four had watched it as often as she could. She’d eliminated one of her fellow maids and taken over her shifts. All so she could be in her Lady’s room while she watched The Amulet. That beautiful pink gem with all its fascinating facets. She loved looking at it. She adored looking at it.

Which was why she was so sad this afternoon; she was four today, but her Lady was out on business. The Amulet was locked away. So now she had to amuse herself by… ugh, cleaning.

She used to love this job. Even before The Amulet, she’d enjoyed bringing order to the chaos of her Lady’s room. But after The Amulet… it was hard to go back to trying to figure out if one of her Lady’s thigh-high socks was inside out or not.

Slowly but surely, four made the carpet visible again. Clothes in the washer, controllers charging, trash and recycling separated… almost, anyway. There was a folded scrap of paper in the garbage that seemed to be stuck to the plastic lining with a piece of gum. She grabbed a paper towel and snapped it off. Mildly curious, she unfolded the paper to see

she was kneeling, her hand unlocking the desk drawer where her Lady kept The Amulet. The hairpin danced expertly in her fingers; one click, two… there. She opened the drawer and saw

four blinked, naked, sweaty, exhausted. She was in her Lady’s room. But why was she out of uniform? Why was it scattered on the floor beside the bed? Not maid-like behavior.

She moved to get dressed, but stopped; it was shower time anyway. She gathered her green garments into a bundle, took a moment to look longingly at the drawer where she knew The Amulet rested, then marched off to the laundry room, looking forward to her shower.