The Last Princess

Chapter 81

Maple and I tried to look inconspicuous while looking for the boys.

Vanilla and Jessamine had given us new maids' uniforms, which we'd quickly put on. If everything had gone according to plan, Aiden and Arden should have been in the castle. Of course, they had applied as servants, so they could be anywhere in the palace.

So we discreetly looked to the sides, trying to spot the, but it wasn't easy with all the male servants dressed in the same uniforms. Well, if nothing else we had made a plan to meet at midnight. Though how we would get out of our room with the seven other girls and Rubia Anise there, I had no idea.

We followed them to a woman, only a bit younger than Rubia Anise, with dark curls, rosy cheeks, and dark purple eyes with smile lines around them. But she looked hassled and worried. Due to the rebel attacks, maybe. "Two new maids, Mrs. Arum." Jessamine said. She cast an eye over Maple, then me. "Ah, you must be Tulip and Calla Wisteria. Good, we were in need of new maids. Am I to understand one of you is mute."

Maple and I nodded, and Jessamine said in a low voice, gesturing to me, "That would be her, Mrs. Arum." Mrs. Arum nodded. "Thank you, Miss Lale. That will be all. Miss Lucerne, wait here." Jessamine curtseyed and, with a glance back at us, walked away to wherever they she to work.

"Alright, Miss and Miss Wisteria. You can clean the library  with Miss Lucerne. Miss Lucerne, Miss Laleh should already be there, and as your other two companions have been taken ill, you will have to work faster, yes?" Mrs. Arum directed. Vanilla only nodded. Mrs. Arum walked off to another group of maids.

Vanilla said softly, "Follow me." She took us through a few hallways, where we were still looking for the twins. To no avail. Finally, we emerged in a...very, very huge room.

Shelves filled with books lined the walls, hundreds of them, a few plump armchairs scattered around. Sunlight filled the room through tall glass windows, lighting up the dust floating around. There was another balcony above us, for the books higher up. I looked around in awe. I'd never actually been to the library, but I remembered detailed descriptions from my older sisters. Juniper and I had never been here. We'd only eagerly poured over the books our sisters would steal for us.

"Vanilla? Are you there?" A sweet voice called. "I'm here." Vanilla called back, the first time I'd heard her speak above a whisper. She led us to the right, past two more section of towering bookshelves, tables and chairs to the very last section.

A petite girl with long, dark hair, curling prettily at the end, was standing at the very top of a large ladder, dusting a row of books. She turned around, hearing us come. Her skin was very pale, almost translucent, and her eyes bright pink. Her nose was small and her lips thin and light pink. Altogether, she gave the impression of daintiness, not unlike Sakura, but she had none of Sakura's authority or gravity.

"Hi!" She called down cheerily. "New maids?" Vanilla nodded. "Tulip and Calla Wisteria. They'll be working with us." She nodded and turned back to the books. The ladder lifted ever so slightly, and I looked down and saw a small mound of dirt raising and moving slightly to the right, then melting back into the floor. She started dusting the books she could now reach.

"That's not allowed, Lotus." Vanilla said. Lotus giggled. "We always do it, Illa." She called back down without turning around. Vanilla shook her head in mock-exasperation. "This is Lotus Laleh. She works with us." "And your best friend! Don't forget to mention that!" Lotus shouted. Vanilla smiled. "We've known each other for a long time." 

"Come on, help me." Lotus said. She wasn't anywhere near the left side of the bookshelf, so Vanilla pointed to a ladder leaning against a door. A bit of dirt rushed it over and set it up on the left side. "That's not allowed, Illa." Lotus teased. "Oh, hush." Vanilla said. "You two start on that bookshelf. The dusters are over there. Just...grab them and start dusting the books. When we're done with those, we'll do the tables and chairs, and then we'll sweep the floor." Vanilla directed.

We walked over to the small door, next to which four more ladders were leaning. Maple opened the door. It was a storeroom. She grabbed two dusters, and, exchanging a apprehensive look with me, moved the ladders to the bookshelf on the left side.

Luckily, using dirt wouldn't break the enchantment of our looks, while using the other parts of the Forest would. Still, we were nervous. I shut the door of the storeroom and we walked over. "Start from the bottom row and work your way up. And do clean everything thoroughly. Mrs. Arum will come to check." Lotus ordered. Maple nodded. "Of course."

"Wasn't it lucky those two didn't show up today?" Lotus said, turning to Vanilla, who nodded. "Yes. But it means more work for us. We'll probably have to stay late." "Who are you talking about?" Maple asked.

"Two other maids who clean this library with us. They aren't very nice." Lotus explained. "Only six maids?" Maple asked. Vanilla sighed. "There used to be a lot more, but so many of them left. Because of the rebel attacks. Some even went to join the rebels. That's why we can only do one section per day. And that too isn't easy."

"And...you don't plan on joining the rebels?" Maple asked carefully. Lotus and Vanilla glanced at each other in a moment of silence. "It's not safe to talk about that here." Lotus said sharply, but sounding concerned for us. "So, what's the schedule here?" Maple asked after a pause, trying to diffuse the tension.

Lotus scooted her ladder more to the right. "Well, there are six sections, so we do one per day. This is the sixth one, so we'll start at the very first one tomorrow." Maple and I nodded. I didn't see how they could finish this in one day. From what I'd seen, each section had several tables and chairs on the floor, a main bookshelf, the largest one (which Vanilla and Lotus were cleaning), one to the right (which Maple and I were working on), and one to the left. The right and left ones were smaller and at right angles to the main bookshelf. Behind the right and left ones were other bookshelves, making the partition between sections. Then there was a huge window on the upper floor, above the middle bookshelf.

Ignoring all this, I leaned down and started dusting the bottom row of books.