"Do you not think him handsome, Odette?" the young girl asked, genuinely curious as to the answer she would get. She turned to her colleague beside her, a girl slightly younger than she, after receiving next to no response.

The younger girl, the fairer-haired of the two, appeared a little preoccupied before she spoke. "Well, um, yes. I do suppose he is rather handsome," she replied hastily, turning to look over her shoulder. "But, never you mind; if Maria catches you ever speaking like that you shall come to regret it. Worst of all, if she catches us with our work undone we'll…" she trailed off as the torturous memories flooded her sight, making her want to feel dizzy. Her eyes sparkled against the setting sun as she walked past a large, freshly cleaned window, reminiscing of the horrific torments that she knew resulted from unfinished tasks. "You don't ever want to have your day's work incomplete-"

"Odette!" ordered a gruff voice from around the corner.

Both girls picked up a faster pace than their walking and separated into different directions, knowing who the voice belonged to and what hearing it stipulated. The young girl turned and raced back in the direction she had just come from, while the other girl, Odette, continued on in a much faster jog. She was responding to the authoritarian voice, walking toward the woman who beckoned her.

She turned the corner hurriedly, but then stopped almost instantly in front of a solid woman so as not to bump into her. They stood no more than two feet apart.

The other woman, whom was considerably older than Odette but just as worn, had an inquisitive brow raised and a harsh edge in her stare too potent to ignore. "Have you turned down the beds yet?" the old maid boomed, her voice matching her callous and commanding face.

But it wasn't Odette's turn to fix the beds.

Odette stood before the woman and bowed her head shamefully. "No Maria, I have not," she replied, sounding sincere with her regret. She winced suddenly in anticipation, raising her hands slightly for protection and then dropping them quickly so as not to seem like this sort of punishment was routine.

"Stupid girl!" Maria exclaimed as she slapped the young girl across the face. Odette did even squeak; she knew she deserved it. "What are you waiting for? A written invitation? Get on with it. Useless girl!"

"Yes, Maria," Odette said, speeding down the hall toward the cascade of bedrooms.

- - - - -

Odette located the handle in the dark with the drag of her hand down the wood, clasping it with her life when she found it. She opened the door to the little cottage in the castle garden and, instantly, a warm breeze gushed at her from the lit fireplace. But it was the light giggles from the girls inside that made it seep deep into her bones. She was thankful that Maria was head maid, and gave silent thanks as she smiled to herself; it meant she had a whole cottage to herself away from Odette and the other royal maids.

"Oh, did you see the Prince?" one of the girls shrieked. Odette guessed that it was, without a doubt, Siobhan - the immaturity that wreaked havoc in her tone was a dead giveaway. Odette laughed quietly to herself, the company of the fellow maids of the castle, her sisters, in a way, was a pleasant outcome of the day.

"Oh, my, yes! I wouldn't mind finding what he feels like…" replied another. A fit of laughter and shrieks filled the little cottage again.

"Neither would I!" another dreamed aloud. That voice, Odette could recognise anywhere - it was Lilly, the maid she had been with earlier that day. Odette closed the door gently so as not to let any more heat out and it was the click it made that caught Lilly's attention.

"Oh, Odette!" she cried in relief. The brunette girl rushed over to her friend instantly examining her face. She tilted Odette's head to the side to get a better look at the slightly purple blotches that were beginning to become predominant. Odette saw the glint of worry in Lilly's eyes.

"It's nothing, really." Odette assured, "I'm just grateful this is all that it is…"

Lilly knew exactly what Odette meant, and shook her head solemnly, feeling helpless on behalf of her friend. After all, Odette was the most sensible of them all and least deserved the punishment she had a tendency to receive. Sometimes it even hurt Lilly to think about how unfair it was that Odette regularly took care of others, and finished others' chores, but never had any sort of respite. Lilly nodded warily at the girl she liked to think of as her older sister. "As long as you're sure…" she replied.

"Odette, do come and sit." Siobhan interrupted, excitedly. "You have been working longer than any of us and only just finished now? What on Earth could have you so occupied?" She stifled another giggle, though her implications did not go unnoticed by anyone in the room.

And so the other girls joined in the conversation. Suddenly, Claudia's head appeared from around the sofa. "Have you met the Prince?" she smiled, pressing on Siobhan's secret topic choice.

Odette looked over Lilly's shoulder at her friends. "No, Claudia. I barely saw him actually. I was… busy." She walked over gracefully and took a seat on the sofa next to Siobhan. "Maria."

