Ella should have known better. She should have known that while Madam and the girls made it seem like they were leaving right away, they really would have come home first. She should have expected them, and their carriage, to be waiting there for her when she’d made the long on foot treck back home.
But she didn’t. She closed the kitchen door behind her, thinking all would be fine. She went upstairs, humming to herself to fold and put away all the new purchases with the prince’s kind words still echoing in her head. Madam was waiting for her in the parlor, though, when she came back down to start cleaning. And her face was nearly demonic in its fury. Ella didn’t even have time to shrink away before those talon like hands closed like a vice into her golden curls. She was in for this time…
When the three ladies finally left, it took Ella good five dizzying minutes to pull herself from the floor. Her face stung and hurt, and she could feel something warm and sticky around her mouth. She needed to clean herself and the floor up before she could do anything. It was perhaps the longest, hardest treck to the kitchen she’d ever had. But the pail of cool water from the well felt good on her aching skin.
She’d barely made her way back up the stairs when she heard the knocking. Oh no… Who could that be? As quickly and carefully as she could, Ella made her way to the door and cracked it open. “Can I help you?” She asked, trying to hide her face.
When she saw the princess, though, Ella gasped and pulled open all the way, giving a frightened curtsey. “Your Highness. I’m so sorry. I was in the kitchen at the back of the house and I didn’t hear…”
If only she knew of the ugly red handprint on her cheek, and the blood she hadn’t totally managed to clear from under her nose. But Ella was clueless, and tried to carry on as normally as possible. Madam’s words, half remembered through her terror, rang in her head. Utter embarrassment… Never again… Shame… Good for nothing… Useless… “What can I do for you, my princess?”
Allegra expected that Ella would be the one to answer the door. If her information was correct - and it always was - not only was Ella the only servant left on the property, but that she was a sort of indentured servant. It was one of the reasons why Allegra insisted on being the one to pay her a visit. No girl of noble blood should be reduced to the position of an indentured servant. Not even if her father was of minor nobility and the girl in question an orphan.
The door opened and Allegra smiled sweetly, but her eyes widened and her face fell at the sight before her.
The girl had a bright red handprint on her cheek, and there was some blood under her nose that wasn’t fully cleaned up. She was clearly shaken up and she looked like she was near tears, and Allegra wondered if she had suffered any other injuries.
“Darling, it’s perfectly alright,” she said with a kind smile. “I came by to see you, actually. That is, if your name is Ella, which I assume it is. I’ve met those wretched Tremaine girls as well as their mother, and you don’t look anything like them. Anyhow, my brother told me about you, and he expressed an interest in checking up on you himself. However, with him being a bachelor and you being a maiden...and the way people talk...well, we both agreed it was better if I paid you a visit. And I’m certainly glad I did.”
Her eyes left Ella’s face and she scanned the outside of the property, her smile widening.
“I must say, this home is incredibly beautiful, with a sort of charm one can only find in fairy tales. I’ve always wanted to grow up in a home that looked like just like this. You might be surprised to hear that coming from someone who’s lived in castles all of her life, but I suppose we all want what we cannot have. Now, may I have a look at the interior of the home?”
