Tue Jun 24, 2014 12:27 am by 
Chapter 1:
The sound of snow crunching beneath my boots continued to echo through the empty night, the fog of my breath the only visible thing to my eyes past the blowing storm, everything else beyond was nothing but blank, flickering white. I had reached the final stretch of my journey, the light of the fabled castle so close, but the sight betrayed the true distance one had to travel. I pushed onwards, past the discomfort and the bleeding cold, the only thing that kept me going was the thought of finally getting my greatest desire.
As I continued up the trail, I noticed after so long that I could no longer feel my toes, or my feet for that matter. The cold and dampness most likely caused the blackness to wrap around my foot, proving that it the piece of my body is no longer alive. But that was something that I could worry about later, compared to what I was there to do, nothing was more important, nothing wasn’t up for possible sacrifice.
After what seemed like forever, I finally managed to reach the castle grounds, following the light that had pierced through the darkness. Looking up at the castle, I couldn’t help but admire the style of the ancient gargoyles, their appearance would have likely struck fear into the hearts of the bravest men back in the old times. Finally letting the cold get to me, I began to shiver, knocking onto the hard wooden door, trying to get attention to be let in. The sting of the cold with my weak hands caused me to cringe and hide my hands underneath my cloak, trying to warm them and ease the pain. With no reply to my initial knock, I knocked again, harder this time, instead using the bottom of my hand instead of the knuckles.
The castle must have been relatively empty, because despite the howling wind and crashing snow, I could still hear a small pitter patter of footsteps inside. Like a small child, a figure, a woman, opened the door a slowly peeked out. Her nature did not express her appearance however, for when she opened the door, the woman revealed her full attire. Her style of clothing was rather scandalous for a woman such as myself, her skirt so short that it actually went up past her knees. Cloth wrapped around her legs tightly and her shoes were rather tame in comparison. At best, I assumed that this woman standing before me was some sort of maid, who wore clothes based on her master’s taste. In addition to her clothing, the woman’s appearance was somewhat off-putting as well. Her skin was as white as snow, it was pale to the point that she possibly looked ill, were it not for the fact that her figure gave the impression that she was a beauty beyond normal measure. Her eyes were surrounded with a shadow of dark, possibly make-up or something similar. All of this gave this woman the appearance of a porcelain doll, delicate and small.
“Oh you must be the new girl” The maid said suddenly, her voice giving off the impression that she was looking down on me, both as a woman, and as an elder. “It must have been tough travelling at this time of the year, being so young as well! Tell me, did you really travel here all alone?”
“Um... yes” I said hesitantly, this woman was too familiar, it was as if she assumed that we’d be friends or something. Though it might be something I could use to my advantage. “I couldn’t leave any later, my rent was about to run out, so this position is a godsend”
“Oh no dear, you mustn’t put this on God” The woman replied, surprising me, normally people were so devout. It was strange to hear someone denying God to the point of arguing against a expression “It was Master who made that opening. He was growing bored with his current servants, so he thought that someone younger would bring new life to the castle. I’m sure he’ll be happy to meet you”
“Well maybe” I said reluctantly, whether or not this “Master” thought that I was entertaining or not. I had my own agenda for coming here, and I wasn’t here to become “entertainment”. In the middle of my thoughts, I was suddenly touched by the woman, whose hands decided to begin removing my clothes. Caught off guard, I began to struggle, but despite her delicate looks, and my advantage in height, this woman still managed to halt my protests. “Hey! What are you doin-?”
