Cridex

Chapter Twenty Three

The room fell in ashen silence.

I gently tugged on Jonas's sleeve. "What just happened?" I asked quietly.

"The boy was electrocuted by Master Archer," Jonas sighed, rubbing a hand over his face tiredly. "Electricity entered his body, and he short-circuited."

"Oh, since you're all so knowing, Jonas, you are appointed as my new valet, then," Dane cut in. Jonas's only show of expression was a slight flinch. "All right, all of you, follow me back to room 9A," Dane instructed, waiting for us to leave and then turning the light off again.

He didn't even bother about the boy, and I wondered if we would be the ones sent to carry out the body.

"Right," Dane pivoted on his heel so that he could face us, "You'll be introduced to Rose- the head maid of the household. You already met Etienne- the chef. It is imperative that you do exactly as they say."

I nodded my head reverently, refusing to look into his eyes as long as the guilt from witnessing that boy's death still lingered in the room.

"I'll leave you to it, then," He gestured towards the closed door he had paused at, nodded his head firmly, once, then left.

We were silent, but Jonas opened the door slowly pressing his shoulder to the white-painted wood to reveal an industrious looking room- Oven from floor to ceiling, a pantry lined with food, and a frantically moving woman in the middle of it all.

"There you are, there you are," She hummed out, never looking up from the vegetables she was chopping. "Come in, we have no time to waste!"

I heard Imogen suck in a breath and I turned o face her, raising an eyebrow in question as to what had bothered her. She shook her head, lips pursed, and jerked her chin towards the maid.

At first glance, I saw nothing out of the ordinary- when we approached closer towards the table, however, I understood what had Imogen on edge.

"Oh, this old thing?" The maid raised what should have been her left hand- in its place was a knife, its jagged edge buzzing as if sawing the air. "Useful, isn't it? They make all sorts of attachments that make housework- and kitchen work, for that matter- much simpler."

She smiled reverently, her cheeks flushing slightly as she lowered her arm onto a carrot, the blade whirring, and sliced it in half.

"Uh," Camden cleared his throat, eyes still on the woman, "How nice?" It can out like a question, and Jonas elbowed him roughly in the stomach. "I mean... I mean... I'm Camden." He settled on introductions.

"Camden?" She hummed, "And who are the rest of you?"

'That's Imogen," Camden pointed quickly down the line we presented, "Ellery, and Jonas."

"Dear me," Rose stopped her blade, untwisted it from her wrist and strolled over to where we stood, dodging the counter as she went. "Master Archer has sent us the strong ones now, hasn't he?"

Camden puffed out his chest at her words with a smile, only to have jonas elbow him once more. "No ma'am." Jonas spoke, and I tried to hide my shock at the slight twang his voice held when being respectful, "We just need some work to do."

"He said that Jonas was to be his valet," I whispered hoarsely, refusing to look her in the eye, "The other one-"

"A misfortune, that is." She rubbed her forearm reverently, "But Master Archer does have a temper. You mustn't anger him."

"We will certainly try," Imogen tried to smile.

"You," Rose eyed her up and down, "You'll be our errand girl- go to the market, stores, send messages, things along those lines."

Imogen nodded, but remained quiet.

"Go see Etienne- he will have a list of things he will need you to fetch since the other staff has been gone for nearly a week."

Imogen granted us each a lingering gaze before she left the room.

"The other staff?" I questioned, crossing my arms and raising an eyebrow, "Another one of the Master's misfortunes?"

"They were decommissioned," Rose spoke cheerfully, "They were much to old of a model."

"Indeed," Jonas spoke, "I am sure that the Master has a keen sense of what new technologies are needed around his household."

"Speaking of which, you will have to attend to him tonight- lay out his clothing, shine his shoes. I suggest you get started as soon as we are done."

"And us?" Camden gestured between our two frames, "What are we to do?"

"Clean up. Camden will handle the outside of the house and must of the grunt work... Ellery will be working very closely with me."

I sighed, but nodded nevertheless. "

"However, you can start by carrying out the body and alerting the city dispensary of our misfortune today." Rose turned back to her kitchen, and began piling the vegetable cutting into a bowl. "Hop to it, all of you. DInner is to be served to the Amster at six o'clock. We will eat at seven."

"How far is the market from here?" I questioned her abruptly, but she never blinked.

"Almost three blocks, not too far of a walk and not too long of one if you walk briskly." She began chopping again, her dismissal obvious.

I walked out of the Kitchen, watching as Jonas made his way up the west wing stairs to Dane's rooms, and continued down the hallway with Jonas, to 10A.

"She has about ten minutes there, a half hour shopping, and then ten minutes back." I whispered to him.

"What do you mean?" Camden questioned at a normal volume, "Are you so worried about her schedule?"

"No," I hushed him and lowered my voice further, "I'm saying that she has almost an hour of free- time to question the residents of the city-"

"For news of the rebellion!" He whispered loudly in my ear, his breath making my loos hair flutter about my cheek.

"Exactly," I smiled at him, despite the fact that we were about to dispose of a dead body, "And hopefully she will return with new intel."

"Couldn't you have given us the gossip? Told us the rumors of the rebellion when we got here?"

I shook my head. "I never really paid it all that much attention, and I hardly ventured further than the market on my days off. I couldn't have told you anything relevant other than the fact that city is seething with discontent."

"Simmering, I'd say." He nodded, and grinned sideways at me, "And with our help, it might just boil over."