“Hmm. We shall handle this tomorrow,” Christopher said.

  “But… I but..”

  He gently touched my forehead. “You're crying and shaking. If your parents so much as got a glance at you right now, they would understand something is wrong. I shall deal with them. I shall have a room prepared for you. You must remain in the room, but as long as you do that. Everyone will be safe. Okay?”

  I couldn’t manage to say anything. The best I could manage was nodding slightly. I couldn’t think straight. The chief said these people were friendly. But he said he’d kill everyone if we failed cuz the king told him to. It’s crazy! But he was right; anyone could tell I was scared right now. How could I not be?

  He led me out of this dark room, and a maid was nearby. “Set Julia up with a room on the third floor. Provide her with anything she needs.”

  “Yes, my lord,” she said with a bow.

  The three of us walked together up to a set of stairs, then he waved as she led me up.

  On the second floor, we had to cross to the other side of the house before we could reach the third floor. She then led me near the stairs that went even higher, but stopped at a nearby room. Opening it up revealed what I could only describe as a massive bedroom —the kind a husband, wife, and two kids could sleep in comfortably.

  The bed had rods at the corners and a roof with sheets hanging down, making it impossible to see inside. There was a desk and chair on the right side wall, and a dresser for clothes on the left side wall.

  “Whose room is this?” I asked.

  “Yours,” the maid said.

  “Huh? But I just got here. Surely a room like this had a normal owner?”

  The maid smiled, walked over to the dresser, opened it, and showed me it was empty. “As I said. No one. This room is merely waiting for one of my Lord’s guests. Which is you?”

  Is this just how nobles live? I couldn’t understand anything about it.

  “I see.”

  “Would you like anything?” she asked me.

  “Maybe a rag and some water?” I asked. My face was beginning to ache, so the thought of rinsing was nice.

  “Warm water or cold?” she asked.

  “Oh, you don’t need to go to the trouble. Cold is fine.” Warm water sounded nice, but starting a fire just for me seemed a bit silly.

  She smiled. “I shall bring you whichever you prefer. I would like it if you were honest. If you prefer warm water, then I would consider you saying cold to be more trouble.”

  “Oh. I guess warm then,” I said.

  “Right away,” she said with a bow as she left.

  I plopped onto the bed. Wow, it was so soft. It almost felt like I was floating in a lake. The blanket and sheets were very calm and smooth as well. What were they made of? I grabbed one of the many pillows and hugged it as I cried.

  Everything was still just a blur in my head. But I had to do some duty. It was scary. What if I couldn’t do it? Would he go back on his word and burn down Hatula if I simply failed? I looked at the cursed ring on my finger. If only I hadn’t gotten it. I don’t even know what I am supposed to do as a wind maiden. I guess that is what a teacher is for.

  A gentle knock came, and the maid entered with a man carrying a large tub of water that was steaming. “Your warm water. Do you need anything else? Hungry?”

  “I’m not hungry now, but I suppose I should consider food before dinner is done. Do you know what is being made tonight?” I asked.

  She giggled a bit. “We shall make whatever you want, whenever you are ready for it. I imagine we can satisfy any desire you have on that front.”

  “Huh? But surely dinner is being made soon?” I asked.

  “It is, but all the maids at this location know how to cook. And we shall be available all night. So anytime you get hungry, you need to do nothing more than ask. We shall cook when you are hungry.”

  “That is… but what if it is in the middle of the night? You’d be asleep.”

  She gestured to the door and showed me that she had moved a chair right outside my room. “I shall be here late into the night before I retire for bed. A different maid shall take my place. Be it in the middle of the night or not. If you desire warm water, food, or anything else. You need do nothing more than tap on the door, and we shall enter to attend to you.”

  “But, what about her sleep?” I asked. “It is unfair for someone to stay up all night just for me.”

  “The maid who will be here later is currently sleeping. She is not doing this for your sake. This is simply how we do things, as I said before. Our Lord has asked us to do our work so we can attend to you. We would find it much more troubling if you were to stay silent. Please call upon us at any time you may need.”

  “Okay,” I said. This was so weird! But I couldn’t think of anything to say against her.

  The hours passed, but I had no sense of time. There wasn’t any window in this room. It made me feel a bit uncomfortable. Not that being in a new place with the lingering threat of my family being murdered allowed for much comfort to begin with.

  Stolen story; please report.

  I ended up washing not just my face but my whole body. The warm water was soothing, and it relaxed me to some small degree. Plus, it seemed a waste not to use it up. But such a thing only took up a small part of the night. I couldn’t sleep, and I had nothing to distract me. With that, I decided these maids were better than nothing. I tapped on the door.

  The maid from earlier came in. “Yes?”

  “Could I get a pitcher of warm milk and two glasses?” I asked.

  “Anything else? She asked.

  I shook my head.

  She bowed. “Very well, I shall return shortly.”

  It really did take her practically no time at all. I suppose a little fire may have already been burning for dinner. She brought the items in on a silver tray. The pitcher and glasses had a shine I had never quite seen before. Way different than the ones back home. She then went to return to her chair, but I stopped her.

