It had been three days since our mad dash back to Karsvall.
The good news was, in that time, Apollo hadn’t killed anybody and I hadn’t threatened anyone with hedge clippers.
There was no bad news.
This didn’t mean that things hadn’t been eventful. They had.
At first, I was worried that it would be boring.
Sure, when I lived with Pol, we had a cleaning lady and most of his clothes were of the dry cleaning variety, and seeing as I had no job, there wasn’t much to do. But I still did our laundry, the dishes, cooked. It wasn’t like we had a house full of kids where I spent my time tidying toys or bandaging knees but I had things to do.
The second full day I was there, Cristiana did everything, like putting away the contents of my trunks that had arrived from Vasterhague and even making the bed.
This left me with nothing. I’d already made snowmen and the guys had preparations for war to carry out so I was at a loss seeing as I couldn’t hang out with them.
And then, in the afternoon, Loretta and Meeta arrived.
They were my ladies maids.
This made Cristiana’s job even easier as Apollo had brought them to the house, introduced them to me and explained their duties were to look after my “bedchamber” and my “person,” so even Cristiana didn’t have to tidy my clothes or make the bed anymore.
And seeing as I didn’t even have to look after my “person,” the presence of Loretta and Meeta meant I’d have nothing to do.
Further, Loretta either knew or had seen the other me around because she freaked way the heck out the minute she saw me (in a quiet way—that would be, her mouth dropping open and her eyes bugging out). This wasn’t unusual but it was getting tired.
Fortunately, Meeta didn’t.
And Meeta surprised me because she was black and I hadn’t seen a black person the entire time I was in that world. She was also pretty, with her hair clipped short to her head, very dark, smooth skin and a beautiful long elegant neck that was to die for. Oh, and she had very intelligent, very assessing eyes.
And last, she had an easy white smile that made me like her instantly.
But the introduction of Loretta and Meeta became a boon because, with none of the women having much to do, this meant we could spend our afternoons gabbing, which we did.
Fortunately, like everyone who knew the Ilsa before me, Loretta got over the resemblance quickly.
Unfortunately, the gabbing included Meeta matter-of-factly sharing that she was from the Southlands, a country called Maroo, and she had been a slave.
Yes.
A slave.
She then shared she was captured as a young woman and taken to another country called Keenhak where she was put into service against her will.
She also shared she wasn’t really fond of that slave business (understatement). So she conked her “master” on the head, stole some of his valuables, spirited herself into the night and traded the stuff for passage on a pirate ship that took her to the Northlands.
Yes.
A pirate ship.
No kidding, this was her story.
She got as far away as she could, that being Lunwyn.
“I will take the cold, and all these clothes,” she said in her smooth but accented voice, her graceful hand indicating her clothing. “And do it happily to earn a wage and lay my head down free every night.”
I was totally with her.
I’d also learned that Loretta had been laid by Hans. This I found because the guys still came around even if their strategy sessions were no longer held at the house. And I found it when he walked in, totally ignored her and greeted me like I was his long lost sister even though he’d seen me two days before.