Silk

“She gave me a raise!” Sonja exclaimed to James as she re-entered the kitchen. “And the rest of the day off!” She said nothing about Natasha’s comment on how James supposedly liked her. She must have seen Sonja pat James on the back. But it wasn't because she liked him, it was to make him feel better after Anna Maria bit his head off! Sonja chalked it up to Natasha being so happy about Anna Maria and the pig that she just blurted it out randomly.

“Really? Why’d she do that?” James asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Well she thinks I released the pig and made it attack Anna Maria.” Sonja answered, grabbing a plate and scrubbing it clean. James grabbed her arm gently and led her to the servant quarters beside the kitchen.

Sonja turned to look at him in surprise as he never actually laid his hands on her before. “What?”
“You’re going to tell her the truth, right?” he asked

Sonja glanced down at her shoes, guiltily. She hadn’t planned on saying anything actually. Getting a raise on her first day was a wonderful thing! She would be able to get fresh produce for her and her mother. And she might even be able to buy some new pants to replace her mother’s old ragged ones. But if she told Natasha that she wasn’t actually the one who set the pig loose, she might take the raise away!

James balked at Sonja’s silence, and released her arm. “So you’re not going to say anything? Don’t you think the chef deserves some praise before he gets fired for letting some girl release a pig into the ballroom?” he demanded, his voice rising an octave.

Sonja backed up in surprise as she had never seen James so angry. But then anger, replaced her surprise and she crossed her arms stubbornly. “I’ll just ask Natasha to not fire him! James I need that raise! My mother—

“What about him? Don’t you think he needs the raise?” James asked

“I-You—“Sonja stammered, anger hindering her from forming a proper sentence and clouding her judgment. “You wouldn’t understand! You have no one to look after but yourself!”

As soon as those words flew out, Sonja covered her mouth in horror. James stared at her, his eyes darkening with anger and sadness.

“James, I didn’t—I’m sorr—

“Don’t. Just go and enjoy your well earned raise.” He snarled and pushed past her as he returned to the kitchen.

Sonja considered chasing after him but knew that wouldn’t do any good. She had gone too far.
With her head hanging low and no longer feeling very giddy about her raise, Sonja found herself bypassing the servants quarters and leaving the estate. Natasha had given her the day off anyway, so she might as well do something productive.

She returned to her house and went straight to the little cabinet in her room. When she was younger she used to carve little animals out of stone and sell them to people in the market place. It was mostly rich women or children who bought from her, as the men didn’t care for trinkets.
She never got much for her sculptures as she couldn’t charge too much or someone would report her for cheating them, even though her customers had enough money to spare.

As she sat on the ground with her sculptures displayed in front of her, she thought back to her fight with James. She really shouldn’t have said what she did, and there was no way to take it back.

It wasn’t as if James was alone on purpose, his parents had been taken away from him at a young age and he had since fended for himself, doing anything to get by.

A wave of guilt and sadness washed over Sonja and she groaned softly. Standing up quickly and wrapping her sculptures in a blanket, she flung them over her shoulder and rushed back to the Grey Estate. She had no time to take her sculptures back to her house, as she needed to make sure she got back to the estate before the ball ended. No one would fire the chef during the ball as they were still in need of his services, but afterwards there would be nothing to hold them back. She had to make things right.