Ten Years Later

Meredith entered the door to the small cottage she called home, and shut it behind her, tiredly hanging her cloak on the small hook next to the entryway.

She smiled as she felt a small, warm presence grab her around the legs. His smile was almost tangible.

"Mer!" he said, his voice muffled by her skirts. "I've missed you so so so much!"

"It's good to see you too, Nash," she said, forcing a happiness into her voice that she didn't feel. A small part of her assumed joy was real, however. She had missed her family very much, and, though she wouldn't admit to favoritism outright, of the younger set, she had missed Nash most of all.

"How are the fancy people?"

She knew he spoke of the Harts, the family she had been away, serving, in an absence of one of their housemaids.

"They're all fine. How are you all doing?" She ruffled his always-wild blond, wavy hair and basked in the thrill of simply being among family once more.

Of course, she knew it wouldn't last.

"We're great!" he said, enthusiastically. "Especially now that you're here! I saw the first star two nights ago and I wished you'd come home...and here you are! I told Prissy that wishes come true if you don't tell anyone what you've wished! Prissy turned thirteen last month, but you know that of course...Evan got a job...but he's home for a bit too!"

He continued on with his happy chatter and left Meredith to just feel content in the current moment.

Later that evening, once the table had been cleared of dessert and the youngest members of the family had been put to bed- after Nash had clung to Meredith until he was too tired to keep his eyes open- she sat in the small dining room with Evan and her mother.

Her mother, she noticed, was looking more tired and worn-down than she had been at the last Meredith had seen. Her callouses from working laundry up and down the board were evident on her chapped hands, and dark circles were under her eyes.

Evan watched his hands, folded before him on the table, with quiet brooding. His face seemed to have become chiseled and strong in her absence and she saw again that her brother, older than she by only one year, had been forced to grow up too quickly after the loss of her father and her eldest brother.

She sighed. She didn't want to burden them with just one more worry on the list of things they had to concern their time and thoughts with of late, but she knew it would come to light sooner rather than later, and she knew it was best for her to simply give voice to it so it was out and in the open.

"The Harts' table maid has returned from her laying in. The baby is healthy, and old enough to fair without her in the hours she must serve for her job." She glanced at her mother and at Evan, each in turn, trying to read their expressions. She met her mother's eyes as the woman sighed, looking tired.

"It's no fault of yours, Mer," she said, quietly. "We all knew this would happen. It was a good job...but not permanent."

Silence reigned around the table once more. They knew what was at stake...with both Evan and she out of work and so many mouths that needed feeding and so many bodies to clothe and a house to pay rent on.

Evan cleared his throat and she glanced quickly up at him.

"I've...found a job, Mother...Mer."

Meredith met his gaze, and so, across the table, did their Mother, hope in her eyes.

"It's not ideal..."

She only then picked up on the strain and tenseness underlying his voice and knew that whatever he would say next was not good news.

"I will be working as a footman...at the palace in King's City."

She heard the sharp intake of breath from her mother, and felt her own body grow rigid and cold as the memories flooded her. Evan was quick to defend himself.

"It's the only job I could find! And it pays better than any other I've held before! He's dead, King Rupert is, and his rotten, stinking son with him! Astoria is under the rule of his nephew now. His coronation is to be at the end of this month."

"He's too young," said Meredith, simply. He's no older than you are, Evan. How can he be any better at running a kingdom than his uncle was before him?" She only vaguely remembered the king's nephew, from a state party she had once attended long ago. He had struck her as a pale, weak sort of boy...the type who would not rule a kingdom without heavy reliance on many advisors who would wield their power as they so chose to, no matter his weak protests.

"Be that as it may...the position is good and it pays well. I...I don't like it, really, any more than you do but there are things that have to be done to feed this family and keep them clothed with a roof over their heads. Like it or not...I know what I have to do. I know my duty." Evan's mouth was set in a firm line, and his eyes narrowed, as if in preparation for a fight.

Meredith knew her brother...after her father's passing, and that of their older brother's, she and he had spent many hours revealing to one another their worries and their stresses and the hardships of taking care of the family...she knew he had thought about this long and hard. She sighed and rested a hand on his. The simple gesture of comfort seemed to relieve some of his tension and he made an effort to lean back in his chair and relax a bit.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, their mother nodded and said gravely and in a voice that sounded exhausted, "It's what must be done."

Meredith stood and kissed her mother on the forehead.

"Go to sleep now, dear Mother," she said quietly. "Let me do the dishes and wipe down the table. You shall rest this night."

Her mother thanked her gratefully and left the room after kissing Evan on the cheek.

After their mother left, Evan remained at the table, his presence comforting her as much as she knew hers comforted him. After a few moments of the silence, he spoke.

"There's other positions too, you know."

She looked up, caught his gaze in the reflection of the window above the sink. She didn't say anything.

He sighed, and looked older than he was by several years. Hard work and worry did that to a person.

"I know you don't like it...I don't like it either but it's our best shot at giving our family a chance to live in comfort. It's our best chance to give Mother a break. I don't know much...but word is among anyone who's worked or set foot in the palace that the servants there are treated well, paid well, and allowed scheduled leaves of absence to visit family members."

"Surely Rupert didn't..."

"Not Rupert. His nephew. Say what you want about the man. I have my doubts too, as you well know, no matter the fact that we haven't had a chance to speak to one another of late. I've told you before, I know." He sighed. "But we have to admit that if he treats his servants well, and the pay is good..."

She knew what he was trying to tell her.

"There's positions open then?" she said softly, in defeat. She saw his nod in the window.

"Parlor maids, table maids, linens maids... You could have your pick. With the coronation of the new king comes the hiring of the new help, to supplement the old. The palace is no different than any of the other large houses we've worked at. It's much larger, much grander of course...but no different really."

She didn't answer, didn't respond, simply kept at a stubborn spot on the frying pan she was washing and remained silent, the clink of the dishes against one another and the sink the only sounds in the room at that moment.

Finally, she sighed.

"Evan, I don't like it. Not one bit. But I know what needs to be done. I just..." She looked at him over her shoulder for the first time, a look of helplessness written in her features. "I feel guilty about pledging my service to the kingdom that destroyed our father. The kingdom that left us to try to hold on and fill his shoes."

He stood and came to stand next to her, putting his arm around her, the weight of it pulling her into a niche where she felt safe and cared about. Her brother always made her feel like that. They supported each other, her and Evan.

"I know," he said simply.

Then, a while later when all the dishes were washed and in the drying rack, he spoke once more.

"I leave in two days' time. I thought you could come with me."

She nodded, without speaking, thinking of how she only just came back...and then she'd have to depart again.

"At least we'll be together. If we're to be apart from everyone else, at least we have each other."

She smiled then, at the thought of having her brother and closest friend near her. For once, unlike all the other places she had worked, she'd not be alone. That was the only thing the palace in King's City had to really recommend itself to her. At least it would give her her brother.