Madam Iwin

Aurora POV

"What are you doing?" Madam Iwin is asking me for about the fifth time today. I never could have thought that setting dishes can be this tasking. Why should there be an exact spot on the saucer where the teacup should be kept, and if there is, why isn't it in the middle, which makes more sense? How many kinds of plates must be used in one meal? I have come to the conclusion that nobles and royals have too much time on their hands, which they certainly do because they have no work. They sit around reading, talking, drinking, eating, or organizing balls that last for hours or buying beautiful clothes.

Madam Iwin is different from yesterday; yesterday, she seemed like a nice lady, handing me my uniform and giving me a lecture about the history of the palace as she served me fruit juice and mini baked pies. Now she has transformed into a complete authoritarian.

I move a silver fork to the front of the rounded white bowl on the tray, and she whips my hand lightly. All I want to do is cry. My shoulder is stiff from standing too long, and my leg feels weak against the ground. But it isn't in my spirit to give up easily. I shift the fork to the middle of the other fork, which brings a smile to her face, so I guess I'm right. I beam at myself.

"What is the name of the fork?" she asks me sternly.

"Dessert fork?" I reply as if asking a question.

"Are you asking me?" She asks, her left eyebrow arched slightly.

"No, madam. It is the dessert fork," I say, trying to sound as convincing as I can.

"You're correct," she says as she walks closer to me. "You need to learn to be confident in yourself, Aurora. If you're not confident in yourself, no one will do it for you. And in this palace, you won't survive if you aren't confident."

I bow my head to her. I've heard a lot of that advice in different ways all through my life, mainly from Mina and my mother. Mother once said, "Rora, you are so lovable, and you'll attract a lot of love in your lifetime, but you need to be confident. If you're not confident, you will lose a lot of love."

"Arrange the dishes again," she instructs.

This time I try to do it with confidence, trusting that I remember exactly how. I move the bigger bowls to the middle and the smaller plates to the sides, placing the different forks and spoons in between. I look at everything I have arranged, and it looks pretty good to me.

"I am done, madam."

"Are you sure?" She asks

I looked at her discouraged, suddenly doubting if I got it all right. I remember everything she just said, so I raise my head and smile despite my doubt. "Yes, I'm sure," I reply. She smiles back at me kindly and says, "You're right."

She walks towards a desk in the room, opens a drawer, and brings a thick book to me. "This is everything you need. We won't have any class tomorrow." A knock interrupts her speech. She walks over to the door and opens it.

"Goodday, madam," says a dark-skinned girl with a curvy body wearing a uniform like mine. "There's a letter for you from the king." She gives it to her and leaves the room. Madam Iwin breaks the seal on the letter's envelope. Her eyes move quickly across the paper.

"Seems like you will be working pretty soon. The princess from a northern kingdom is coming to visit our king in a week. You will be part of the entourage serving her," she announces enthusiastically.

I smile at her, but inside I'm screaming at the idea of meeting a princess. The Princess would definitely be a demigoddess; how can I possibly serve a demigoddess?

***

I walk into my new room, still in complete awe of it all, and I see Soka, my roommate, hunched over a basin of water. She doesn't turn around, but she calls out to me, "Aurora, that must be you, right?" I walk closer and find the water in the basin to be a pale red.

"Are you bleeding?" I ask.

"Yes," she replies angrily.

I bent down to assist her, taking her hand out of the water. It is a fairly deep cut, but not deep enough to need much treatment.

"That rude, noble boy. On the gods I wish his death."

"Hush," I instinctively say to her. The idea of wishing a noble dead sounds completely blasphemous to my ears; nobles are nobles by birth, hence they are ordained by the gods.

"Don't hush me," she snapped. From the little time I've spent with Soka, I've realized she has a lot in common with Mina; they do not know how to bite their tongues. Soka is beautiful and has the confidence that goes with it. Her maid uniform hangs at every curve, from her full burst to her impossibly tiny waist to her rounded hips. Her pitch-dark hair and eyes are a heavy contrast to her almost pale skin.

"He threw a cup at me. Who throws a cup at someone?" She asks as if I'm expected to answer; I give her a shrug and continue cleaning her wound.

