Midnight's Song (21 page)

“Close your eyes and look up,” she
instructed. As I did so, I was immediately met with the strange but
soothing, cool sensation of the cocoa-ash being dabbed beneath my
eyes. It also had a pleasant aroma – filling my senses with the
smell of chocolate and coconut butter. When it was over, she told
me to open them once again. “Alright, I’m done. Now open your eyes
and look!”

I opened my eyes and immediately
looked at my reflection at the bottom of a clean, glossy silver
pan. Much to my surprise, my bags had miraculously faded. My face
even had gotten back some of its normal, restful glow. Amongst this
miraculous incident, we both realized that with the clamor of pots
and pans surrounding us, we were bound to be in someone’s way. So,
we moved into a quieter area of the quarters to continue
talking.

“Want to take some morning
coffee?” Emily offered. I smiled and grabbed a small cup from a row
that had been spread out on the counter for the kitchen workers,
and we retracted to an empty stairway where we sat and began
talking.

This was a special
time. Since it was only 5 o’clock, no one else would be up in the
main house. That made this the opportune time for conversation -
yes, a conversation. Early in the morning, no one could care about
our castes or duties. We could simply just be –
human.
Up until a few months ago,
life had all been work and necessity, but now we both took a moment
to breathe. Not because either of our workloads was any lighter –
but because now we could genuinely say that in each other, we both
had a true
friend.

“Wow – this is amazing! How long did
you say the servants have been using this recipe?”

“Well, I originally said many
centuries,” Emily laughed. “But it’s actually a recipe from my
grandmum.”

We both started laughing despite our
weariness. After a few seconds though, I could tell that the
thought of her family caused her great longing. Seeing the pain in
her eyes, I quieted.

“You’re a good friend, Emily. Thank
you for doing this. You’re one of the only people in this whole
house who can keep me sane!”

“You’re a mighty good
friend to me as well! I haven’t had someone in this house I could
talk to in such a way as you. In fact, I’ve never had anyone in her
ladyship’s household as a friend before you.” Emily smiled
again.

“I like that too,” I
beamed. “I like that our places aren’t so set in stone. I hate it
when they must be so prim and proper about everything. You’re just
the same as I am.”

“You’re right,” Emily
exclaimed in reply. “We’re from the Northern Coast, and that’s
something that no one can ever take out of us! You’re such a strong
girl, Elissa. You remind me a lot of my little sister.”

There was another wind of
quiet that swept right over us. Emily didn’t talk much about her
family. When she did, I could tell that she longed to be with them
very intensely. With a region watched as strictly as mine, every
thought of home was one of concern.

“Your family at home…I know you’ve
been worried about them,” I started slowly, “You’ve never told me
very much about them. I mean…you don’t have to. I understand if it
hurts too much. I worry about my father a lot too -”

“Oh no, it’s fine.” Emily interrupted.
I could tell she might have been holding back a tear or two while
doing it. “I have a lot of siblings back at home. My mum died ages
ago, so I’ve been supporting them here ever since. But, I have one
little sister who you’ve always reminded me of in a
way.”

“What does she do?” I quizzed her
lightly, a slight smile in the corner of my mouth.

“She sings.”

My heart felt heavy, and I
knew hers did too. We both remembered the places that we came from,
those cultures that seemed so far away. They were cultures that had
been carried through time with the help of song. All of our
stories, our myths, our history – they had all been passed down
with the aid of the human voice. Thinking of this brought us each
back to the rugged, salty air of our homes. For Emily, it brought
her a thick homesickness. What resulted was a question that
honestly caught me off guard:

“Have you ever thought about what it
would be like to go back home?”

“What do you mean?” I quizzed in
reply, clearly caught off guard.

“I mean, just drop everything and
leave. To go back to your life and family, and never part from them
again…”

“I’ve thought about
it more times than I’d like to say. But…I guess it’s just now that
I’ve started to realize that things have changed. There would be
nothing left to return to, ” I suddenly stopped myself in the
middle of my answer. The longing in her eyes told me that this
wasn’t a question; it was a thought. Something meant not for me,
but for
her.
“…Are you thinking of leaving?”

“I – I don’t know,” she told me, her
voice crackling. “Things have been so confusing lately. There’s
been no time for me to figure things out. In all of these troubles
I’ve had, I just…miss them so much!”

“I know.”

Those two words were all I
knew to say at that moment, yet they still meant just as much as a
million others would have. I gave her a hug and soothingly patted
her on the back. That was when she cried. We were all at our wits
end with this turmoil going on in the empire. It felt as if we were
being held hostage by our crazed leader only to crawl even closer
to the ground than we had been forced to before! The stairwell
where we had been sitting began to rattle with footsteps, and Emily
suddenly had to collect herself. The servants were becoming busier,
and it was now nearly 5:30 in the morning.

“Don’t mind my tears, Elissa. I get
like this more often than you know. It’s time to move on to other
things,” she quickly stood up. “The early-risers of the household
will be up in an hour. Now that you’re taken care of, it’s time to
get you back to your room.” She playfully tapped the tip of my
nose. “You’re going to look beautiful for Winston.”

I grimaced. We’d been courting for a
while now, and he was still the last person I wanted to look
beautiful for!

“You know I don’t love him…” I
reluctantly sighed. “I can’t stand it, Emily!”

“Chin-up,” she flashed a bittersweet
smile. “Soon he’ll be gone.”

“But not forever…and I
fear I may not have a choice in the end,” I shuddered. “It’s always
being taken from me, and I become a puppet on strings for someone
else. If I made to marry – I want to marry someone I love. Everyone
who is made for that deserves to be with someone they’re meant for.
Don’t you believe that?”

