The closer Wendy got to Brunhold, the smoother her face got, the more composed her attitude became, and the farther behind she began to walk from Khymarah. It was an unconscious gesture on her part, and it wasn't until the redhead gave her an odd look that Wendy noticed she'd done it. "Sorry," she said, but didn't move any closer, and her face was just as smooth.

"Precautions, La-- Khymarah. Especially in the University. If I'm to get out of this with my hide intact you're going to have to act like a proper Galdori. The matron'll respond to that best. And don't--" she quieted down as they passed someone and then continued speaking, "And don't you dare mention that you want to help me. Twouldn't look right. I'll handle getting you a second broom. If you're sure you want to help me."

She still couldn't believe that Khymarah actually wanted to work. It was so...bizarre.

Khymarah nodded obediantly, then in a sudden change of appearance, lifted her head haughtily and looked down her nose at Wendy.

"Well then Miss, take me to your matron." Her voice was overtly aristocratic and it was hard not to cringe at herself, but if it meant she would save Wendy from any trouble, so be it.

Wendy grinned and bit back a laugh as they got to the cleaning headquarters. She struggled with her face for a moment and got it back to the regular 'I'm oppressed woe is me'. She knocked lightly on the door and then ducked behind Khymarah, keeping her eyes on the ground and her position hunched.

Unfortunately, it was not the jovial junior Matron who answered the door. No, fate was not on their side as the Head Matron opened the door. Wendy could see through her bangs that the junior Matron who had let them go to the stacks a few days prior was quietly folding laundry with two passives.

The Head Matron looked surprised to see Wendy, her thin brows arched unpleasantly, and if possible she was more surprised to see Khymarah, as her brows nearly blended with her hairline. With a sharp glance to Wendy she silently communicated a profound, what have you done now?! She lifted a kindly face to the galdor to look her in the eye, "Can I help you, madame? I something wrong?"

The tone in her voice made it apparent that she expected it to be so. She would avoid any unpleasantness in front of the Lady, of course, but if it came down to it, she would do as duty dictated, Lady or no.

Khymarah looked to Wendy for a moment, then back to the matron. She didn't even know what to say, expecting Wendy to speak first. Nodding curtly, she looked as prissy as she could manage.

"I would ask this girl to talk to you about it, I believe she might be a little more diplomatic than I am." Sniffing haughtily, she turned to Wendy and raised an eyebrow.

The Matron looked confused for a moment. Usually ladies and gents wanted to make their complaints on their own. And more... diplomatic? The Matron was puzzled, but she merely responded, "Of course, Madame."

She turned to look at Wendy, her eyes wide. To the untrained eye she merely looked curious, but Wendy would recognize the accusation and blame in the expression. "What is the lady talking about, then, dearie?"

"With your apologies, Matron." Wendy said softly, "Lady Khymarah wished me to help her with her luggage. She did not wish to bruise herself with the heavy load, and found me. It has taken up most of my shift..."

She paused to take a breath and collect her thoughts, "After I-- explained that I was missing my shift, she insisted on presiding over that work." A moment of hesitancy as her mind ran trying to think of ways to get the second broom. "She was even...kind enough to have one of her personal servants help, so if a second broom could be acquired..." Wendy tucked her hair behind her ears nervously.

The Matron's brow knit momentarily. The whole shift? Outrageous! She would have to keep Wendy on into the evening to finish...



"Oh, well then..." she paused in thought, then turned to Khymarah, "Is this so, madame? Wendy is a strong girl, she's more than capable of completing her duties."

Khymarah listened to Wendy's explination with a deadpan face, but it was hard. When she spoke about bruising her fragile frame she nearly burst into laughter. It sounded ridiculous, but it was true to her race. She had seen her own mother do it.



The ruby haired woman continued the blank face, oh, Wendy was good.



The woman sighed and nodded.

"Yes, I am quite sure of that, however, I knew I would be indebted to yourself for the use of one of your worker girls. I could not possibly leave Brunnhold with that sort of burden on my mind. So I refuse to depart without leaving my servant to help with the duties I have caused you." Looking at the Matron, she gave her a small smile. One that seemed to say 'you-know-how-it-is.'

