Cali
I paused before the painting that held my sister. She was a shadowy figure dancing before salivating men, her body draped in gold and bedecked in purple gems. She always was the lascivious one. She only cared about her pleasure.
Father had to use his own flesh and blood to create the Hay. It was why he seduced our Mother. Why he seduced me? I stroked my sister's face, her features hidden. Pain swept through me. Every day, I regretted my choice.
Every day, I hated myself.
Duty.
I had made my choice.
The Mortal World over the Otherworld. The time of the fey had come and gone. The old gods. The bloody rites. The wanton orgies. They were passed. Man had moved onto into the rational. They had shed behind superstition.
Only superstitions didn't want to die.
My sister sensed me and pressed her face out of the painting. I closed my eyes and kissed her like I always did. I couldn't help myself. The pain swelled in me at what I had given up. My other half. My one true love. A tear spilled down my cheek.
Then I broke it and turned away.
My sister formed the foundation of the Hay. Just like all the other Imprisoned. They all bore the weight of the barrier that divided this world from theirs. In torment unending, burning to flee. Blazing with hatred for the mortals.
I knew their pain.
I was Imprisoned, too.
I brushed the garter around my thigh. My shackle. I felt the weight of the Hay on me with my every step. I held it on my shoulders. I had stood unbowed through the centuries. I had watched Masters of Hayward Manor come and go.
They all had Father's features in their faces.
His blood in their veins.
I hated them as much as I hated Father.
I loved them as much as I loved Father.
The Watch never ended. I would endure until the time ground to a halt and the universe guttered out like a candle burned down to its holder. And then... Freedom? I don't know. Perhaps a different sort of torment.
I made the choice. I swore the words to Father willingly. I would not waver from my mission. Master Lance was strong. He would be a good master, and the next grew in his wife's belly. He was not like his uncle attempting to escape his fate by never having a son.
No, no, Master Lance would not break his faith.
And if he did...
I nodded to his mother as she headed to the kitchen to cook. She needed to have more maids, and Kylie and Nancy had to recruit replacements. The maids had to be at their full strength. Master Lance's uncle's foolishness had left the Hay weakened.
Master Lance would do his duty. He would have lots of daughters for his son to bond with. Lots of daughters would be ready to take up the garters on the day Master Lance died. He would populate the mansion with this offspring.
As the Master of the Hay should.
The Bloodline should be kept as pure as possible. A pity he chose Bella for his wife and not Kylie. Hopefully, his daughter with Kylie would be chosen by his son with Bella. I should make sure that happened.
I strode through the halls, my work never done.
***
Kylie Hayward
I absently rubbed at the frame of a painting of a woman in a pink dress with a round mouth full of teeth. Lady Smile's picture. I normally was creeped out by them, but I just rubbed mechanically at the gilded frame. She was gone. My best friend was waiting for me beyond.
I kept rubbing and rubbing at the gild, hardly noticing. My heart ached for her. I missed her so much. She was such a cute thing. So loving and generous. She put up with me. I was such a brat at times, but we stayed friends.
Everyone said it would get better, the funeral was only yesterday, but would it? Would I ever stop missing her? I sighed when I realized the frame was clean. Another evil being that would never get out of her painting.
There were so many of the nasty things.
And there was a new one to clean. The Huntsmen, hanging in the second floor's smoking den. Right over the fireplace. I should go there and scrub him clean. She was such a loving girl, and he took her from Master Lance. From me!
"Kylie," a voice said softly.
I jumped and spun to find my brother in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt standing right next to me. My heart pounded at being startled. My skirt swirled around my legs. The garter squeezed about my thigh in such a comforting way. I started to feel good. To relaxed as I stared up at my Master.
"Yes, Master-Big-Brother?" I asked, my heart racing. He was so handsome with his blue eyes and his dark hair. "Do you need something for me?"
"I'm going out," he said. "And I need my Sister-Maid to make sure I'm taken care of."
"Of course," I said, the garter squeezing again. I smiled at him. "That's my job. To make sure you're always taken care of!"
I smiled and took his arm. I missed Tabitha--I would always miss her--but I was a maid of Hayward Manor. That was an important thing. I had to be ready to serve Master-Big-Brother in anyway he wanted.
"Let me just go put my cleaning supplies away," I said.
"Yuki will do it," said my big brother. He motioned.
I turned to see the shrine maiden sweeping in. She was one of my maids with the white garter on her thigh. She was a slender and graceful thing. She bowed when she reached my brother and took my cleaning supplies.
"I will take over," she said, speaking clear English thanks to the power of the manor. It was so funny how she spoke it perfectly, but Ji-Woo, the Korean masseuse, had a thick accent and didn't speak it as well.
Mrs. Johnson theorized that since Ji-Woo already spoke English, even if it was poorly, the magic of Hayward Manor didn't have to teach it to her like it had with Yuki.
I took my brother's arm as Yuki took over my duties. She had a bright smile on her lips. All my maids were being so considerate of me, trying to make me feel better. They all knew that I was hurting, but I was feeling better now.
I had my duty to my big brother.
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