It had been four days since Maude had stood at the doors to the Wright manor, so sure that leaving Aulbert was the right thing for her to do. And now, here she was again, though she’d left with the intention to never come back.

I can hardly believe I’m back, she thought, or that I’m about to ask Melissa where I can go to fight in the war. She shivered at the thought, still anxious about the new decision she had made.

Hot liquid started to fill her stomach. Am I absolutely certain? She asked herself. Is choosing to fight truly my next move? She swallowed hard, feeling her hands perspiring.

It is, a small voice, deep inside of her chest said. I’m the only one who can protect what I have built.

She took a deep breath, steadying herself. I can do this, she thought. She started to look around for any workers of the Wright manor, but there were even less people, somehow, roaming around the grounds than there had been four days prior.

They must have evacuated, she thought. I wonder how Melissa is be dealing with this.

Maude met the eyes of a maid. The maid stood up from the ground, and walked over to Maude. It was the same maid that she had seen during her previous visit.

“Lady Maude Holloway?” the maid asked her. “Are you here to see Lady Melissa again?”

“Ah,” Maude replied, scratching the back of her neck. “Indeed I am.”

The maid grinned widely at her. “It seems as though the sword saint is behind leaving for war. Is Lady Melissa going to direct you where to go?”

Did Melissa not tell this maid I am not fighting? Maude wondered. I figured Melissa would tell everyone how much she wanted me to fight.

“Um, yes,” Maude replied, smiling awkwardly. Her stomach rolled around at what was, for the moment anyway, a half truth.

“Oh good, good!” the maid exclaimed. “Let me escort you in then.” She turned towards the manor’s door and opened it, gesturing for Maude to head inside. “My apologies, my Lady, Lady Melissa did not inform us that you would be coming today, so we were unable to prepare appropriately.”

Maude heard herself chuckling awkwardly. “Ah, that’s perfectly fine,” she replied. “No need to stress over something so trivial.”

“I appreciate that, my lady.” the maid replied, looking back at Maude with a huge grin on her face.

Maude tried to smile back, but she wasn’t sure if she fully made it into a full smile rather than a half cringe. The chatty maid was completely unfazed.

“Please excuse the messiness of the manor,” she said. “Most of our men went out to fight in the war, and a small portion of the maids left as well. Some went to help in any way they could with the war, and a few of them evacuated.”

“Only a few evacuated?” Maude asked.

“That’s correct, my lady,” the maid replied. “We work for the Wright family, after all. We want to show our support for the work they have done to keep Aulbert afloat for so long, and to show our support for our country.”

“That’s impressive,” Maude replied. “I have never met such a loyal group of servants before.”

The maid beamed at her, seemingly overjoyed at the comment. Internally, Maude felt her stomach churning even more.

Was I hiding my cowardice through my pacifism? She wondered. It is not as though anyone wants to die. And especially not in a gruesome or painful way. She felt ill at the thought.

“Here we are!” the maid exclaimed, opening the door to the sitting room for Maude. “And just like last time, please give me a few minutes to bring her ladyship here.”

“Of course,” Maude replied with a smile. “Thank you.” She paused. “Oh, and, please do not worry about bringing us refreshments or tea. I believe this will be a short enough visit that we won’t need them.”

“Thank you for that,” the maid replied with a bit of relief on her face. She bowed a little. “As I said, we are pretty significantly understaffed at the moment, so we are struggling to keep up with the work.”

“Of course, of course,” Maude replied, nodding deeply. “Don’t worry about it at all.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Then, I will go get her ladyship,” the maid responded. She closed the door to the sitting room behind her, and Maude was alone again.

Maude sat down in one of the chairs, the same she had sat in four days earlier, her heart swirling in her chest. Even servants, she thought, are stronger than I am. Even they are more motivated to fight than I was.

At least I came back to Aulbert to fix my mistake, she thought, trying to calm herself. Even though I hurt the people I cared about by leaving in the first place, at least I have come back to fight and defend the life I created here.

She sighed deeply, still feeling a bit conflicted about what she had chosen to do. She started picking at her nails. What will Melissa say now that I’m back? Maude considered. What will she think? Will she be surprised? Angry? Frustrated?

Maude was starting to feel ill. Her heart was raising in her chest, and the lump was forming in her throat. What if she asks me to leave and there’s nothing I can do to help with the war? What if Jaspar is already dead? Then what will I do?

Maude shook her head at herself. Stop, she thought. The probability that any of those things are true is slim. It is much more likely that Melissa will be happy to see me, and that Jaspar is still alive. It has only been a few days. In the grand scheme of the war, that is not much that time at all. Melissa wanted me to fight in this war. She’s not going to be upset that I came back to do just that.

