The King's Lover
Chapter 40: Mistress Edith

Chapter 40: Mistress Edith

"You best speak, young lady. I don’t have the patience for this. I will throw you into the dungeons and report to the Queen that you are nothing but a nuisance that should be severely punished," Mistress Edith said, stepping closer to Rose.

They were still in the confines of the small room. The open window and the dying candlelight were the only sources of light. Rose could barely see Mistress Edith’s face, but she could tell the woman wasn’t lying. If she didn’t defend herself, she would end up in a worse situation than she already was.

The front of the room was crowded with other servants who had been drawn to the commotion. Rose couldn’t hear what was being said, but there was a lot of snickering and shocked reactions.

Rose took a deep breath as she got ready to recount her side of the story.

"I received a few t’ings from ’ome," Rose winced at her dialect, but Mistress Edith didn’t even react. "A few clot’es and two carved pieces. One is a flute—I’ve ’ad it for a few years. The second is two swallows on a branch. Mi father made t’em for me. ’E’s a woodwrig’t. Martha took t’em from mi bag w’en I was in the dungeons." Rose’s eyes pooled with tears as she spoke, but she didn’t let them fall.

"I c’ecked mi bag after I woke up, and t’ey were missin’. I knew it was ’er immediately, and my guts were rig’t. I found the flute on mi bed in ’er bag, and..." Rose’s voice broke a little, "w’en I asked ye about the swallows, ye said ye burnt it!" She pointed her finger at Martha.

Gasps echoed through the audience, and a few people whispered about how cruel that was.

"It’s mi weddin’ present," she said as she wiped the tears from her face, "and ye destroyed it!" Rose glared at her, her anger far from subsiding. This wasn’t something she could forgive.

Mistress Edith’s brows furrowed, and she turned to face Martha. "Is this true?"

"Of course not!" Martha replied. "I didn’t even know she had carved pieces. She just attacked me out of nowhere." She wailed at the end of her words, trying to garner sympathy. "She’s crazy! See what she did to my face. She attacked me and clawed at my eyes."

Mistress Edith was at a loss. There was no proof that any of what Rose had just said was true, but she had heard about what happened earlier—how Martha had thrown her into the dungeons for no reason.

"Does anyone know you have these items, Rose?" Edith asked.

Rose’s eyes darted around and then rested on the floor. "Not really." There was no way she could say the crown prince knew, or at least one of his guards did.

"This is troublesome. Did anyone see Martha burn anything?" she asked.

The girls shook their heads as they looked from one person to the other. "No," echoed through the confines of the room and outside of it.

"Why would I touch her things? They’re disgusting. I’ll have to burn everything of mine that she touched."

"Rose," Edith called. "It’s a little hard to believe your story," she started to say.

Rose nodded. She hadn’t expected anything less, and she would have been able to bear any punishment if it meant she got the swallows back.

"It’s pretty clear you attacked Martha. It wasn’t a fight. I can’t let that go without punishment, and you’re accusing Martha without proof..."

"I found mi flute in ’er—"

"Don’t interrupt me. For all we know, you could have ransacked her room for nothing. The flute is on your bed, is it not?"

"I only—"

"Answer my question."

"Yah," Rose said dejectedly.

"However, Martha already accused you wrongly, so I’d say that’s fair. But I will punish you for attacking her. You will be required to clean the south wing, all by yourself, for one week," Mistress Edith stated.

"Mistress Edith!" Edna cried. "That’s too much. Rose wouldn’t be able to clean more than a few rooms in a day, let alone the whole wing—and for her to do that for a week? She clearly acted out of anger, but she isn’t the sort of person to just lash out. Everyone knows Martha has been picking on her since she got here."

"Is this true?" Mistress Edith asked, but no one answered. They all kept quiet.

"Not one person can back what Edna just said?" Mistress Edith asked, clearly angry. freeNovelFire

Whispers could be heard floating into the room, but none of the words were clear enough to understand.

"I will assume that there is almost no truth to what you’ve just told me, Edna. Rose, you will be required to clean the wing. Any of the maids who want to help, can, and if they refuse, you must make sure all the rooms are clean and the halls spotless. I will come around to check, and next time, you’ll think twice about attacking another maid. Should anything happen, inform your superior." .com

Rose nodded, and Mistress Edith walked out of the room. The girls scrambled out of the way. "If I hear one more thing about you girls fighting tonight, you’ll sleep under the night sky."

Rose stood to her feet and walked to her bed. Martha fearfully got out of the way when she came close. She picked up the flute and carefully placed it into her bag.

"Thank ye, Edna," she said. "Sorry for draggin’ you into this."

"What are you talking about? Sorry I couldn’t help much." She turned to Martha. "How can you do that to Rose? Has she ever done anything to you?" fr eewe(b)nove.l.co\m

Martha glared at her. "How dare you support an outsider? You think I’d ever touch her things?"

Martha crawled to her section as she tried to salvage her clothes. She muttered as she put them in her bag. "I can’t believe she got away with such an easy punishment. Look at what she did to my face. It is going to scar."