“Shh... You must be freezing in all these wet clothes. I’ve got a set of clothes for you, you’re about my size so you might be able to fit into them” The woman said as she removed my clothes, leaving me with my bare undergarments, basically naked in front of a stranger. Upon removing my boots, my purpling feet revealed itself, it wasn’t black, but it might as well have been a lost cause. But instead of screaming like I would have expected, the woman grabbed my foot with force enough to send me off balance and onto my bottom. “Luckily I found this when I did, any longer and you might have lost this foot”
After removing the last vestiges of my modesty and putting me in the waters of the brass bathtub, the woman left me to my own devices. The bath was heavenly in comparison to the weather outside, after about a minutes soak, I noticed that I could feel my toes again. Putting my leg above the water, I examined my foot to see its current condition. Finding the purple began to lighten, I wiggled my toes for emphasis breathed a sigh of relief that I didn’t have to lose it. I didn’t know what they put in the water, but whatever it was, it was working. I hugged the warmth of the bath like a blanket, letting it seep in as it pushed away the cold from my body, giving my skin a light blush as the blood started rushing back through the open veins. Letting my knotted muscles relax, I lied back on my head and closed my eyes, letting the peace of silence clear my thoughts from the pain I was feeling. The appearance of the bathing room itself helped with the relaxing atmosphere, it was small and cozy, lit by lamps with bright candles within them. If I wasn’t there for an entirely different reason except for relaxation, I may have actually liked it.
After what seemed like forever floating in the warm waters, the silence was broken by the small pitter patter of footsteps. Opening my eyes towards the door, I watched as the maid returned, carrying some white cotton towels in the crook of her arm. She looked at me as if she was expecting something, looking at her quizzingly, I tried to figure out why she was just standing there.
“Um.. Can I help you?” I asked confused, I thought she was just bringing me towels, but it didn’t seem to be the case. Still, it was safer to ask than to just sit there staring at her like an imbecile while she acted like I was already supposed to know the routines of the house.
“I’ve brought you towels” She replied simply, stating the obviousness of the situation, showing no real emotional cue. Pondering on that for a moment, the idea finally came to me. I was wet, in a bath that was almost completely full and my leg was currently suffering from possible frostbite and gangrene so it was obvious she wanted to see. Rising up from the bath, I began to feel somewhat dizzy as I stepped over onto the tile floor. I thought it was strange, but then I decided that it was most likely due to the fact that my body hadn’t adjusted to the change in temperature so my blood was rushing to my head. “Good, you’re all better, good as new”
Looking down, I saw that my foot looked as if it never had frostbite in the first place, the appendage was clear and red from the flowing blood, no evidence of any problems. I didn’t know what was in that water, but at that point, I was beginning to wonder if I could keep a bottle of it. Without warning, the maid began to wipe my body off, starting at my legs and slowly beginning to creep around to my torso and the rest of my body, using her fingers to mold the towel around my body in order to get every little bit of moisture.
“Hey what are you doing?!” I demanded as she continued to wipe me off despite my protests, for such a small girl she was surprisingly strong, must have a lot of muscles hidden within those delicate looking arms. Not seeing that anyway that she’d stop, and to avoid hurting ourselves on the damp floor, I decided that it was best to just lie back and let her do her job. Still, I wasn’t one to appreciate being treated like a child, and folded my arms disapprovingly. “I can clean myself you know, I’m not some child you picked off the streets”
“How little you know” The maid giggled as she continued to work on me, her hands touching me in ways that even a lover would not, cleaning every single nook and cranny that my body had in order to liberate it of any droplets of water. Once she was finished, she pulled out a small bottle from her apron pocket. “There is a strict order of cleanliness in this household and a system to ensure that we are clean while we are serving the Master. Since you are new, the rest of us are to clean you while you are still learning, until you get used to the procedure.”
Pouring a clear liquid from the bottle, the maid began to rub the oily substance all over my body, making a run through all of the places that she previously had dried. Despite myself, I couldn’t help but blush, no one had ever touched me so intimately, and the sensations of her rubbing the oil on my skin left a warm afterglow on my mind. Once she was finished, the oil on my skin was barely noticeable in terms of sensation, but my skin practically shone with the low light. I looked as if I was made out of the finest glass, and pleasantly warm feeling kept me in a positive haze.
