Disclaimer: All this belongs to the BBC. I'm just playing. Please don't sue.
Big thanks to Saganami Dreams for her wonderful encouragement and corrections.
I need feedback in order to improve. Please tell me what you think.
Enjoy,
XWA
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A Step DownThe footman who opened the small door in the gates looked her over from top to bottom and back before speaking. "You the new girl?"
"Yes. My name is Edith."
The footman stepped back to let her in, then waved his arm towards one of the doors opening out into the courtyard. "Kitchen's that way. Cook'll get one of the girls to show you around."
But Edith was too busy observing all that was happening in the courtyard to hear the words. Her eyes wandered along in the direction indicated. First they passed the stables where two stablehands were taking care of the horses; a little further along a girl barely older than herself was feeding chickens. Another girl was sweeping hay or straw out of a doorway, pausing occasionally to let men carrying buckets of something or other through.
It actually looked like quite a happy bustle, but the actions of all the people she saw spoke of a practised routine; the things these people were doing were things they had done a hundred times before. If they were happy, it was with indulging themselves in the distractions their co-workers afforded; the men carrying buckets whistling at the sweeping girl, the grooms tossing horse-brushes at each other, completely missing the chicken girl's rather forward attempts at attracting their attention.
Was this what she was supposed to do from now on? Perform mindless work, the same day in day out, with the only amusements provided by this rather crude company. It wasn't really a fate for the daughter of someone who had once been the burgomaster of Valencia, an important man.
Unfortunately, her father was dead now, and any status she might have derived from him dwindled with the family funds as soon as her father's creditors came knocking.
"Hey! You alive in there?" The footman interrupted her thoughts. He sounded annoyed. "We've got no use for idiots. Get moving. Cook's waiting for you."
Nothing for it but to go, then. On to the grindstone.
