Chapter 3: Chapter Three
A loud knocking on the door woke the girls up with a start. Layla looked at her friend wide-eyed, hoping Nieve had an idea who could be pounding the door so hard it almost shook out of its hinges. One look at her friend made her realise the brunette was as clueless as she was.
"Who's there?" Nieve called, carefully crawling off her mattress when the person on the other side replied by knocking on the door again. She gave her friend a self-assured nod before she headed for the door, hating the way the floor creaked with every step. They'd never needed it before, but she really missed a peephole as she opened the door enough to peek outside. Her grey eyes widened for a split second before she put her face on neutral and pulled the door open entirely when she saw two sentinels standing there, arms crossed and faces stoic. Layla scrambled out of her bed when they stepped inside. Their red and black uniforms looked more expensive than their entire shack and everything in it.
"Layla Valentine and Nieve Giordano?" one of the men asked, his eyes resting on Nieve when she huffed and crossed her arms.
"Yes, that's us," she said, her voice icy but knowing better than to lie to primes.
"You've been summoned to serve in Serenissima," the man replied, making it sound like they actually had the choice to stay, as he turned to Layla when she gasped.
"It's real?" she asked, a smile spreading on her face while Nieve felt her insides turn cold. She'd tried so hard to get away from primes and here she was, for some reason being forced back into the life she'd so desperately tried to escape.
The sentinel smiled, clearly unable to resist Layla's charm as he nodded. "Very much so," he said, making the blonde's smile widen.
"Nieve," she had a hard time not squealing. She'd heard stories of girls being summoned to live with the primes, making more money than they could spend and still being able to send money home to support their families. Her smile faltered when the brunette looked anything but excited. "Serenissima," she said in a half-whisper nonetheless, trying to get her friend excited too. "It's supposed to be beautiful," she added when Nieve merely nodded.
"So I've heard," her friend said, looking around their shack while the sentinels waited patiently. Her home hadn't been much, and she couldn't ask Layla to stay here if there was even a slight chance of a better life, but she was going to miss this place. There was no way she'd let Layla go alone, so either they both stayed or they both left. The hopeful look her brown-eyed friend gave her told her all she needed to know. She didn't know why she was even thinking about it, a summons from primes wasn't something anyone could deny. "Do we get to pack our own stuff?" she asked though she had nothing of value she'd want to take with her, making her friend squeal excitedly and hug her. The sentinels nodded, though they both seemed to be wondering what on earth they'd want to take with them.
Once outside Layla couldn't wipe the excited smile from her face when she found a carriage waiting for them. She'd never travelled in anything that was pulled by horses, but here she was, stepping into a beautiful red carriage that was pulled by four horses, their coats so black and shiny that looking at them was no different from looking at the night sky. One of the sentinels held the door open as the girls climbed in and, even though she had been in carriages before, even Nieve was awed at the beauty and comfort of the one she was in now. The pillows they sat on were so soft it felt like they'd been made that day, especially for them. The brunette felt her stomach tie up in knots; if this was how they picked up the help, how insanely rich was the city of Serenissima? Was this carriage designed to give the summoned a false sense of security, so they wouldn't make a run for it on the way?
"We're going into the dark forest?" Layla's nervous voice drew her attention. Nieve looked out the window and realised her friend was right, finally understanding why no one ever returned from that forest. Prime cities were warded off against outsiders, it was supposed to leave people so disoriented they couldn't tell up from down. Commons probably starved while trying to find their home.
"I'm sure we'll be fine," she reassured the blonde, resting a hand on her knee as she gave her a smile. "We've got sentinels protecting us," she added when the other girl still didn't seem comforted.
"I've never been this far from home," Layla murmured after a while, the realisation that her old home wasn't her home anymore hitting her harder than she'd expected. She'd lived her entire life in the same place, how had she gotten so excited about leaving that she'd forgotten that?
Nieve looked at her friend, unsure of what to say. She'd found herself in that same situation almost four years ago, the fear of losing everything she'd known a memory she'd never truly gotten over. She'd been so glad to find a place to live with Layla, but the wound had never healed. She could only hope that wherever they were going now, it'd be better than the place they were leaving behind.
"I suppose it's not really home anymore, huh?" the brown-eyed girl said, her smile portraying she hoped Serenissima was as wonderful as she'd always heard. She turned her gaze back to the forest, trees as far as the eyes could see, the canopy so thick it felt like nightfall instead of early morning. Even with the darkness the forest didn't feel as scary as she'd thought it would. She even spotted some wild animals, they all seemed to be comfortable enough.
