06. Give And Take

"Sometimes the hardest thing you can do is to be easy on yourself"

~Kavia Dixit

"Claire you are incharge of this weeks laundry, I have listed 15 girls for your assistance, Mira you will be serving dinner for the next 15 days...." One by one Jade was informing the workers of their duties.

The duties changed every week or in some cases after every 15 days or a month.

I thought Jade was the head of all the servants but Ray informed me that she was actually the real head's assistant, I was shocked that a head maid here also has an assistant.

She informed me that the head maid also known as 'madam Joy' was a person exactly opposite to her name. She was a bitter, old mean lady and it was a relief that she didn't assigned duties but her assistant Jade did.

That didn't mean she was careless, she actually roamed around the palace keeping a strict eye on everyone, Ray says that her eyes and ears are everywhere but I think that's a bit extreme.

How attentive can an old lady be?

"Daisy and Ray, you both will be cleaning the third floor with me this week" Jade says eyeing us as we both jump hearing our name.

"Yes Jade" I answer, she nods her head in approval "ok than head to your stations, I don't want any complaints or madam Joy will personally be taking care of it and we all know that no one wants that" Jade warns.

Almost every other person's face pales in the room, everyone quickly scurries away to their duties.

"Ray, Daisy, follow me" Jade says walking towards the stairs. "I'm surprised we both are assigned the same job" I say to Ray while climbing up.

"It's the first day and you already want to get rid of me, that's rude" Rays says in a fake offended tone, I elbow her "ouch! Now you are abusing me" she whines.

"If you don't shut up, I'll push you down these stairs" I threaten her half heartedly but Ray looks at me scared. "Shush girls, the third floor is where the meetings are conducted and both the prince office is located on this floor, keep your voices low" Jade warns us with a glare.

We reach the floor, it was 6 am so the floor was empty, we got right at work, we weren't allowed to enter either of the office but the rest of the floor and all the meeting rooms were to be cleaned.

3 hours passed by in a breeze, team work did actually made the load easier and thankfully Jade was a good helper.

Ray was finishing of some work in the previous meeting room while Jade and I moved into the other one.

I pulled away the chairs while Jade was brooming, after a few minutes I decided to have small talk, I was getting bored scrubbing the furniture for so long.

"So Jade how long have you been working here?" I ask scrubbing a coffee stain.

She kept on continuing with her work glancing at me briefly "7 years" she responds.

I'm stunned, I thought she was here for a long time "you might have thought I am here from 12-15 years right?" She asks chuckling.

I stop my work and put the dirty cloth over my shoulder while leaning my back by the long meeting table setting my eyes on her "yeah, I did" I answer honestly.

"For me 7 years is also a long time, I don't know if I was lucky or really hard working that madam Joy noticed me and took me under her wing, and being under her supervision automatically increases your respect and position in the palace" she says while still focused on her work.

"How old are you?" I ask curiously, Jade pauses and looks at me with her brown eyes "has no one told you asking a woman's age is bad manners, it's a well known rule" she says with a smile.

I have noticed that Jade is quite strict about rules in general.

"Than consider me as a rule breaker" I fold my hands over my chest. "Oh! I knew you were one, the moment you spoke to the prince" she shakes her head turning back to her work.

I sit down on one of the seats plopping my legs up on the table, resting one over the other.

"I'm 32" she answers "you're young!" I blurt out surprised "thank you" she chuckles.

"I'm 21" I honestly don't know why I said that, "I know" she answers. I give her a confused look, she puts her broom away and walks towards me.

She takes another chair and sits beside me, she eyes my legs disapprovingly "put them down" she taps my legs and I put them down rolling my eyes "Your file, prince said to take a look at it" she answers my unasked question.

"Oh!" I whisper "your father was a guard for the mafia?" She asks curiously, my mood dampens at the mention of my father. Whenever he is mentioned it's like all my past sorrows and family problems come tumbling back.

"Yes" I answer curtly "Don't you worry, the palace pays handsomely to it's servants, your family will be fine in no time" she puts her hand over mine that was resting on my lap and gives it a small squeeze.

"My father was also their servant, he gave his life for them within a blink without thinking about his family back home." I say bitterly.

"Why wasn't his sacrifice recognized? Why was his family not taken care of?" I ask with tears brimming my eyes. These questions have always lingered my mind, we tried to get some pay until I turned 18 but it was like the mafia never had any Gabriel working for them.

My father's name was erased the day he took his last breathe.

Jade rolls her chair closer to me, she pats my cheek "Daisy, this mafia world works on give and take, as long as a servant is breathing and taking care of them they will reciprocate the service through good money and certain benefits, but once the soul leaves your body.." she trails off letting me guess it myself.

"It's not fair, my father shed his blood for these worthless people" I hiss wiping my little tears.

"I'm not going to waste my life here like he did, once I get stable I will leave this place and begin a new life." I inform her of my plans.

She nods her head in understanding "but for that you need to work hard" she says standing up.

"Which she isn't doing" a strong male voice from the entrance startles us both.

We wip our heads towards the voice, my eyes widen when I see the devil himself standing there with all his glory.

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