'ello poppets! In honor of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End opening TONIGHT (!!!) for your entertainment and reading pleasure, I will do this author's note in pirate talk, or something close to it… savvy? (this is for a laugh, don't take it seriously…)

Now, mateys, I never grow ill with hearin' your tributes 'n' commends…and I'm inclined to enjoy your high-toned and fancy reviews and the like of such newrecruits (a.k.a: new reviewers). It does me heart good like a fine keg of rum after a long days work of… commandeering. Aye, commandeering… a boat, er, ship… and one that seems 'a little superfluous really.' They say, 'treasure is not all silver and gold, mate' – from the mouth of the infamous Captain Jack himself – and it runs straight and true (I get bonus points for using that line from AWE) for I have the honor of being blessed with your faithful 'tributes.'

I would like to take the opportune moment and say to Nienna Silmarwen - who took some of her time to edit this chapter and the next: I think we've all arrived at a very special place, spiritually, ecumenically… grammatically. Why, thank you! –puts Barbossa accent on that last sentence-

Wind in the sails… I mean, yes, I knows your heart is just 'thump thump'-ing for a good ol' chapter with that 'eg-re-gious' Dracula (haha, more points for getting another AWE line) and the saucy little maid Sophia (maybe not the best words for her)… but alas, 'tis not the case with this one. Only poppet Sophia, and no Dracula… but there is development purpose to it all, savvy? Oh bugger… that monkey has got me hat… be back when ye finished readin'…

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The obviously Turkish servant – who was barely older than Sophia – didn't utter a word as she led her down yet another long passage. It was silence for the most part, that was, until Sophia broke it.

"Where are you taking me?" was her question, her words colored with nervousness.

The servant glanced back briefly. "The east wing."

Sophia swallowed hard. She wondered what it was going to be like, being the Prince Dracula's servant; what jobs she would be forced to do and the conditions of which she would be living, and working for that matter. Whether she would be a maid, shuffling around in the shadows, never to be seen. Or one of those that was attending him, being there for his casual whim. If she had a choice, she favored the former.

"What are we going to do when we get there?" she asked.

"Well, first we're going to get you cleaned up, after that we'll find you a proper dress, and then I'll show you to your room."

"That is all?"

"Yes, until I get further orders."

Sophia furrowed her brow, deciding to cease in her questioning; she didn't want to be irritating.

After seemingly thousands of doors and multiple halls, she began to notice there was something different about where they were. The air had a fresher, open-air scent, almost floral even, and the wall hangings along with the rugs were progressively becoming more feminine in design and color. They strode right by a small table with a vase full of white roses on it and she thought it strange. Where they came from the walls had been decorated with weapons and suits of armor ominously peering back at the individual passing by, but not here.

The servant must have caught the look on Sophia's face. "This is the east wing," she said.

"Oh," was all that came out of Sophia's mouth, the sheer beauty of everything around her was mesmerizing.

"The Prince's mistress; this is her side of the castle."

Sophia's jaw dropped. "The whole east wing is hers?"

The young woman refrained from saying "or was" and settled with the explanation, "The castle is quite large and the Prince enjoys lavishing her." She lowered her voice, "But to be honest, and you didn't hear this from me, but everyone thinks he does it to keep her far enough away when he doesn't want to deal with her demands and emotional fits, and heaven knows her monthlies!"

A laugh rose in Sophia's throat and she clamped a hand down over her mouth to keep it from escaping. The servant just smiled then opened a door from the main hall, letting her enter the room first. Once inside, the amusement on Sophia's face turned to awe.

The room had an amazingly smooth-looking stone floor and Roman columns surrounding the most beautiful and strange thing she had ever seen: a sea of roses. There were reds, whites, and pinks, making a dense sheet in the midst of the floor.

Sophia moved in to get a closer look. "What is it? It's beautiful…"

"It's a bath."

"What do you mean?" she asked in disbelief. "It can't possibly-"

"Yes it is," the young woman replied, moving across the room to a table that had towels, sea sponges and such on it. "See for yourself."

With child-like interest and hesitancy, Sophia went to the edge and slipped her foot out of her worn shoe before lifting her skirt and dipping her toes into the water. The temperature was surprising on her cold toes and she almost gasped in surprise.

"It's warm," she mumbled, raising her toes out of the water to see that some of the rose petals had clung to her wet skin.

