The bell didn't just wake me up the next morning; it sounded like a battle cry. My muscles were so stiff I felt like a statue coming to life, and the bruises on my arms from the heavy logs had turned a deep shade of purple. I reached under my pillow and felt the dry crust of bread I had saved. I ate it quickly in the dark, the energy hitting my system just as Manya began to stir.
"Ready for the battlefield?" Manya whispered, her voice a bit raspy.
"Ready," I said, tying my hair back tighter than yesterday. I didn't want a single strand in my face when the steam started rising.
The walk to the village was silent. I spent the time visualizing the tavern—table four, table six, the heavy tray, the way the kitchen door swung. I wasn't going to be the "clumsy girl" today.
When we arrived at The Silver Hearth, Agnes was already red-faced, screaming at a delivery boy. She turned to me, her hands on her hips.
"Back for more, are you? I figured you'd have run back to the Eldress crying by now," Agnes barked, but there was a flicker of something—maybe respect—in her eyes.
"I'm here to work, Agnes," I said, reaching for my apron before she could even tell me to. "Where do you want me?"
"The lunch crowd is coming in early. Hunters. Hungry ones. If you spill a drop today, Mary Ann, don't bother coming back for the dinner shift."
I took a deep breath. Step, set, move. I repeated Manya's words in my head.
The rush hit like a tidal wave. The tavern filled with the scent of wet fur and roasted onions. When Agnes slammed the first heavy tray onto the counter, I didn't hesitate. I tucked a clean cloth into my belt and gripped the tray.
I ignored the noise. I focused only on the numbers of the tables. When I reached the man who had complained about his boots the day before, he looked up with a sneer.
"You again? Try not to drown me this time," he laughed.
I didn't answer. I set his bowl down with a firm, steady hand. No splashes. No wobbling. I was finding it—the rhythm. The way to weave through the crowd like I was part of the room itself.
In the middle of the rush, the back door creaked open. Mikhail entered, carrying a string of pheasants. He stopped near the butchering block, his eyes immediately searching the room.
He found me near the fireplace, balancing a tray of five ales. He watched as I navigated around a group of rowdy men, my movements smooth and deliberate. I didn't trip. I didn't look lost.
"She's faster today," I heard Agnes mutter to Mikhail as she grabbed the pheasants from him, nodding toward me.
Mikhail didn't look impressed. He watched me struggle for a moment to lift a particularly heavy tray, his jaw tightening. "She's still slow and weak," he replied, his voice low and grumbling. He turned his back to me to focus on the meat, but he stayed by the door longer than he needed to, his shadow looming over the kitchen.
By the end of the shift, my apron was covered in grease and my feet were numb, but my heart was light. Agnes sat at the table again with her leather pouch. She called Manya first, then me.
"You didn't break a single thing today," Agnes said, looking me in the eye. "And the hunters actually got their food hot for once."
She pushed a small pile of silver toward me. Five coins. No deductions.
"Thank you, Agnes," I said, my voice steady.
"Don't thank me. You earned it," she grunted. "Get out of here before I find more work for you to do."
As we walked out into the cool evening air, I felt the weight of the five silver coins in my pocket. It wasn't a fortune, but it was proof.
"You did it, Mary Ann," Manya said, beaming at me. "I told you that you were a fighter."
We were halfway home when a shadow stepped out from the trees. It was Mikhail. He had been waiting for us to finish our shift. He didn't say anything, but as we walked, he didn't stay ten paces ahead like he usually did. He walked beside us, his presence acting as a silent shield against the darkening woods.
As we reached the gates of the orphanage, Mikhail finally spoke.
"The woodpile is low," he said, his voice gruff. "But the cellar is well-stacked. You did your part today."
It wasn't a "thank you," but coming from him, it felt like progress.