XXXI

In the castle, she was led to the maid's wing and given a uniform of a simple black dress with white ruffles at the sleeves and neckline. Elanor could not get used to the way everything in the Seelie court looked human: the dresses, the architecture, even the stereotypical maiden robes. 

Her bed was part of a bunk, but no one was here yet, since the party was only halfway done. Aeden told her to wait here until the morning, and someone would come and instruct her for the workday. Eleanor was so tired of crying that she felt numb, rather than dwelling on the direness of her situation. She needed a plan, and the first step is definitely Lumi. She got to keep her ballroom dress, but was anxious that it would be taken from her later, so she changed into the uniform and reattached all the secret pockets from the dress, happy that she had this moment of privacy.

She then released Lumi and could not stop hugging and kissing him. She was planning to write Talvi a note and send it, even though the thought of losing Lumi as well made her stomach churn. 

What do we have here? "You will not speak unless you are spoken to." But if it's a note or a letter, it's not speaking. Arrogant fae, he should have specified "communicate to no one."

She quickly scribbled a short note on the back of a chocolate bar wrapper, using a piece of graphite, both of which had been pulled out from the magic pocket of lost things somewhere along her journey. 

Dear Talvi, 

I am not hurt, but Sir Aeden discovered my true name, and I am now in the service at the castle.

-Lara

And she put it in a sock, placing the sock in Lumi's mouth. She now realized she could not speak to Lumi and became scared that he would not understand the instructions, but the Samoyed pushed into her shoulder with his nose and ran out, looking like he knew his purpose. 

What a smart boy! Please, find him...

Elanor did not see Lumi turn into a white rat as soon as he left the chamber. He moved quietly away from this wing and straight into the dungeons.

Elanor was going to wait until someone came in, scared of sleeping around strangers, but she dozed off quickly and woke up only when someone was gently shaking her in the morning.

"Hello?" The person above Elanor was a young human girl, dressed in the same uniform and with two dark braids on each side of her head. 

"Hi," replied Elanor, happy to be able to talk again.

"Are you the new maid for cleaning the rooms?"

"Yes, you can call me Lara. Are you going to show me the work?"

"Hi, Lara, you can call me Lorrie. Me and my friend Bonnie will be instructing you today."

Elanor sat up on the bed and fisex her robe. Lorrie was explaining different rules as they were walking upstairs to the fae parts of the castle.

"You are not to enter when someone is in the room; if someone is inviting you inside, though, then definitely come in and help them. You should fulfill every request that is directly asked of you by a fae right away; leave anything you are doing and serve them first. Of course, that doesn't mean your work for the day can be postponed or unfinished..."

Elanor was desperately trying to listen and remember all the multiple instructions, for her own safety, while also scanning every room and hall for Talvi. They were walking past all the different rooms with guests staying until the ball, but not in the same wing as Talvi's chamber. She was desperately hoping she would get to sneak there under the guise of cleaning. 

"...if you have not managed to finish your work for the day, you simply stay and get it done, you can't sleep until it's over."

Lorrie introduced her to Bonnie, and together they began cleaning the room, whose lodger had already left, either last night, right after the ball, or today at dawn. They started by changing all the sheets, sweeping the floors, and collecting any garbage. Then, once they brought untouched food and snacks back to the kitchens, they returned to mop everywhere and polish the surfaces of the tables, arms of the chairs, cleaned the chimney and washed the windows. 

By the time they were done, a few hours had passed, and they moved to another room. Very late at night, when the whole floor was finished, the girls headed to the kitchen for their daily rations.

I could eat anything right now, but I don't want to consume this food if I still have hope of leaving. Do I even still have hope? 

In the kitchen, they each received a bowl of soup, a piece of bread and some croutons, and Elanor did her best to look like she was eating, secretly dumping it all back into the pot. Thankfully, the girls were chatting through the meal and did not notice her tricks. 

She learned that both of them were children of the humans who came to work at the Court of their own accord, and since they never knew life elsewhere, they were happy to stay and try becoming a more important servant, or even happen to help a fae, promising them a wish or a bargain. They were easy to talk to and Elanor tried learning more of how everyhting works here.

"So are there many servants who are bound by the true name?" she asked.

"Not at all, and fae love those. I'm sorry. Who did you tell your name? To be fair, it is quite reckless of you, but I heard you did not arrive to the Faery long ago?"

"I have only been here for a few months. But I am from Iceland, and we know the faery laws there. I never told anyone my name. A teacher from my school met me here and remembered it from those times."

"Ah, it must be that man who got a bargain with Sir Aeden. He really missed the opportunity, though, because he asked Aeden to get back to his hometown. Aeden granted his wish, but sent him to a different time; the man never specified when he wanted to go, only where," laughed Bonnie.

"Rookie mistake," commented Lorrie. 

"So if you know the guy, why don't you bargain his name to Sir Aeden as well? " asked Bonnie.

"What's in it for Sir Aeden now? The man is gone."

"I wouldn't do that to anyone," frowned Elanor.

"Your loss. The service binds you for a hundred years, usually; that's when it is considered done. Humans don't live that long typically, so think for yourself, you will have to spend your whole life here." Bonnie reminded Elanor to be on alert because living among the fae apparently made everyone just like them.