Annabeth POV
I was sat on an impressive grey armchair in the office of the head housekeeper at the palace. A week had gone past and as hard as I tried I couldn't find a job. It wasn't for lack of trying I had spent every waking hour on the phone, the computer or just walking the streets looking everywhere for a job, and I mean everywhere.
So that was how I came to be here I looked around the room. There was a cosy fireplace and the décor was very like a hunting lodge. The door creaked open and I jumped to my feet. A woman entered with black hair tied up in a bun. She was incredibly beautiful and when she gave me a warm smile I immediately felt like she could be trusted.
"Hello it's a pleasure to meet you Annabeth, my name is Silena and I'm the head housekeeper here at the palace. If you have any issues then don't hesitate to ask. Every morning you will come to my office here and receive you tasks this will differ from day to day. I hear that you are staying in the service quarters so we will just subtract a small fee from your wages which you will receive every week. I think that's just about everything. If you want to follow me I'll show you to your room and help get you settled in."
"Thanks Silena that would be lovely." I smiled at her; she turned and walked out of the door. I followed her out into the hall.
"Right so this is the servants main hall. Along here is the offices of all the heads of departments, down the corridor to the right is the kitchen and on the left is the laundry room."
The hall was busy with people dressed in the uniform of the palace. The women in grey skirts, white shirts and green ties. The men wore grey suits with green ties and they all had immaculately polished black shoes. They all looked tired and overworked. None of them smiled as they worked and I felt a sense of despair from every person that walked past.
Looking at Silena I could see that the sight of her work force made her feel like I did. She took a deep breath and plastered on a show business smile. "If we go up these stairs we will be in the main wing of the palace. We aren't going to go up there now as it will disrupt the royal family so you're going to have to learn on the job. Don't worry I'll send someone with you the first few times. This is just one wing of the palace the others are mostly used for visiting royal families. IN the main wing there is the ballroom, the gym, the dining room, the…"
I let Silena continue to rattle off the faculties that the royals had at their fingertips. I drifted off into my own mind and concentrated on counting the number of stairs we were climbing. I reached 106 by the time we came to a stop.
"… And finally the rooms of the king, queen and prince. So here we are the servants rooms. This is you number 11. I'm just next-door and on the other side is Thalia who will be showing you the ropes for the next week. I'll give you a minute to unpack and get settled in. Your luggage was brought up and should be waiting in there. Come down to my office and I will assign you your duties in half an hour."
Handing me the key she turned and walked away. I turned the key in the lock, the door creaked open slowly I peeked my head around the door and turned up my face in disgust. There was a single bed that was covered in a layer of dust and through the door was a bathroom with a cracked sink and a shower covered in lime scale. I walked back to the main bedroom and picked up my suitcase and put it on the bed. The rest of my stuff was in the basement of Piper's apartment building. This job was only short term so I had just bought a few outfits and my toiletries. I put the clothes in the wardrobe and then headed out onto the corridor.
After walking down the 106 stairs to the basement I walked along the corridor until I came to Silena's door. I knocked and heard her singsong voice telling me to enter. I pushed the door open and found her sitting behind the desk. On the desk there was one of the uniforms that everyone wore and I guessed was for me.
"I forgot to give you your uniform so here it is. There's a bathroom through that door so go and get changed. Leave your clothes in this bag and you can collect them after your shift." Silena handed me a plastic bag and I walked through to the bathroom.
I changed into the skirt, shirt and tie. I found that the skirt showed every single curve and I felt quite self-conscious wearing it. I walked back into the office and found a black spiky haired girl sitting on the chair across form Silena.
"Ahh Annabeth pass me the bag I'll just put it behind my desk. This is Thalia; she is going to be showing you the ropes. Girls you are going to start by polishing the 3rd floor Petunia corridor. All the corridors are named after varieties of flowers and rooms after animals. You'll get the hang of it in a while. The mops and brushes are just down the corridor. Let's get to work."
I nodded and followed Thalia out of the room. We entered a stone room with appliances positioned on hooks on the walls. Thalia walked over to a corner and lifted a metal bucket off the wall she grabbed a mop and handed them both to me. "There you go the taps over there go and fill it up halfway with water then wait for me over by the door." I did I as I was told and watched as Thalia did the same.
She pushed open the door and walked briskly down the corridor. I struggled to keep up until she came to a halt by a small wooden door. Pulling it open she stepped inside. There was a small light and a flight of stairs. We started to climb until we reached what I presumed was the 3rd floor. "I'm guessing you haven't been up here before. Basically the royal family prefer to not see or hear their servants so they had these corridors and staircases built in the walls. Stupid I know." Thalia looked at me and rolled her eyes. She didn't seem impressed by the royal lifestyle.
When she pushed open the door it led onto a lavishly decorated hallway decorated with gold ornaments and oil paintings. I looked around in wonder, it was unlike anything I had every seen before or would again for that matter. Thalia however seemed less than impressed.
"Right we are going to start over here and then work backwards towards the door. Come on." We walked over to the other side of the hall and got to work. It was tough but nothing I couldn't handle after about an hour we had done half the hall. Thalia seemed nice though I had no clue why she was working here, as she seemed to be as anti-royal as they come.
I was just laughing at a joke that Thalia had told something to do with penguins and sunglasses. Suddenly a loud bang came from behind me. I turned around to see a man just slamming a door. He had black hair and piercing green eyes that seemed bottomless. I stared at him and he stared at me. I lost all concept of time as we studied each other.
Our stare was broken by the sound of a woman's voice. "Perseus would you please hurry up we cannot keep Princess Rachel waiting." The man walked past me and I watched his retreating figure as it turned the corner.
"Dear lord that was intense, usually the prince doesn't even acknowledge us. Yet here you are having a full on staring contest in the middle of the corridor. Something is going on for sure." I shrugged; I still couldn't get over the feeling of his eyes on mine. Grey meeting green.
Sorry about the long wait but they have finally met. Let me now what you thought.
