Chapter One:
It was another bright and early morning in the small monarchy of Mystic Falls. Elena Gilbert, a maid of the royal palace, got up from the servants' cottage on the outskirts of its campus and trailed across the giant field of grass to the service stair case. Sun rays shot out behind trees from the west, casting a big shadowed blur at the entrance. Maybe Miss Gilbert should've acknowledged it. Maybe it was a foreshadowing of the day ahead of her. But Elena chose to ignore its message. With her life, thinking of a half empty glass was never a good way of thinking. She exited the stairwell and entered the kitchen.
She lived to get be. She had no goals nor dreams; she couldn't afford those luxuries. Ever since she was thirteen, she kept herself busy with work at the palace to help her mother support her and her brother, Jeremy. Her father, a royal advisor, had died from a fatal illness just before. Elena and Isobel Gilbert, the females of the small and newly broken family, had lost their titles and fortune. Jeremy, however, still inherited a place in the royal court as the royal advisor, for it is a privilege handed to the sons of every family of the initial court of Mystic Falls, all the way to when it was founded centuries ago. He was the only one in the family that could afford to have a future, and as the good older sister she liked to believe she was, Elena did the best she could to make sure it was a good future.
Now she was the age of seventeen. Jeremy was still only fifteen, but learned more about the world than she ever would. Every day, while she was in the royal palace working as a maid, he was in a different part of the palace, learning about politics and royalty.
She didn't often spend the night in the servants' cottage. They still had their estate on the far side of the kingdom and close to the royal stables. Why the stables and the palace were placed so far apart, she had no idea. But she usually slept in that home. Today, however, was a special day in the Mystic Falls kingdom. The eldest prince, Damon Salvatore, was being brought out to society, meaning that the king wants him to marry. She was to help prepare for the party tonight. The usual thing, like set tables and clean a bit. Then, as the sister of the soon-to-be advisor of the soon-to-be king of their land, she was invited informally. Not as a servant, but as a guest. The thought made her very excited.
She's never actually met anyone of the royal circle before. She's only heard the stories about them from Jeremy, or seen their public rallies at Fell's Church on Sundays. Jeremy spoke of the royal siblings, Prince Damon and Prince Stefan, generously. From how he spoke, however, it seemed that he was closer in relations to Stefan, which made some sense. Stefan, who was a few months older than Elena, was closer in age to him than his twenty-four year old brother. Stefan, apparently, loved to ride and fence while Damon always ran off and did his own thing. They were extremely bright and kind, but sometimes not towards each other.
The housekeeper, the person who controlled the kitchen and staff of the palace, had told Elena to fetch something. It was a silver serving tray that Bonnie, one of her close friends and another maid, had left in one of the rooms in the third floor, which was the Princes' floor. This was a bit unusual for her. Never had she been trusted going up her, or really never did she want to.
"Elena!" She heard her name. She looked behind her to see Jeremy, much to her surprise. He usually wasn't in the palace so early, and when he was, she never actually saw him.
At fifteen, he was pretty built and mature-looking. He wore casual trousers and a button-ruffle shirt with the sleeves risen a third up his arms. It showed off his toned arms that now consumed her in a giant brotherly bear hug. "What are you doing here?" he asked as he released her.
"I could ask you the same thing!" Elena exclaimed. "Bonnie accidentally left a tray in one of the rooms and Rose, the housekeeper, found out and asked me to take care of it. Otherwise, you know you wouldn't have the pleasure of seeing little ole me."
"Well, I'm glad I did. But me? Yeah, well, my mentor, Alaric, wanted me to meet him here for a change." Jere replied.
"I see. Well, I wish you good luck with all your studies. I have to find a silver tray without getting in anyone's way and all. I'll see you back at the estate at sunset, right?" Jeremy nodded. She grabbed the back of his head in both head, pulled his neck down to her and reached up—for he was just that much taller than she was—to give his forehead a kiss. Finally they went their separate ways.
The first room Elena looked for was the room of the Lady of Fell's Church, Alexia, and the first cousin of the Royal Brothers. She was an early riser, as the help of the house made it their business to know, and was out of the room already. Elena thought it'd look better if she turned the room as well. As she did so, she did not find the tray.
The next room was the younger prince's study. Elena cursed under her breath when she realized she had to go in it. She also cursed at Rose, who failed to mention what room to go in! Though, she only had to look around the room to know the ray wasn't there, still. She hated so much coming up or conversing with royalty or people related closely to royalty. That didn't include Jeremy for biased reasons. But she didn't know why she disliked it so much.