  “Please sit with me,” I said.

  She smiled and sat in another chair. This room had three, or two now that one was sitting outside the door. So, enough for her not to need to do anything. I poured two glasses of milk and offered her one.

  I took a sip, and the warmth and smell helped steady my nerves. Gosh, I hadn’t been this nervous since my little brother was born. “Thank you.”

  She sipped the milk. “So this is why you asked for two cups.”

  “Was that not obvious?” I asked.

  “One of my stations does not assume the nature of requests,” she said.

  “Station?” I asked. I wasn’t sure what she meant.

  She rubbed her fingers against the glass. “It means place. In this sentence, it means someone like me. I am a mere servant.”

  “I don’t understand this. Why do you serve him like this?” I asked.

  She sipped the milk and smiled. “Someone must serve the nobility, and I believe it is a good fit for me. Plus, it is a good life. My son benefits greatly from it.”

  I thought of Christopher. How he smiled while saying I should trust him, and he would kill my family if we failed. It made me shiver. “Why does one need to serve such people? How does it benefit your son?”

  She stood up and set down the cup of milk. I got scared that I might have been too rude. “Wait. I’m sorry!”

  She closed her eyes and smiled. “No need. I was not offended, I just thought perhaps I could better answer your question with pen and paper.”

  “Pen and paper?” I asked.

  She gestured for me to come over to the desk. She held out a thin cloth that looked like the kind the Bible was made of. And a metal stick, and she brushed it against the fabric and marked it. Wow. Is this how the bible was made? I never asked the priest. I never asked many things; perhaps I should have.

  She produced a shape that just looked like an orange after it had been crushed for juice and dropped on the ground. “This is a rough shape of Anlage. And you hail from Hatula, right? My grandmother was from there, but she moved away when she was a young girl, so I doubt you would know anything about her.”

  I nodded. She drew two circles inside the shape. They were pretty close, maybe half the width of my pinky nail. “Okay.”

  She tapped one. “This is Hatula, and this,” she paused, tapping the other one. “This is where we currently are.”

  “Huh. But that doesn’t make any sense. We were so fast! The horse dragged the cart really fast. And it still took us a full day.”

  “I know. Anlage is so big. I have only seen a third of it myself. And it has so much beauty and stuff within it.”

  I just stared at the drawing. Even a guess told me it would take about a month or two to get from one side to the other on horseback. “The world is so big!”

  She chuckled. “Yes, I imagine so. That is what my son wants to do. Travel and make drawings like this. Drawings so good, you could get to exactly where you want to go without ever looking at the road. But this is not the world. This is just Anlage.”

  “How big is the world then?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. I have never been outside of Anlage. I hear the world has a hundred places just as large as Anlage. But I can’t say for sure.”

  I couldn’t even really imagine the scope of Anlage. So the idea of a hundred of them was just beyond even any hope of understanding. However, one thing nagged at me. “How does this relate to nobles?”

  She smiled and made another mark; this time, it was a line that connected to the edge of Anlage, making it a smaller piece with the two circles inside. “Baron Christopher is like the chief of this entire area. It has thousands of people. He simply cannot be asked to manage that while farming, cooking, or cleaning. So we do it for him.”

  “Thousand?” I asked.

  “It is a word for many people. But I am not sure I could explain it better. It is a number I find difficult to manage in my head. But I have no doubt you will learn. After all, you are special.”

  “I’m not, though. I’m just a village girl.”

  The maid shook her head. “No. I do not know everything, but you are not just a village girl. My Lord, in my entire life, has never placed any commoner on the third floor.”

  “Commoner?” I asked.

  “As in, not a noble,” she said.

  “But I am not a noble. I hadn’t even heard the term before today!” I began panicking a bit. This was so much.

  She opened her arms. “If a hug will help, may I hug you?”

  I squeezed her tightly. She gently pats my head. “Thanks.”

  “I didn’t mean to stress you. My Lord said to tend to you as I would anyone else on the third floor. So I must answer your questions.”

  I thought for a moment. “So my family is on the second floor?”

  She nodded. “That is correct. Along with the chief.”

  “Are they doing well? How are they handling the maids?” I asked. Perhaps they were enjoying this. That idea made me feel better.

  “They have not received such treatment. Only those on the third floor receive such. They have been shown where the well and the bathing room are. They were informed of when dinner would be served and have been left to their own devices beyond that.”

  My whole body shuddered at the thought. I really was being treated differently. “Are they asleep already?”

  “I do not believe so.”

  “I would like you to fetch them warm water for me then.”

  She smiled. “I must confirm with my Lord before I obey any commands that interact with others. I shall seek that permission now.”

  With that, she left. A few minutes later, she said Christopher granted the request and went to get warm water for my parents. I sat down at the desk, looking at the drawing. Hearing that Christopher could destroy Hatula had been enough to scare me, but comparing the land he controlled to the land of Hatula made it painfully clear how little effort it would take if they all obeyed him.

  And that was simply him. I didn’t even know how much more land the King controlled if he could get Christophere to obey him so easily. The idea sent a chill down my spine.