A bustle of activity sounded from the doorway as the kitchen girls poured in. Armed with a mop and a bucket in each hand, they charged in, feet stomping and long skirts swishing. Faded kerchiefs tied around their heads kept their plaited hair neat and constrained. I listened as they spoke in the secret language of gossip and speculation.

"Did you hear that?"

"It was kind of hard not to."

"But to say that..."

"We know."

"Such a shame."

"Well, what do you expect from someone like that?"

"Evidently not much..."

Six heads bobbed in their air as they nodded sagely. "True, true."

Each girl tossed me a wave, a distracted smile, or a faint hello as they trekked through the kitchen before disappearing into the hallway that led to the stairs. They were able to move and clean throughout the floors of the palace without being seen that way.

A latecomer came jogging through the door. Long, unbound hair swished in the air like a swinging pendulum as she burst into the room. She wore the same uniform as the rest of the girls—with some mild alterations. I could see the creases from where she'd pulled out the stitches at the seam and had resewn her uniform so that it wrapped around her curvy figure like a hug.

"Olive, what have I told you about—"

She spun on her heels with a smile, her hands digging into her uniform pocket. She addressed Cookie while walking backwards towards the door. "I was just about to tie my hair, Cookie," she said, pulling out a hair tie and waving it in front of us. Her hands gathered her hair in a high bun as she turned around and left with a wave. "See you later, Celeste."

"See you, Olive," I said.

Cookie frowned at her receding back. Waving her wooden spoon, she called out, "Next time that hair swishes in my face, Olive, I'll cut it off.

"That girl," Cookie was muttering, "always up to something." The rhythmic banging of the cupboards as she gathered herbs and spices hummed in the background.

I relaxed in my chair, dropping my feet from the seat and my head onto the counter. The cold marble cooled my forehead, and my eyelids began to close. I breathed a deep sigh.

Ten thousand citz. I didn't have ten thousand citz. So how was I going to get it? Mr. Lewis, my father's accountant and head of Lewis and Lewis Corporation, had added three thousand citz into my account every fourth month since I was twelve. But I couldn't draw from my account. I couldn't even ask for an extension. Mr. Lewis was one of those toadying types who never did anything without my father's approval. Even walking to his office would bring unwanted speculation, and then the questions would begin and my secrets would slowly unravel.

My hands went for my forehead. I smoothed the wrinkles from my skin. I had seven days, a full week. Why stress myself now? I would figure it out...later. Today, I didn't want to think about it. I erased the stress from my mind.

I must have fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes, Cookie was gone and the girls were talking around me in a circle, with their hips against the kitchen island counter. On average, it took them two hours to make their rounds. I didn't know I'd slept that long. I rubbed my eyes.

Their conversation quieted as they saw me waking.

Ruby dug her finger into the orange that laid on the counter and peeled it. A tangy scent filled the air as the hard skin fell away to reveal the soft crescent-moon wedges. She broke off a wedge and offered it to me. When I shook my head, she shrugged and popped it into her mouth. "So, Celeste," she said after a while, "Did you hear what happened?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but Anne beat me to it, looking faintly annoyed. "Of course she didn't."

"Why? What have you heard?" Dalia crossed her arms and rested them over the counter.

"Nothing since morning," Anne said. She took the orange from Ruby and popped a wedge into her mouth.

Rose snatched the remaining five wedges, took two, and passed the orange to Teresa, on her right. "Then, how do you know?"

"If she knew anything, she would have told us by now. She never would have left us hanging, especially after hearing us talk about it this morning." Anne turned to me. "You wouldn't would you?" Her expression was expectant, as if there was only one possible answer.

I started at the sight of all six pairs of eyes watching me.

"Tell you about what?" I'd only been half-listening to their conversation this morning.

Violet nodded. "Exactly." The orange had made its way to her. She took the last wedge and nibbled on it.

Anne smirked at the group. "It's obvious she knows nothing."

Teresa looked at me and said, "We're talking about Evelyn, Celeste."

Evelyn. She was one of the kitchen girls. One of the nice ones, in fact. She used to hang around the kitchen, too, but not as frequently as they did. I remembered her shy smile and freckles.

"I know of her." I frowned. "But I haven't seen her in a while."

"She's sick," Anne said. "Whatever that means."

A small peel hit Anne in the cheek. Rose stood with her hands on her hips a small distance away. "Oh, come on, Anne."

"What?" Anne asked, picking the orange peel and throwing it into the pile where the rest lay. "And don't do that again. We have to clean these floors."

"We were her friends, Anne. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Are," Teresa added. "We are her friends. Just because she doesn't work here anymore doesn't mean—"

"And why doesn't she work here anymore, Teresa?" Anne interrupted. "Do you know? Does anyone know? A real friend would have said something instead of disappearing for three weeks only to come back to say—"

"We know." They all said this as one.

Anne swept a hand over the front of her uniform, clearing it of wrinkles as she straightened from the counter. "Well, as of today, I don't owe Evelyn anything. She is no friend of mine."

After a couple of beats, Ruby piped up. Her eyes darted around the circle as she said, "Think of her what you will, but we all have to agree that Evelyn was better than the new girl who replaced her. She's so strange. Did you hear what..."

And they were off again, picking up their mops and buckets and the orange peels as they walked out the door, marching to the drumbeat of gossip and speculation.

I rubbed my temples. Their conversations always gave me a headache. I kneaded my temples and lifted my head toward the door-less doorway. 

Brigit stood there, eyes slightly unfocused as they followed the sounds of the girls marching on their way. The new girl who replaced her.

"How much did you hear?" I asked.

She blinked as her eyes slowly refocused, and the blue orbs sharpened. "Enough," she said. She finally dropped into a bow. As she arranged her limbs, I realized that none of the six girls had done the same. I raised my brows. Cheeky of them.

"Don't take it personally. The six know everything, and they talk about everyone," I said as I jumped from the chair. My limbs felt cramped and my neck even more so from falling asleep at an awkward angle. I waved her up with a gesture as I stretched. "If you're here for Cookie, you'll have to wait a while. She usually leaves around this time and won't be back for hours."

"No," she said, eyes downcast and voice low, "I'm here for you. Madame Principia sent me to find you."

"My mother? What does she want?" I shook my head. Of course she wouldn't know. "She's in her apartment?"

She nodded and shifted from the doorway to allow me to pass through. I hesitated at the doorway, taking a faltering half- step as I looked back toward the kitchen.

A faint rainbow filtered through the window above the stainless steel sink. It wavered in and out of my vision like a rippling ribbon. It stretched in the air, reaching past the low lights of the city until it disappeared somewhere in the distance, amongst the dense trunks of leafless trees and the green tufts of the evergreen.

Brigit cleared her throat. My head whipped around to see her wringing her hands tightly in front of her. "Madame Principia said you were to come immediately."

I blinked once. "Of course."