“Now it’s time to get you into your new clothes”
That snapped my attention back to reality, for from what seemed like out of nowhere, the maid had pulled out a neat bundle of clothing. From the looks of it, it seemed to be a replica of the maid’s outfit. Grabbing the towel, I retreated from the unspoken suggestion. It was obvious that she was expecting me to wear that scandalous outfit. It wasn’t that I was unattractive, I’ve had many suitors in my life in the village, despite being an orphan. But no matter how good I did or did not look, I still didn’t like the look of it. It was demeaning, the skirt was extremely short, the moment one bends over their undergarments would be displayed all over. But despite my disagreement, the Maid edged closer, but this was one battle I really didn’t want to lose.
“I’m not wearing that!” I said adamantly, if I had any choice in this matter, I wouldn’t even dare wear such clothing, as my pride as woman, no a human being. But no matter how hard I protested, the Maid continued her approach, remaining calm and pleasant no matter how much I kicked up a tantrum. But when she saw I was making no leeway, she stopped moving. After about 30 seconds of silence, she finally opened her lips to speak, but I cut her off before she had the chance to utter the words. “I don’t care what your boss’ tastes are, I’m not wearing those awful clothes!”
“Well you’re last batch of clothes were beyond saving, so we threw them out, all that’s left around the castle for a woman are these maid clothes, and this” The Maid said calmly smiling as she pulled out a nightgown from underneath the maid outfit. Normally I would have prefered a nightgown over what I had, but the fabric of the gown was practically see through. “Take your pick, or would you rather you stay outside in the nude, I’m sure Master would enjoy seeing that”
As I nearly lashed out another protest, I realized that there was no winning choice in this situation, only a choice that is the lesser of many evils. Seeing no other way out of this, I extended my hand and attempted to grab at the clothing, but The Maid retracted her arm and my fingers grabbed at thin air. I looked at her confused, didn’t she want me to wear the stupid uniform? Did she want to put on the clothes for me?
“I can get changed by myself” I said defensively, I was getting tired of this woman treating me as if I were some ignorant brat.
“I know full well, but Master tells us to always help the new girls into their uniforms for the first time” She said without hesitation, as if everything she was saying was common sense, her tone was beginning to get on my nerves. “He says that a little skinship will help us get to know each other better, and be a better team”
It was obvious that I wasn’t going to get out of the situation without agreeing to their terms, so I reluctantly raised my arms and allowed the Maid to have her way with me. First she began to place cloth on my body, looking similar to undergarments, around my chest. As I looked at her quizzingly, The Maid looked up and smiled at my lack of knowledge.
“This is called a brassiere, it’ll help support your...assets” She said positively. Soon afterwards, she assisted me in putting on what she called stockings and then moved onto the main dress. The dress was a simple black one with an apron at the front, but a skirt that was very short, luckily I had extra covering from my stockings. The collar of the dress was lowered, allowing some view of my chest, much to my dislike. It seemed as though I was dressed for some man’s sick fantasy. As she was putting on the skirt, I felt a sharp pain from behind, something must have pinched me. “Sorry, I didn’t get the pin right. So, may I ask what your name is?”
At first I didn’t hear the question, for some reason the rush of blood was still going to my head, my head felt light and my focus seemed to go in every which direction. But when she repeated it, it came to me that I hadn’t even given my name to anyone, but still they seemed to know that I was the right person who accepted the job. Perhaps it was because I was the only person to take the job, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling of uncertainty.
“My name is Celeste” I answered with a dazed voice, for some reason I was feeling so out of it, I thought it must have been the change in temperature.
“My name is Bianca” The Maid informed me, grabbing my by the hand. Once we were out of the bathroom, a sensation that had never occurred to me became apparent. As I was being lead towards the main hall, despite just being in a warm bath not even five minutes earlier, and in newly washed warm clothes. Despite all of that, I couldn’t help but feel that the little pale hand pulling me along was strangely cold...
