Author's note: Thanks to Rhapsody and Gypsy for their reviews. I appreciate it so much, and I hope you enjoy this part as well.
The air was bitingly cold as Luna Morgan woke and rose from bed. She clutched a threadbare blanket around her slim body and moved silently, so as not to rouse those still dreaming around her. Although no light filled the servants' quarters, as the sun hadn't yet risen and the girl didn't wish to light a candle, Luna moved with swift and confident movements in the darkness. She slipped on a pair of boots two sizes to large for her and tied her ebony hair into a messy ponytail that trailed down her back. Tossing the blanket back onto her bed, she shivered and willed her teeth to stop chattering as she made her way out of the room and into the frigid morning air.
A slight fog had risen over the land, causing the ground to almost blend in with the gray sky. She had to strain to see the fields and the gardens. Although she couldn't make out the shape, she knew that the manor stood proudly in the near distance. She paused a moment, trying to see the place where she had lived so happily for the first eight years of her life. Against her will, her heart swelled at the memories.
A piercingly solemn voice interrupted her nostalgic thoughts. As if you have time to brood about all day. Medda will slay you for sure if your morning chores aren't done by the time she's awake.
With a barely audible sigh, Luna began the long walk to the orchard, at the other end of the grounds.
As she strode through the fields, she couldn't help but frowning in regret. She recalled days long past, when seemingly hundreds of servants had tended to the fields, producing the freshest produce and raising the finest livestock for miles. Now, as only a few teenage servants were left to work (and as Luna's stepmother, Medda, spent money as quickly as the servants could make it for her, Luna remarked to herself with a scoff), the manor was not even a tenth as successful as it had been. Without proper tools, the soil seemed as hard as a rock. Scores of servants had been fired, leaving less people to care for the fields as well as the manor. Occasionally, after glowering at another diamond necklace wrapped around Medda's throat, one of the young servants would shake his head and mutter that they most likely wouldn't have a manor to live at if this behavior kept up.
I won't let that happen, Luna doggedly vowed to herself, picking up her pace as she marched into the orchard.
As she began to gather the newly grown apples, Luna's mind wandered to memories of her childhood yet again. Her hands moved mechanically and her eyes glazed over as she recalled when her formerly happy world had taken a dramatic change for the very worst….
~*~
The sun was just beginning to break over the lush green horizon, casting orange and yellow streaks of light against the gray stone of the manor. It crept into the kitchen, which was unusually silent and empty, and darted around fresh tomatoes, jars of golden honey, and day-old loaves of wheat bread. It rushed through the fields were diligent servants would begin to work in moments, planting vegetables and tending to the livestock. Finally, it spilled into the attic of the servant's quarters, where several young children, all no more than nine years old, were dreaming in cocoons of warm blankets. Occasionally, one would murmur incoherently or twist uncomfortably in reaction to unpleasant dreams, but overall they appeared peaceful and contented.
An elderly man, scant white hair disappearing from his scalp, trudged into the room and shook his head at the slumbering group. He drew a deep breath and shouted loud enough to be heard in the palace, "Get up! Work to be done! The master's comin' home today!"
Groaning and blinking sleep out of their eyes, the children obediently (if not willingly) sat up in bed.
"Aw, Maurice, let us sleep for just a little while longer, huh?" a dark-haired girl muttered groggily and leaned back onto her pillow.
The older servant's frown deepened as he eyed the girl solemnly. "Sun's been up for almost hours now, SB, and there's a lot to be done before the master returns. No more arguing, get up."
"Hey, how's about I roll you for it," a sly voice piped up from under a blanket, "double or nothing?" Racetrack yelped when Maurice smacked him smartly over the back of the head and swiftly climbed to his feet in fear of receiving more of a beating. "I was just kidding," the servant boy mumbled as he, along with the other young servants, made their way to the water pump.
"Really?" inquired Mischief in surprise.
Racetrack flashed as roguish a grin as he could muster at sunrise. "Not really. But it was worth a shot. Too bad Maurice doesn't like gambling."
"Too bad the master doesn't like marrying," grumbled Skittery as the group staggered out of the small building that the servants all resided in and moved to the water pump. Splashing his face with icy water (which always served to rouse even the sleepiest of servants), he continued, "Three more people to take care of."
"A baroness," Maniac added, using the rippling pool of water under the pump as a makeshift mirror as she tied up her dark brown tresses. "She'll have to get used to manor life rather quickly."
Mush nodded his agreement as he laughed, "I can just imagine the Baroness de Meadowlark strolling through the fields with a pink silk gown."
Snaps shrugged and cupped her hands, filling her palms with the cold water. "The master and Luna aren't difficult to wait on at all. I don't think these three will be very different," she assured her friends and sipped at the liquid warming in her hands.
Snipeshooter was just about to dispute this point when Maurice stuck his head out of the servants' quarters and cast the group a disapproving stare. "Are you planning to wash up all day? Get moving, now," he ordered the group firmly, in the manner of a matronly aunt. "Lots to do today. Louise'll give you some breakfast if you hurry."
The prospect of breakfast proved to hurry the servant children. Visions of fresh strawberries and biscuits dancing through their heads, they rushed to the kitchen, momentarily forgetting about the arrival of their master and the new additions to the family.
Luna was dreaming. She had been unable to sleep for most of the previous night, and had spent her time gazing up at the clear summer sky. Now her dreams were filled with glittering stars and glowing moons. She sighed blissfully in her sleep and snuggled deeper beneath the warm blanket when a sharp sound tossed her from the heavens and back to earth. Blinking away her dreams and wondering if stardust would still line the inside of her eyelids when she awoke fully, she furrowed her forehead and thought, Hale? The noise resonated through her room once again and, sitting up straight in curiosity, she realized that the sound came from someone tossed tiny stones at her window. She tossed her blanket aside, leapt to the icy stone floor, and dashed to the window. Throwing open the pane, she caught sight of a young girl standing on the ground, poised to hurl another pebble into the air.
