Part Two; The Little Maid:

Avery had done what she had been told. She was a good little goblin and always obeyed. She smiled as she thought that, she wasn't a goblin anymore. She had long legs and beautiful hair now. Surely she would easily be able to make the king fall in love with her.

Once she reached the gates of the castle she sat to catch her breath. She had never been able to run that fast in her goblin body. She had always ached if she had moved to fast. It wasn't long before her eyes began to fall, she was just so sleepy.

"Where do you think she came from?"

"Maybe the forest, I know there are a few wild tribes that live in there."

"Well where ever the poor dear is from she looks like she hasn't had a decent meal in years. I think we should wake her, Tess. I am sure His Majesty wouldn't mind, he did take in both of us when our parents died." Avery slowly blinked her eyes open at the sound of soft voices. She looked up and nearly shrieked.

Standing above her were two beautiful, if rather plainly dressed, women. They had hair like a sunset and eyes like river stone. They smiled sweetly at her as they realized she had woken up.

"Well, hello there dear. Can you speak?" The woman beside the one that had just spoken rolled her eyes.

"Really, Jen, you haven't even given her a chance to speak.

"Anyway, I am Tess and this is my sister Jen. What is your name?" Avery pulled herself up off the ground and took a steadying breath.

"A-Avery." Jen smiled and nodded slightly.

"Avery, that is a very pretty name. Do you know where you are?" Avery just nodded.

"Good, do you have place to go to, a home?" At this she shook her head. She really didn't have one now that she was human. Goblins on a whole didn't like humans or fae that were not of royal blood. If she were to return to her little bunk in the barn out by the fields she would be run off.

"Well, I think you better come with us then. We will get you something to eat, a warm bath and some decent clothes." Thinking it would be better to just agree she followed the two past the gates and into the castle via the servant's door.

"She really is a dirty little thing isn't she?" The woman, who had introduced herself as Calli, looked Avery up and down.

Avery had been taken through the servant's halls that housed the human and fae workers in the castle. Tess and Jen talked non-stop about how nice it would be to have someone knew to speak to the whole way.

She now stood in the middle of what she figured was a bathing chamber, her clothes striped off while Calli inspected her.

"But, she will do. I am putting you two in charge of her. Get her cleaned and dressed, I think she should be able to fit some of Millie's old clothes.

"Make sure she gets something to eat, she is way too thin. She will be bunking with you two and I expect you to train her." Both Tess and Jen nodded as they led Avery to the nearest pool of steaming water.

As soon as Calli left Tess turned to her.

"Don't let her harshness bother you. She is one of the oldest here, almost a thousand years old. She has been working here since she was twenty and now that she has been put in charge of all of us maids she takes it a little too seriously.

"But she really is a softy. She cares greatly for all of us.

"Now settle into the water, we need to get all of that mud off of you. You look like you have been playing out in the barn!"

Avery was scrubbed and soaped up, dried and brushed until her skin was pink and hair like silk. She liked the feel of the light green dress the two woman had gotten for her. Even if it wasn't as fine as the ladies of court, it was soft and much nicer than anything she had ever owned.

She was at the moment downing a bowl of the best stew she had ever tasted. Her eyes scaned over the goblins that worked around her in the kitchen. She knew many of them. That was Daz at the sink peeling root vegetables. Til was at the ovens baking the bed for the evening. And that was Kilie, her best friend, in the corner folding napkins. She was afraid that one of them would recognize her and tattle on her. But not one looked at her like she was anything but another faceless human to them.

"I believe you will like it here. Us maids may not be as elegant as those in the Court, or as rich, but we get treated well. You have to work for it though. Calli will not stand for laziness." Tess pulled a bit of bread from the loaf in front of her and started to nibble on it.

"I know how to work, and I am not afraid to work hard. But are you sure that it is ok for me to be here?" Jen laughed softly and dipped her own piece of bread into her stew.

"Oh yes! His Majesty is a wonderful king. He took Tess and myself in after our parents had died in the plague. He came himself to the community house and asked to see all of the children who had survived.

"He took all of us without families to take care of us back with him and gave us jobs." Tess nodded and swallowed before speaking.

"Yes, and the ones who had people to take care of them he gave little gifts too. Like little sweets. And then when we reached the castle he gave the rest of us these sweet little cream cakes and told us that we were safe now.

"He may be harsh sometimes, but he is a good king, and a good man. He loves children and will always take them in, whether or not they are from here or Aboveground. You may not be a child anymore, but I am sure he will not mind. He has been known to take in those who really needed it." Avery smiled softly, she always knew the king was wonderful. She remembered the plague, and Til had spoken of having to make so many cream cakes that her hands hurt. Now she knew why.

After she had finished her meal, Tess and Jen and directed her to their room. They had to prepare for the feast that evening. Since Avery had not yet been trained she could not help, but they told her that all the servants were allowed to be out on the grounds and that they would come and get her as soon as they finished their duties.

Avery waited quietly knowing that His Majesty would already be outside. She looked around the room till she noticed a mirror tacked onto the inside of the wardrobe door. She stood there, mouth hanging open, and looked at herself. She had yet to actually see what she looked like.

Her skin was pale with a soft pink undertone that made her look like she was in a constant state of blushing. Her eyes were a pretty light blue and her hair as black as coal.

The door behind her opened quietly and Avery could see Tess' reflection in the mirror.

"Come on, we have finished. We can go outside now, we can't eat anything while His Majesty and his guests are out. But all the servants have a small party later in the evening with food and dancing." Closing the wardrobe, Avery left with a huge smile on her face. Hopefully she would actually attract the King's attention tonight.

Author's Note: Ok, I think this will be four chapters long, actually this should be done and ready to post by the end of this week. As I have said before this is not based after the Disney version of The Little Mermaid, so if you are expecting lots of love and a happy ending, you should most likely stop reading now. This will not have a nice ending!!!

Also, I should hopefully have This Is My Winter done by Feb. If not sooner, so if the poll for the new labby will not be up much longer, so far The Velvet Underground has the most votes, Jet Second.

I also was thinking of having a mini-contest. I had a little brain-spew moment the other day and wrote this sort of Labby drabble. I like it but do not think I will be using it in any story. So here is what I thought. I will post it up as a drabble and anyone who wants can write a one-shot or multi-chapter story based off of it, and the ones that do I will write each a oneshot using a prompt by them. Ok, so not really a contest, but I kind of feel like writing for people and would love to read a few good Labbys. If you are interested just PM me.

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own it!!!!