The sound of snow crunching beneath my boots continued to echo through the empty night, the fog of my breath the only visible thing to my eyes past the blowing storm, everything else beyond was nothing but blank, flickering white. I had reached the final stretch of my journey, the light of the fabled castle so close, but the sight betrayed the true distance one had to travel. I pushed onwards, past the discomfort and the bleeding cold, the only thing that kept me going was the thought of finally getting my greatest desire.
As I continued up the trail, I noticed after so long that I could no longer feel my toes, or my feet for that matter. The cold and dampness most likely caused the blackness to wrap around my foot, proving that it the piece of my body is no longer alive. But that was something that I could worry about later, compared to what I was there to do, nothing was more important, nothing wasn’t up for possible sacrifice.
After what seemed like forever, I finally managed to reach the castle grounds, following the light that had pierced through the darkness. Looking up at the castle, I couldn’t help but admire the style of the ancient gargoyles, their appearance would have likely struck fear into the hearts of the bravest men back in the old times. Finally letting the cold get to me, I began to shiver, knocking onto the hard wooden door, trying to get attention to be let in. The sting of the cold with my weak hands caused me to cringe and hide my hands underneath my cloak, trying to warm them and ease the pain. With no reply to my initial knock, I knocked again, harder this time, instead using the bottom of my hand instead of the knuckles.
The castle must have been relatively empty, because despite the howling wind and crashing snow, I could still hear a small pitter patter of footsteps inside. Like a small child, a figure, a woman, opened the door a slowly peeked out. Her nature did not express her appearance however, for when she opened the door, the woman revealed her full attire. Her style of clothing was rather scandalous for a woman such as myself, her skirt so short that it actually went up past her knees. Cloth wrapped around her legs tightly and her shoes were rather tame in comparison. At best, I assumed that this woman standing before me was some sort of maid, who wore clothes based on her master’s taste. In addition to her clothing, the woman’s appearance was somewhat off-putting as well. Her skin was as white as snow, it was pale to the point that she possibly looked ill, were it not for the fact that her figure gave the impression that she was a beauty beyond normal measure. Her eyes were surrounded with a shadow of dark, possibly make-up or something similar. All of this gave this woman the appearance of a porcelain doll, delicate and small.
“Oh you must be the new girl” The maid said suddenly, her voice giving off the impression that she was looking down on me, both as a woman, and as an elder. “It must have been tough travelling at this time of the year, being so young as well! Tell me, did you really travel here all alone?”
“Um... yes” I said hesitantly, this woman was too familiar, it was as if she assumed that we’d be friends or something. Though it might be something I could use to my advantage. “I couldn’t leave any later, my rent was about to run out, so this position is a godsend”
“Oh no dear, you mustn’t put this on God” The woman replied, surprising me, normally people were so devout. It was strange to hear someone denying God to the point of arguing against a expression “It was Master who made that opening. He was growing bored with his current servants, so he thought that someone younger would bring new life to the castle. I’m sure he’ll be happy to meet you”
“Well maybe” I said reluctantly, whether or not this “Master” thought that I was entertaining or not. I had my own agenda for coming here, and I wasn’t here to become “entertainment”. In the middle of my thoughts, I was suddenly touched by the woman, whose hands decided to begin removing my clothes. Caught off guard, I began to struggle, but despite her delicate looks, and my advantage in height, this woman still managed to halt my protests. “Hey! What are you doin-?”
