#ladyposting

day two.

Diary, there is something off about this housekeeper. I do not know that she is a proper housekeeper at all. She says that this is her house, that I'm welcome to stay as long as I don't get in the way of her experiments. I said, "excuse me, Miss, but this is my ancestral home!" Something about that made her chuckle, but she only said that since I had abandoned it, then what claim could I possibly still have? She has been living in it and taking care of it for over ten years now. I demanded she vacate, but since the household guard are all her minions I could not force the matter. So I merely said "hmph" and went back to my rooms.

In the daylight, the staff do not seem any more wholesome. I am not sure they are even alive. But the housekeeper and her strange maids are hardly a concern of mine. I don't care what they do. Hopefully I will not be detained here for long. I am going to write a letter to the Princess, and clear up whatever has gone amiss between us so I can return Home, to the Palace.

day three.

My letter is sent out, and I await its response. I hate it here, by the way. It is so gloomy and dreary and it has not stopped raining. I don't think it was like this when I left, but maybe I have been spoiled by the bright and cheery palace halls.

day four.

I have been staying in my rooms mostly because I am not interested in further confrontation with the housekeeper and her enchanted servants. But I notice my fire is lit in the morning, and a maid comes three times a day to offer me some strange food. I have little appetite for it. The maid brought me tea, and I was grateful for that, but there is some strange spice to it.

day five.

Well, my letter has received its response, but not from the Princess. No. Lady Clamilda writes to tell me that when the Princess received my letter, she shredded it to pieces without even reading it. I am despondent.

—

day ?

Some time has passed since I last wrote. Mimi—that is the maid—tells me it is almost a year since I have arrived. I fell very ill, due to the rain and the chill. Fatigue from travel. Or something. They almost lost me! But the housekeeper, whom Mimi calls only Miss, worked very hard to restore my health and vitality.

Though I'm different now. I can hardly remember what I was like before but there is a strange rubberiness to my skin, and I don't believe any blood flows through my veins any longer, if there are indeed any veins in my body at all. (I guess this means I'm safe from vampires.) My heartbeat has been replaced with a clock-like ticking, and every day, I must be wound up with a key or the the ticking slows and stops and I can no longer move. I guess in this way, I'm like a lot of the maids here. And yet I am a Lady. The Lady of the House!

The housekeeper, this "Miss", comes and attends to me every day. A doting nursemaid, she makes sure all of my needs are fulfilled and that I am comfortable and have everything I want. She found out what kind of food and drink I was used to at my previous abode, and had the kitchen staff learn to prepare them. She found out what dresses are at the height of fashion for Ladies of my rank and had some dresses tailored to my new frame. She is so eager to please me. I know I was angry with her when I came here but now I consider her to be the best maid I have ever had.

Oh, but I keep forgetting I'm not supposed to call her a maid. I forget a lot of things now. (It took me this long to remember I used to keep a diary, for example.) Miss says she's not a maid, she's a Witch, and all the staff are employed by her, not me, even though I was—am—the Lady here. And she only attends to me because of some…Power she has over me that I do not understand.

I suppose…it's that she made this body and bound my soul to it when my flesh was failing me? but it is so hard to think about. It is like there are these walls in my mind.

When I read over my diary tears run down my face but I can never remember what I've read. Likewise when she reminds me of this Power I am under, I start to cry. And then she holds me and says sh, sh, it's okay. She is mine and I am hers and she loves me, very much, "you silly little thing". She calls me that sometimes, which is not a very appropriate term of address from one's maid, but I let it go.

I do love her, as one loves good maid.