Grace's existence was a lonely one, even lonelier than when she lived in the garage. At least, then, she had the company of children at school--even if they did ridicule her and call her names. She used to have her mother and father: one only spoke to give orders, and the other didn't even see her. Still, an optimist to the end, Grace reminded herself that, now, she could eat food that was only three days old instead of a week.
She was only called up to the surface to carry out the tasks that not even Wogan would stoop to perform, the most dignifying being cleaning out the toddler potty. Yes, it did go downhill from there.
Grace could only clean the nursery when Treasure was on the opposite end of the house, so she couldn't contaminate the heir with her impurity, so she was able to sneak a toy robot down to her little basement. It was her only entertainment, and she spent hours trying to stretch out the playtime.
Mist didn't even notice the toy's disappearance, much to Grace's relief, which was unlike her--usually she would have brought the demons of the Beyond down on Grace for stealing from Treasure. But, in truth, Mist was happy, happy enough to completely ignore her oldest daughter. When she wasn't watching Treasure, she was trolling on forums.
During Treasure's every waking moment, Mist was with her. Treasure never knew anyone but her mother, and her mother was the center of her world. She was parent, protector, and Watcher all rolled up into one purple-skinned woman with a kind smile for one daughter and sharp eyes for the other.
And when Mommy was busy typing nasty words on forum, Treasure had Jason. Jason was her very best friend besides Mommy, and they cuddled and sang together all the time.
The years passed, slowly but surely. Thanks to her maternity leaves, Mist was not advancing in her chosen career as quickly as she had hoped, but she had more than one trick up her sleeve, and one very large trick on her sleeve. She and Obsidian plotted together late into the night, and the shadow dragon brought her news of the girl in the basement.
Grace had grown up beneath the surface. Her mother dropped down clothes every few months, which she had "appropriated" from the local correctional facility, and had given Grace a broken mirror for a birthday present, just so she could see how very ugly she had become. To Grace's surprise, she looked into the mirror one day and saw someone beautiful and grown-up. And so the line between reality and her mother's words became distinct.
Treasure had also grown, becoming a sunny little girl who loved to play with her mother's makeup and knew herself to be a princess. She was the princess, and someday she would be the queen, because there was no other heir to the throne.
Mist listened to Obsidian's words, and made a decision. Treasure would need a maid, so that she would never need to be anything besides a princess. She could have easily "appropriated" a servant from outside the household, but why go to extra effort when there was an available option right there in the house?
Grace accepted her mother's terms, not that she had much choice in the matter, and returned to work. Mist was pleased to learn that Grace was far more useful than she was as a child--the teenage maid could cook much more effectively.
She cooked the food, then served dinner to Mist and Treasure in the dining room. Wogan wasn't allowed at dinner--he had been deemed unworthy of eating near his daughter. Grace's own meals were upgraded to somewhat-sort-of-fresh-leftovers eaten behind the kitchen after she had cleaned the dishes.
At night, Grace slept on the sofa in the living room while Treasure peacefully resided in her canopy bed. The golden child didn't hear the nightly creak of the door as someone tiptoed into the room and looked around, visualizing the life that was supposed to be hers.
