Ishitito set the baggage down in the front foyer against the rose-papered wall and sighed. Straightening posture and face to conceal the disquiet of the occasion, the maid turned back to the tasks at hand.
Crossing the hall, a glance revealed the Lady's apprentice was sitting in the front window seat. Seeing him, a thought made Ishitito pause and change course. Quietly entering the front sitting room, the petite servant sketched a formal bow to the feline. "May this one ask a question, Bishop?"
Bishop continued to stare out the window at the overcast day. For a moment, Ishitito thought back to the old days, when this coal colored feline was simply flawless in portraying a simple housecat. So wisely silent, so clever an actor and never speaking in earshot of anyone but the Lady, not even servants. A warm confidence enfolded those memories, made the current times seem hard and painful. Ishitito had gained the confidence of Bishop's secret, but at the cost of this time of sadness. Maggenreathe would never visit again, and the Lady now spoke less than the apprentice had formerly.
An exaggeration. Still the quiet held back pain; that was easy to see. Because of the honor and loyalty that the Lady had won, Ishitito felt this pain personally. The sadness was a scent that clung to everything in the house.
Bishop pivoted his head and blinked, "Yes, Ishitito. Ask." His voice was soft.
"Will another place make a difference? Will the Lady be happier somewhere else?" Ishitito flushed with the sense of intrusion. This was taking things over the invisible line separating servant and mistress. Implicit was the unspoken hurt of losing Bhangbadea for another turn of years. Or forever? The relationship was potent and tending the house in her absence was empty consolation.
"No. Of course not." Bishop answered. Then seemed to lose interest in the exchange, he turned back to the street scene out beyond the glass.
"The Lady is wise. She has taught you her wisdom, Bishop. Is there not something we could do to show her she might stay here and prosper?" Ishitito asked squeezing hands together and praying silently that Bishop would produce something that had escaped all contemplation so far.
"She is the master. It is a not for me to tell her where to live. Yet, take comfort from the fact that I will try to explain this to her." His soft words were impressive and sure. Ishitito realized then that here was an ally. Someday, the Lady Bhangbadea would return to the quiet street and professor's townhouse.
Ishitito would wait. That would be a very great honor.
* * *
The street was different. Colors muted and less traffic than she expected to see for this time of the afternoon. The gazettes being sold on the street noted a year, which meant she had been gone for close to five centuries local time.
Not what she had intended. Too long. She hadn't understood the time dilation that Shadows could produce when she left. She told the driver to stop the cab. When the rig came to a halt she got out and looked at 1321 Shadowpark Lane.
The brick front still looked grand, but the shutters were in need of paint. The townhouse looked drab and smaller than she remembered. She turned back to the driver, "Please wait, I'll only be an hour."
"Yes, mum." He tipped his hat to her.
She moved up the walk, through the little swing gate and up to the front door. She fetched out the key and tried the lock. It might work. The house was still hers, her quick check of the records had indicated that it was still being taxed and maintained by a trust she had set up.
It did work. The front door opened on old hinges with a protest.
She entered the home where she, Maggenreathe and Bishop had shared so many good times. Shared so many lazy days of comradeship and study of the arcane ways of Whytecliffe that she could still smile despite the fact that she was here alone now. She crossed the threshold she never wanted to leave and never thought to see again.
The house was cold. Immediately, she felt the cold inside her bones.
Dagny. Meeting Dagny and Cathryn Thorsonne had prompted this visit. On the practical side, there were arcane engines in the basement here that she could use to do some of her work. She could have found others somewhere else in Shadow, but she knew these. She had built them. Returning to Amber soon was a priority. Time was a priority. On the side of the heart, if Cathryn and Dagny could get through the gulf of imagined loss between them, she felt she should be able to say goodbye to Maggie.
So here she was.
She crept into the living room, where everything was sheeted over to protect from dust. She noted the window seat, the piano, the couch were they had all worked on geometric oddities of swirl-wards, the fireplace with the brass cut-outs of stars that Bishop and Maggie had fought over. Too fancy and feminine for Bishop, he had sneered, not expensive enough for Maggie's tastes, she had laughed.
She really loved this old room.
"Goodbye, Maggie. I never meant to fall in love with you. I wish we could do it all over. I'd be a better teacher." She whispered into the fading light.
A sound behind her. She sighed and waited to find out what was stalking her now.
The footstep was light, nearly soundless. She silently cursed her empty rack of spells. Raw wizardry was illegal within an urban area in Whytecliffe. She turned around slowly.
"Would the Lady like tea in the parlor or here in the front room? Should I start a fire? Doesn't it seem chill in here?" The slight form had long white hair in a straight fall to the tops of the flat-soled shoes.
"Ishitito!" Bhangbadea gasped.
"Hai, Professor Dea."
Dread. She took a step towards the figure. Had her former servant become a haunt? Waiting for the mistress who never returned? Ishitito should be long dead by this time. Long dead. She shuddered. This was a cruel reward for the long service of the faithful lady's maid.
She altered her perceptions to magic, then mental vibration, then back to the mundane. Nothing seemed amiss. Curiosity flared stronger than fear. She stepped close to the apparition. So solid looking. Smooth face, terribly slight limbs, and a welcoming smile greeted her. Ishitito seemed perhaps sixty under close inspection. That would mean that the maid had aged only one year for every twenty. Ishitito was watching her like Bhangbadea was the sun rising on an everlasting night.
"Welcome home, Lady!" Ishitito smiled. Youthful warmth crept back into the porcelain smooth face.
This was--- amazing. Bhangbadea found herself wrapping her arms carefully around the maid and hugging the slender form like a glass tree ornament. "Thank you, Ishitito. Thank you. I never meant to stay away so long."
"I know," was the only reply. A tiny hand patted Bhangbadea on the back.
Bhangbadea found herself with tears hesitantly creeping down her cheeks. She gasped softly and started to cry on the maid's shoulder. They were the same tiny height and the natural fit of the two of them aided the moment. The redhead knew she wouldn't easily stop now that she had begun and she allowed the sobs to shake her. Consuming her reticence, her will to control everything.
"Ah, now I understand why I have persevered in my duty, my Lady," whispered Ishitito. "I wondered down the years if I had become an Oni. Living outside of life. Watching all change around me. Seeing the calendar flowing by like a river. This is now my reward. To welcome you home. To catch your tears and know that you have made peace with what happened in this house. It lifts my heart. I am reborn. I am a spring breeze and I welcome your tears of renewal."
Bhangbadea cried and tried to nod. As many strange things as she had ever seen, the wonder of this was beyond her experience. Hoping she would never have to question it. She kissed Ishitito on the cheek. There was a responding flush of pink there.
Ishitito fetched out a silk handkerchief from somewhere, "Would the Lady like tea in the parlor or here in the front room? Should I start a fire?"
"Yes. Tea. Thank you. Please start a fire, I hope I'll be bringing someone here. Her name is Dagny Thorsonne and she may stay for a few days while I work." The lady took a deep breath. The tears wouldn't stop yet, but she was renewed. "I don't know how long I'll stay myself, Ishitito. I am, however, very glad to see you."
Ishitito paused in her gliding walk to the hall. "That is well, my lady. Whenever you wish, however long you need. I know my duty now. I have my reward. I will always be here. I will make tea and will shall have a fire."
She softly walked out of sight around the corner.