So! I was going to wait to start this story until I finished with my other one, but this idea has been floating around my head for too long and was just begging to be written, and so here I am, writing this story. It's quite different from my other story, but, I like this one.
Also, here is my DISCLAIMER FOR THE WHOLE STORY: I do not possess anything that originates from Twilight. Sadly.
Anyway! I do hope this is enjoyable, and I hope that you might feel so possessed to review because the story was so enjoyable. :)
Questions kept on running through her mind as she moved about the hallways, a nice big basket filled with freshly cleaned laundry on her hip. That had been her project for the day, clean the Prince's clothing to perfection. Fix it where it needed fixing, make sure it was still colorful, make sure it was in the condition it was when he first got. And then, then she was to put it back into his room where it belonged and slip out. Never seen by the Prince. None of the servants were supposed to be seen by the Prince, or any of the royal family. Only one of them spoke to the royals, so he could then deal out jobs to everyone else.
The Prince wasn't going to be back in the castle for another couple of hours, so she had plenty of time to finish her job for the day. But, she knew it was essential that she was never seen by any of the royals. Oh, she had seen them. And she always wondered why it was that they weren't allowed to be seen by them. That was one of the questions that kept running through her mind while she worked.
Also, she couldn't help but wonder if she stayed hidden because she was an ugly creature. She was a small girl, weak in many ways. She was a good cook, and a good cleaner. On occasion, one of her meals was requested specifically by the Prince, sometimes the King, and every once in a while, the Queen and Princess would request something that she was good at making, and so that would be her job for the day. She wondered why it was that they sometimes wanted things she made and not what the full time cook made. Of course, she never questioned out loud.
Moments later she found herself in the Prince's chambers – the look of them being completely and totally spotless. The cleaners had already taken care of his room. They always took care of the Royal's rooms first and foremost. That way, if they stopped back during the middle of the day, the room was cleaned and they would not have to worry much about it later on in the day. Which got her wondering if the Prince was going to do something unexpected and show up far too early for her to finish her job. She would get into so much trouble if the Prince saw her.
Taking a deep breath, she moved quickly to the dresser and started to place the Prince's clothing where it belonged, keeping it all nice and neatly folded in the process as she did so. She was gently placing every piece of clothing where it belonged, sitting in the floor in her simple black working dress when she saw the door knob to the bedroom turn and she froze, the next second, the Prince walked through and she knew she was going to be in serious trouble.
Hopefully, he wouldn't notice her in the room as she quickly finished up her task. As soon as she was finished, she glanced back over at the door to see him standing there in all his regal glory, just looking at her. Simply and sweetly, staring at her, sort of looking perplexed as to why she was standing there in front of him. Taking a deep breath, she stood and looked at the floor before curtsying to him, "Your majesty," she said before starting to head out of the room, slipping past him.
"Wait," he said, his voice the sound of sweet, thick honey. Just like she thought it would sound like, coming out of someone that looked like him. His hair, this gorgeous coppery color that made his green eyes seem to sparkle even more. And even on top of that, his rustic colored tunic was a wonderful color against his skin.
"Yes, your majesty?" she said, her heart thudding in her chest. How was she going to keep from getting in trouble? How was she supposed to keep from getting herself beaten for her mistake? They had told her he wouldn't be back for hours … but now here he was. Home early.
"What's … what's your name? I never see any of the servants here," he said, his forehead drawn together as he looked at her, making her heart thump more furiously and even louder than before.
"Isabella Swan, your majesty. And I must go before they wonder where I am. I do hope your clothing has been cleaned to your satisfaction," she said softly, her voice just barely above a whisper, but loud enough that she was sure he could hear her.
"Isabella. What a pretty name," he said to her, musing as he stepped to the side, "I won't tell on you. It's my fault I came back early. I know you were taught that we're not supposed to see you. Have a good day, Isabella, and I know my clothing will be cleaned beyond what is expected," he said, smiling gently at her, making her heart flutter.
