When Simina arrived home a few hours later, she told her Aunt Lyda and her cousins what had happened. Gloria's jaw dropped, and her eyes immediately filled with jealousy. She turned her nose up as if she'd just smelled something foul and frowned. She did it on purpose just to see the Prince.
Olivia, on the other hand, wasn't jealous. She was just shocked.
Simina thought she'd let down her father by doing this. He told her to stay out of trouble, and now look at what she'd done. She'd stolen a Prince's horse and been arrested, and now she had to be his cleaning maid just to pay for her freedom from the dungeon. Simina's mind filled with terrible thoughts about herself and wanted to cry, but figured it wouldn't do her any good. She realized that she was only taking the punishment for the consequence of stealing his horse.
That evening, she made sure to eat a hearty supper and take a nice shower, so she'd feel clean the next morning after a refreshing night of sleep. Simina thought that she'd be doing some back-breaking work since the castle was pretty big.
As Simina walked to her room after her shower, she passed Gloria's bedroom. She heard someone speaking. It was Gloria's harsh, snapping voice, which Simina had come to recognize. It sounded so mean and nasty that Simina stopped. Her ears perked. The door was slightly ajar, so she leaned closer to the opened door and listened.
"I can't stand her, Olivia. I just can't stand her," Simina heard Gloria's voice say snobbishly. She figured Gloria must be talking about her, since there could be no one else Gloria meant. Simina also assumed this because of the mean, envious looks Gloria always gave her.
"Well, what has she done to you?" Olivia questioned.
"Oh, so now you're going to take her side?" Gloria said accusingly.
Olivia sighed.
"No, Gloria, that's not what I'm saying. I'm not taking anyone's side. I'm just saying she hasn't done anything to you," Olivia protested.
Gloria sniffed indignantly.
"Yes, she has. She makes herself prettier on purpose just to be prettier than me!" Gloria shouted, and Simina heard her stomp her foot. Simina rolled her eyes. That is ridiculous. Simina never did anything on purpose to hurt anybody.
"And she probably got herself arrested on purpose, just to see the Prince, so she can marry him and get rich! That's not going to happen! I'm marrying the Prince! Not her!" Gloria's voice turned into a screech. Simina couldn't believe her ears. This girl thought that Simina wanted to marry Prince Nar. She must be out of her mind. Simina didn't have that intention at all. At the time, Simina just wanted to get out of there.
Simina had no interest at all in marrying him. His words and actions confused her, and recently she'd begun second guessing herself. Was he really all that evil? If he were as evil as the book said, he would have surely killed her by now. Why had he saved her from the crash? Why spare her after she'd stolen his beloved horse? Simina shook her head, refusing to let him cloud her judgment. He may not be evil, but he was cruel. He'd locked her in a room, tore up her letter, and nearly killed her.
"You're just jealous, Gloria. She hasn't done anything to you," Olivia told Gloria, defending Simina. Shaking her head, Simina walked away, going to her room. She didn't care what Gloria thought about her. Simina knew the truth about herself, even if other people didn't understand her.
Simina settled into her bed for the night. Once she settled, she clicked off her lamp. Simina laid her head down to her rest and fell peacefully to sleep.
The next morning, Simina rose early, feeling well-rested from her good night's sleep. She dressed for the occasion, putting on one of her old peasant dresses, which she used to wear most of the time. She brushed through her thick, curly brown locks and tied them up into a ponytail with a ribbon. It took her a half hour to dress and prepare herself. Her Aunt Lyda stopped in her doorway just as Simina grabbed her cloak.
"Your carriage is here. Good luck," Aunt Lyda told her. Simina pulled her cloak around her shoulders and buttoned it at her throat. As Simina approached the front door, she heard the neighing of a horse. She opened the door and walked out, pulling on her hood. She boarded the carriage and rode away to the castle.
Simina did not know what to expect from this job. She knew she was supposed to clean, but she didn't know if there was a particular way they wanted her to clean. She didn't know if there was a required way of doing things. Unsure, she knocked on the large castle doors. At first, no one answered. But a few seconds later, the doors opened, and from what Simina saw, they opened by themselves. She did not know how this was possible, and it creeped her out. With a weird feeling overtaking her, Simina walked in, taking slow steps.
She looked all around the foyer, feet tapping with sharp, dainty clicks on the floor. Her footsteps echoed throughout the castle. Simina heard the heavy doors slam shut behind her. Startled, she turned to look back at the doors she'd just walked through. No one was there who could have closed them; they'd closed automatically. Simina glanced all around. She didn't see anybody but heard footsteps on the stairs. She glanced toward them.