Nieve guessed they'd been travelling just over two hours when it happened, her stomach lurched as if she'd eaten some bad stew, every move the carriage made felt like a punch to the gut. Next to her, Layla had turned a not so lovely shade of green. It was impossible to discern whether the horses turned left or right. The brunette dared a peek out of the window to see if the sentinels had the same problem, but they were chatting together, clearly not affected at all.
"Do you think we're near?" Layla asked, wondering if what they felt was the city's warding against commons.
"I hope so," her friend mumbled. She didn't want to be in the city soon, per se, but she was pretty sure the horrible feeling would end the moment they'd cross the Serenissima borders.
Sure enough, as quick as the nausea had started, as suddenly did the feeling disappear, leaving them as if nothing had happened. The girls both gasped when a city appeared before them the moment they passed a gate they were positive hadn't been there until they were passing right through it. The sounds of birds and rustling leaves were drowned out by the sudden sound of laughing children, the shouts of market vendors and music coming from more shops, bars or restaurants than either of them had seen. Not a single wooden shack in sight, every home was made of limestone, smoke coming out of chimneys as the smell of freshly baked bread filled their nostrils. Instead of dirt roads, every street was paved and clean. In the distance, on top of a hill, they could see an immense castle with high towers and a large gate, more beautiful than either could have imagined.
Layla couldn't help the smile from lighting up her face. Even Nieve had to admit everyone looked happy and well-fed, and it took her a while to realise they were all primes. The children playing in the road were passing a ball between them without touching it, a woman filled her daughter's glass by making water appear out of thin air, a vendor selling fruits changing the size of the apples in his stall to whatever his customers wanted. It all felt wrong, how could these primes have so much and not share it when only two hours away commons were literally starving to death? With every power she saw displayed before her, she hated primes more and more; it also made her hate the girl she'd been until four years ago, when her seemingly perfect life had turned its back on her.
She startled when she felt a hand on her knee and turned to Layla looking at her with worry in her brown eyes. "I'm fine," she reassured her younger friend. Sometimes she was jealous of the positivity that her blonde friend radiated; even after everything that had gone wrong in her life, she still remained hopeful for something better. Nieve hoped the blonde would find it here, even if she herself wouldn't.
"You know this is a bad idea, right? In fact, this might be one of your worst ideas," Riven said softly as he and Ryan watched the carriage pull in with Layla and Nieve in it.
"Hm, what is?" his friend asked innocently.
"You know what," the bodyguard said, giving a disapproving nod towards the blonde girl that seemed to have captured the heir's attention.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Ryan continued to play it casually. Never mind that his bodyguard could hear every thought he'd had about Layla since they'd met. Or the fact that, as the only son of Lord and Lady Simia, he was meant to be getting married to the heiress of one of the other rich families. "I'm only trying to help, you heard them say they were starving," he added, and it wasn't a lie, but it definitely was not the sole reason he'd felt the urge to help them out.
"I did," his friend nodded, accepting this half-truth because anything more said out loud would only cause trouble. He watched as the brunette that had left him feeling weary stepped out of the carriage after her friend. He wouldn't admit it to his friend, but she was the main reason he'd tried to talk his friend out of having them summoned, something about her just didn't feel right.
Ryan wanted to go and greet the girls, but before he could take a step, Riven's hand moved to his shoulder to hold him in place. 'Don't even think about it, the Simia heir does not welcome random help', the mind reader's voice rang in his mind.
"You should get ready for when your future in-laws arrive," Riven said out loud, reminding him what was supposed to be the only thing on his mind today.
"Yeah, you're right," the heir sighed, though he really didn't feel like it. He supposed Evangeline was nice enough, he knew she was beautiful, her hair as red as the flames he could conjure from his fingertips, but he didn't really know her and definitely not enough to get engaged to her. He could understand why his parents wanted them to get married; her family was almost as rich as the Simia clan was, their lands bigger than any of the others, and Evangeline was their only child. Should her parents pass away, everything they owned would be Ryan's.
Layla and Nieve couldn't believe their eyes as they took in the mansion, no palace, they were going to be working at. Neither of them had seen a building so large. Nieve tried to count the towers but was led away to a side door before she could finish. Her blonde friend clasped her hands together to stop herself from reaching for the beautiful flowers that had been planted around a massive fountain, most of them flowers she'd never seen, in colours she could never have imagined.
