Rainbow light pulsated around the orb of cream stone within the glowing hexagon apparatus. I felt a power radiating from the hovering silver coins lining the hexagon edges and forming sigil patterns within its light. I knew these sigils represented different values of life: hope, integrity, valor, luck, abundance and renewal. The coins spun madly, casting sigils of black light into the orb. They then formed the pattern of a lotus flower in bloom. The black light swelled and exploded before my eyes to cover everything in darkness.

--

“Neven! Wake up.”

Kalia spoke with normal volume into my ear. Maybe too much volume.

“Ugh. Did yah have to shout?” I groaned and rubbed my ear. So it was a dream. Figures.

“I didn’t shout. You’re just used to whisper volume. And it’s almost dawn. I heard Edde moving about her room earlier and got up,” she said as she sat on her cot, which was pristine made.

“Hey. For royalty, yah sure neat and tidy.” I grinned.

“Chet. Enough with the royalty. I was only raised in the imperial court. I’m not part of that life anymore!” She pouted and folded her arms over her chest.

Her expression darkened. “You’ve no idea how cold that place can be.”

I sighed. It was clear she had experienced a lot of things to be adaptable with her knowledge. In my opinion, people can know stuff. In order to truly understand, a person needed relatable experiences to sink it in. From her explanations and legal facts, I could tell she had acquired some of that deep-sinking meaning.

“Sorry to bring up yah pain.”

“It’s why keeping up appearances matter. In such a situation, being a dutiful and punctual servant is what is called for. It’s not about pride, but survival.” Her expression became bright and bossy again.

“Now get up. Let’s give Edde a good impression.” She yanked at my arms to help me stand.

“Make your bed.” She bossily pointed at the messy blankets.

“Yeah, yeah.” I slumped my shoulders and yawned as I made up my cot for another day of messing it up with sleep.

“Energy, girl. Show some spunk!” She perked up.

“Hump. Hope yah not always this chirpy, princess.” I grimaced.

She frowned. “My looks do not justify my being. It’s only a sample of it! You should do well to remember this.”

I stood gawking at her with awe. Bold and meaningful words indeed. My mouth spread with a heartfelt smile. I was seeing her strength shine through.

“As you say, Kalia.” I was more than awake now.

“Kalia has the right idea.” Edde entered with a deadpan voice.

She was freshly dressed and more than ready to go as well. I glanced over my crumpled tunic and ran my fingers through my knotty hair.

“Honestly.” Kalia shook her head and sat me down.

She pulled out her treasured comb from within her tunic. It was a simple wooden type with no patterns, yet it was smooth from scratches with all the teeth intact. I saw her gazing upon it with a sad smile.

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“Sit still,” she ordered me.

I obeyed and enjoyed the feeling of my hair being combed and tied back.

“Right. Looks decent enough.” She stood back to appreciate her handy work of my hair in a simple ponytail held up with string.

Edde nodded and handed us a warm rock from the pot at the entrance. She showed us how to smooth down the creases on our tunics. We copied her example.

“Yuh don’t look like a wild beast. Impressions count here.” She offhandedly noted of my readiness.

I nodded.

“Let’s go.” She passed through the cloth door.

I gave my tunic one last quick smooth down; dumped the rock in the pot and hurried after the others.

Our duty to-do list had us clean the dishes, sweep and scrub out the floors of the dinning rooms and worship areas.

In the early afternoon, we carried basket after basket of vegetables from the garden storeroom, down a long stretch of corridor and into the kitchen pantry until our arms sagged at our sides, and it felt like the clamps were back on our wrists. But it was no rest for the able. In the evening, it was back to scrubbing floors.

Kalia whinged as we mopped soapy water around the floors of the circular foyer on our hands and knees with rags. When we were done with this area, he had to do the main servants quarters. Edde wasn’t joking about impressions matter because even the servant and slave quarters needed to be spotless.

“Look at my hands!” she cried out, holding them into her view.

He eyes darted to the bucket filled with water and the slate tile she was halfway through cleaning.

“What are they thinking, having a light shade of slate for floors. It shows every mark! Even the ones we made with our scrubbing.”

I sat back and looked over the section of floor we were cleaning. Indeed, our mopping was just showing more streaks from soap residue.

“Why don’t we use less water and mop in the same direction and rhythm?” I mused aloud.

Kalia’s eyes lit up. “Yes! We can choreograph our mopping like a dance. Okay, leave it to me.”

I grinned at her sudden burst of can-do energy; keen to see what she had in mind.

She moved herself and bucket to next to me then gave instructions on when, where and how to mop.

“Let’s do this!” She puffed out her chest, looking fired up.

I nodded and mopped at her pace. We were soon moving diagonally across the floor with the same stroke lengths and timings.

“There once was a sailor who went to see a tailor and was fitted with a wife instead...” She softly sang a ditty tune that helped with our timings and made the work fun.

Sure enough, an hour later, the floor was spotless.

“That ended up being fun.” I patted her back and grimaced when I saw her flinch. “Sorry, gotta remember not to be heavy-handed.”

Kalia chuckled and shook her head.

“You have your quirks.” She patted my head.

I sighed and packed up my cleaning tools for the next room.

We were just about to enter it when the black and white small creature scurried across the floor, leaving tiny paw prints of dirt across the entire diameter, to undo our work.

“What the?! That rat! I kill it and fry it for dinner!” I bellowed with outrage and hurried after the creature to give it a piece of my mind.

“Neven, stop!” Kalia cried out and slapped a palm to her forehead when she saw I wasn’t listening.

The rat paused and glanced at me. When it saw my livid aura, it made a high-pitched ’eek’ and sprinted into a corridor.

“Get back yah stupid rat! Give me back the hour I lost!” I snapped at it as I chased into through the glass hallway and into the library.

I paused when I saw Master Asuras and Chief Morrisett having a discussion at one of the reading tables.

“Seriously, Neven. We’re going to get in trouble.” Kalia huffed as she came up behind me with our cleaning buckets and gear in her hands.

The rat scurried through a hole and was gone.

“Let’s go before they see us.” She gulped.

I nodded, and we turned around, slipping into the dark areas for the connected hallway.

“Are you sure about this? That’s where the Tsazcuth stones are?” Chief Morrisett coolly asked.

“Positive. Even that black haired girl thought it was strange, and she knows nothing of what she was seeing. Yet…”