Siobhan leant over and gingerly turned Odette's blemished cheek toward her and Claudia, eyeing the purple evidence visible in the firelight. "Oh really?" she sarcastically mumbled. "We would never have guessed…"

But Claudia kept up her scrutinizing glare because Odette still hadn't answered her question. She was not one to give up idle gossip so easily. Odette sighed, noting the persistence in the girl sitting on the floor. "Unless you count the fact that I saw his back as he walked in the opposite direction to me, then I suppose I did see Prince Derek."

Claudia, satisfied with the response, turned energetically around so her body faced Odette and her back the fireplace. "Mmm... that's all you need to see," she suggested.

Siobhan and Lilly laughed.

"Okay!" another girl called from behind the closed bedroom door. She opened the door, took a few steps out into the open, and swished her regal gown around. "I'm off to do some real pleasuring..."

"So who is it tonight, Briget?" Claudia asked absentmindedly. She lay back casually along the rug, sprawled out comfortably, and was not able to see Briget's attire from the ground. That particular gown was only worn when the King requested one of the maids company. And no matter how regal it looked with its lace trimmings, silk bodice, and layers of petticoats, it was a hideous dress to the maids.

Briget simply rolled her eyes, knowing if Claudia would look up she would find the answer to her question quite clearly. The other girls mocked a groan in unison at her, but ended up giggling wildly. Briget just shook her head at the young girls. She herself was a considerable amount older than them, though not as old as Maria, but was constantly the one out with men. She was quite an attractive girl, though her face started to show her age; that was the reason the girls put her popularity down to – with age came experience.

"Is this corset done up tight enough?" Briget inquired, twisting and turning to give the girls a good look at her figure as she approached the general direction of the door.

"Any tighter," Lilly scoffed, "and you won't be breathing long enough for Peter to get that off you."

All the girls, except Briget, let out a little giggle. She just advanced on the door, determined to leave the immaturity behind for a few hours.

"Goodbye, Briget," Odette called.

"We would say sleep tight, however, you won't be doing much of that, will you?" Claudia added, now possessing Cheshire cat grin on her face.

Lilly giggled again. "And we would also say don't let the bedbugs bite," she moved around Briget's vast skirt and stood behind her, leaning in to whisper in her ear. "However, the bedbugs won't be the ones doing the biting, now will they?"

Siobhan and Odette squealed, unsuccessfully holding in a laugh.

Briget flexed her jaw, publicly showing she was unamused by her apparently 'intelligent' little sisters. "You're just jealous," she retorted "because I do it better, and they know it." And giving the girls a cheeky grin, she joined in with their laughter.

Just then, the door opened.

Maria.

The laughter and happiness ceased instantly

"What are you girls still doing up, for heaven's sakes? You'll wake up them up!" she hissed. Then something caught her eye and she shifted her glare from the cluster of girls in front of the fireplace to rake up and down Briget. She acknowledged the dress; Briget was usually the one in it. "Are you going to make the King wait any longer?" she snapped.

"No Maria," Briget replied, sinking her head slightly as she moved out the door into the night.

When Maria was sure Briget was heading into the castle, and not into the arms of a fairytale lover and off into the night forevermore, she turned on the girls. "Get to bed - the lot of you!" she snarled. Naturally, there was no arguing.

The four remaining girls scrambled like headless chickens to get away from Maria, never able to do it quick enough. They bottle-necked at the bedroom door and practically shoved one another through it so Maria would leave. Once they were in the room, they closed the door.

Maria grunted in response to the stupid girls, took one disapproving look at the dreadful state of the cottage. Claudia saw it all through the key hole, hushing the girls continuously as she waited for the old hag to leave and shut the door behind her.

Odette lay back calmly on her pillow, waiting for her turn to undress so she could finally sleep and escape her life for a few hours. Sometimes sleep was the highlight of her day. As she waited patiently, she listened to the girls chattering away. Siobhan was imitating something Maria had said to her, from what Odette could tell, until she gasped. "Oh my goodness!" she cried. She stepped out from behind the screen and pointed at a little pink bite mark on her shoulder. "Look at what Jean did to me!"

Odette and Claudia knew exactly what the mark was, but Lilly got up to look closer.

"I had no idea you were a gardener type of girl…" Claudia snickered.

They watched Siobhan trace her fingers to the swell of her breast. Just over the edge of the corset was another mark, identical to the first, only far more conspicuous.