"Finally!" Maverick exclaimed as she placed her hands on her hips. She narrowed her deep emerald eyes. "I thought you were going to sleep all day!"
"Not today!" laughed the young girl as she pushed a lock of ebony hair out of her pale countenance. She had been barely able to get to sleep the night before with the excitement of her father's return before her. It had seemed like an eternity when he had last been at the manor; and now, according to his last letter, he was also bringing home a new family. At the thought of the arrival, Luna frowned solemnly. "What time is it, anyway?"
"Just past ten o'clock already," Maverick replied with a small grin. "I told you that you had-" She was, however, unable to finish her remark, as Luna had dashed from the window with a cry of distress: "They'll be here any minute!" Then, as Maverick moved to run back to her own home, the sounds of horses' hooves pounding against the dirt road and a small voice cheering in delight echoed in her ears.
By the front door, the master, a tall man with hair as dark as a raven's feather and well-carved features, stood smiling at the sight of his home. Several of the servants had gathered to view his arrival, including many of the children.
"Where are they?" demanded Mischief as she gazed at the carriages filled with trunks holding gowns of silk and satin.
"Maybe the master decided that he'd rather stay single," suggested Snitch with a small shrug.
"Yeah, so we don't have to do as much work," Snipeshooter replied, sarcasm dripping from his tongue. "I'm sure that's all that the master has in mind."
Just as Snitch opened his mouth to debate that remark, one of the older servants whacked him over the head and motioned to the scores of luggage. "Why are you standing around here?" the servant demanded in the manner of a disapproving, matronly aunt. "Go and help them, for goodness sake."
As the youngest servants rushed to the carriages in response, they heard a shriek of joy emitted from the entrance of the manor. "Papa!" Luna exclaimed, leaping through the doorway and into her father's open arms.
Her father laughed pleasantly and studied his daughter with sparkling mahogany eyes, almost the shade of Luna's own. "Look at you, still in your nightgown and past ten o'clock already," he chuckled. "I suppose that you spent half of the sent staring up at the moon as usual." Luna blushed slightly, bringing color to her fair cheeks and grinned, while her father shook his head good-naturedly. "It's so good to be home again."
"Oh, Papa, I'm so glad you're here," she said, beaming. "So much has happened since you left and…"
The girl's voice trailed off at the sight of another carriage pulling up to the manor, one far more luxurious than any Luna's family had used. She held her breath and, eyes as wide as soup tureens, gazed at the carriage expectantly.
A servant dashed to the halted carriage and flung open the door, bowing slightly at the waist. From the shadowy carriage, two small forms became visible. Young girls, roughly Luna's age the servant children guessed, stepped cautiously from the carriage and onto the ground. Both were clad in gorgeous gowns of satin, with tiny pearls decorating the necklines like glowing stars. The taller girl flipped a lock of chestnut brown hair over her shoulder and frowned at the dirt road in disgust, wrinkling her nose at the idea that her delicate slippers were now dusted with grime. The other girl stared at her new surroundings in wonder, her bright blue eyes studying the stone manor, the nearby fields of strawberries, and the scores of servants with curiosity. However, the two stepped aside when an irritated cough from inside the carriage invaded their thoughts.
The child-servants leaned forward with interest and paused their tasks momentarily to catch sight of their new mistress. Flashes of worry and excitement forked through Luna's mind as she gazed at the carriage.
As carefully as her daughters had moved, so not to dishevel her appearance in the slightest, Medda stepped out of the carriage and immediately focused her blue eyes on the young girl standing by her new husband's side. She studied Luna's wrinkled nightgown, her bare, calloused feet, and her tangled ebony tresses and a grin slid across her face, as though she realized that she had gained some victory. With gentle fingertips, she reached up to touch her own vibrant red locks (which, the servant children guessed, was not a shade the baroness had been born with) curled to perfection and her deep purple down, tailored to her exact tastes and decorated with tiny diamonds that sparkled in the morning sunlight. Luna, who had been smiling shyly at the sight of her new stepmother, began to frown and blush faintly in embarrassment.
Medda then turned her attention to her husband. "How…quaint, Jean, really," she murmured with a small laugh that seemed somewhat forced to Luna. It was then that the girl began to wonder what her future with her new family- particularly her new stepmother- would be like. Shaking away somber predictions, she assured herself that her father would never allow harm to come to her, not as long as he still drew breath on this earth….
~*~
Luna's vision was slightly blurred as she recalled that ominous thought. She brushed teardrops away and forced herself to focus on the task at hand (collecting apples for supper), yet was unable to simply dismiss the memory of her father's death. Not a week after he had returned, he had been killed in a riding accident on his way to business in the city of New York. The young girl vaguely recalled the funeral, and how she had felt as though she were drowning in a sea of tears. She had imagined that nothing could have been worse than that.
She scowled faintly and shook her head as she, standing on her toes, grabbed for another apple. I can't understand how Father could have married her. He would never have allowed her to ruin the manor like this.
The fog was beginning to lift and sunlight was just breaking over the horizon. Luna felt a wave of warmth rush over her and she shut her eyes for a moment, praying for a miracle. Opening her eyes she found that the scene before her hadn't changed in the slightest; the manor was still in near ruins, and she was still forced to work as a servant to keep things running as best she could. It appeared that miracles simply didn't occur in New York.
Gathering the apples she had picked, Luna started off to the manor, where she was certain her fellow servants were already awake and beginning their day. She smiled slightly at the thought of her friends, but the faint pounding of nearing footsteps caused her to turn cautiously on her heel, eyes filled with grave fire.
To be continued…please review!