"So you came." Nar's voice boomed through the foyer, bouncing on and off the walls. Simina saw him standing halfway on the stairs, his right hand resting on the banister. Nar stood with a stature of authority, grandly, with a looseness to his posture. His posture wasn't stiff, tense, or forced. It was simply how he stood that gave him his grace.
"So I did," Simina responded. Her heart fluttered with excitement at the sight of him. Her stomach flipped and nearly catapulted out of her mouth. She cleared her throat, containing herself.
Nar started to walk down the steps, one at a time, moving very elegantly. As he walked, he never once took his eyes from Simina. She liked the graceful way he moved. She liked watching him; she admired him.
"I didn't think you would," Nar said, moving swiftly toward her. Simina tried not to focus too much on his face. Sweeping a strand of hair from her eyes, Simina gazed down at the floor between her feet. Simina didn't know what to say. She was utterly tongue-tied. She swung herself around, making her skirt twirl.
"I don't have a choice," she stated simply. Her nerves got the better of her, twisting and twirling, like a flutterbudget. Nar took in her appearance and smiled. Her beauty was more prominent in ugly peasant clothes because of the contrast. She had a slim waist, swelling breasts, a slender neck, rosy plump cheeks, and a sharp, curving jawline. Nar looked her up and down, enjoying the shape of her developed body. He wondered if her legs were just as beautiful and slender as the rest of her body under that skirt. She was just a mere peasant girl. Nar couldn't fathom why he was so drawn to her. He pictured a roaring, irresistible fire and he was the moth.
"No. You don't," Nar replied with a smirk. Simina saw Matilda rushing down the stairs with two mops, a bucket, and a pair of slippers. She came down right before her and placed the bucket at her feet. It was filled with soapy water. Matilda shoved a mop at Simina, and she was obligated to take it.
"The floor needs some serious cleaning, that's for sure. That's your first job," Matilda told Simina. Nar looked at Simina and smiled.
"Good luck," Nar smirked, and he was gone in a puff of dark purple smoke. Simina shivered, nervous.
"Oh, and you'll need to put these on." Matilda shoved a pair of slippers at her, beige slippers. Simina took them and slipped them on her feet.
"What do I need them for?" Simina wondered.
"So you won't dirty up the floor while you mop. We got work to do. First, you need to mop this whole foyer." Matilda waved her hand over the entire expanse of the foyer. Simina stared at it. She just realized how great the whole thing looked from here. Simina then realized that Matilda was the only servant she'd seen. In a castle this big, it should take a couple dozen people to maintain the cleanliness of it. Was Matilda really doing it all herself?
"You want me to mop this whole floor by myself? That will take an eternity!" Simina fussed.
"Just use your magic, dear," she said.
Simina's frustration grew. "But I...can't use magic."
"No magic?" Matilda balked. "That's certainly interesting."
"Is that how you manage to clean this whole castle by yourself?" Even using magic, it should take more than one person to clean it. Matilda would have to have a great amount of magical stamina to do this, let alone be powerful enough to channel that much magic.
"Yes." Matilda puffed up with pride. "I've been honing my magical prowess since I was a child. Every day, non stop. Since you have no magic, I suppose I could help you."
Simina breathed out in relief. "Oh, thank you."
Matilda dropped the mop she held in her hand, but instead of it clattering to the floor, it floated in mid air. Then, like it had a mind of its own, the mop dunked itself into the soapy bucket of water and began to mop the floor. Simina didn't attempt to keep up with it, as it was going twice the speed she was, but she tried her best.
However, after only a few minutes, Simina's back and arms began to hurt. She had done chores, but nothing like this before. The foyer floor now seemed enormous all of a sudden. Matilda kept Simina hustling, telling her to put some muscle into it. Simina did not like mopping at all. It caused her back pain and overworked her muscles. She was grateful for Matilda's magic mop, as it did most of the work for her, and after thirty minutes, it was finished.
After mopping, Simina was given a few minutes to rest before Matilda made her dust in one of the guest rooms. Those were only a few tasks she had to do today. But by the end of her first day, exhaustion had won and she was completely wiped out. Nar gave Simina her pay of five zyros in a pouch and then sent her away in a royal carriage to return her home.
Simina dreaded having to come back tomorrow.