Just a Maid

Chapter 1

AN: Coming back to add some music

Just like every time being called down to your Lady's workshop, you always found her hunched over the large work table. With her back towards you and her focus inflexible, she always knew your arrival no matter how quiet you made yourself. She would straighten in an instant, her composure ramrod and domineering.

You knew she had to keep the act, but after the months turned into years of you working for her, you found it pointless. Still, she kept the mystery of her true self behind that veil and you in the strict binds of the Matriarch and the maid.

There were rules she put into place, and still to this day she had been brutal in the upkeep of them. You've learned that harshly on multiple occasions, so you knew to keep your head low, lest she find you too meddlesome, and exclude herself further.

Rule number one: Only speak when spoken too.

Rule number two: Only come when summoned, do not seek the Lady for help, you've got Angie for that.

And the third and last: You must never under unreasonable circumstances leave this mansion. You require the Lady's approval first.

So when called this morning you were shocked when you found that your lady was not in fact religiously grueling over her work table. Instead, she sat leisurely on a chair just off to the side.

A lifeless Angie sat on top of her lap as she filtered through some paperwork. That was also unusual, she always made sure to keep business and her craftsmanship separate from each other.

A feeling of uneasiness found its home in your stomach as Lady Beneviento still had not recognized you, or even whispered a command. So with little choice, you stood quietly beside her desk as she flipped mindlessly. She herself didn't seem all too focused on the task at hand, it was almost like she had been transported to some other reality, and the person that sat before you was a wooden doll.

It had your guts twist and tug at each other as your nerves grew. You debated whether you should make yourself known with a small clearing of the throat, or cause a distraction to hopefully break the trance the Lady was in. But then a pen dropped beside you. Without realizing, you had been mindlessly fiddling with it as the cogs in your brain worked tirelessly. This earned the sharp reaction of Lady Beneviento, her head shooting up from her papers, and slowly turning towards you. Somehow the gradual whirl of her neck uneased you more. It held a purpose of something you could not pinpoint.

Did she know you were here? If she had not, she would have reacted completely differently. With the way she moved now shattered the normalcy you've gotten used to. She rose from her chair as she blatantly discarded the stack of papers she held to the floor, her carelessness again shocking you. With a straighten of her back, she closed her distance from her chair to you. The way of her steps mirroring the prowl of a predator.

"My Lady," You said as you averted your eyes to the cemented floors. Had she called you down here to discipline you? All in one moment, you scoured the past hours of your day, finding a reason for any fault. You knew the lady was precise with the works of her home, she was almost just like her ruthless sister in a way. But by a fraction. You knew her to never actually take a life. Just, maybe cause one great discomfort with horrific images of the mind and her alarming presence.

"What may I do for you?" You said, your words sputtering like an old rusted machine.

She kept silent, nothing new, as she had now closed her distance a fair amount. She was just about as close as any lover would be with their companion, which caused the heat to grow from your face, down to your collarbone.