Disclaimer: it means to denounce, to disown

" " Talking

Italics thoughts/thinking

AN: On with the story!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 2

Serena felt so tired as she tried to get some sleep on the cart. Though the bumps on the dirt road made that somewhat difficult for her to accomplish. Yes after she had asked a nice old couple to let her ride in their cart did she rethink her plan. She was practically leaving her country to suit her own needs.

Will me marrying Spain's Prince bring about good? She brought a hand up to act as pillow. Maybe I should let go of my fantasy of marrying for love.

The sun was setting as the cart was pulling into the town. Serena wearily lifted her head as she stared at the town. There were still shops open and some were closed. The old woman beside her smiled and patted her hand.

"Ah, so young one you never did get rest did you?" Her wrinkled face looked at Serena as she waited for her reply.

"No, I didn't. I have too much weighing on my mind." Sitting up straighter she tucked her dress more towards herself as she glanced around at the different shops. "Mainly about love and marriage. Do you think that it is foolish to marry for love?"

The old woman laughed at her question. "It seems that you are seeking love, yet you question its worth? I do believe in love and that you should marry for it." Serena hung her head down as she pondered about it.

"I do believe in marrying for love. If I didn't then I wouldn't be here right now." She played with her hands and waited for the cart to pull into the inn. "I thought we were going to get here sooner than this."

"Changing the topic? Well that is your affair to deal with." The old woman smiled and clasped her hands together, "But I am so overjoyed that the Princess of France will probably be getting married! Just think to the Prince of Spain himself! He is said to be handsome and strong, those two must really be happy of their upcoming union."

"Yes, well maybe the Princess of France doesn't want to marry his highness." The old woman glanced at her, prepared to ask a question. "Oh my! Look we are here!"

Jumping off the cart she grabbed her bag and hugged the old woman and her husband again for their kindness. Walking quickly she checked into one of the rooms for the night and had placed her belongings in there. Now she was back on the streets and seeing if she could possibly get a job to sustain herself. But each stall that she went to they either didn't need help or they didn't want a woman working for them.

"This is hopeless!" She was yelling at herself as she was walking back to the inn. All of the shops were now closing and people were quickly going home. "I thought that finding a job in this town would be easy. I guess that there are too many thick headed men in this town or too many snobbish women."

As she continued to mumble to herself a lady was watching her. She studied her, as if she was pondering something, which she was doing. Finally a small smile broke out on her face as she fast walked to Serena and laid a hand on her shoulder. Serena for her part was frightened out of her wits when she felt a hand on her shoulder and whirled around. There standing in front of her was a woman in her late thirties early forties. Due to the decreased light she couldn't make out her features.

"Yes, may I help you?" Serena turned to face her and quirked her head to the side.

"No, but I may be able to help you miss." The lady smiled at her; "My name is Sarah. I work at the manor of Venetian as a housemaid. I couldn't help but overhear that you were looking for work. Is that true?"

"Yes, was I really speaking that loud?" Sarah nodded her head and Serena softly smiled. "But how can you help me? I am sorry for being rude, my name is Serena"

"Well first off Serena, I am searching for a new house maid. The last one was fired because she tried to frame the master into marrying her. Well anyway would you be interested in the job? The pay is decent and it truly is a nice place to work."

"Yes! Yes a thousand times of course!" Serena jumped in her spot for joy and was twirling in circles. "May I start tomorrow? I promise I will work my hardest."

Sarah nodded her head and explained to Serena how to get there in the morning. Because in the morning is when she would be receiving her assignments for her job. After twenty minutes they parted ways and Serena hurried back to her room at the inn. But first taking care of her stay at the inn and then went to her room for a nights rest. She had a feeling that she might need it.

The morning light streamed through her room as Serena slept on. Slowly the light traveled until it reached the foot of the bed. Ever so slowly it finally reached her face and she scrunched her face and hid underneath the pillow. It wasn't until five minutes later as she was still in bed did she recall that this morning she had somewhere to be. Namely her new job at a house that took quite some time to get to. After realizing this she scrambled out of her bed and started getting ready.

"No, I cannot be late on my very first day!" As she grabbed her hair ribbon she took two apples from her knapsack and ate them in a hurry.

