propriety. Satisfied, she turned her delicately shaped nose away from the mirror and pinched her cheeks experimentally, feeling, rather than watching, color rush to her pale cheeks agreeably.
She nodded to herself and just turned to leave when the bells began to ring.
"Harriet! Harriet!"
Harri grumbled internally at the use of her full name, but hurried to pull on her slippers and tie her apron around her small waist.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!"
She rushed down the spiral staircase, careful not to stumble as she finally reached the bottom. She wrenched open the heavy door and tore down to the kitchen to prepare tea and biscuits for her Aunt Antoinette and nasty cousins, Petunia and Drizella Tremaine.
As she performed the monotonous task of pouring the tea and preparing the biscuits, she lost herself in thought. Before the age of seven, she had a good natured father named James. Some may say he was handsome, and it was true, in the traditional sense of handsomeness that is. His rich voice and smiling eyes soothed and lulled young Harriet to sleep many times as he told her stories of chivalry and sacrifice. One dreary day in August found Harriet with a stricken expression, her small hands over her heart as she stared at the slumped body of her caring, gentle father over a stack of papers at his desk, a half-empty cup resting in one hand.
His body was buried a fortnight later, and the kingdom signed the large manor off to her uncle and aunt, leaving her uncared for and treated as a servant by her sour relatives.
Despite her troubled past, Harri learned how to push the negative emotions in herself deep inside and focus on the positives in life. For one, she had a very close friend, Jacquez, whom she had met in the streets, orphaned and two years older than she. When she brought him into the manor, her cousins immediately began to complain about the dirty child being in the same house as them, but her aunt was inarguably very skilled at deception and manipulating situations to fit to her needs, and let the boy live in the manor as another servant.
Years only brought them closer and they became siblings- that is, in the essence of the word. Jaq was fiercely protective over her, and for that she was extremely thankful and relieved. He was the light in her world.
Harriet snapped out of her trance-like state as she heard the wretched screeching that was her cousins' voices.
"Harriet! Bring up the breakfast!"
"Harriet! Hurry now!" The last voice was of her dreadful Auntie. Harri gathered her wits and pressed her eyelids closed tight. She blinked rapidly and picked up each plate, balancing the third skillfully on the top of her head. Harri peeked out of the screened wooden door and saw Jaq tending to the chicken and horses outside and smiled, thankful for the extra hand. Jaq felt her eyes on him and turned, waving cheerfully and accidentally scattering the brome hay. She burst into quiet giggles as he looked down and smiled sheepishly.
Mentally shaking her head at his silliness, for she could not physically, she treaded carefully up the stairs, throwing a stink-eye at the lazy cat curled up at the top of the stairs. She tiptoed around Lucifer, noting his tatty black fur and realizing Auntie 'Nett would probably add it onto her list of chores for the day, and sighed dejectedly.
The devil-cat never made it easy.
She set the trays on a table in the large hallway and swept the large curtain aside, tying it down to the hook on the wall. Light spilled into the previously lackluster hall and crept under the cracks of the first door, which she creaked open and took a tray inside of.
The first room was Drizella's. A tall window's light was blocked and she walked carefully, setting her tray on the bedside table.
"Drizella," she whispered, "Breakfast's ready."
The snooty girl turned to her back, where Harri could clearly see her short black hair and sleepy black eyes.
"Do the laundry, make the bed, turn the mattress, and get lost!" she shrieked piercingly.
Harri cringed at her high voice but dutifully said "Yes, Drizella."
She moved on to Petunia's room. Tray in hand, she inhaled deeply, preparing herself…
"Good morning, Petunia. Breakfast is ready."
Petunia's small eyes danced at the thought of sabotaging her daily life and happiness.
"Yes, yes, set it here…"
Harri did so, gulping quietly.
"Now, a few of my friends and acquaintances are coming over at tea time. Clean my room, dust everything, turn the mattress, iron my clothes, and have tea ready by high tea time. 5:00. Am I understood?"
"Of course, Petunia." Her heart was racing. How was she going to finish all of these chores?
Then she remembered Jaq, and she calmed.
"Oh yes. And bring that horse boy here, I have some duties for him to complete."
Harri's heart sunk like a stone in a pond. "Yes, Petunia."
"Now leave my sight," she said, her free hand waving her away dismissively.
