Maggie had been scuttling around for some time in the castle proper.  In order to accommodate her varied duties, she liked to sprinkle her day with well-timed naps, so she could be awake pretty much any time she was needed.  It was a curious role, being a human servant in a vampire's castle, and she had taken pains to adapt to it as well as she could.  It seemed to work, so long as she was careful not to nap out of turn.<br/>So far, she'd swept and dusted the majority of the halls to spotlessness, checked the lanterns, stoked the cooking fires, brought in ingredients for meals, seen to some of the live stock, and moved the necessary water around inside the castle.  She'd taken special care with the bath water, as she usually did, sprinkling it with various blends of sweet smelling flowers and fragrant oils, as per the preferences of the Lord and Lady of the Estate.  In fact, now that those two were up and about, she would probably be helping with some of the linen duties later in the day.  But before any of that could take happen..<br/>"Oi, Lila!" she called to the lycan servant coming in from the garden.  Lila was damned dependable, and once again had brought her a small collection of primroses and saffron flowers for her own purposes.  Maggie gave her a cheerful hug, and started deftly stringing some of the flowers together while listening to the morning row of gossip.<br/>An ugly business, Endorel's father dying.  She'd rather liked him, and not just because he'd been good at his job.  He'd had a charisma about him, one that made for a joyful visit as much as it helped him handle the horses.  Endorel had it, too, but in a different way.  The topic of the funeral in a few hours made Maggie feel suddenly guilty for enjoying her duties this morning.  She chatted with Lila for a moment longer than necessary about it, but Lila curtly made her aware that the Manse as a whole was looking to punish someone today, and she'd better get on with it.  She was up off her seat with a short laugh and a hoop of flowers on her shoulder, as she grabbed a full bucket of water and trotted out the door.<br/>This death meant more than just a sad day for the Estate.  It spelled a different problem for her: she liked to draw water herself from the nearby stream and gather herbs in the forest.  The presence of horse killing violent animals, or the agitation of the castle luminaries, didn't thrill her.  She stopped at wooden beam on her way outside, and hastily put the primroses on the protruding nail, whispering something and dusting off her green servant's dress. There was a bit of a high-priority crowd near the horses, and so she composed her appearance before taking a deep breath and heading to the stables.<br/>She moved unobtrusively, placing the bucket by the troth and reaching for the empty one.  As she saw Endorel, however, she stood and looked at him sadly.  He didn't usually have a wandering expression, though it was more than understandable why.  She moved close to him, her expression sorrowful, and extended her arm in that way that offers either a hug or a hand for consolation.<br/>"I'm na good wit' condolences, friend.  But tiny gods, I'm sorry y' have t' go through this." She looks around at the groomed horses, quietly envious that he got to spend all day with them, but shoving that thought from her head.  "Y' need anythin'? Anythin' at all?"  By her expression, she seemed willing to give nearly anything she could, despite the lack of difference it would make.