The door she knocked on was that of the youngest prince himself. "Come in!" said a voice from the other side of the door. Elena rolled her eyes and sighed. He was home. She slowly turned the door knob and entered the room. Prince Stefan Salvatore was there in a dashing attire: nude colored trousers and blue button shirt with half his chest exposed. Elena saw this and turned away with only a gasp to leave her lips. He was royalty and she practically saw him shirtless! This action of hers earned her a laugh. "You can look now…" the prince's voice joked moments later.
Elena peaked to see that he had the top buttons now fastened properly and relieved the air she didn't know she kept in. "I'm sorry to interrupt, sir, but there have been some mishaps downstairs. I don't mean to speak out of place, but have you seen a silver tray?" She thought about what she had blurted out. Nope, there was probably nothing rude to royalty in her words, but she mentally reminded herself to tell Bonnie to slap her if she did.
He looked at her like she was mad. He had no idea how much she wished she were hysterical instead of this alternative. "You aren't speaking out of place at all, Miss. However, I don't think I have seen what you are looking for.
"Oh," Elena sighed. Her devastation was obvious. "I'm sorry to bother you, your highness. If you happen to need something, I'll be on this floor, frantically searching for that tray. And I'll get someone to turn your room."
"Thank you, but I've got it. You look a bit stressed anyway," he replied.
From that, Elena's back straightened and her eyes looked at everything with much more alert. "I assure you, you highness, that it would be no trouble at all."
There was a glimmering, twinkling star in his eye that Elena didn't like as he said "I insist" with his fairytale prince voice. The voice annoyed her. After she respectfully curtsied and excused herself from the room, she caught herself trying to refrain from rolling her eyes. To her, he seemed too cocky for his own good. And that was Stefan, the supposedly nicer and more respectful brother. Yeah, this brother was basically shirtless in front of her. Elena did not want to know if a royal ego could get any bigger for the eldest Salvatore brother, as Jeremy so often hinted.
The search for this tray was killing her. She had a lot more things to do if she wanted to go to the ball tonight. She didn't want to be parading through every room of the royal princes' floor all day, as it seemed that was how long it would take. She checked all five wash rooms, two empty guest rooms, the floor's library, and the eldest prince's study. There was no sign of this mysterious silver tray anywhere. She stopped in the middle of the finely carpeted hallway and fingered through her hair, dumped at the top in a neat ponytail that fell to her mid back.
She sighed. Two things occupied the priority in her mind, one good while the other was pretty bad. The good thing: she only had one room left to go. The bad thing: it was Prince Damon's room.
She stalled going in there long enough, and it was inevitable. She knocked on the dark wooden door three times. She paused before knocking again with a little more force. Through the door, she heard the faint sound of shuffling. Also, a loud whisper. "Shit."
Yup, Prince Damon was in there. Seconds later, she heard a soothing voice coo. "Come in," it said. She did as she was told, but gasped from utter surprise at the first thing she saw.
It must've been a record or something! First, she was sent on this goose chase for a tray that she was starting to believe didn't exist. Why did one tray matter, anyway? Then she has an awkward encounter with Prince Stefan. From that she realized why she didn't like conversing with royals. But right now had to take the cake. Now, she was staring at a completely shirtless prince with rousers that weren't even buttoned in a room where clothes were a decoration and a half-naked, short haired brunette was mopped over the bed.
"I am so sorry, your highness," Elena practically yelled out at the scene. Why did you tell me to come in when you're not even dressed? She wanted to ask, but she held her tongue. She turned on her heel to leave and seek refuge with Bonnie or something to the extent, but someone grasped he wrist to prevent her. Since he 'bobbed-beauty' was Sleeping Beauty on the bed, the only person it could've been was the cocky older brother. Elena held her breath. Why, she thought. Why today? Why me?
She turned to face him, though she need not dare to star into his eyes as he said, "What is it you want" in a tone that was too cold. Surprisingly, though, Elena found that she preferred it to Prince Stefan's much too cozy appeal.
"A tray…" she blurted out, panic seeping heavily with every breath between words. "It's a silver tray, your highness," she said with more confident, though it still lacked a specific quality that would have made it believable.
"A tray?" he repeated with humor, as if it was a practical joke or something. All she could do was nod, still refusing to look him in the eye. "Well, you're in luck." Ha! "It's on the bedside table." He let go of her wrist to retrieve it for her. "Is there anything else?" She shook her head. "Good. You're dismissed!" She curtsied and scurried away as fast as she could from the room and to the kitchen two stories down.
She handed the tray to Rose with a fake smile. As she passed Bonnie, who was washing some dishes with an innocent look on her face, she whispered in her ear, "I have a lot to tell you but let me summarize it in one little phrase: You owe me."