"Of course, I could just leave you to sort out the rest of the days workload yourself with the staff you have. I wonder if you might be required to perform the sweeping yourself? Seems a bit foolish to me."

The Matron nodded in agreement. It was odd, to say the least, but getting work done was getting work done...



The Matron gave Khymarah an unusual look. Mild confusion, irritation, and a degree of condescension graced her aged face. "Madame, I can assure you that our staff is quite capable, including myself. Just because I am in charge does not mean that I am incapable, or lazy," she nearly spat out the last word,"In fact, I should find it quite invigorating to join Wendy and your help. I'll be right back." She left the door open, huffily going to fetch not two, but three brooms.

((Sorry, guys, that's just what she wanted to do, I couldn't stop her... ))

((AHHAHAHHAA))

Wendy felt approval rise like a flower in her, as Khymarah preformed as beautifully as any passive in a tight situation, but her delight soon turned to dismay as Khymarah said her last words. No no no no this isn't some noble you're speaking to!



Wendy recognized the play of emotions on the matron's face, and even though she was disappointed, even alarmed, at this turn of events she was also fiercely proud of the matron's reaction. Lazy is most definitely not in our vocabulary.

She glanced at Khymarah and mouthed FIX THIS. Wendy knew that she couldn't dissuade the matron...so either Khymarah would decide that this made up volunteer was no longer 'needed' and leave the matron and Wendy alone, or she'd come up with something.

AH CLOCK IT!!!

Khymarah watched the woman storm off and turned to Wendy, catching the mouthed words in a little giddy drop of her stomach. What was she going to do now?! There was something she remembered.

"Oh dear, Wendy, this is going to come of as crazy, but hear me out. I need to go change. Do you have some working girl clothing? If she wants to sweep, then so will I. Trust me on this. Okay?" She hoped the matron would take this well.

"...What?" Wendy hissed, looking up from the floor and locking eyes with Khymarah, "What-- That's your plan?! You're-- you're crazy!" The girl shook her head but noted the stubborn look that had suddenly come over the galdor's features. "Fine. Fine! If this is what you want. Just like me to find myself following orders of an insane person."

She pushed past her roughly to show her displeasure and quickly found the place where spare uniforms were kept. The passive walked back out and shoved the clothes into Khymarah's arms. "You've got a few gears missing, you know that? I hope you have a back up plan."

Khymarah set her jaw and looked into the girls eyes. She understood the outburst, but she had a plan and she would stick to it. After wards they could all rant how insane she was. Right now, she was going through with this.



Khymarah nodded and looked around for somewhere to change. She saw a door, and quickly going over to it, she looked inside. It was an empty room, possibly a filing room. Taking a moment, she changed as fast as she could, then tied her hair back in a slick bun. Tying a brown wrap over her hair, she came back out, leaving her green gown where it was. Walking to Wendy, she smiled.

"I've always got a backup plan my dear. Half the people here know I am a sympathizer, as they call it, so the only backlash I expect will be the snide remarks about me. Do not fret. If all this fails, coin will not." She lifted her head proudly and waited for the woman to return.

The Matron returned carrying three brooms, a dustpan, and a bucket. She raised the brooms toward Wendy as she approached the door, but stopped abruptly at what awaited her. Was that that galdor lady dressed as a passive slave?! Her face warped quickly to confusion.

"Erm... madame? Is- what- are... Are you all right? I- what's going on?" She gave the woman a suspicious look. What the clock is going on here?

Khymarah looked down at her clothes and straighted them, brushing off a little lint.

"I have not been entirely truthful with you. I wished to help Wendy here after removing her from duties, and not just pay any one off. I am flesh and blood just like both of you, and I can get my hands just as dirty. My good woman, you have shown me just how strong willed you are, now its my turn." She held out a hand for one of the brooms, dual colored eyes steadfast and shoulders set. This is how it would be, one way or another. She would not lie and be viewed like the rest of her race. Silently, she hoped Wendy did not hate her again for this.

She was taken aback. A galdor? In slave's clothes? Wanting- no- insisting to help clean?! In her bewilderment the Matron handed over a broom. After all, if that's what the Lady wants... strange as it may be.

