Mary's Path

Mary sat and looked out over the castle. She remembered the last time she had been sitting here looking out. That time she hadn’t recognized any of the people running around the courtyard, now she recognized almost everyone and could guess what they were doing.

A small lock of hair tickled her forehead and she tried to push it under the bonnet. Suddenly, she became acutely aware of how she was dressed. She glanced at Kopa, who still seemed to be far away in his thoughts.

“I should probably go change,” she said cautiously. “I’ll be right back.” He nodded and she walked into the room she had once lived in.

She stepped up to her chest and took out one of her finer dresses. She discovered that there was water in the wash bowl, so she washed off and combed her hair out. When she got on the dress she has chosen, she braided her hair and put it up in a small knot at the neck.

She took out the little bone rose that hung around her neck and let it hang on top of the dress. She gave herself a second to just breathed before walking out of the room.

There was now lunch being served on a long table, and grey-clad men and women walked across the room to add food to their plates and looking for a place to eat. Kopa seemed to have been waiting for her because he stood a little on the side and smiled at her as she looked at him.

Mary relaxed and smiled back at him, the feeling of being safe around him came back. She went up to him and together they went over to the table full of food. As they were plating food, Copa seemed to think Mary were being too cautious. He resorted to adding more food to her plate as he saw fit, Mary didn’t want to object.

When Copa was happy, they found a table and sat down and began to eat. When the food was eaten, they went back to the window and sat down. It was Kopa who broke the silence after a while.

“What happened to your cheek and lip?” he asked. Mary raised her hand to her sore cheek, she thought about what to say. She decided honesty was the best choice.

“Mrs. Meata slapped me yesterday,” she said.

“The blond woman in the kitchen?” he asked. Mary shook her head.

“No, that’s Mrs. Karrots, she defended me. Mrs. Meata is the chatelaine” she explained.

“Why did she hit you?”

“I don’t really know. She thought I was talking back to her, but I wasn’t” Mary hurried to add.

“I believe you” was all Kopa said. Those three words filled Mary with immense gratitude.

Kopa hadn’t seen her in years and yet he chose to believe her without questioning it. Something was clutching her chest and she got a lump in her throat. But she swallowed until it was gone.

“Has she hit you before?” he asked.

“No, it was the first time.” He nodded and seemed to ponder something.

“Do you know where she is now?” he asked. Mary didn’t know what to say, what would Kopa do?

“I’m not sure,” Mary replied. “She’s probably busy organizing servants now that there are guests in the castle” she continued. Kopa nodded again.

“Well, if we run into her, I want you to point her out to me. Okay?” he said. Mary promised to do so.

“I never wanted to leave you here,” he admitted. Mary looked at him and smiled,

“I haven’t had such a bad life being here,” she said. “The majority of it have been very good and I have made friends,” she continued. She didn’t want him to feel guilty about something he couldn’t change.

She felt no bitterness towards him and did not hold him responsible for anything. She was just happy he remembered her. Kopa didn’t look convinced but left the subject alone and together they looked out over the castle courtyard.

After a while, Mary began to comment on what they saw. She told him about the people she recognized, about what they did and about what it meant for the castle. Kopa was surprised at how familiar she was with the different parts of castle life.

They stayed in the window until late afternoon when the Lady came back. She looked tired, but just had time to quickly talk to Mary and ask if she had had a good day. Then she had to change for the banquet that the king would hold in her honor.

This time Kopa had to accompany her, so Mary was left alone in the window. She imagined what it would be like in the kitchen right now. Everyone would rush to get the first dishes out, Mrs. Karrots would be going from pot to pan and approve everything.

After a while, Mary stood up to stretch her legs. She wasn’t used to sitting still for so long. A gray-clad man approached her and started talking. She recognized him vaguely from the last time and tried to answer all his questions.

Mary had thought she would be having dinner alone, isolated, but instead she found herself surrounded by gray-clad people. Laughing and talking to each other and with her. It almost felt like eating dinner down in the kitchen.

After dinner, she sat in the window again and looked and listened to the people in the room. It felt homely and she realized that she had missed being able to just hang around other people.

Mary quickly got tired, she was rarely up this late and the events of the day had taken their toll. But she didn’t want to go to bed without saying goodnight to the Lady and Kopa. Instead, she sat and tried to stay awake.

It must have been almost midnight when the Lady and her entourage came back. They all looked as tired as Mary felt. There were no long conversations before they all retired for the night.

Mary lay in the big bed with soft sheets and looked up at the canopy. She couldn’t believe she was here again. She had woken up to an ordinary day in the kitchen and once again her life had been turned upside down. What would happen now? She fell asleep before she had a chance to sort out all the feelings and confused thoughts.