RFC-Miniarc-An Average Day-20 (Anna)

Anna used to think a good night’s sleep was a rare gift.

She had few memories, faint impressions mainly, of the time her family was whole. What she did remember was waking in the middle of a cold night after a body had left their single bed, exposing her to the cold. Along with the biting sensation of the cold breeze penetrating their ramshackle house, she could also recall a large warm palm stroking her head and coaxing her back to sleep. Too large to be her brother.

After she and her brother were orphaned, they were forced to live on the streets and a good night’s sleep was even harder to come by. No place was truly safe. They had nothing but scraps and even that was appealing to those worse off than them. If they didn’t sleep lightly, they’d wake up to their clothes stolen off their backs.

Her brother tired himself out during the day, running from stall owners after swiping a few morsels for them to eat and doing errands all around the city for scant coppers. It came down to Anna to protect him and their few possessions. She spent years singularly focused on ensuring their safety, training herself to react to the slightest sound or flash of movement.

At first, her head hurt from the odd hours and frequent lack of sleep. Then there was the fact that she was much smaller than the thieves that threatened them, being both young and underfed.

She learned to cope with both handicaps. For sleep, she simply gave up on it. The most she could hope for was conserving her energy, lying still with hooded eyes and carefully controlled breathing until something disturbed her. She didn’t have strength or size but ferocity made up for it. There was no one to teach her how to fight so she had to learn by example. Only one group matched her size, age, and relative strength but still managed to fend off the bigger residents of the slums and survive.

The feral animals.

Even the most hardened thugs would tuck tail and run in the face of a wild-eyed dog snarling at them while foaming at the mouth. So, Anna copied them. She barked and growled. She snapped her teeth and tore away flesh. Before long, she and Earl gained a reputation. The admiration for an older sibling doing his best to care for his sister, her reputation as a lunatic, and the knowledge that they never had enough to be worth the effort of stealing from kept them safe.

Joining the bandits gave them a bit of permanence but not much safety. The brigands were not overly kind to one another. As long as their comrades had enough to live, the rest was fair game. Not to mention they had to worry about other bandits and the occasional do-gooders, including soldiers, roving bands of knights, and the city guard from the capital.

The usual danger was compounded by the possibility of sudden movements of the camp to avoid a raid. Anna’s tension remained high and her personality grew more feral, a trait the bandits felt no need to dissuade her of.

Then, they met their lady. Earl had always told her to avoid ladies and lords. They carried a lot of money but it wasn’t worth stealing. A gang had robbed a young lord looking for fun in the wrong place. The next day, the city guards descended on them, kicking down doors and dragging out the occupants. Innocent or guilty didn’t matter. They were out to make an example.

The gang responsible avoided the raid but later on, the other gangs cornered them and beat them near death. Both for the money they’d stolen and to teach them a lesson for bringing trouble on the rest of them.

A beating wasn’t the worst that could happen. Rarely, a few kids got ‘adopted’ by nobles. Anna heard whispers that they were never seen again, not even by their families. Once, a month after she’d heard about another child being adopted, a body was found in the slums. The boy’s features were too mangled to identify but people had talked. Earl had sternly warned her against following strangers, no matter how rich they looked or what they promised.

She’d wanted to refuse when the lady offered to take them in. Bite at her flesh and run away with her brother. They couldn’t go back to the city with the city guard looking for them but she imagined living outside the city couldn’t be any worse than living inside it. Better than whatever fate awaited them at the hands of the young woman that had casually stabbed men for failing to amuse her.

Her choice was rendered moot by the tight grip of her brother’s hand as he dragged her along. Her big brother had always looked after her and he knew much more than she did, so Anna followed his lead, keeping a wary eye on their new lady.

To her surprise, there was nothing to watch. They were given warm, soft beds to sleep on, enough food to fill their bellies, and a house to sleep in that didn’t leak or let in the cold.

It would have been too good to be true if there wasn’t a catch. Luckily, the good treatment wasn’t for free. Their dues were to be paid in loyalty. Anna no longer had to snap her teeth for herself and her brother, but on her lady’s command. And not now. She had to grow older first, get bigger teeth. Learn a few new tricks, like the ones the lady with the tail taught her.

