A.N./: I know this is really late but I am determined NOT TO ABANDON THIS STORY! I'll try to update when I can. Sorry if it seems choppy but I wrote it on different days.
"Absolutely not!" My mother yells, rather unreasonably in my opinion.
"Jean, come on" my father responds gently, at which my mother fumes. She had not been invited to the will reading and hadn't known, before a few moments ago, about the title and my father thought it rather important to tell her. I, on the other hand, knew exactly how my mother would react and thought we could just lie through our teeth about it; unfortunately my father wouldn't allow it.
"I already signed the papers!" I yelled at her then ran to the bedroom of the hotel we were staying at, threw all my stuff into my suitcase and ran out, down the elevator, called the number on the card that the first woman gave me-Amanda-with the phone on the front desk, and got outside to wait for her before my parents had even realized what had happened.
By the time my parents had figured out what I had done a black town car had already pulled up to the hotel and a man got out of the car to open the door for me and take my bag. Right before I got in my mother and father came busting through the door calling my name, the only argument was a single, quiet, understanding:
"Your Grace?" that came from Amanda from within the car, it wasn't pleading, impatient, desperate, or commanding but rather an innocent question to let me know that she wasn't going anywhere I didn't want her to.
"I'll see you in a couple days" I said shamefully over my shoulder and climbed into the car next to Amanda. The man who took my bag closed the door behind me and then got back into the driver's seat. When he started to put some distance between us and the hotel the driver asked, looking back at us in the rearview mirror, in a light French accent:
"Any destination in mind?", at this Amanda looked at me not saying a word.
Holding eye contact with her for a few moments I answered the driver, while looking at him in the rearview mirror, "The Feuder House in Avallon"; with a single nod the driver changed lanes and took the next exit. After this Amanda held down a button on the ceiling and closed a blackout window dividing the car in half.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Amanda asked gently after it was closed. At this I broke down and started to cry, all the adrenalin gone, and the full weight of what I had just done fell down my cheeks and onto my folded hands that laid on top of my jeans.
"Do you want to go back?" Amanda asked changing tactics.
"No" was my forceful reaction, my throat scratchy from the sobs.
"Alright. Just know I am here to help you in any way I can, whatever you decide" Amanda responded sincerely. I looked up at her and told her I was sorry while trying to wipe away my tears with my hands.
"You have no need to apologize to me, Your Grace" Amanda responded while handing me a tissue though I didn't see where she had gotten it from. I asked her to just call me Hermione and I attempted to wipe my eyes with the tissue but ended up just getting frustrated and balling it up in my lap while crying harder. Ever so gently Amanda's tan hands hesitantly took the abused tissue from my own small hands. She straightened the tissue, folded it in half, and with only slightly more sure hands took my face by the chin with one finger and guided me to face her then used the tissue to expertly wipe away my still burning tears.
"The people closest to us will be the ones that will hurt us the hardest because they are so close to us and we let our guard down around them, the key part is to be able to pick yourself up and dust yourself off" Amanda said. I heard her; and I understood her reasoning was logical. But I couldn't help the illogical side of me from getting slightly defensive when I realized that she had called me vulnerable.
"Even you?" I ask defensively, my temper rising.
"I am your loyal servant. Always here. A constant. For you to do with what you will. I've taken an oath" Amanda responded smiling towards the end. There is a few moments of silence as that sinks in and I realized that she will be my greatest ally in this world.
"I don't know anything about the world of royalty, or French, and I have no idea what to do about the fashion. I mean I'm wearing jeans and a jumper for goodness sake" I spontaneously confess.
"The fashion is the easy part, the French language is slightly harder but not by much, for the royalty however all that is is names and titles; but a major part is the trust" Amanda says her hands are on top of mine the tissue still clamped tight in her long fingers.
"I can't trust people" I state somberly looking outside my window at the fast moving highway.
"Oh contraire, Hermione" It's the first time she's ever called me by my first name and it causes me to look up into her steel grey eyes somehow so much more open and inviting than they were just a moment ago, "for you're already trusting".
"I am?" I ask with so much childish innocence that I want to choke.
"Of course, you trusted me haven't you? That I would come get you and that I wasn't going to let Veronica do anything she wasn't supposed to do" Amanda states as though it were blatantly obvious.
"Amanda?" I ask and she looks at me with a small smile.
"Yes, Hermione?"
"Thank you"