"Thank you, your majesty. Have a wonderful night, your majesty," she said, curtsying again before scurrying out into the hallway and then into the servants stairwell so she could slip down to the laundry room to place the basket, and then to the dining area to find the food she was being given for this day's dinner. It was just a simple bowl of cold soup and a hunk of slightly stale bread. The things the Royal's weren't going to be eating at all. The better the food, the higher up you had to be.
And Bella most certainly wasn't very high up on that chain. She was almost as far to the bottom as she could get. Taking her food, she took a seat at one of the few tables they kept for them to eat at, and she waited for her friends to join her. Or rather her only friend, Angela. She ate slowly until her friend showed up, wearing a dress exactly the same as her own and taking a place across from her with her bowl of soup and hunk of slightly stale bread.
"How was laundry duty today?" Angela asked as she sat down across from Bella.
"Like usual. Long, and resulting in shriveled finger tips for a couple of hours," she said, "How was prep work in the kitchen?" she asked as she took a sip of her soup as she smiled at her friend.
"Oh, you know, lots of chopping, some tearing up when the onions rolled around. Those sorts of things. Nothing terribly interesting, except that I was told by the chef that he might like me to be on prep duty more often, I might be getting a more permanent position in the kitchen," smiling excitedly.
Everyone knew that the jobs in the kitchen are the best ones to get. They treat you the best and often times you got to test out different sorts of food that they were working on, make sure that it was at last half way decent so when it reached the mouths of the royals they would know it would taste alright.
"That's fantastic, Angie," she said, smiling brightly, "That's awesome for you. If you do get more jobs in the kitchen, sometimes you will definitely have to bring me something to eat and stuff, you know?" she said, smiling gently at the girl.
"Definitely will. We'll have left over parties on occasion," Angela said to Bella with a bright smile before she decided to change topics a bit, "Did anything interesting happen to you today?" she asked.
"Well … there was one thing, but … I'm not sure if it's appropriate if I share. If it got to the wrong ears, I could be in some serious trouble. Even though it wasn't my fault it happened," she said, frowning a little bit as she thought over her encounter with the Prince.
"Tonight, then. You'll tell me tonight. Before we go to sleep you can tell me. That way people are less likely to hear us talking, right?" Angela said, eager to know what it was that might have been going through her friends mind that had her so worried about people hearing.
"Okay. I'll tell you everything interesting about my day once it's time for us to go to bed, does that sound like an alright plan?" she said.
Angela nodded, then. "Most definitely. And the interesting part of your day better be worth my waiting to hear about it from you, alright?"
Bella just smiled and nodded in response to what was being said. "Oh, I am absolutely certain you will enjoy my little story about the event that happened today," she told her before she smiled a bit, finishing her food and moving to bring the dishes and set them gently where they belonged, where they would be ready to be cleaned. "I'll see you later, I'm going to go get my job for tomorrow and then head to our room. When you get there, I'll start telling you all about my little interesting piece of the day," she said, smiling a little bit before leaving the room to find what she was doing the next day.
She made her way quickly and silently through the walls, making her steps light so she couldn't be heard if anyone was walking past her in the actual hallways or down the actual stair cases. When she reached the chart of duties and names, she saw she was once again placed on laundry duty. Sighing, just a little bit, she made her way to her quarters, slipping inside and then out of her black dress and into something more comfortable for sleeping.
Shortly after she changed into her pajamas, Angela was slipping into the room. "I'm on kitchen duty again," she said, smiling at her friend, "You've already changed. I take it that means you don't want to do anything else tonight? I was hearing talk of a gathering for story telling among some of the other servants," she suggested, though Bella just shook her head a little bit, not all that interested in the prospect.
"Alright, then. You have to tell me what happened to you today, the interesting bit," she said, smiling as she sat down across from her friend and eagerly awaited the story. Angela hand managed to change into her own sleeping cloths rather quickly, and now it seemed the both of them were ready for their night. They turned in early, since they had to wake so far before the sun did so they would be able to accomplish all the tasks that needed to be attended to.
"Okay, well," Bella started, trying to think of the best way she could talk about this day's interesting moment, "I kinda was found while I was putting away the Prince's laundry, by the Prince. He most definitely saw me. And actually, the coolest part of all that, was, well, he talked to me. Angie, he asked me what my name was, he wanted to talk to me. I mean, I got out of there as fast as possible, and he promised me he wouldn't tell that he had seen me. Which is kind of nice and Angie … he was so handsome," she said to the girl, falling back on her bed.
