Around the same time, three figures had gathered in the household’s kitchen. One was Roy, the cook, a man with bushy eyebrows and an iron-willed stare who stood with his hairy arms folded. The old man with closely cropped salt-and-pepper hair was Tomus.
“How come Tomus is here?” demanded the third, a maid by the name of Sonya, with long blue hair tied back in a ponytail. She was slender and tall—taller even than most men—and it was she who had been put in charge of instructing Nina when the girl first joined the household. It was also Sonya who immediately realized that in Nina’s case, no “instruction” was necessary. Little Nina and tall, gangly Sonya had become fast friends, and over the last five years, they had often worked together.
“Why d’ya think I’m here?” Tomus shot back at her. “I heard the housekeeper called in li’l Nina, and I know that can’t mean anything good.”
“I didn’t like the sound of it either,” Sonya admitted. “I found a maid to tell me the whole story...” Her lips trembled with fury as she related how Nina had been framed for smashing a vase in the treasure gallery and dismissed, and how Nina, forbidden from speaking to the other servants, had left without saying goodbye, leaving Sonya herself to learn all this only just now.
When she finished, silence fell in the kitchen. Then—
Roy got to his feet, and Tomus grabbed his arm. “Whoa, there, Roy. Where d’ya think yer going with that knife?”
“Only one thing to do,” Roy growled. “I’m gonna slit that old hag’s throat.”
“Don’t talk nonsense! What’s got into you?”
“Huh,” said Sonya. “It’s actually one of Roy’s better ideas.”
“Oi! Don’t you start, Sonya. Let’s all settle down.”
But despite Tomus’s attempts, Roy was not placated. “Maybe it was the housekeeper, maybe it was another maid. Someone broke that vase and pinned the blame on Nina! The only cure for scum like that is death!”
“And what then?” Tomus demanded. “Killing the housekeeper won’t change anything. It’ll make sorrow for li’l Nina, and it won’t bring her home, will it? They’ll cart you off, put a noose round yer neck, and that’ll be the end of it.”
“Dammit...” Roy muttered, but he reluctantly put the knife down.
“So there’s nothing we can do...? I can’t stand it.” Sonya looked down, her eyes glistening with tears. “This shouldn’t have happened to Nina... She was more devoted and hardworking than anyone else in this house...”
“Don’t you cry now,” Tomus told her. “If anyone oughta shed tears, it’s li’l Nina. More to the point, what house d’ya reckon she’ll go to next? If they’re short a gardener, I’d put in my application.”
“Say what? Don’t think you’re getting out of here before me, old man.”
“What’s stopping you from applying to be a cook?”
“Oh, yeah...”
“AAAH!” Sonya cried out so loudly that Roy and Tomus clapped their hands over their ears. “N-N-Nina!” she exclaimed. “She won’t have a reference letter!”
“S-She what now?!” Tomus spluttered.
“That damn housekeeper!” Roy growled.
“It’s absolutely unforgivable. What do you think? Poison?” Sonya spun around to dash from the room, but Tomus grabbed her shoulder with his right hand then Roy’s shoulder with his left as the cook picked up his knife again.
The two of them had a reason for wanting to rush off in a fury. A maid’s job required her to live in her master’s house, which meant she had to be trustworthy, with a spotless background and credentials. The way one proved this was with a reference letter. So long as a maid had a reference letter, she’d never have to worry about finding her next job—especially when that reference letter came from the household of a count.
But the housekeeper would not have given one to Nina. The official story was that Nina had been fired for breaking a vase. It would be highly unusual to give such a person a reference.
“Tomus, let me go!”
“I’m gonna kill her.”
“Yer not listening! Violence now won’t do any good! Enough of this!”
For crying out loud, Tomus thought as he restrained the other two. Li’l Nina’s scarcely out the door and already this is what we’re reduced to.
Tomus was all too aware of how much they owed Nina.
The three of them—a gardener, a cook, and a maid—had entirely different jobs, and yet they worked together rather a lot. The gardener gathered firewood for the kitchen, the cook prepared the meals, and the maid set up the garden for tea parties. And the one who acted as coordinator for all these sundry tasks had been Nina. A word to her would see that all ran smoothly, and they could get their work done without difficulties.
She didn’t stand out. As a result, many took it for granted that their work went well.
“It ain’t easy for me either,” Tomus said. “What d’ya think’s gonna happen with half the jobs around the house? It was only Nina holdin’ it all together.”
“R-Right! This is a disaster...” agreed Sonya, her face turning pale. “What’re we gonna do? Who’s going to wait on those impossible-to-please mages without Nina?”
“Guess it’ll be up to you, Sonya.”
“No no no, no WAY! Remember when Nina caught a merchant trying to sell us a counterfeit painting? I can’t do that!”
A long silence followed this. Roy and Tomus shared a look.
“What I want to know is how she even learned to do all that...” Roy mused.
“Aye, as do I,” agreed Tomus. “But the important thing is what’s gonna happen now she’s gone. When all’s said and done, we’re just servants. I just wonder if the count and his wife realize how bad this is gonna be...”
A heavy silence fell in the kitchen.
✦ ✦ ✦
“So, uh, what do we do with this?”
“Who cares? It’s not like we need it.”
“Right? I’ll tidy it up before it gets in the way.”
One of the maids picked up the notes Nina had left in the corridor, then proceeded to toss them into the waste incinerator.
“B-B-Broken?! My vase?!”
Count Mirkwood, master of the house, could not help the cry that escaped him when he was apprised of what had happened upon his return home. He was a plump man whose short stature made him appear fat. Although he was only in his late forties, his hair had grown rather thin, and in his agitation at the news of his broken vase, the wig perched on his head slipped out of place.
The butler and housekeeper cringed back. Incidentally, the housekeeper had apprised the butler of the truth of the situation.
“M-My lord, your hair is askew...”
“My hair be damned! What is the meaning of this?! Explain yourselves!” the count demanded as he hastily fixed his wig. Before him, plain as day, lay the shattered vase. Repair might have been possible had the pieces remained intact, but some had been reduced to dust as though they’d been trampled on, and others had scratched one another, perhaps when someone had gathered them up carelessly.
“W-Well, my lord,” the housekeeper began. “The truth is, a maid broke it while she was cleaning...”
“And where is this maid?!”
“F-Fear not, my lord! I dismissed her!”
“Fool!” he bellowed. “Bring her to me! I wish to punish her directly!”
“Eh?!” Panic gripped the housekeeper.
She had framed Nina and turned her out of the house but stopped short of demanding the girl pay for damages. This was less out of the goodness of her heart, and more because had Nina opposed her, it would have been inconvenient. She’d thought that something along the lines of “The culprit is sacked! Problem solved!” would convince the count. But apparently, it wasn’t enough.
“Find the maid!” the count declared. “Put a bounty on her head!”
Nina’s bounty was set at one million gold.