As he led me through the many halls of the manor I felt extremely overwhelmed. He pointed out important rooms such as the employee washrooms, and dining area. We even had our own common room for resting during breaks throughout the day. Jack explained that working at the manor was a twenty-four hour job, and the masters of the manor would be calling for my services whenever they needed them.
“But don’t be afraid.” He smiled at me, “It’s not as though you will be losing much sleep over it. During the night the only thing you’ll have to worry about is extinguishing fires. Master Forsythe likes his bath in the morning, so you’ll have to wake up rather early to light all the fires again, and then get to work on getting his bath ready. You won’t have to worry about transporting water up all those stairs. One of our chefs is a Water Mage. She can control the liquid, but not heat it. She usually has all the baths filled and ready to be heated before everyone wakes up. Then she gets started on the cooking with the rest of the chefs for breakfast.” Jack rattled on.
“Okay. So let me make sure I’m remembering all this.” I said slowly, “Light all the fireplaces before the household wakes up, make sure the Master’s bath is hot in the morning, and ensure all fires are extinguished once the household goes to bed.”
“Correct.” Jack smiled. “Mistress Forsythe and her daughter Rain enjoy their baths before bed. Everything is quite scheduled. I’ll give you a list of times. Also, try not to talk to the Master, or his family. They don’t really enjoy conversing with the staff.”
I pursed my lips. It sounded as though this family were quite snotty. Probably had too much money, and not enough personality, I thought. Jack seemed to know what I was thinking, because he smiled and led me up a flight of stairs, “It is also good manners to bow if you happen to cross them in a hall. Or if they walk into a room you are still working in, just continue with your chore, unless they request otherwise, and don’t forget to bow on your way out!”
I gave a groan, “I never was very good with authority figures.”
“A rebel eh?” Jack gave a crooked smile.
“A rebel without a cause.” I sighed, “An accidental rebel at that.”
“Aye, chin up.” He nudged my arm with his elbow, “If you slip up its nothing we can’t fix. We got a whole staff of Mages here, each with his or her own unique ability. We all make mistakes so don’t be too worried.”
I nodded, but my stomach gave an uneasy lurch. Jack didn’t seem to realise that if you played with fire, people got burned. Though of course he would have no issue healing himself. I studied his face. Yes, now that I was looking more closely there were some very clear signs that Jack was a healer. His perfect pale face didn’t hold evidence of a single pimple gone rogue. No scars, blemishes, freckles, or wrinkles besides the ones around his eyes that crinkled when he smiled. I was insanely jealous. My blue eyes were constantly accompanied by large dark rings around them, as though I had not slept for days and my lips were cracked and dry.
I realised that I had been staring and Jack and quickly dropped my gaze. He was still pointing out various other rooms as we walked through the halls. I was trying my hardest to remember as much as I could.
“So shall we get started on lighting these fires?” Jack nudged me.
“Um, sure.” I said in a weak voice. I had rarely performed my Powers upon command before. When I was younger my parents tried to teach me to control the fire, yet to no avail. Things were often destroyed, and after years of trying to help me they just gave up. They tried to convince me that it was my own low self esteem that caused me to have no control over my Power, but I knew it was because I was so useless.
Jack led me into a room that resembled a small library, with several comfy looking chairs. Across from the door was a large empty hearth with a few blackened logs of wood inside it.
He nodded towards it and I stepped forwards uneasily. Was it really necessary for him to watch me like that? It made me rather uncomfortable.
I stood before the empty hearth and crouched down so I was level with it. Peering over my shoulder I saw that Jack was still watching me. He seemed to be enjoying my nervousness. I shook myself and told myself I was perfectly capable of doing this. Nothing else was going to catch on fire.
But we are in a library, I thought to myself. We are surrounded by books. Paper Burns. My heart pounded uncomfortably, Stop it! I thought. Avalon, you’re being silly.