"Just like those servant girls that get to tend to him more often say. And his voice … they never hear him talk, because he's always so busy doing things, but, his voice sounds like that beautiful honey. Rich and sweet like," she said, smiling a little bit as she remembered what his voice had sounded like, how sweet It had been when he had spoken to her. Said her name.
Angela just looked at Bella a little bit, her jaw dropped a little bit. "No way … one of the royals talked to you? Like … actually talked to you?" she said, just a little bit in awe of the situation at hand.
"Yeah. He actually talked to me. The Prince. He talked to me. And he isn't going to get me in trouble, that's the even more amazing part of it. I had always thought that if one of them spotted me, they would end up reporting me. Get me in trouble over all of it. But he said he wouldn't, and the crazy thing is, I believe him. I don't think he is going to report me. I think … I think I'm going to be safe from that, you know? I mean, I don't think them seeming me once would ruin my life here, but it would certainly give me less desirable jobs and worse food and what not, but, beyond that, I don't think anything would happen to me," she said to Angela, "Regardless though … it was a crazy experience," she said.
Angela just shook her head a little bit as she took a deep breath. "Wow, Bella, that's … that's insane. I swear I won't let word get out, because I am sure there are some girls that would just love to report that incident. I mean, he is the Prince after all," the girl said before Bella nodded a little bit.
"Well, I think that was the most exciting thing that is ever, and I mean ever, going to happen to me," Bella said simply as Angela just rolled her eyes.
"Uh, huh. And what if the Prince wants to see you again?" Angela asked, an eyebrow being slowly raised at her.
"I highly doubt it," she said, shaking her head a little bit at the situation, "Why on earth would someone that was of royalty be interested in me? Just a servant, and I'm lucky to even be that much in this world," Bella said to Angela.
"Well, you are rather beautiful, you know. Prettier than most people – even some of the royalty that has visited the castle and everything," Angela said.
"Angie! You can't mean that! I mean … I'm just plain, boring. Why on earth would you ever think there was anything special about me. Because I promise there is absolutely nothing interesting or special about the kind of person I am. There's no really unique pieces to my appearance," Bella said, just rolling her eyes and looking at the ground as she didn't much like taking compliments, especially when she felt like they didn't really apply to her in truth.
Angela just rolled her eyes at the situation at hand, shaking her head a little bit. "You do not see yourself clearly at all. In the least. But! I know nothing I am going to say is going to convince you otherwise, so there's no point in my trying to convince you," Angela said to Bella with a little shrug.
"Whatever you say," Bella said, shrugging a little bit as she lay on her bed and sighed. "I have laundry duty again tomorrow, so I'm thinking I'm going to fall asleep early. I find that duty to me more exhausting than most of the others are, there are too many extra things that you are asked to accomplish for it to be a truly easy task," she said to her friend as she lay down in her bed and looked up at the ceiling.
"Yeah. I get that. Get all the sleep you need, Bella. It seems that you had the most interesting day of the two of us, though, I do have to say, my news has a better long term effect for us both," she said simply, smiling at her friend as she took her own bed.
Bella just smiled and laughed a little bit at Angela's comment. "I suppose you are right. But for now … I think I just want to go to sleep. I'm drained. We can gossip more tomorrow night, how about that? We'll see if I have another interesting day with my laundry duty and if you have another interesting day in the kitchen. If your's involves bringing food back to our room, for some reason, you automatically win the best day, you know," she said to Angela with a smile.
"Alright, Bella," the girl said, sounding as if she was far more tired than she had let on.
"Good. Night, Angie," she called to her friend.
"Night," a sleepy voice called back to her.
And, in absolutely no time at all, the two young servants were fast asleep, dreaming wonderful dreams.
Well! The next chapter will be up in a week, unless I get so many reviews that I post early as a means of thanking everyone for their reviews. Just keep that in mind. :) Have a wonderful day, and I do hope you enjoyed what you read.