Bella Rosa

Chapter 2 - Part 1

SARDINIA, ITALY 

When Maria first opened her eyes the coming morning, the girls were already awake – Lola lounging on her bed munching an apple and reading a book; Chioma writing something in a book and the rest of them huddled together at Toni's bed, whispering.

 "Good morning," said Toni kindly when Maria opened the curtain and swung off the bed.

"Mornin'," she replied groggily and headed towards the bathroom to change into her uniform. When she got out after some time, Flora took one look at her and let out a giggle. "What?" Maria asked rudely. Mirelle, the bobby pin girl, gave the timid girl a disapproving stare and stated politely to the confused Maria, "Your shirt is on backwards."

"Oh." She felt an unwilling redness creep up her neck. She went back into the bathroom, banging the door behind her in her rush from the humiliation. How stupid, she mocked at herself. A full-grown woman, yet acts like an eight year old. But as she quickly corrected her uniform, a voice from the back of her head told her soothingly,

  don't worry, you fooled them. It's all an act.... It's all a game.

One last check at her reflection, and she was out again, composure regained. She gazed long and hard at Flora - who flushed in shame – before the door to the dorm opened and a girl with freckles peppered all over her face peeped her head around the door. 

"Good morning," she said cheerfully. She entered fully, revealing a tall, lanky body. She extended a hand to all of them in turn. "I'm Annie Gursteinberg, also known as the Prefect Maid. I serve the Head Maid directly, and carry out her orders when she's lazy." Annie chattered quickly. "So." She produced a paper. "We have Chioma, Maria, Antoniette, Lola, Mirelle, and Flora, am I right?" 

They all nodded.

"Well, since you girls are all up and running and uniformed, I'll take you around a little bit so you can get used to your environment, then you'll be assigned things to do, and ill back to take the second group which stays next door to you." She paused only for a short gasp of breath. "Just so you know, your groups are B1 and B2. That being B1 Chioma, Lola, and Mirelle and B2 Maria, Antoniette and Flora."

"Please, call me Toni," said Toni passionately. Maria could tell she wasn't fond of her first name.

Annie beamed. "Alrighty then, off we go." She led them out of the room, down the stairs, into the Common Area where all the maids were getting ready for the day, and finally into the corridor, chattering on and on excitably about the Manor. After a while, Maria tuned her out and just observed her surroundings as they went room to room, floor to floor. Indeed, the Manor was quite a place and it seemed impossible to find one's way around the great castle-like building. 

They went into a small hall that had a sign over the door saying, 'Treasury Hall'. 

"This is the place where all the priceless items collected throughout the generations of the D'Lyon's are kept for display," Annie was explaining. "Not, of course, without high-end security."Around the hall, glass cases varying in size littered the room, in which they held the beauties of the centuries, polished and gleaming.                                                                                                                                                                 In one large case there was a full-set of armor, complete with a rusty sword and a shield adorned with a Lion. Annie pointed at it. "This is what Her Majesty Countess Vitoria D'Lyon's great-great-grandfather – also known as the famous Simeon D'Lyon's grandfather used when the Houble Races were more violent. Back then, it was not only racing with horses, but also pushing one's opponents off their steeds with a long pole called a Houble. Each pole would have a different colored flag hanging off the end to be more easily distinguished."                                                                                              She moved on to the case besides it. "This is the crown that made Her Majesty Vitoria's ancestor a Count, the title rumored to be given by one of the Italian Kings a long time ago. But nothing can be proven, unfortunately, so no one knows where, when, and how the D'Lyon's became a high class family."The jewels on top of the crown twinkled as Annie spoke, their bright sparkle hinting at a long history of being placed on a D'Lyon's head. 

The group moved onto the next case with Annie narrating the history of the item, but Maria stayed back, transfixed by the precious stones.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" said a husky voice behind her. 

Maria turned her head to see Chioma gazing at her eerily, as if she suspected Maria of something. 

"Hmm, yes."

The girl continued, her stare moving to the object of their interest. "The way the light catches onto it, and the mirror reflections inside it – " she broke off abruptly. She took a few sudden steps backwards, as if Maria was some dangerous creature. "I'm sorry," she stated plainly then she was off and back into the crowd, looking around herself as if she had not just spoken with Maria.

An uneasy feeling took over Maria, but she shook it off as she slowly walked back to join the group, the spell broken.

 It wasn't until much later that she realized Chioma said 'it' - as if she was talking about a single jewel.