Beatrice just barely made it back to the manor in time for supper. Dining hours were always quite tedious as she as a server had to stand at the back of the dining room and watch others eat, while also staying ready to obey any command or to refill drinks or plates.
"Where are the candlesticks? We can hardly see our plates." The Baroness said as she viewed the two short candles that were sat directly down on the large wooden table, the engraved silver candlesticks nowhere to be seen.
"They're missing, my lady. I swear I've searched high and low." Tempest replied honestly, of course she suspected the Lady of the House already knew this.
"The painting in the upstairs hallway is gone too. It would seem we have a thief in our midst." Violet told her mother.
"Hmm, so this is how you treat me? After all our years together, you steal my husband's dearest possessions?" Irina said in false surprise. Trixie could not stop herself from finding it ironic that the Baroness was complaining about the possessions being taken away from her, when the lady herself had already taken them from the man's only child. Of course, this was opinion she would dare speak out loud.
"I think I shall just garnish your wages until the missing items have returned. Is that quite understood?" The Baroness added as she turned towards the servants. Kasha and Tempest nodded, but Trixie could see the pain in their eyes. The two barely had enough to live off of as it was, her stepmother refusing them their wages would make surviving nearly impossible. Oh, how easy it was for the horrid woman to blame the less fortune for her debts and foolishness.
Responsibility will unfortunatly always be reserved for those who can not buy themselves out of it.
"Yes Madam." The two servants replied in a bitter tone as they bowed their heads.
"Perhaps I shall sell you all of as kholops, send you to Khiva like the rest of the thiefs." Irina said as she turned her attention back towards her food.
"Oh, did you not hear? The Grand Duchess went to the Tsar and asked him to release all those men. No one shall be a household kholop anymore either." Courtney stated, clearly in agreement with the modern changes.
"She didn't!" Trixie spat out in surprise and joy at the news, earning a harsh look from her stepmother.
"Oh yes, now by royal decree, any man forced to travel to Khiva must be compensated. And all household kholops shall be made serfs, which will grant all of them at least some protection and right of justice." Her blonde stepsister explained.
Serfdom was not much better than being a kholop, but it was most definetely a step in the right direction. While Beatrice did not want to be too prideful, she could not help but hope that the Grand Duchess's choice to discuss the matter with her father had been partly due to their encounters and dicussions. Perhaps had she played some small part in bringing Imperial Russia one step closer to the utopian world she seeked.
"Compensated? Kholops made serfs? Honestly, what is our world coming to? It is dangerous to encourage and entertain such childish ideas, I must say it is disappointing to hear that the Grand Duchess Yekaterina herself is behind such a silly reform." The Baroness said, the idea of anyone below her becoming more equal being something that greatly frightened the woman.
"Well, what I would like to know is; who is this Countess that everyone keeps talking about? There must have been at least ten courtiers speaking of her today, all describing how the Grand Duchess seemed to fall all over herself in her presence." Violet said in annoyance. Irina waved Beatrice over to make her refill her cup, the child feeling nervous as the topic being discussed involved her.
"Well, we shall find out who she is and bury her." The Baroness said, making Trixie nervously drop her stepmother's cup, the panicked girl quickly catching it so she could pour the wine before the Baroness gained another reason to scold her.
Beatrice felt conflicted, overjoyed at the news of the reform but frightened by the discussions of her at court.
She needed to protect herself well, keep the secret at all costs, because if she did not, she risked being put through all kinds of gruesome punishments.
YOU ARE READING
Ever After ✔~ trixya
Fanfiction"Her name was Beatrice Mattel. And this, was her glass slipper. Perhaps you will allow me to set the record straight?" The Grand Duchess says as she picks a beautiful shoe out of the silver box. "Then it's true? The story?" The writer enquires. "Yes...
