WITCH - The Queen

Bonus 15

It was early morning. Lea drank her first cup of coffee. The princess was not a morning person, as Chloe knew by now. Unlike her, and her brother.

Shay was still asleep. Lea had offered them not to go to work today, as they had returned from the castle to the academy very late. As princess and headmistress of the academy, she could easily give her servants a day off.

Something that the regular staff at the academy did not always like. So, Chloe and Benjamin wanted to show up for work at the laundry. Even if they were tired.

"I don't know..." Lea yawned lazily. "How long did you sleep? Four hours? Less? You two should go back to bed. It's bad enough that I can't avoid work."

Benjamin, who was lazily eating his cereal, shook his head. "No. Some of the staff say we are preferred. And then they give us the things that nobody wants to do. Like white sheets that have to get bleached with smelly stuff. I have to cough from it! And I get dizzy every time."

"What?" Lea almost spat out her coffee. "Cough? Dizzy?"

"We are bound servants." Chloe sighed. "They see it as their right to give us unpleasant tasks. Does this surprise you? Really?" Chloe rolled her eyes and looked at her brother. Benjamin also looked at the princess skeptically: "We'd rather go to work. Before they have more reasons to treat us worse", he murmured.

Lea sighed. "Am I surprised? Of course!" The Queen had sent a letter to all 'employers' of bound servants. About the correct handling of bound people. The letter was on the dining room table. Lea stared at the piece of paper as if she wanted to burn it with her eyes. "This letter only makes things worse... I have given precise instructions on which tasks you can and cannot do. Bleaching is not one of the tasks that two teenagers should do. The fumes are toxic. Did they, at least, give you a mouthguard?"

Benjamin nodded. "We don't want a day off."

Finally, Lea agreed. "I'll accompany you to the laundry. I don't want you two to come into contact with toxic bleach! Why didn't you say anything?"

"We are bound servants", Benjamin murmured angrily. "We were told that we could not expect any other tasks. That this is the will of the queen. Why should we question this? You killed our family!" He wiped a tear from his face.

Chloe stroked his arm reassuringly. "Thank you, Lea. But we still want to go to work. We don't want to give anyone more reasons to treat us badly."

The princess seemed sad. As promised, she took them to the laundry, admonishing the employees not to treat her two servants badly. In addition, she did not want the two near to bleach. She left her mother's letter on the dining table instead of taking it with her. But when Lea left, Benjamin discovered the same letter on one of the walls of the laundry.

It was stated that outsiders could also punish bound servants if they violated rules or did not work hard enough. The suggestions of what such penalties might look like were frightening. Chloe felt sick. Should we have stayed in bed?

Outsiders. This also applied to all normal employees of the academy and especially those who assigned them the tasks. Mrs. Weich, the head of the laundry, called Chloe and Benjamin to her and gave them stern looks.

"I don't appreciate it when my decisions are questioned. Why do you children think you could go and complain to the princess? That is not your place! You two have to obey. Nothing more!" She snorted like an angry bull. "Well, Princess Lea insists that you get age-appropriate tasks. Besides, she doesn't want the two of you to work more than four hours today. The servants of the old headmaster had similar privileges, I was told. Just like you, they couldn't be put to work for more than six hours... But that's in the past. Things have changed. They have improved!" Now she pointed to the Queen's letter. "It is the Queen's will that I guide you with a strong hand. For now, you can take the finished towels off the clothesline and fold them. Neat and perfect! And now, go!"

The two nodded and walked quickly to the clotheslines, which had been stretched in a separate room.

"I don't like this", Benjamin whispered. "She said improved!"

"I know. Let's get to work." Chloe reached for the first towel. "Benjamin? The princess is not to blame for the death of our parents. She tries to protect us. Let's get to work."

"At least we don't sit in bleach fumes", Benjamin murmured, reaching for a towel to fold it up deftly.

After some time, two other bound servants came to them and the four talked quietly. The two told them about Princess Julia's servants, who had also been given preferential treatment. But since the princess had disappeared, much had changed at the Academy. The old head of the laundry resigned. Mrs. Weich was hired for this. That was before Princess Lea came to the academy.

So far, Mrs. Weich had only been strict. But she had never liked it when Princess Lea told her how to run her laundry. Especially concerning Chloe and Benjamin.

"Hey!" Mrs. Weich stood behind them. "I don't allow any whispering!"

The four bound servants stared at her in shock. Since when did she stand there?

"Excuse me!", murmured one of the other bounded. The two were the servants of one of the teachers.

Mrs. Weich nodded skeptically. As she turned to leave, she briefly touched Benjamin. In retrospect, no one could say whether she had done so consciously or unconsciously, but this was the beginning of the misery. Benjamin froze in shock. Unable to continue working, he just stared in front of him. Deeply immersed in terrible memories. Chloe tried to calm him down, while the other two servants looked away in concern.

After a few minutes, Mrs. Weich returned. Furious. "What's the point of this? There's no lazing here!" she squealed, grabbing Benjamin's arm, even though Princess Lea had strictly forbidden her to do so. Benjamin cried out in fright and tried to free himself.

"Don't do that!", cried Chloe. "You scare him!"

Mrs. Weich dropped Benjamin rudely to the floor to turn her attention to Chloe. With a horribly contorted face, she slapped her in the face.

"Scare him? And you think you can tell me what's appropriate?"

"Of course!" Chloe rubbed her cheek angrily. The other two servants warned her to be quiet, in fright, but she did not listen. "Princess Lea does not allow you to touch Benjamin! You touched him. Maybe by accident! Maybe. But that stopped him from working! You have to apologize!"

"What?" She struck again. Then, she called two of the employees to her. Two elderly men came to them. They looked at the two teenagers with concern.

"Take her to the princess! I want them to be punished! Two nights in the cold school cellar? Twenty lashes? I am sure she will agree with me. It is the will of the Queen! But if she wants, the princess can do the punishment herself! After all, Madame Princess is so sensitive when it comes to her servants!" Mrs. Weich snorted mockingly and rolled her eyes. "Take them away!"

One of the two men carefully pulled the trembling Benjamin to his feet. The other led Chloe out of the room. "I'm sorry. The Queen's letter allows her to do that."

Chloe nodded and looked at her brother, who was still trapped in memories. At least he hadn't noticed anything about Mrs. Weich's rough treatment like this. Chloe's legs gave way as she walked, so the cold man almost had to carry her.

Had this really just happened?

Did Lea's word stand against that of the queen?

In this case, Lea could no longer protect the two.

Mom? Dad? Why did you have to die?

I want to go home.

(c: sasi)