Nina

Another black rose, snipped clean off. I'm the only one who knows whose shears did it.

• SerenaA maid who knows too much doesn't live long.
  NinaGuess I'm not living long, then.
  BartholtNina.
• CorbinThe shears are back where they belong.
  NinaCount, do you realize you just confessed?

I've decided not to smile today. Someone in the kitchen said humans are just things you clear away once the season's over.

• SerenaIt's not wrong.
  NinaThen how many seasons have you cleared away, Serena?
  SerenaI've never counted.
• BartholtGive me the kitchen roster.
  NinaThat's the first time I've seen you angry, Steward.

I dropped a ring while dusting. It was tucked in the very back of the Count's drawer, under three hundred years of dust.

• BartholtNina. The Count's drawer is not something you touch.
  NinaWhat about the dust?
  BartholtDust only. Nothing else.
• CorbinPut it back where it was.
  NinaAlready did. But that ring, it was a woman's.
  CorbinI said put it back.

I put that ring back where it belonged. Three hundred years of dust everywhere, and yet the ring was the only thing with fingerprints on it.

• BartholtNina. Cleaning isn't finished until the drawer is closed.
  NinaI closed it. Without a sound, even.
• SerenaAnything a human hand has touched should probably be washed.
  NinaWashing it would erase the fingerprints. And those aren't mine to erase.

The one who said that thing in the kitchen left my share of bread aside today. Not an apology, I'm sure. Just bread.

• GabrielNina, if you ever come down the mountain, the meal's on me.
  NinaIf a reason to come down ever shows up. Not right now, though.
• MargueriteIf bread comes from the same mouth that said humans get cleared away after a season, the count has changed.

I brought out the winter blankets. Did you know that in the east room, dust never settles on the one spot where the first light falls?

• BartholtDidn't I tell you not to touch that room's curtains?
  NinaI didn't touch them. I just watched where the light landed.
• CorbinLeave the curtains as they are. Just the blankets need changing.
  NinaYes. I've laid out two thick ones.