“Shh... You must be freezing in all these wet clothes. I’ve got a set of clothes for you, you’re about my size so you might be able to fit into them” The woman said as she removed my clothes, leaving me with my bare undergarments, basically naked in front of a stranger. Upon removing my boots, my purpling feet revealed itself, it wasn’t black, but it might as well have been a lost cause. But instead of screaming like I would have expected, the woman grabbed my foot with force enough to send me off balance and onto my bottom. “Luckily I found this when I did, any longer and you might have lost this foot”
After removing the last vestiges of my modesty and putting me in the waters of the brass bathtub, the woman left me to my own devices. The bath was heavenly in comparison to the weather outside, after about a minutes soak, I noticed that I could feel my toes again. Putting my leg above the water, I examined my foot to see its current condition. Finding the purple began to lighten, I wiggled my toes for emphasis breathed a sigh of relief that I didn’t have to lose it. I didn’t know what they put in the water, but whatever it was, it was working. I hugged the warmth of the bath like a blanket, letting it seep in as it pushed away the cold from my body, giving my skin a light blush as the blood started rushing back through the open veins. Letting my knotted muscles relax, I lied back on my head and closed my eyes, letting the peace of silence clear my thoughts from the pain I was feeling. The appearance of the bathing room itself helped with the relaxing atmosphere, it was small and cozy, lit by lamps with bright candles within them. If I wasn’t there for an entirely different reason except for relaxation, I may have actually liked it.
After what seemed like forever floating in the warm waters, the silence was broken by the small pitter patter of footsteps. Opening my eyes towards the door, I watched as the maid returned, carrying some white cotton towels in the crook of her arm. She looked at me as if she was expecting something, looking at her quizzingly, I tried to figure out why she was just standing there.
“Um.. Can I help you?” I asked confused, I thought she was just bringing me towels, but it didn’t seem to be the case. Still, it was safer to ask than to just sit there staring at her like an imbecile while she acted like I was already supposed to know the routines of the house.
“I’ve brought you towels” She replied simply, stating the obviousness of the situation, showing no real emotional cue. Pondering on that for a moment, the idea finally came to me. I was wet, in a bath that was almost completely full and my leg was currently suffering from possible frostbite and gangrene so it was obvious she wanted to see. Rising up from the bath, I began to feel somewhat dizzy as I stepped over onto the tile floor. I thought it was strange, but then I decided that it was most likely due to the fact that my body hadn’t adjusted to the change in temperature so my blood was rushing to my head. “Good, you’re all better, good as new”
Looking down, I saw that my foot looked as if it never had frostbite in the first place, the appendage was clear and red from the flowing blood, no evidence of any problems. I didn’t know what was in that water, but at that point, I was beginning to wonder if I could keep a bottle of it. Without warning, the maid began to wipe my body off, starting at my legs and slowly beginning to creep around to my torso and the rest of my body, using her fingers to mold the towel around my body in order to get every little bit of moisture.
“Hey what are you doing?!” I demanded as she continued to wipe me off despite my protests, for such a small girl she was surprisingly strong, must have a lot of muscles hidden within those delicate looking arms. Not seeing that anyway that she’d stop, and to avoid hurting ourselves on the damp floor, I decided that it was best to just lie back and let her do her job. Still, I wasn’t one to appreciate being treated like a child, and folded my arms disapprovingly. “I can clean myself you know, I’m not some child you picked off the streets”
“How little you know” The maid giggled as she continued to work on me, her hands touching me in ways that even a lover would not, cleaning every single nook and cranny that my body had in order to liberate it of any droplets of water. Once she was finished, she pulled out a small bottle from her apron pocket. “There is a strict order of cleanliness in this household and a system to ensure that we are clean while we are serving the Master. Since you are new, the rest of us are to clean you while you are still learning, until you get used to the procedure.”
Pouring a clear liquid from the bottle, the maid began to rub the oily substance all over my body, making a run through all of the places that she previously had dried. Despite myself, I couldn’t help but blush, no one had ever touched me so intimately, and the sensations of her rubbing the oil on my skin left a warm afterglow on my mind. Once she was finished, the oil on my skin was barely noticeable in terms of sensation, but my skin practically shone with the low light. I looked as if I was made out of the finest glass, and pleasantly warm feeling kept me in a positive haze.