Maude breathed heavily, twiddling her thumbs. Although she was trying to convince herself that it would all work out, she still felt a lead ball settling into her stomach.

How long is it going to take for Melissa to come? She wondered. Seconds felt like hours. Every second counts for me to reach the fight in time!

Maude started chewing on her nails, when finally, the door opened and Melissa was standing there. Her jaw dropped when she met Maude’s eyes. “She really wasn’t joking!” Melissa exclaimed. “Maude Holloway is in my sitting room!”

Maude smiled wryly at her. “I sure am,” she replied.

“What are you doing here, Maude Holloway?” Melissa asked, closing the door behind her. She looked back at Maude, and Maude noticed that her eyes were as large as saucers still.

Maude cleared her throat as Melissa moved across the room to sit down. “I, um…I…changed my mind,” she replied, rubbing the back of her neck.

“You changed your mind?” Melissa asked, pausing her walk. “What did you change your mind about?” The look of disbelief on Melissa’s face was growing more intense by the moment.

She’s genuinely surprised that I’m here, Maude thought. She is acting like she could have never imagined that I would come back.

“I changed my mind on fighting for Aulbert,” Maude replied, trying to sound confident. Instead, her voice came out a bit squeaky.

Melissa’s jaw dropped. “What are you saying?” she asked. “Could you repeat that?”

“I want to fight for Aulbert,” Maude replied, her voice sounding much more confident this time.

Melissa quickly shook her head. She rubbed her eyes and opened them even wider at Maude. “Am I dreaming?” she asked. “The Maude Holloway I know would never say anything like that.”

“I can promise you,” Maude replied with a small nod. “You’re not dreaming.”

Melissa quickly strode over, and sat down in the chair she’d sat in only four days before. “What made you change your mind?” she asked, leaning forward in her chair.

“When I lived in the empire, a friend once asked me if I had anything worth fighting for, and at that time…” Maude had a cynical smile on her face, “I did not. But as I was getting further and further away from the capitol, I realized that I do have something worth fighting for now. The life that I have built in Aulbert is worth fighting for.” She pursed her lips and nodded, continuing. “The people in Aulbert mean so much to me that I need to defend them.”

Melissa’s mouth had fallen open again. “Did someone replace you in your body?” she asked. “Is that truly you, Maude Holloway?” Melissa asked.

Maude laughed a little. “I promise, it is, in fact, me, Melissa.” Maude smiled amusedly at her friend’s surprise at her change of heart.

Melissa closed her mouth, and turned it into a smile. She shook her head. “I am really surprised by you, right now,” she stated. “But I’m so glad that you changed your mind. I’m so glad that you came back to fight for Aulbert.” For a moment, Melissa paused, just starting intently at Maude, with a grin on her face. Then she shook her head again. “I expected you to walk away and never look back. You were always so rigid.”

Maude nodded. “I was,” she agreed. “And being that rigid was causing me to give up the very things I’d come to love about my life.”

Melissa nodded a little, the smile slowly fading from her face. “I figured if you didn’t come back on that first day that your mind would be completely set.”

“Mmm,” Maude replied with a small smile. “You weren’t that far off, though. I changed my mind at the end of the second day.” She paused. “I was laying down to rest and I just realized that I had made a mistake.” Maude swallowed hard. “And I also want to apologize for that. I didn’t really realize the value of any of the relationships I had built in Aulbert, including the one I have with you, until I had hurt everyone with my selfish behavior.”

Melissa laughed softly. “I wouldn’t worry about that too terribly much,” she replied.

“What do you mean?” Maude asked, feeling her eyebrows raise.

“Maude, I really enjoy your company a lot, pacifism and all,” Melissa replied with a soft, small smile. It was a completely different expression than Maude was used to seeing on Melissa’s face. “Everyone who has met you and known you in Aulbert was always aware of what you might do regarding the war. We all always knew how intensely you held your pacifistic beliefs. And we all cared about you, and loved you anyways, pacifism and all.”

Maude had already been choking on tears from having to apologize for her behavior. But Melissa’s words had caused them to spill lover, like a cascading waterfall.

Melissa looked surprised, but then her face went back to the soft smile. She reached over to Maude and gently patted her on the back.

It took a few minutes of the back patting for Maude to calm herself. She wiped away her tears. “Thank you for saying that, Melissa,” she said with a sniffle.

“Of course,” Melissa replied. “It’s true.” She retracted her hand and sat back, looking more comfortable in her seat.