On the other side of the
room, Jackoby was standing in full-view. He looked at Emily;
silently flashing a gesture that I knew must have meant he wanted
to see her. After a long pause, Emily answered my
question.

“I do.”

I expected Emily to leave,
but this time Jackoby came to us. He opened his mouth to speak, at
first reluctantly struggling to get out his words, knowing that I
was standing there. Still, we had an unspoken knowledge that I
wouldn’t speak of anything that went on down here just as long as
they didn’t speak of me being there. So, he quietly went on with
what he was saying.

“I need to talk to
you. There’s some matters we need to discuss with the people in our
corridor about…
October.”

“I have to take her back first –” she
explained, flashing him a look of distress. But, I cut her off. I
could tell that this wasn’t something trivial. You could sense it
in the air.

“It’s okay. I know my way
back.”

I smiled at her just to be sure and
urged them on their way. After they left, I quickly wove my way
through the servants’ corridors to make a hasty entrance back into
the house. When I reached the door that led back into the hallway,
I quickly shut it behind me and attempted not to make a sound. But,
although I had thought to have been alone – I had failed to notice
that someone was standing directly behind me.

“Having fun?” Beeti starkly exclaimed
as I pulled the door shut. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I
heard the shrill voice behind me. I turned to see her standing
there, sinisterly grinning – almost as if she had been waiting for
me the whole time.

“I – I” stammers began pouring out of
my mouth, but Beeti wouldn’t allow for it. It had been a very long
time since she’d gotten to scold me, and I was sure she wasn’t
going to let this slip away.

“What were you doing in
the servants’ quarters?” She angrily scorned. “What business could
you possibly have there? Is it with your little servant girl
friend? How about that cabby?”

“Oh no – I just, left something there.
That’s all!” I lied.

“What on earth could you have left
there?” She bitterly questioned.

“Um…food. I was hungry!” I again
proceeded to make up. Beeti quickly interrupted me
again.

“Never mind that! I’m not just angry
at you for having been there – we’ve been trying to find you for
nearly an hour, stupid girl! Winston is leaving early! He is
boarding his carriage in a half hour!”

Beeti quickly grabbed me by the arm
and whisked me to the baths so that I could be properly powdered
and made-up beyond what Emily’s cocoa-ash could do.

“Your dark circles have somehow
improved. You must have slept in then, I suppose,” Beeti remarked
as the bath attendants batted my face with noxious, allergenic face
powder. “No more nightmares?”

“No,” I bluntly replied. “I woke up at
4:45 this morning.”

“Well…your circles are
nearly gone,” she fathomed. Apparently the effects of Emily’s
special cream weren’t just evident to the servants. I kept quiet
and cracked a slight smile at the thought of having just outwitted
my rich aunt at a subject she thought she had known so well; skin
care. Time was still of the essence, so after the last blot of
power was on my face and the swift motion of a brush had painted my
lips rogue, everyone assembled their places at the front of the
manor to bid Winston farewell.

“Hurry, girls! Otherwise we’ll make it
out here after he does!” Beeti shouted at both Stella and I as we
made our way to the front of the door. As if we weren’t rushing
enough already – we were practically pushing on each other to get
out of door. I though, dreaded each step. I didn’t want to see
Winston again, not even to bid him goodbye.

The arrogant pig was
constantly looking down on my intellect – all while insisting that
somehow, even though we weren’t really even close to married; I was
his
fiancé
. I
couldn’t stand it - but as much of a strong-willed person as I
(still) am; there was nothing I could do to change it in the
situation I was in right now. At least if I had to be a temporary
slave to this, I could see a bit of relief in Winston leaving our
manor so that I could recuperate in time to prepare for my meeting
with the Magistrate.
The
Magistrate.
The thought sent a dense chill
crawling up and down my spine. Maybe Winston’s courtship wasn’t
quite so bad after all.

Then again, I won’t say that I prefer
courting him either.

“Goodbye, sweetest Celeste,” Winston
told me after placing a kiss on my hand before stepping back into
his carriage. I tried to hide the fact that I was internally
grimacing, praying for him to get into the buggy and leave with
every additional moment.

“Goodbye Winston,” I tried to tell him
sweetly. He gave me an overtly seductive glare this
time.

“I’ve enjoyed my
time here with you. I shall come back again very,
very soon.”
He gave me
another kiss on the hand. “Expect me to return around the time of
the first snowfall. After you are presented to our great ruler, I
will then be coming to make a grand
announcement.”

“Oh, how lovely!” Wren piped up from a
few feet away, clearly interrupting his exhaustingly pitiful
“seductive” glare. “Do write us and allow us to throw a grand party
in your honor when the time comes!”

“Will do, Lady Devereaux!” He grinned,
soon resuming his piercing stare. After that though, he did
something strange. He pulled me in and whispered something in my
ear. Was it to be helpful advice, or was it a precursor to
something much deeper and darker than I could think?

“Celeste, you must
fear the Magistrate.” He whispered. “When you meet him, do not step
out of line. Difficulty will surely come your way, don’t ask me how
I know. Just be sure that you and your household do nothing
scandalous in the time being. Controversy will cause you added
strife. Regardless of what happens, I will come to see you
afterward. And if things go awry, I can offer you
protection
.”
He
quickly pulled away and tipped his hat at me, acting as if he
hadn’t said a thing. I let out a deep breath, and he boarded his
carriage. As it pulled off, he shouted back in our
direction:

“I’ll be counting the days until
then!”