She really was in a fine mood.
She recognized that it had been good for her to cry last night, to release a bit of the pressure in her chest. She felt lighter this morning, better than she had in a long ti—
The sponge dropped from her fingers without warning, landing with a dull thud in its soapy bucket, spraying her fresh snoda with dirty water. Anxiously, she dried her wet hands on her apron and pressed closer to the window.
Alizeh could not believe her eyes.
She clapped a hand over her mouth, overcome by an irrational happiness to which she was almost certainly not entitled. That wretched Fesht boy had nearly slit her throat; what reason did she have to be delighted to see him now? Oh, she didn’t know, and she didn’t care.
She couldn’t believe he’d come.
Alizeh watched him as he came up the walk, marveling anew at his shock of red hair and prematurely long frame. The boy was an entire head taller than her, and at least five years younger; it was a wonder to her how he grew at all for a child who ate so little.
The boy arrived at the fork in the footpath then, making a sharp right where he should’ve gone left, his unsettling choice directing him straight to the main entrance. When Alizeh was certain his vivid figure had disappeared for good, her joy evaporated.
Why had he gone to the front door?
She’d instructed the boy to come to the kitchens, not the main house. If she hurried right this second she might, under the pretense of collecting more water, be able to rush down to meet him. But if he was discovered at the front door not only would he be whipped for the impudence—she’d be cast out for having promised him bread.
Alizeh sat back, her heart racing at the thought.
Was this her fault? Should she have explained things more thoroughly to the boy? But what street child was deluded enough to think he might be admitted through the front door of a grand estate?
She dropped her face in her hands.
The firefly fluttered its wings against her neck, asking the obvious question.
Alizeh shook her head. “Oh, nothing,” she said softly. “Just that I’m fairly certain I’ll be thrown out onto the street . . . any minute now.”
At that, the firefly grew animated, taking flight and tossing its body once more at the window.
Bop. Bop.
Alizeh couldn’t help her smile then, however reluctant. “Not in a good way, you silly creature.”
“Girl!” A familiar voice barked at her.
Alizeh froze.
“Girl!”
In a flash, the firefly flew up the cuff of Alizeh’s sleeve, where it shuddered against her skin.
Alizeh turned slowly from her seat in the window bay to face Mrs. Amina, where the housekeeper somehow managed to tower over her even from below.
“Yes, ma’am?”
“Who were you talking to?”
“No one, ma’am.”
“I saw your lips moving.”
“I was humming a song, ma’am.” Alizeh bit her lip. She wanted to say more—to offer up a more robust lie—but she was warier than ever of saying too much.
“Your job is to disappear,” Mrs. Amina said sharply. “You’re not allowed to hum, you’re not allowed to speak, you’re not allowed to look at anyone. You don’t exist when you work here, especially when you’re abovestairs. Do I make myself clear?”
Alizeh’s heart was racing. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Get down here. Now.”
Alizeh’s body felt suddenly heavy. She climbed down the rickety wooden ladder as if in a dream, her heartbeats growing louder as she went. She kept her eyes on the ground as she approached the housekeeper.
“Forgive me,” she said quietly, keeping her head down. “It won’t happen again.”
“I daresay it will not.”
Alizeh braced herself, waiting for what seemed the inevitable strike, when Mrs. Amina suddenly cleared her throat.
“You have a guest,” she said.
Very slowly, Alizeh looked up. “I beg your pardon, ma’am?”
“You may meet him in the kitchen. You will have fifteen minutes.”
“But— Who—”
“And not a minute more, do you understand?”
“Y-yes. Yes, ma’am.”
Mrs. Amina marched off, leaving Alizeh sagging in place. She couldn’t believe it. A visitor? It had to be the boy, did it not? The Fesht boy.
And yet— How could a street child have been admitted into the home of a duchess? How might he then be granted an audience with the lowest servant in the order?
Oh, her curiosity would not quiet.