"Hey. Hey! You there!" I inwardly groaned as I glanced up from the lock I was picking to see a guard rushing down the empty hall towards me. "What are you doing?!"

Thinking quickly, I stepped away from the lock, hoping he wouldn't notice the little pins sticking out of it, praising the gods that I had decided to 'borrow' some maid's clothes that would support my fib.

"Oh, don't mind me sir. I'm the new maid," I said in a Kyreian accent.

"You didn't answer the question. What were you doing?" he growled.

"I'm sorry sir." I said taking a timid step back. "I was just coming to help Lord Lyzander's daughter get ready for dinner, but the door is locked!"

"This isn't Lady Daphne's room," the guard stated bluntly, looking a little amused.

"It isn't?" I said, making myself look confused. Then I made my face light up in recognition, turning it into a blush as I rushed to say, "Oh, goodness. I must have made a wrong turn! This is the treasury room isn't it!"

The guard now looked quite amused as he nodded and told me to be on my way, I shouldn't want to keep milady waiting. We then parted ways to my relief.

"Sucker," I muttered as I walked away from him.

"What was that?" he asked, turning to me.

"Oh, I was just talking to myself. Don't mind me!" I cheerfully said. Pausing a second, he resumed walking, and as soon as he turned the corner I rushed back to the lock.

Click. The door opened to a dazzling sight. It always amused me how little time and effort these higher up people put into guarding their expensive gems and jewels. But I wasn't complaining. It made my job that much easier.

Tentatively, I stepped into the room and glanced about. There they were. Five perfectly cut diamonds. I just drooled at the sight of them, but they weren't for me. No. They were for a 'special' customer. Scooping them up into my bag and leaving my special mark, I quickly exited the room and closed the door behind me.

Deciding to keep the maid's clothes on, I snuck down the hall to the grand staircase. I had almost made it to the front door when another annoying guard called out to me, "Who goes there!"

"Just me, the new maid. I'm going out to the garden for my break," I called back, as I set my hand on the door praying he would just move along. But my luck had passed. Just then the guard I had run into earlier walked in. Curse my luck. Looking utterly dumbfounded he called out to me.

"Shouldn't you be attending to Lady Daphne?"

Caught in a difficult spot, I slowly opened the door and started inching outside. "She, um, didn't need any more help, and, um, she told me to have a quick break," I stuttered out.

Suddenly, one of the precious diamonds tumbled out of my bag. Being distracted by the stupid guards, I hadn't noticed the door pushing it out. Cover blown, I grabbed the diamond and ran.

"Thief! Thief! Stop her!" The guard called out as I weaved through the garden, dodging guards and gardeners left and right. My luck had come to an utter low.

I flipped over the fence. As I landed, I knocked the two guards unconscious that were stationed there. Slipping through the gates, I ran out onto the street.

When I thought I was out of the guards line of sight, I slipped into a side alley and ripped off my maid's clothes to reveal a simple, comfortable and most importantly, flexible dress underneath. I prefer pants and a loose shirt, but when in public that would draw to much attention.

I faded into the crowd that had begun to gather on the streets, wondering what all the commotion at the manor was about. Pausing to make sure I hadn't been spotted or recognized in anyway, I threaded through the crowd and exited into another alley before making my way to the rooftops.

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I slid through the window and set my bag down on the side table in my tiny room. It could very likely have been a large closet before I became a maid. Flopping down on my cot, I slowly worked my soft leather boots off my feet. Before I could drift off though, the bells on my wall started ringing.

"Ella! Sweep the floor!" called Amelia through the walls of the house.

"Ella! Come help with the laundry!" called Anastasia.

"Ella! Sew up my dress!" called Andromeda.

"The three As call me for duty again!" I mumbled as I oozed off the cot and onto the floor. Lying there I weighed the consequences of just lying here. Running on the rooftops is tiring. A sudden shriek of "Ella!" from Andromeda finally prompted me to get going.

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"Stupid Lyzander with his stupid diamonds. Stupid guards. Stupid bad luck. Stupid chores. Stupid Anastasia. Stupid Andromeda. Stupid Amelia," I muttered in my usual mantra as I went about my chores.

There's no satisfying the prissy, uptight women I work for. They claim that they're the ones being generous and keeping me alive. When really I'm the one being generous by staying and keeping them from committing social suicide. That one time they were going to Daphne's birthday party, and they were going to wear green? Did they not know that Daphne hates green? Apparently not, because I was forced to spill ink on those ugly green dresses and forcing them to were the red ones. I was punished of course, no food for a day. I was glad I did it anyways, because the next day when the sisters came home from the party the only thing they talked about Olivia, who had worn a green scarf and had been completely ostracized by Daphne at the party.

Why I did this? Well, these grubby servant's clothes I wore was my coverup. I stole for a living and any good thief needs to be not only good at stealing, but also disappearing. When I had overheard this family had needed a maid, I volunteered. I did this because no one ever looks to the servants, 'they're not important'. But I knew better. Servants could go anywhere without being seen, and hear almost anything. They're almost invisible to the higher classes.

Well, except for stupid guards. They could see me, though they're almost servants themselves. Stupid guards.

A cough and a tap of the foot snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Thinking about your Prince Charming again, Ella?" Anastasia said in her shrill voice. Ugh, what is it about the girls and that 'Prince Charming'.

"Of course not Ana. I'm thinking about how best to smash your head into the banister without having the evidence of your dead body lead to me," I retorted in a sweet voice while I scrubbed the last bit of the floor and picked up my bucket of water and towel and walked off. I could just imagine Anastasia's confused face contorting into a fearful one.

I felt a little guilty whenever I treated her like that. She really wasn't as bad as her mother or older sister. But in my defense, I was in a bad mood after I had gotten so close to getting caught at Lyzander's house, and I was not prepared to be nice to people. I had work to do.

A/N: End of Chapter 1, hoped you liked it! I'll try to update as often as possible. Sorry, but no guarantees on quick updates. Feel free to review!