"I am Clare," I simply said, having decided that I would not allow this Wendy of a woman to infect me with whatever madness she seemed to carry.
She was surely a mad woman. In fact, all three senior servants before me had each displayed a different sort of madness.
"Ah... Clare. What a nice name," Wendy said, nodding slowly as though she were turning the name over in her mind.
I stared at her strangely, waiting for whatever profound revelation was supposed to follow.
...Very well, then.
"My name is Dorothea," the calm maiden beside Anneliese said softly.
I turned toward her and nodded. Dorothea. It suited her somehow, quiet and plain, without any unnecessary fuss.
Then my gaze slowly moved toward Anneliese, although I hardly needed her to introduce herself since her sharp tongue had already made a memorable introduction on her behalf.
She merely rolled her eyes and seemed to have no intention of giving us her name.
Well, gladly! I certainly had no desire to hear from her either.
"All right, then. Let us get to the information, shall we?" Wendy suddenly clapped her hands rather loudly, startling the poor girl beside me so badly that she nearly jumped out of her shoes.
I sighed inwardly with pity. We were truly living in a small world of mad people, were we not? Manor... yes, Manor, I believe that was her name.
She appeared to be the more fragile soul among us, easily frightened and terribly nervous, and I could not imagine her surviving even a week in this assignment.
How had Madame Avia looked at this girl and decided she would make the perfect victim?
If she wanted someone to throw into the mouth of danger, should she not have chosen a stronger-willed person?
Someone capable of staring death in the face without immediately looking as though she wished to crawl beneath the nearest table?
Madame Avia certainly had no eye for good victims. I shook my head in disappointment.
"What could possibly be going through your mind again, Clare?" Wendy suddenly asked, a smile spreading across her face.
Every head turned toward me at once, and only then did I become painfully aware that I had once again allowed my thoughts to wander too freely across my face.
What was this woman's business with me? Why could she not simply leave me alone?
"Um... nothing. I was thinking of nothing," I replied quickly, shaking my head.
Wendy stared at me for a long moment before finally nodding. The smile remained upon her lips.
"All right, then."
Thank the heavens.
I ought to be more careful around this woman. She was far more observant than anyone else I had encountered in this place.
And if I continued thinking insults in her presence, I had a dreadful suspicion she would catch on before I could even finish thinking them.
Truly, a mad woman.
"Oh, well... First things first. You three need to understand that this is a very complicated task, one you may remember for the rest of your lives," Wendy began.
"Do not frighten them, Wendy," Dorothea said quietly.
Anneliese scoffed at once.
"Frighten them? Please. If they cannot handle a few words, how could they possibly survive that crazy woman?"
She suddenly snapped her fingers toward us.
"Listen carefully. If you are not strong-willed, that is none of my concern. We are merely passing this task over to you lowly girls for the time being, and I certainly will not tolerate mistakes. Who knows what you might trigger in that woman and then we shall have to come running to clean up your mess."
She folded her arms over her chest and looked at us as though we were three particularly disappointing insects.
"Your duties are simple. You are to feed her, clean her chambers, and see that she takes her medicine."
She paused only long enough to draw breath before continuing.
"There are additional duties, of course. You may have to assist her when she needs to relieve herself, or clean her if she soils herself. Afterward, you will wash her and change her garments. She must be fed three times a day, and every meal must be properly finished. Most importantly, she must take her medicine. She must, must take it."
The way she emphasized the last words made it sound less like an instruction and more like a threat.
"Whether she throws a tantrum or goes as far as to stab you, I do not care. Complete your duties and remain there to watch her so she does not do anything foolish. That is all. Wendy can feed you whatever useless information remains."
Anneliese finished her speech still standing with her arms crossed. The three of us simply stared at her.
Well, that was certainly one way to explain matters.
Very informative indeed.
"So..." Wendy began, turning toward us with that pleasant smile of hers. "That is all you need to know for now. There is, of course, more information you will need to learn, but I shall explain everything little by little. For the moment, let us head into her chamber. It is time for her breakfast."
Wendy turned and began walking, raising one hand to signal that we should follow.
We gathered ourselves and hurried after her, each of us having our own thoughts into whatever dreadful fate awaited beyond those doors.
"Finally," Anneliese muttered beneath her breath.
All right.
We heard you, witch.