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"Hector!" Maria's scream woke me from my daze, looking at this Susannah Simon. There was no doubt; Maria didn't hold a candle to her. Sure, Maria was pretty. But not nearly as pretty as Susannah. Susannah was… beautiful, in a simple way. It was refreshing to see a woman as beautiful as her with no giant diamond necklaces and rings to cover it all. Her simplicity was what made me swoon, until Maria came running toward me.
"Hector, we must leave now," Maria hollered, grabbing my arm. "This place is disgusting. God forbid we should stay here for another second. Those beggars don't deserve for someone nearly as respectful as I to spare them a pound. Come now."
"Maria, you don't mind if I will stay here for a tad more, do you? I rather enjoy it here." Maria glared at me as if I was a fish riding a bicycle, she was that surprised. But she quickly came around. "Very well. Though I am not waiting for you, Hector. You have no choice but to return on your own, if you choose to stay. I am leaving. Good bye." She left, as I muttered "Good bye" in reply.
"So long Your Majesty…" Susannah said, lifting the carpet she had dropped and starting to move along, but then I stopped her.
"Miss Simon, let me give you a hand…" I said, helping her carry the carpet, which, surprisingly enough for me, was quite heavy. "Oh no," She exclaimed,. "I could very well do this on my own, your majesty, there is much more for a king than to carry a carpet." She pulled the carpet away from me, but I protested, which caused the carpet to fall again and spread open on the ground.
"Oh, dear," She exclaimed, kneeling again and rolling the carpet back, while I also kneeled next to her and helped her.
"Really, Miss Simon, let me help you carry this. I truly want to help, and finally doing something without the help of any servants or chambermaids is refreshment," I said to her, while she has already lifted the carpet back to her hands, struggling to carry it on her own. The other young woman who helped her carry the carpet had gone off to buy vegetables, so it seemed.
"I assume it would be better for someone to assist me," she said, "but my family will resent me for disrespecting a royal enough to allow him carry a carpet." I grabbed hold of the carpet also. "Miss, for you to refuse my offer to help you is disrespectful enough." She apparently came around when I told her that, since she mumbled "very well" and started walking along the market.
"So, Miss Simon, where am I helping you carry this to?" I asked her, as we maneuvered across the many people walking along the path. "Oh, to my house, Your Majesty. It's not far from the market. And please, call me Susannah." I laughed. "Well, Susannah, please don't call me 'Your Majesty'."
"Well, what do you propose I call you, Your Majesty? Hector?" I frowned at that. I am not very fond of anyone calling me Hector. I rather like the name my family calls me. "Oh, not Hector," I said, "Jesse, please. Please call me Jesse."
She giggled. "Jesse? Is that really your name?" She asked, laughing. I suppose that really isn't a name you'd think of for a king. "No, it isn't. It is what you'd call a pet name. My mother and family calls me that. Only Maria, my fiancé, refuses to call me so." She looked away from my face and continued carrying the carpet. We were already at the edge of the market, and headed to a hill. I assumed that one of the houses on the hill belonged to her, which proved to me she wasn't all that as poor as I thought she is. Those houses, the ones on the hill, are far from filthy. They are actually quite nice looking. And large.
It was very quiet the whole time we were climbing that hill. That is, until we arrived to a house, a big, nicely built house, where Susannah had stopped and laid the carpet down.
"Well, my stepbrothers will come out any moment to help me carry it inside. Thank you so very much, Jesse, for helping me carry it here, but you should go back to your castle now. Your fiancé must be worried, and my parents won't like it, the very king to help me. Really, thank you. Good bye." I noticed she said my name uncomfortably. It would take time to get used to, I guess.
She was just bowing to me as a man, quite a handsome one, threw opened the door and grinned to Susannah.
"Hello, Susannah," He said. She blushed and looked at her feet.
"Mr. Slater."
That's it for this chapter. I guess you're guessing who this guy might be, huh? Well, I'll just try to catch Paul's evilness and put it in here good enough. Please review.