“Now it’s time to get you into your new clothes”
That snapped my attention back to reality, for from what seemed like out of nowhere, the maid had pulled out a neat bundle of clothing. From the looks of it, it seemed to be a replica of the maid’s outfit. Grabbing the towel, I retreated from the unspoken suggestion. It was obvious that she was expecting me to wear that scandalous outfit. It wasn’t that I was unattractive, I’ve had many suitors in my life in the village, despite being an orphan. But no matter how good I did or did not look, I still didn’t like the look of it. It was demeaning, the skirt was extremely short, the moment one bends over their undergarments would be displayed all over. But despite my disagreement, the Maid edged closer, but this was one battle I really didn’t want to lose.
“I’m not wearing that!” I said adamantly, if I had any choice in this matter, I wouldn’t even dare wear such clothing, as my pride as woman, no a human being. But no matter how hard I protested, the Maid continued her approach, remaining calm and pleasant no matter how much I kicked up a tantrum. But when she saw I was making no leeway, she stopped moving. After about 30 seconds of silence, she finally opened her lips to speak, but I cut her off before she had the chance to utter the words. “I don’t care what your boss’ tastes are, I’m not wearing those awful clothes!”
“Well you’re last batch of clothes were beyond saving, so we threw them out, all that’s left around the castle for a woman are these maid clothes, and this” The Maid said calmly smiling as she pulled out a nightgown from underneath the maid outfit. Normally I would have prefered a nightgown over what I had, but the fabric of the gown was practically see through. “Take your pick, or would you rather you stay outside in the nude, I’m sure Master would enjoy seeing that”
As I nearly lashed out another protest, I realized that there was no winning choice in this situation, only a choice that is the lesser of many evils. Seeing no other way out of this, I extended my hand and attempted to grab at the clothing, but The Maid retracted her arm and my fingers grabbed at thin air. I looked at her confused, didn’t she want me to wear the stupid uniform? Did she want to put on the clothes for me?
“I can get changed by myself” I said defensively, I was getting tired of this woman treating me as if I were some ignorant brat.
“I know full well, but Master tells us to always help the new girls into their uniforms for the first time” She said without hesitation, as if everything she was saying was common sense, her tone was beginning to get on my nerves. “He says that a little skinship will help us get to know each other better, and be a better team”
It was obvious that I wasn’t going to get out of the situation without agreeing to their terms, so I reluctantly raised my arms and allowed the Maid to have her way with me. First she began to place cloth on my body, looking similar to undergarments, around my chest. As I looked at her quizzingly, The Maid looked up and smiled at my lack of knowledge.
“This is called a brassiere, it’ll help support your...assets” She said positively. Soon afterwards, she assisted me in putting on what she called stockings and then moved onto the main dress. The dress was a simple black one with an apron at the front, but a skirt that was very short, luckily I had extra covering from my stockings. The collar of the dress was lowered, allowing some view of my chest, much to my dislike. It seemed as though I was dressed for some man’s sick fantasy. As she was putting on the skirt, I felt a sharp pain from behind, something must have pinched me. “Sorry, I didn’t get the pin right. So, may I ask what your name is?”
At first I didn’t hear the question, for some reason the rush of blood was still going to my head, my head felt light and my focus seemed to go in every which direction. But when she repeated it, it came to me that I hadn’t even given my name to anyone, but still they seemed to know that I was the right person who accepted the job. Perhaps it was because I was the only person to take the job, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling of uncertainty.
“My name is Celeste” I answered with a dazed voice, for some reason I was feeling so out of it, I thought it must have been the change in temperature.
“My name is Bianca” The Maid informed me, grabbing my by the hand. Once we were out of the bathroom, a sensation that had never occurred to me became apparent. As I was being lead towards the main hall, despite just being in a warm bath not even five minutes earlier, and in newly washed warm clothes. Despite all of that, I couldn’t help but feel that the little pale hand pulling me along was strangely cold...