A good night’s sleep became a regular occurrence for the young, reformed bandit but Anna hadn’t slept well last night. She was too excited, as today, she would learn another trick from a new teacher.

Her eyes snapped open as the first rays of sunlight filtered through the shutters in Earl’s room. She wiggled out of the arms of her brother, rolling off the bed and hurrying across the room.

Earl blinked bleary eyes as she closed the door to the water closet. “Did you wash your hands?” he muttered as she came out.

Anna let out a short yip, a sound that meant an affirmative. A moment later, she remembered her lessons, cleared her throat, and let out a quiet, “Yes.”

“Mm.” Her brother sat up, stretching his arms far above his head. “It’s a little earlier than usual but might as well start the day.”

“Busy?” she asked.

“Oh, not really. Mr. Atkinson will be delivering his usual report. If there is anything interesting, I’ll have to arrange for a trip to the market in the afternoon.” The adolescent boy got to his feet. After a deep breath, his sleepy demeanor disappeared, his spine straightening and his eyes narrowing with focus. “If I move quickly, I should be able to finish the morning cleaning before our guest arrives. Anna, fetch the tub, will you? I’ll grab the water.”

She nodded once before hurrying out of the room, taking care to keep her pace to a fast walk. As a servant of a lady, there were strange rules about things she never thought about before. Running was obviously faster than walking but she wasn’t allowed to run unless it was really important.

The bronze tub designated for use by the servants was too heavy for Anna to lift but the same applied all the servants so she didn’t feel bad. When it wasn’t in use, it was kept atop a pallet with wheels. She was just strong enough to push it along, though it was a laborious task.

By time she returned to Earl’s room, she was covered in sweat and Earl had gathered eight large buckets of water. Water was another thing that used to be scarce but now could be found in abundance in the service of her lady. No more washing her face in a puddle after it rained. The lady with a tail could simply conjure water whenever she pleased. It didn’t even have any strange tastes.

As she stripped out of her nightgown, Earl moved the tub off the pallet and filled it. As the last drop fell, the imp entered the room with a swishing tail. Her brother bowed his head and Anna quickly followed. “Thank you for your assistance, Miss Bell.”

“Coo~”

Anna’s eyes sparkled as she held back the urge to stroke the imp’s head as it stood on its hind legs. Its eyes glowed along with a small box held by the curled end of its tail. An artifact, Anna knew. A rare one with a fire affinity stone embedded in it so all the servants could use it at will. However, the imp usually handled their bath water, as their mana cores were weak.

Moments later, steam rose from the water. With one final, “Coo!” the imp dipped out of the room.

“Don’t forget to show respect to Miss Bell,” Earl said as he scooped out a bit of water into two buckets. He grabbed their soap and rags and handed one set to his sister. “She may look like a cute pet but she is quite powerful and an essential assistant to Lady Tome. It wouldn’t do for us to forget that despite her lowering herself to help us with menial tasks.”

Anna nodded.

“Now, what do we say?”

“Long life and prosperity to the lady,” Anna said dutifully.

“Long life and prosperity to the lady,” Earl echoed as he stripped. “We must never forget that Lady Tome is the reason we live the good life we have now. You must do your best to be of help to her in the future.”

“Mmkay.”

“Good. Make sure to wash behind your ears.”

The young girl puffed her cheeks as she hastily scrubbed herself clean, remembering to wash behind her ears as told. She liked being clean but the cold fall air on her damp skin was unpleasant. She almost jumped into the tub once she was clean, melting in contentment as her brother climbed in behind her and washed her hair.

They exited and Earl fetched towels to dry them off. Afterwards, he helped his sister to dress. Anna could handle the uniform on her own now but Earl had taken solace in the gesture when they were new to serving their lady and he was unsure about their positions. Now, it was habit.

“There,” Earl said proudly, brushing away the single wrinkle in her jacket. He ruffled her hair before combing the blonde haystack somewhat straight with his fingers. “You’ve been exempted from your chores for the week for your lessons but that doesn’t include studying. Be quick, the head maid doesn’t like waiting.”