Siobhan looked up with almost a dazed expression, "You won't want to know where the rest are..." she said. They all burst out laughing, even Odette.

"When was this?" Claudia asked.

Siobhan poked her head around the screen and grinned. "What? Did you honestly think I would dust books in the library?"

Lilly gasped a laugh, highly amused. But Odette was bewildered; Siobhan had left a chore undone to have some time alone with the castle's gardener? She knew she personally would never have the courage to do that.

"Was it worth it?" Lilly questioned, mocking Maria's solid voice.

Siobhan smiled at her audience and ducked her head back behind the screen, out of view. "It was no different from yesterday…" she simply said.

Lilly and Claudia jerked their heads to one another and roared in laughter.

Odette couldn't help but smile; she was so accustomed to the private antics that she used to find offensive that she now was able to find humour in them. She couldn't relate to the topic, not at all, but she knew it would only be a matter of time before she would. She used to think her age had an influence on her inexperience, but Siobhan was perhaps a year younger than her and was well acquainted in the rituals of a woman, so she had to rule age out.

She shuddered to think of what could - and would- happen to her in the future. She had heard stories from the other girls about the torments they had to go through, and the nonsense that they had no option but to put up with while sharing a bed with a man. Especially on their first time. Odette wished to the heavens above that if she wasn't going to outlive Maria that she would stay unnoticed by prying eyes of men. But she was becoming of age and she found herself preparing, anyway, day in and day out for her time.

She rolled onto her side with those thoughts. Only, she winced and turned over to her other side immediately.

"Odette, perhaps you should put something cold on that. It would probably make it feel better…" Lilly whispered. She'd seen Odette discover the pain of the bruise.

"No, it's fine, Lilly. I honestly cannot be bothered going and getting something."

"Oh, I'll go and get it-"

"You'll do nothing of the sort, lie down and rest."

Odette stood up to get undressed, and clutched her head, waiting for the room took a moment to stop swaying.

"Odette?" Claudia asked when Odette stood behind the screen.

"Yes?"

"I've never seen anyone take-" Claudia stopped mid-sentence and changed her question. "You have never been away at night, and you are far too uptight to leave any work undone... Do you have your own Casanova?"

"Uptigh-" Odette exclaimed, but decided to leave that argument alone. She repressed the urge to argue and thought back to the original question. She practically choked on the assumption, and chuckled. "Pardon me?"

"Do you have someone sneak in here to you, or is that why you are so late to finish your work - you did sneak out during the day?"

Odette felt herself blush slightly; it never occurred to them that she had never been involved in that kind of experience. But she honestly didn't feel she was missing anything.

So Odette changed the topic, untangling her nightgown from the remaining pile of them. "We need to get our rest. With an extra person in the castle, there's more work that needs to be done. And I really wish to avoid the wrath of Maria that comes with unfinished work…" When she was done dressing, she came over to her bed and got under the covers.

"Do you think that Prince Derek will…?" Lilly trailed off suggestively, and nodded her head toward innocent Odette.

"I don't know..." Claudia replied.

Siobhan piped up from the far bed, sitting up and looking lost in the mountain of blankets on her bed. "I doubt it. For one, he is promised; his virtue is half the agreement. And second, I've heard that he is quite a decent man - he respects the arrangement. He wouldn't go breaking it..."

"Pfft, like father, like son." Lilly retorted, fluffing her pillow. "King Peter has been widowed for more than a decade and swore to a life of loneliness that lasted a few months."

"Just wait until he meets Briget… she'll set Derek straight." giggled Claudia, amused by the thought of it in her head.

"Poor Derek…" Odette muttered, "He's barely been here for a day and is already being bargained off behind his back…"

The conversation continued to flow on, but Odette stopped taking notice. Tonight's talk had her swimming in a million thoughts that didn't make sense. Tonight's topic brought back the stories she was told of by the other girls; a lot were horrific tales, she had no doubts about that, but none of them – she thought- compared to what Maria was capable of. Odette knew so for a fact. So why should she be afraid of the inevitable? After all, she had already been through worse. Or so she believed.

She also knew that if she kept idling on those thoughts then she wouldn't sleep, and then she wouldn't finish her work on time and Maria would make her regret ever dwelling on any thoughts instead of sleeping.

But she couldn't shake the thoughts, the stories. They stayed trapped in her mind; chewing, swirling, and stirring her… sleep was going to be hard now.