Elara POV.
I mingled with the other female servants in the kitchen. Luckily, I was already used to doing rough work, so pretending to be a palace servant like this wasn't difficult. I grabbed a rag and started pretending to clean the table.
A heavyset woman in an oil-stained apron called out to me in a piercing voice. "Hey! You there, yes you! New maid!" she ordered rudely, pointing toward the back of the kitchen. "Clean the chimney right now! The cook will be using it in a minute."
I looked around. None of the other maids in this large kitchen even glanced in my direction, a sign that they didn't care, busy with their own work.
"Great," I thought to myself, a mixture of cynicism and acceptance. "Dorian told me to smear my face with soot, and now my face will be covered in dust from cl