Anna nodded and hurried to the study. Inside, Geneva waited in front of the plain table and chair each of the servants used during their instruction. A plate of bread, cheese, and fruit waited alongside a steaming cup of tea.

“Good morning, girl.” The thrall’s tail whipped, the leaf-shaped end pointed at the chair.

Anna pulled it out and hopped on, small legs kicking. “Good morning, head maid.”

The succubus chuckled. “Not one of my more austere titles but I don’t hate it. Go on, eat up. As Lou asked me to keep your lessons short this week, we won’t be doing conversation practice.”

As Anna ate her breakfast, a voice with a compulsion that drew and held her focus spoke into her mind, accompanied by visual aids that overlayed her vision. She smiled as pictures of cute animals flashed in front of her, kicking her legs with more gusto. The nature lessons were one of her favorites. She absolutely hated math lessons. Dozens of numbers flashing through her mind made her dizzy but the head maid didn’t let her look away.

When the sun had fully risen, Anna’s plate was clean, her cup of tea was empty, and new knowledge had been crammed into her mind.

“That’s enough for today,” Geneva said, turning to look toward a while. “Your new teacher will be here soon so go see to the little one. Remember to give our visitor your full attention. She’s a friend of Lou and my summoner asked her here as a favor. It wouldn’t do to have her look bad, would it?”

Anna shook her head quickly, frowning. No one was allowed to cause her lady problems. If they did, she’d have to bite them and biting herself hurt.

“You can leave your jacket inside, no use getting it dirty. Your teacher will meet you outside so wait there.” Geneva tail curled around her body. Somehow, the end was curled around a familiar orange-gold candy. Anna eagerly held out her hands, grinning broadly as she received the treat. “What do you say?”

“Thank you~”

“Good girl. There will be more later if you do a good job. Don’t disappoint me~”

Anna nodded and hurried from the room. After a quick stop at her room to lay her jacket over her bed, she hurried outside, going out the back and to the side of the house.

The newest member of the household lounged on the lowest level of the metal hutch constructed by the imp, the small golden body blending in with the straw scattered over the ground. The soft squeaks of the young ones could just barely be heard in the box on the second level of the hutch.

Anna cooed at her little friend as she knelt in front of the hutch and it turned its big eyes up to her. Her lady had brought the creature back, just like Anna. She had immediately felt a kinship with the little beast and had quickly agreed when her lady asked if she wanted to look after the adorable thing. Her enthusiasm didn’t dim a bit when she was asked a second time and told that her new friend was carrying more friends in her tummy, multiplying her work many times.

Despite the warnings, the work wasn’t hard. Her new friend was just very hungry. The golden ball of fluff became sluggish as her pregnancy progressed and she rarely came out into the visible portions of the hutch but before anyone could become nervous, the young ones were safely born and her friend regained her strength.

Anna grabbed a handful of grain from the feed bucket along with a strip of dried meat from the treat box and placed them both in the bowl nearly obscured by the straw. The golden ball of fluff hurried over, her tiny feet obscured by her roundness. Anna grinned at the cute squeak it let out before savaging the food, devouring it with the voracity of someone who hadn’t eaten for days.

“Let you who share my fire share my food and we will be kin. Very good. Exchanging valuable things for favor is the very basis of forming a relationship and there is little our brethren value more than food.”

Anna jumped to her feet and turned, startled. She hadn’t heard the stranger approach, something that was incredibly rare. She didn’t spare a moment to doubt that she wasn’t paying attention. The head maid had trained her to always pay attention. The woman smiling softly at her was simply that good at masking her presence.

“I mean you no harm, little sister. Lou would be annoyed if she thought I had scared you.”

“Lady Lou?” Anna asked. Recalling a guest was coming to teach her, her guard eased a fraction, but she remained ready to act at a moment’s notice if the woman made any strange movements.

“Yes. I am Cloudy Blood Moon and I have here to teach you the ways of the Temple.”