She hurried out of the room, sighing contently as the door closed. One more.
Picking up the last tray, she entered the last room slowly, her eyes darting around the area and jumping slightly as Lucifer slinked through the open door.
She narrowed her eyes at him, unbelieving of the fact that such a creature could act so horribly. The cat shot her a toothy, holier-than-thou, nasty smile and curled up in the darkness, blending into the shadows of the master bed.
Her Aunt's dark voice was heard out of the blackness.
"Set the breakfast down and look at me. Today, you are to do the laundry, make the bed, feed Lucifer, mop the floors, shake out the tapestries, straighten the tea-room, wipe the baseboards, water the plants, empty the waste bins, clean out the stables, gather the eggs, milk the cows, and get vegetables from the market." Lucifer grinned victoriously.
"Oh and yes, while you're there, buy Lucifer's bath oils and give him a shiny coat." Lucifer's face dropped and he cringed as if spoiled cream was presented to him.
Huh… spoiled cream…
Harriet snapped out of it and exclaimed, "Oh, but Aunt Antoinette, I wiped the baseboards and shook out the tapestries just yesterday!"
Antoinette shot her a poisonous glare. "Then you do it again, you daft girl."
How completely unfair! Why she ought to… "Yes, Aunt Antoinette," she said, her teeth gritted together.
"Now leave me."
She left the room, then the hall, and raced down the stairs. How could a woman be so cold and cruel to her own blood? To her dead sister's daughter? Why couldn't she cherish Harriet like she did her daughters?
Harriet reached the bottom of the stairs and a sheen of glassy tears surfaced in her eyes. Frustration welled up in her being and she clenched her fists, attempting to calm her temper. It wouldn't do for a lady to lose her calm head in a crisis, and her fiery temper was one of the few attributes she gained from her mother, other than her striking green eyes.
Her heart squeezed painfully in its cage and Harriet took a calming breath, wiping her tears away before straightening up and heading towards the stables where she found Jaq. Jacquez was awaiting her instruction and Harri took the lead.
'She is a natural leader,' Jaq thought wryly as she watched his honorary sister pace to and fro, her petticoat billowing in the imaginary wind.
"Alright, now. Today, we have an unearthly load of chores to do. But we are strong individuals, and we'll get the job done right. We'll split our chores- I'll do the laundry, wiping baseboards, and all of the duties pertaining to the first level, and you can do the second level and tend for the animals, though you've already done most of that. I'll be heading to the market and then take Lucifer to the well for a thorough bathing. I will prepare everything for Petunia's society meeting and you can tend to the garden, clean the stables, and take a hose to the gables." Harri paused to look up at the roof of the house. "Why they do look absolutely dreadful!" she exclaimed.
Jaq chuckled, but put on a serious expression as Harri turned to shoot a flat look at him. "Oh, how dreadful!" he squeaked in a mocking manner.
Harri's eyes narrowed, and she turned her nose heavenward, saying quite pretentiously, "I haven't the sparest of time to speak to such… unripe youths."
Jaq raised a single eyebrow and said, "Well then, my lady, may I show you inside?" He bowed handsomely and she giggled when he winked at her.
"Why of course, Lord Jacquez, I am privileged to be of your acquaintance!" She curtsied sarcastically and thrusted her hand out, resting it in the crook of Jaq's elbow, and straightened swiftly.
Jaq snorted.
"Oh my, how unbecoming of you!" Harri said, slapping his elbow away.
Jaq laughed outright, and said, "Alright, drop it, my dear sister, it is unnerving to see you in such a proper state right before you are to go to do the laundry of your 'inferiors'.
Harri rolled her eyes, pushing down the rising sadness inside of her, and grabbed the laundry basket off of the floor.
"Ah. Speaking of such inferiors… Snooty wants to see you. She has a list of duties ready."
This was Petunia's code name. Snooty was Petunia, Drizella was Nasty, and Aunt Antoinette was Antsy Bonnet.
Odd, but so was the rest of her life.
Harriet took a cleansing breath in and out and headed back into the manor, beginning her list of chores as usual.
Little did poor Harriet know- her day would be most unusual.
Hello! Author here. If you have any suggestions for the plot, don't hesitate to leave a review or PM me.
Thanks,
CM007