Mine to Fear (Mine #3)(13)
Before I can give another flip response, he stomps off. My magic still pounds through me like boulders falling from a cliff. What a jerk.
“And keep your hands off those books,” he yells over his shoulder. “Chardonian women only read the Woman's Canon. While you're here, you will do the same.”
Double jerk.
He stalks from the room, leaving clouds of anger in his wake. I don't know whose are bigger, mine or his.
As soon as he's gone, I let a firework spell fly, having enough presence of mind to keep it the size of an apple. If only I could direct it at him. Zade isn't the only one in our family with a temper. It's only unfortunate I kept a tight lid on it instead of fully letting it out to teach that jerk how women really can behave. Stuck in the middle of a temper tantrum is enough to get me in trouble. Though I suppose hitting him with the spell would have been worse. That would have been a fantastic report for my first day of work.
I return to dusting, walking around like all the books are fake and don't need special treatment anyway. It doesn't last long. Even if that brute can't treat me with the respect I deserve, I can treat these books better. I'll just have to pretend they're all about math so I'm not tempted to open them again.
It's not until several minutes later when I've almost finished the room, I realize he threatened to hex me. But even though he seemed past ready to do so, he didn't. Most Chardonian men have no such problem. A woman looking at them is enough of an excuse to hex them, especially ones so clearly rooted in their own superiority. I stare out the now empty doorway. So why didn't he hex me?
Chapter Nine
“How was your first day?” Tawny asks.
“How was yours?” I reply, hoping the evasive tactic works. Not only am I still confused by the incident with the brute, but I'm fuming from scrubbing toilets the rest of the day. I thought I was grateful for them yesterday, but that's been over-trodden by the plethora of toilets. Disgusting.
“Annabelle is really sweet. I like her a lot. She's going to be so much fun to work with. I always heard Chardonian women wear only dresses, but her wardrobe varies as much as the topics she likes to discuss.”
“Cynthia and Annabelle are the only women in Chardonia I'm aware of that wear breeches in front of company. And Annabelle is cautious to only wear them when she's here, never in front of anyone outside of her closest friends.”
“Oh. Well, if that's all she'll wear them for, I'm glad she considers me a friend.”
A twinge of jealousy pulls through me, but it's not of use to anyone. I was the one who chose it to be this way. If I was not working with Tawny and Annabelle, there would be a lot fewer people I could influence. This way I have more opportunities, even if it means dealing with warlock scum like Jack. Unless of course, he keeps me scrubbing toilets all the time.
“You never answered my question. How was your first day?”
With Jack still lingering in my thoughts, it's hard to think of a decent lie. “It was a day.”
“That bad?”
I puff my pillow. “I'm sure things will go smoother tomorrow.”
***
I gather sheets and head for the laundry room. These people really need to get more appliances. Their lives would be so much simpler. At least I'm not scrubbing toilets today, though the laundry room is steaming in a way that's almost worse than cleaning toilets.
“Are those from an extra room?” Jack startles me.
I jump, dropping the sheets.
“Perfect. At least they haven't been cleaned yet.” I bend down to gather them together before looking up. Sarcasm can't help but lace my words. “I'm so sorry, sir. These will be cleaned as soon as I pick them off the floor from where I dropped them after you scared me. And yes, they're from an extra room, the blue one.”
His eyes tighten, just like they did yesterday, and I prepare myself for another lecture. And to discover how much like a typical Chardonian warlock he is. Will he attempt to hex me as I suspect he will?
“Look, about yesterday—”
“Don't bother. The last thing I need to add to this day is another one of your helpful chats.”
“Fine. Just keep doing your job.” He storms off.
Good riddance. By the time I finish gathering the sheets, guilt is nudging in. It wasn't really his fault I dropped the sheets. Sure, he could have been louder, but I could have been more graceful, or at least gracious. It almost sounded like he was going to apologize before I cut him off.
I grumble at myself all the way to the laundry room before pasting on a fake smile. No sense being rude to them as well, especially since these are the very people whose opinions I'm working on changing.
I spend a few minutes talking with the other servants in the laundry room, being warm and friendly, even though all I feel like doing is shooting a few rounds at spelled targets like those Zade is so fond of. Pushing that desire aside, the girls seem friendly enough, so I must be passably convincing.
We talk of mundane things at first, but it quickly becomes apparent that they have a higher opinion of themselves than most Chardonian women. They don't cower or lower their heads, even when a man walks in the room. Annabelle and Daniel have already done an amazing job with most of them. Maybe there is more hope for this country than I thought could happen in a short time.