Okay, this is a little bit later than I had planned, but...It's the Olympics' Fault. The opening ceremony is too cool to not watch with undivided attention.

I don't own.

Honestly, I don't really remember much from that night. At some point, I must've had one of my fits or something, because in what feels like minutes I wake in a warm bed with the sunlight shining in on me. Emerson is flopped on my chest, snoozing away. I lightly poke him, getting him to groggily look up at me, "Huh?"

"Emmy, what happened?" I ask, just to confirm that it was a fit; I like to keep track of them.

"I…I dunno. We were out and then it started raining and then…It's really hazy."

I sit up, forcing him to hop off of me. "What do we do?"

"Well, we're at someone's house…" he says, looking around, pulling himself into full alertness. "I say we go, say our goodbyes, and get our asses back to the castle."

I nod. "Agreed." I'm still wearing my traveling clothes, but they're now dry, as is my body and hair. I stand. "Come on."

As soon as Emerson hops onto my shoulder, I gently step out of the bedroom and into a hall. I smell bacon and pancakes. I follow the scent so I can find the host and say my goodbyes. I'm lead to a kitchen, where a bunch of guys are around a large dining room table. A particularly huge man is the one cooking. He's familiar. He looks over at me and grins. "Well, well, well," he says, his voice giving me the feeling that whenever he yells, a small island experiences a hurricane. "Look who's up!"

"Yeah…Um, I—I've got to go. My parents are probably worried. Thanks for letting me stay. It was very kind," I say, already starting to walk away.

The man throws his arm around my shoulder, pulling me back. "Why so soon? At least stay for breakfast."

Before I can even refuse, he pushes me down into a chair and plops a plate down in front of me. Bacon, eggs, toast, and pancakes. I push the bacon to the side, but nibble on everything else. It's…decent, but the syrup leaves an odd film on the inside of my mouth. Once I realize that, I stop eating.

The man sits down next to me and holds out his hand. I shake it hesitantly. He smiles. "Ah, nice to meet you. Mica W. Ansiras, at your service."

I chew on my lip. I'm not going to give my name.

"So…You stayed the night. Now we've got to discuss the payment…"

"Payment?" I ask, turning to him.

He laughs. "Of course! You don't think I'm going to give you room and board for free, now do you?" He leans over. "But don't worry your pretty little head. It'll only be a few days of work. Nothing too extreme."

I shrug. "Can it be done in a day? I really don't want for my parents to worry…"

He shakes his head. "We'll have to see; it depends on how fast you work."

"Okay, then…Um…Can I start now? I really need to get it done as soon as possible," I reply, standing up.

He joins me and leads me outside, then to the back of the house, finally ending up in the stables. I smile. I can handle horses.

Throwing me a shovel, he says, "Muck 'em. Then, come see me. I'll need to check your work."

"Alright. I'll find you soon."

He leaves and Emerson squeezes my shoulder with his claw. "Rosie, I don't think this is a good idea…Why don't we just borrow one of the horses and make a break for it?"

"Emmy, you're being paranoid. We're fine. I've just got to muck out some stalls and we'll be out of here, alright?"

"Okay…"

It's about two hours later when I go find Mica and show him my work. I wipe the sweat of my forehead, happy that it's over and I can go home and take a long, hot bath. "So," I ask. "Am I done?"

"Not quite," he says, chuckling. "I'm just going to need you too clean up the bathrooms. They're getting rather…nasty, and could use a woman's touch, you see?"

I chew on my lip, feeling once again uneasy. I shake it off; I'll be able to go home soon.

I'm lead to all the disgusting bathrooms and given a scrub brush. I hold my breath and get down to it.

I can just hear Madame Dupont screaming it now. Princesses do not clean toilets!

That's really the only thought that keeps me going throughout all of the grime and grudge. Okay, maybe being a princess doesn't look so bad right now. I'm not meant for being a maid. Stable girl, sure, but no maid.

It takes a solid three hours to get done.

And I vomit several times.

Finally, I go up to Mica. "Everything's clean. I've got to go now. I've more than worked enough for one night."

Yep, way to be assertive, Rose.

He places his hand on my back and pushes me towards one of the back bedrooms, knocking Emerson off of his place on my shoulder. When we're in the room, he locks us in. Alone. I swallow nervously.

Smirking, he sits down on the bed. "I know who you are, your majesty."

Okay, this is good. No one will hurt a princess.

"Then what's the problem? My parents can reimburse you for my single night. Money, jewels, workers. Whatever you want."

He sighs. "But, see, here's the problem: I want you."

My empty belly drops to my stomach.

"You're a damn good insurance policy. I can do whatever I want, get whatever I want, if I have you dangling over the King's head."

"You can't do that—"

In a blink, he leaps up, grabs me by the throat, and hurls me into the corner. Little white stars flutter into sight as I hear a sharp hiss of, "I can do whatever the fuck I want! Now, if you so much teeter over the line, disobey me, I will slit your fucking throat, you understand?"

I nod as fast as my sluggish head can. "I—Okay! I—I'll do whatever—Don't kill me, please!"

He gets up and steps over to the door, cracking it to yell out some name I can compute. Soon, a skinny man steps in, grinning. Mica tells him, "We need to make sure little girlie over here obeys. Can you do that?"

The man comes forward. "Of course I can…I'll make it a night she'll never forget."

Mica leaves, leaving me alone with the man.

I'll have nightmares about this for the rest of my life.

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