Flooded Hopes

ONE
I scrape the cheesy junk of tonight’s fondue off the ladle. Beside me, another girl wrinkles her nose.

“Here. You do it,” I say. The newbies are always hard to train. Especially since I have no patience for it.

The girl hesitantly scrapes at it.

”Ew!” She yelps, jumping back. “How do you  do  that?”

Because it’s all you can do. It’s not like I have a choice,  I think. Out loud I say,

”It’s our  job. What do you think Foxtail slaves do, sit and eat with the nobles?” I reply.

“I’m not a  slave,  I’m a payed servant,” she shoots back.

”Just you wait and see,” I mutter. She would, in time. Of course I’d never started off as a servant, what with my family starving, but I’d seen it happen. One by one, the nobles-turned-servants then turned slaves. The only way anyone could get a cent of money, after all the bankrupts.

None of that matters anymore. We’re here. There’s nothing else to think. So I work, so I’m ruthless, just because that’s all that can be done.

I work in silence after that, until the newbie speaks up again.

”Who are you? They never said.”

I snort. “Why does it matter? I’m just overseeing you until you get the hang of this place.”

“Well, I’m Lady- I mean, Elena Halidis. Daughter of Baron Clein. And I want to know who you are.” She says. Still not used to the idea not being a noble, I guess. Well, there’s no point fighting.

”Rain.” I say simply.

”Last name?” She inquires nosily.

”I have none. Been here since birth. All they say is I was sold by my starving family.”

That is my history. All I’ve known. Everything that defines me in just a few sentences.

Rain. The name I gave myself.