As she exited her room she already saw the shopkeepers opening up their stores and stalls. It was still to early and there were few people around probably still making their breakfast for their husbands and children. As she scurried along the dirt path she slowed down to a walk. It would take her about thirty minutes she judged to get to the house. No point in arriving winded and she cannot do anything for awhile.

As she walked and admired the sight of this town she took notice that was a lack in young men. The ones that she did find were already married, judging by the woman at their sides. She did find it very annoying that she could not spot any single unmarried non-betrothed young men in the town. It was as if they were in hiding somewhere.

Just my luck to go to a town that has no eligible men. She shook her head. Maybe there might be some passing through and I can meet one. I'll ask Sarah about that when I see her.

As she approached a small hill she looked over, and stopped in her tracks. In the morning it really didn't look to bad, but at night that could be a different story all together. On either side of the road was a cluster of trees, too small to be a forest. But big enough to hide someone or many people in the shadows. Waiting for an unsuspecting person. Snapping out of her thoughts she quickened her pace and briskly walked along the path.

"Finally! I thought that I would just keep on walking forever." While smiling at the house in front of her, "That is truly an impressive house."

She stopped to admire the house in front of her. It looked to be a two or even possibly three-story brick house the color of a deep maroon. The door had a mini porch cover over it as well as a mat to wipe the dirt off of shoes. To the right of her she saw a stable with at least six horses inside and people tending to their care. Unlike other houses that she had seen while coming here, this house had grass surrounding it. Not to mention, not far from the house there is meadow with numerous flowers of different kinds. But the one thing that took her breath away was the view to the left of the house. Rows and rows of grapevines stretching farther than her sight could see. Obviously her employer was in the wine and champagne business.

Quickly she walked to the front door and knocked. After her four knock the door opened to reveal a woman with hair that almost looked like a deep purple color. The woman eyed Serena then smiled at her as she stepped aside.

"Welcome Serena. I hope that the long walk didn't tire you out so much." Serena concluded that the woman in front of her was Sarah. "Did you have something to eat yet? We will head to the kitchen first; I have left your list there. Then we shall go to the den, I'm afraid I have to go very fast all right."

"Yes, I have already eaten thank you though." She timidly smiled at Sarah who led her into the kitchen. "Do not worry Sarah I understand, you have your own chores to tend."

Serena observed the kitchen since she was waiting for Sarah to find what she was looking for. It was setup very neat and tidy; not one thing was out of place. The entire kitchen sparkled as if it was never used at all; the floor was swept and polished until it shined with the morning light that poured in from the kitchen window. Once Sarah found what she was looking for she waved to Serena for her to follow. As they approached the den area Sarah stopped and turned to smile at Serena.

"Welcome to the job Serena and I hope that you can keep up the pace and your list of things to do also known as your chores." Showing her around the first floor of the house, Sarah gave her list of her chores that she must do.

"Your job is to make the master of the house bed and tidy up his room. Second is to dust his office room and also the den. You are also responsible for cleaning the rooms on the third floor. After which then as nightfall comes you are also responsible for making dinner and then to clean up the kitchen and then you can go home. I suggest that you clean the rooms on the third floor first then move onto dusting and knock on his office door. Also on the bedroom door just in case he is inside. Do you have any questions Serena?"

Trying to remember everything the lady was saying she quickly responded. "No I have no questions, but actually just one. Am I going to meet him?" She started to wring her hands together.

Turning around she smiled at her "Yes you will but when he sends one of us for you and talks to you in his office. He is normally away on business and will only meet him for a short amount of time."

Being dismissed she went up to the third floor and saw that the rooms were assigned to her were the four bedrooms there. "Well I'll just get started right now."

Entering the first door to her right she stared in awe at the decor of the room. Against the far wall of the room there was a queen-sized bed with a deep green comforter cloaking it. The rugs of the room were a deep red color with swirls of the matching green interwoven into them. On either side of the bed there were nightstands with a lamp adorning each one. Across from the bed there was a small desk and a chair with another lamp sitting on top of the desk. On the wall there hung a mirror roughly three feet in length. Snapping out of her awe in the room she set to work cleaning it.

As she finished polishing the bed she picked up her cleaning supplies and placed them in her kit. She took one more look at the room. Indeed it really did sparkle brightly from her thorough cleaning. Smiling softly she exited the room and went to sit on the stairs.