Wendy's face was pink-- whether with anger, or humiliation (perhaps even pride) wasn't clear. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. It wasn't working though. The passive stepped forward quickly, pulled the other broom out of the matrons hand and whipped around. "History Hallway." She muttered through clenched teeth, walking quickly with her eyes on the ground.

When they got to the correct Hallway she immediately started sweeping in the far corners, but her movements weren't smooth and her breathing wasn't steady. The tips of her ears and her cheeks were still a bright pink. Wendy kept her eyes trained on the ground as if her life depended on it and didn't open her mouth. She didn't trust herself with speech.

I might cry if I speak. Said a voice at the back of her mind and she silenced it quickly. Or scream. Another voice spat angrily.

((ngh. Not sure I like this post haha))

With constant glances at Khymarah, the Matron began sweeping, checking under the rugs for past laziness. She was still perplexed at the woman's decision. She paid little heed to Wendy because of this. If anyone noticed Wendy's distress it would be Khymarah, who was blocked from the passive by the Matron.

Khymarah followed Wendy silently and began to sweep, knowing that the passive was fuming. But she kept her face set, and would see this through.



The ruby haired woman swept silently, not wanting to bring the wrath of Wendy down up on her and trying not to make the Matron more uncomfortable than she already seemed. But part of her couldn't help but be happy, she was labor in the public eye and with passives. At home, she employed no one, instead using hero own hands and a little magic where possible, to do it herself. However, that wasn't the sort of thing you just threw into casual conversation.

After a while, she realized she had to say something. She stopped and looked at the matron.

"Excuse me dear, may I have the dustpan and brush? And where do I get rid of the sweepings?"

She glanced around as she handed off the dustpan. Ah, chroven crap... she had forgotten the bucket for the sweepings. "Tsk. I'll be right back with that da- uh, bucket." She flapped her hands in aggravation. She had been so concerned with the galdor she had completely forgotten it. She went down the hall in a mite of a huff after the offending container.

Khymarah returned to sweeping, there was nothing left to sweep in her spot but she did it anyway, feeling the tension in the air. She kept looking at Wendy, then back at the end of the broom. What was the passive girl thinking now?

As soon as the matron left Wendy turned around, not facing the galdor who had lowered herself to be a passive. She didn't even pretend to be sweeping anymore, her mind was far from the activity, in fact. She stared at the floor without seeing it, until it blurred and blinked away a tear. This woke her up and Wendy quickly wiped it away from her face, straightening and shaking her head. She turned abruptly and glared at Khymarah.

"I don't understand why you're doing this." She finally spat, tasting bile in the back of her mouth. "Why you would-- why you would dress-- or clean-- what--" She took a deep breath, "What do you hope to accomplish with this farce?"

Why would she do this? Does she think it noble to sweep in hallways? She's go opportunities to do whatever she wants, yet she chooses to do this...And for what purpose? To be ridiculed...Doesn't she know her status? Her power?

((sorry to butt in, but this is a perfect opportunity to move the plot along!))

Professor Moore had been up all night. His face, red and sleep-deprived, was smudged with soot; his normally neat hair was untidy and smoking, and his teacher's robe was covered in burn holes. It had not been a good night for the mona, and even less so for him. He only hoped that Devlin would be able to fix the damage he had done to the experimental oscillator...

Without thinking, he strolled around the corner and ran smack into Wendy, knocking them both to the ground.

Damn, he thought. I have got to stop running into the servants...

He stood up quickly and extended a hand to help her. "Sorry," he said politely, if a bit distractedly (his mind was still whirring with the torrents of new information it had just learned). "Entirely my fau--"

It was then that he looked up, sensing a field, and saw the stunning redhead in slave's clothing. His jaw dropped slightly.

"Oh, er," he said, wondering what the clock was happening here. She had a broom. Was there an event going on?

Khymarah looked up at Wendy for a moment, stunned. Did the passive think she was doing this as a joke? The galdor furrowed her eyebrows.

"I'm trying to show.."



The ruby haired woman stopped speaking, clutching the broom tightly and looking at the man with what she hoped, was a normal expression. Inside her stomach was flipping. Here we go..



Khymarah curtsied to the man, putting on a friendly smile.

"Good day sir, are you alright?" She didn't know what else to say. Was it a good Oh, er? Her heart was racing.