"It is heated underground," the servant explained as she set down a silk robe and cotton towels by the water's edge. "There is soap enough in the water and here are some towels. I will give you all the time you need, Miss. When you are done I will be in the other room."

With that, the servant nodded to Sophia and left through a different door an adjacent room.

Sophia could not understand why the young woman was treating her with so much respect; her status was the same as Sophia's… in reality, they may soon be alongside each other! There was something very strange about what was going on… she decided not to dwell on it.

Quickly, she changed out of her clothes and slipped into the warm, foreign comfort of such an extravagant bath. The rippling water sent the petals drifting and dancing on the surface, while roses and clean soap filled her nose and her work-weary muscles relaxed. All uneasiness seemed to melt away. She wished she never had to get out, but before she knew it, her fingers and toes were beginning to prune up, telling her it was time.

A heavy sigh left her lips as she pulled herself out of the water and then dried off. She noticed her skin and hair had a strong fragrance of roses and that she had never felt so clean before. All of her life she had taken most baths in a small, metal bucket with cold water and a rag, so the feeling she had was unusual.

Finally, she wrapped herself up in the silk robe that had been provided for her and then left for the other room.

"That was quick," the servant said when she entered.

"I was clean enough and I didn't want to leave you waiting," said Sophia with an apparent care for others beside herself.

The woman flashed her a perplexed look but it was fleeting. "Come… sit," she said, motioning to the chair from which she had risen.

Sophia did as she was told. The young woman then began to comb her damp hair, loosening the slight tangles and making it smooth, before winding strands around strips of cotton that made simple, but effective, rag-curlers. The goal was, when her hair dried, for it to fall in full curls. Fifteen minutes passed by in sheer silence with barely even a quarter of Sophia's hair done and she realized it would be all up to her to initiate any sort of conversation…again.

"What is your name?" Sophia asked.

The young woman paused, almost in shock that she even cared then answered, "Mary."

"How old are you?"

"I'm eighteen."

Sophia came so close to whipping her head around but then remembered she could not, not without yanking her hair out of the woman's hands. "You are the same age as me!"

Mary smiled faintly but did not respond.

"How long have you been working here?" Sophia asked.

"For as long as I can remember," her voice was quiet and careful.

"Where are your parents?"

There was no answer, followed by a long, awkward silence. Sophia made a guess that it was a touchy subject.

"Um…" she tried, unsure where to begin again. "So why are you doing all this? The bath… my hair."

"Because the Prince wishes it."

"Yes, but why so elaborate?"

The young woman looked Sophia in the eyes. "Because in court, those seen with and highly favored by the Prince do not go around looking, I dare say, like commoners…even behind closed doors. You see, it is a sort of game between royalty and sometimes the wealthy. Whoever has the most… wins. It is an unspoken competition and it is played, for the most part, by the court; the way they dress and act, everything else is in possessions. You, with all due respect, Miss, are now another pawn in the Prince's game… and he has not lost yet."

"So… you are saying that by the end of the day I will be wearing silk and beaded dresses?" her tone had light-hearted sarcasm. Still, she had not clued in to what her role would be in the castle.

"Of course," Mary said very seriously.

Sophia blinked then spoke up, "I can't work in silk! I'd ruin it!"

"Work?" asked the young woman, who had a half-disgusted, half-curious look plastered across her face.

"Yes, work!" Sophia cried. "Do servants do other things in the castle?!"

Mary's jaw dropped and she furrowed her thin brows. "Do you know why you are here?" she asked.

"To be a servant," answered Sophia. "Why?"

Mary rubbed her forehead. "That explains it," she mumbled to herself while shaking her head.

"What?" Sophia asked clearly perplexed.

"Miss," Mary started slowly, fearing the words would put Sophia in a daze, to which she would soon find she was right, "the Prince doesn't want you as his servant… he wants you as his mistress."

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I know, you are saying, "But WHY is the chapter gone?" Perhaps, if I get a lot of your reviews, I might update in a few days, savvy?

Reviews? I LOVE reviews! DRINKS ALL AROUND! Oh, and I'm disinclined to acquiesce to flames!

All right, I'm done… and I REALLY enjoyed writing this A/N (I think I pulled in nearly twenty lines/phrases/words from the POTC movies) took me a while, but it was fun. So don't rain on my parade… it was only for a laugh! But I'm not going to leave you without a little POTC wisdom: it is remarkable how often genius and madness coincide.