The sentinel that escorted them pushed a small wooden door open. The door was slightly hidden by rosebushes as if to make it appear like the place ran itself, and no workers were needed.
"Ah, Layla and Nieve, you're here. Welcome to Fort Simia," a plump, elderly woman greeted them while the girls stepped inside. The woman was clad in a simple brown dress that did nothing to hide her ample bosom and wide hips, but still seemed to flatter her. Nieve hadn't realised how warm it had gotten until she stood in the shade of the cool stone hallway. She looked at the woman warily while Layla greeted her with a smile. "I'm Mrs Pembroke, head of housekeeping," the woman continued to smile as she motioned for the girls to follow her. Nieve grabbed her friend by the hand to make sure that whatever happened, everyone would know they would be sticking together. The sentinel that had led them to the castle didn't join them, but wordlessly turned away. "You're two lucky girls, you'll be personal handmaidens to Lady Kaitlyn and Lady Evangeline. I don't know how you did it, girls here have been fighting for those jobs for quite some time. I can't remember someone new ever getting those kinds of jobs before, and I've been here for a long time," Mrs Pembroke rambled on, making the brunette even more nervous than she already was. Why had they given those jobs to two inexperienced girls from the Marsh?
Their heels clicked as they continued along the echoing hallway, the floor sloping so they were soon underground. After a few minutes of walking around, passing through doorways and turning corners left and right, the girls had no idea how to get back to the small door, and they both realised that was probably no coincidence.
Layla's stomach rumbled when they suddenly stepped into the biggest kitchen she'd ever seen. Her old house could have fitted in it four times; roof, garden and all. It was clear breakfast was being prepared in a royal way as people rushed around the kitchen. She saw eggs being made in every way possible, she counted five different kinds of bread, and smelled sausages before she saw them. Vegetables she didn't know existed were scooped into large ornamental bowls on a cart, the amount of food prepared was enough to feed Nieve and Layla for more than a month. At least twenty commons were working on the dishes while others pushed the carts away through two large swinging doors.
"Oh, you girls must be starving. Grab a roll, you can eat while we walk. The changing rooms are on the other side of the castle," their guide said motherly. She smiled and handed Layla and Nieve a roll each when they hesitated, it didn't feel right to grab something that was quite obviously prepared for some very important people. The bread was still warm to the touch. Nieve waited until Layla was eating before she carefully broke a piece off and put it in her mouth, the taste so rich, unlike anything she'd ever had. She could eat this bread for the rest of her life and still not get sick of it. She couldn't imagine the taste of the vegetables if a simple piece of bread tasted this wonderful.
"This is really good," Layla gasped, making the old woman chuckle when even stoic Nieve nodded.
"Follow the rules and you'll never go hungry again," she said, her gaze resting on the brunette meaningfully, as if she knew the grey-eyed girl had been trying to make mental notes in case she needed to run.
"Oh, we will definitely behave," Layla grinned; she would have promised the world if she could eat like this every day.
By the time they'd finished eating, they were sure they'd walked back to the Marsh, both girls wondering if Mrs Pembroke had taken a detour, so they had more time to adjust. All the hallways looked the same, how were they ever supposed to find their way?
"Don't worry, you'll figure it out soon enough," the old woman seemed to read their minds. She pushed one last door open and Nieve instantly prayed she wouldn't have to wear any of the pants she saw hanging on the racks. Everyone in the kitchen had had trousers on, most of the people they'd met in the hallways had been men, and the few women she'd seen had worn long black trousers like the sentinels that had picked them up. In fact, only Mrs Pembroke seemed to be wearing a dress, her skirt swooping around her with every step she took. She moved to the back of the room and unlocked a wardrobe with a key she'd hidden in her corset. She eyed the girls as they stood a little way away, both suddenly very aware of their dirty, old, patched clothes.
"I'll give you these for now, but you'll need bigger sizes in a while," she said, knowing a few weeks of proper meals would have the girls fill out nicely, and handing the blonde a leafy green dress and the brunette a deep purple one.
Nieve could feel the fabric was more expensive than anything she'd ever worn in her life. It was incredibly soft and smooth, and even with the layers it was lighter than the dress she had on now. The girls changed quickly, helping each other with the corset strings. Layla almost didn't recognise herself when Mrs Pembroke pinned her hair up and steered her to a mirror; she looked like royalty. It made her wonder what kind of beautiful clothes the owners of such a dwelling would wear, and for the first time she started to get genuinely nervous.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone