Excerpt:

Rella stared in dismay at the tottering mountains of pots and swamps of utensils in dirty water filling every sink in the palace kitchen. And this was only the beginning of the night, the dishes dirtied by the cooking and not the dining part of the banquet. This was exactly why she'd tried so hard to get out of kitchen duty. Even handling the nobles' ridiculous amounts of luggage would be better than this.
But Cook Jules had been his usual adamant self. He claimed to have barely enough scullery staff on a daily basis, and for Prince Nicholas's birthday feast, every hand was needed. Including Rella's.
At least she wasn't alone; the kitchens were full of people, the servants that Rella worked with every day, as well as strangers recruited from other nobles to help with the work.
One of the maids Rella dusted with, Lani, gave her a wink as she passed by, loaded down by trays stacked with clean china to set the tables with for tonight.
"Hey, Rella, get started," Lani called. "The pots from cooking ate barely the beginning of what you'll have to do tonight."
"Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Lani."
"No problem. There may be gloves hidden in the cabinet with the flour, if your hands get chapped later from the water."
"Thanks," Rella said, with real gratitude this time. "I don't know how you always know this stuff."
"Hang around with me, kid, it'll make you smart." Lani grinned and shifted the trays to relieve their weight on her arms. Her red hair was slipping out from under her servant's cap, but her expression was relaxed and as usual, she hadn't even broken a sweat. "I've got to get this to the banquet hall before Jules sees me, but I'll see you later, okay? Have fun in dish- land."
"I;m sure I will," Rella said dolefully. "I'll see you around."