"The worst part of the whole thing is him acting like I do not know how to do my job. He said I did not put the correct amount of ginger in his tea. Does he know how many times I've made ginger tea in my life?"

I dab a little alcohol on her wound; she doesn't wince or show any sign of pain; she just keeps talking, almost like her need to talk transcends any feeling of pain.

"I told him the ginger tea has the exact amount of ginger a ginger tea is supposed to have. Then he asks if I'm saying he is wrong. So I told him to try making the tea himself next time he needs one, and that's when he threw the cup at me."

I stare at her in shock. "I know right, who throws a cup at someone?" she says, mistaking the reason for my shock. Telling a nobleman to make his tea himself is completely crazy, and I wonder if she has a death wish. Even outside the palace, no one dares talk back to a noble, even if the noble is only human. Nobles, especially human nobles, are notorious for being cruel and unforgiving. People have lost lands, houses, and children because they had a bad relationship with a noble. I tied a clean white cotton cloth around her wound.

"Thank you," she says. "Enough of me, how was your first day?"

"It was okay," I say. "Madame Iwin is a little bit intense, though."

"That's just a front, she's actually one of the kindest people you'll meet in the palace"

I suspected that already; my encounter with her made me feel like she was simply acting to have that air of authority, but she is definitely kind. There is certainly something about her energy that draws you in and makes you adore her.

"Do you want to know something?" Soka asks

"Sure"

"She's a fairy," she says with her eyes wide.

"A fairy?" I say mostly to myself, "I've finally met a fairy." My mother always talked about fairies; fairies are messengers of the gods. Sometimes, when two people are meant to be together, a fairy is sent by the gods to make sure they get together. Fairies are the planters of dreams for humans and demigods. They are, in a lot of ways, magical. I can't really say I know much about them; all I know is what I have heard.

"What is that?" Soka asks as she points to the book on my bed. I pick it up and hand it to hereligious.

"Madame Iwin gave it to me. She said it was everything I need."

She opens it, examining it, "she gave you this? This is her handbook; she never gives anyone this," she says, confused.

"She probably gave it to me so I could learn fast. She said a princess is coming, and she wants me to serve her."

Soka's eyes widen in surprise, making me feel a little self-conscious.

"She wants you to serve the princess?" she asks, putting emphasis on "you."

"Yes," I reply slowly, "what?" I ask curiously.

"Nothing. It's kind of strange because you're new. Serving the princess is kind of a big deal. The princess is coming on a supposed courtship visit to the king, which means she might be our next queen. A lot of palace maidens want that spot."

I am not sure how I'm supposed to feel about this. It feels like an undeserved promotion, like I gained some kind of favor and pushed everyone else that might have deserved it better behind me. Still, I feel excited and covertly proud that she will entrust me with such an opportunity.

"I'm hungry. Let's go eat," Soka says as she grabs my arms. Yesterday she brought my dinner to the room; it was such a kind gesture. I had already missed the maidens dinner time by far, and I was ready to skip because there was no way I was going to eat dinner all by myself there. The dinner I ate was the best meal I had ever had in my life. Today, my mouth waters, wondering what exactly it's going to be.

We walk into the dining hall; it is quite huge, like most rooms I've seen so far in the palace. It has low tables with mats placed around the tables. In the middle of the table are different foods in deep bowls, and by the sides are piles of empty plates and utensils. A petite-looking girl with mild chocolate skin waves at us from a table. Soka grabs my hands, leading me towards the table.

Soka introduces me to the girl at the table. Her name is Niola, and she works in the kitchens as an assistant cook. Soka begins to narrate her incident with the noble. Her voice becomes background noise to me as I examine all the food. Rice, vegetables, meat, and fruits At home, all the food on this table would be managed by my father and I for 2 weeks. I can't believe it's here to be eaten by three people in one sitting.

I pick up an empty plate and a spoon, filling it with a little bit of everything. I'm eating and savoring flavors I have never tasted before. "Slow down," I hear Soka say. Suddenly, I am embarrassed.

Niola giggles lightly, "Don't be embarrassed, I did the same thing when I first got here."