She then continued to go to the other rooms to clean them as well. The décor of the other rooms, were similar to one another.

It seems that each of the rooms has a different personality from each other. She creased her eyebrows. But it seems as if they are rarely used at all.

As she was finishing the fourth room she sat down on the floor for a bit to catch her breath. "I never knew it would be so hard. That is enough of a break time to start dusting his office first I guess."

Getting the duster and heading down the steps she made a mental note to take a look around the house more when she took her break. Reaching his office door she opened it and went inside to see shelves line two of the walls and a desk with a chair and two opposite the desk. All the furniture was done in a deep cherry wood material. The room gave off the air of a pure businessman and it seemed to be coming from everywhere.

"Okay now let me see, yes I'll just start dusting and it shouldn't take that long."

With that said she started to dust his books, desk and chairs. Everything in the room needed to be dusted and polished to a shine. The dusting part did not take long, but the polishing of the furniture did. Having already done the four bedrooms on the third floor previously she had come up with a solution. In other words polish the big furniture first, then the smaller ones. By the time she was polishing her desk the sun was beginning to set.

After another two hours Serena was finished dusting and she moved onto her last task for the day and that was to just dust his room. As she entered it appeared to be dark even with the shutters open to let in the remaining sun light. The room had a spicy smell mixed with something else and it got to her.

"Whoever he is he sure knows how to pick his cologne and how to make his room smell good." Dusting his desk and then other things she dusted the bed frame and was done since his room was dusted everyday.

As she was sniffing some more of his cologne Sarah walked into the room. Quirking an eyebrow up she coughed to get Serena's attention. Seeing as that didn't work she tried again but a lot louder than before.

"Serena!" Serena quickly set down the cologne and whirled to face Sarah.

"Sarah! I was just finishing up in here. I just wanted to know what kind of person he is." She groped for her duster and upon finding it started to dust. "I mean I was just wondering when he was actually coming back to his home. I realized that I never did ask you that question."

Sarah quietly laughed at her behavior and walked over to where she was concentrating on an imaginary dust bunny in the corner of the room. Gently taking the duster from her hands she walked Serena over to a chair and had her sit down. Taking a quick survey of the room, she had to admit, she had never seen his room this clean before. Though it still held the air of a man who didn't like people entering or intruding upon his life.

"Well I was just coming in here to check on you to see how you are doing." She stared back at Serena. "As for your question of when he will be back, it will be a week from tomorrow. So don't you worry about anything. I am sure that he will approve of you. As for the week long wait, it will pass by in no time."

Serena just nodded her head to Sarah's response and watched her as she walked out. Sarah stopped took one more look at the master's room and turned to smile at Serena. "By the way, you did an excellent job. I have never seen his room so thoroughly cleaned before." Sarah then continued walking and left Serena to her thoughts.

"He is going to be here in a week. I wonder what he looks like." Serena continued to ponder and then halted in her actions. "Sarah!"

She quickly ran after her superior for two reasons. The first was to find out if there were any available men in this town. The second being of a work related question, well sort of. As she caught up with Sarah she bent over a little ways to regain her breath.

"Sarah, I was meaning to ask you this. Are there any available men in this town?"

Sarah slyly narrowed her eyes at her and wondered where this was heading. "Well, now the only available men in this town are in their late fifties. All of the young men move to different towns to find a nice young woman to marry." She watched Serena's facial expression; her eyes bulged out as her mouth gaped open

"You mean that there are no available men in this town? But, that is highly impossible." Serena started to walk away then recalled the second question that she wanted to ask her, "Sarah by the way, can I have my duster back?"

Sarah looked down at her hands and indeed she still had the duster clasped in her left hand. Laughing she handed the cleaning instrument back to Serena as they laughed about the thing. Though Serena was still wondering how a town could survive without the next generation growing up in the town. But then there might be some stranger things still to come.

One more week and then I will be able to meet the master of this house. Since what Sarah said about the only available men were out of their prime So is my employer.

"So, it is safe to assume that my employer is in his late fifties." She continued to clean, now armed with her duster. "Maybe working for an old man won't be so bad after all."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

AN: Just wanted to tell the two people who reviewed my story thank you so much. This is my first story and at least I know that some people find it a bit interesting thank you again. Also reviewing is very nice so please review.