AN: Here's the second one as promised! This turned out to be longer than I thought it would be and I didn't put in all of my ideas. Maybe this can be a multi-chapter fic? Let me know what you guys think!
Prompt: Klaroline prompt for Klaroline appreciation week : for day 6 - Klaus as a lord/king and Caroline as a maid/lady ? It can be surnatural or not, like you prefer. Thanks :)
It was another gloomy day in the midst of England, and the fact that this day also marked the beginnings of the soon to be king having to pick his wife, made the day even gloomier to Niklaus. He had other siblings, a couple older than he was, but the position as king fell to him. Niklaus and Mikael had never gotten along, in fact, Mikael treated him worse than any of his siblings, but in this regard, Mikael could't deny that he was most fit to rule. Finn, the eldest sibling, settled on being a knight so that he could marry the woman he fell in love with, since her rank wasn't high enough and Mikael wouldn't allow her on the throne. Elijah, the second oldest, became their country's diplomat, his personality not strong enough to rule without emotions. Klaus was the next in line, and his cold demeanor and clever tactics within politics proved him to be perfect for the job.
The only problem now was finding a queen to rule by his side. He knew that it had to be done, it was unavoidable really, but having to tie his life to someone that would probably be a burden to him, and whom he probably wouldn't like, didn't exactly appeal to him. He had to view it as part of his job and nothing else.
"Don't look too happy Nik, you might scare them off," said Rebekah, the youngest sibling and his favorite.
She made her way over to one of the windows of the main hall where he stood, gazing out toward the entrance of the castle. The highest esteemed women throughout the country and in the neighboring countries were coming to stay in their castle until Niklaus chose one to wed.
"Your sarcasm is not lost on me sister, should I be happy this day has come?" he said.
"It's the next step in you becoming king," she said, "and I'll be sure to weed out the ones I don't like."
"Very reassuring," he said, a smirk gracing his face.
"They should be here any minute," she said, "why don't you make your entrance during dinner? I'll greet them as they come in."
"Thank you," he said, turning around and walking out.
"Oh and Nik," she said, "mother's hired new maids for us and for the ladies coming, please be sure not to scare them off before your new wife has been chosen, though how you scare them off does make me laugh."
He kept walking, making his way through the castle and to his chambers, where he could be alone until he had to fulfill his duties.
Caroline got out of the carriage along with a few other girls in her same position, entering the castle through the back where the kitchen entrance was. A few of the maids weren't as friendly or chatty, but she managed to make friends with a few girls, Bonnie and Elena, who came from neighboring villages. She couldn't help but marvel at the grandeur of the castle. She had never seen a place so big, and she would live here now. When royal representatives came to her village looking for maids, she had jumped at the chance to help her family, and maids in the castle were paid more than she would get staying at home.
As they entered the kitchen, each girl was assigned to where they would stay and who they would serve. Several girls were assigned to the guests that were arriving later that day, and after that, only the royal family was left.
"You will be serving Niklaus, heir to the throne," the woman said.
Caroline shuddered. She had heard of him, of his cold and calculating personality and where others that displeased him while working for him ended up. She wouldn't even recognize him if she saw him, the people in the villages never saw much of the royal family. She couldn't end up jobless, she wouldn't, she needed this more than anything, and even the next king wouldn't ruin it for her.
After the woman gave everyone a quick showing of the castle, they were put to work. Caroline made her way up to the prince's room, hoping he wasn't there and that she could clean and have everything ready for when he came back. But when she opened the door, she saw him looking out of the window, stoic with his hands behind is back. He turned his head slightly and she saw the profile of his face.
"You are to knock when you enter my chambers," he said, his voice hard.
"My apologies," she said.
He turned around, and she was amazed at was she saw. He had brown curly hair, blue eyes and from what she could tell, an amazing figure. He stood tall and still, looking at her from top to bottom. Frankly, he was beautiful, the best looking man she had ever seen.
"Let's get a few things settled," he said. "First, you will address me properly, 'your grace, your highness' whichever you prefer. Second, you are to make sure my bed is made, a bath is drawn and my clothes for the next day are laid out every night unless I say otherwise. I expect this room to be in order. I generally take meals in the dining room, but if I don't you will bring it up to me. There will be other tasks I may need done by you depending on the circumstances. You will do them and you will do them properly. Do you understand?"
Caroline tightened her hands into fists, fighting the urge to tell him off for being so rude. He was physically attractive, but his personality was making it hard to see that anymore. She relented. She would let him win for now, and she would choose her battles as they came.
"Yes, your grace," she said.
"Good," he said, "I'll leave you to it."
With that, he walked out, leaving Caroline alone.
It had been an hour and he was ready to leave. Niklaus had met all the ladies, ten of them total, of which he could only remember a small few. They were all vastly different from each other in some regards; Hayley was a brunette taken in by rich lords when she was young. Genevieve was a pretty red head from a neighboring country. Katherine was high born, from a rich family with long brown locks and sharp wit. None of them held his attention for long, though all of them tried. He looked around, the rest of the family making polite conversation with the girls, Finn's wife Sage talking to Genevieve and Elijah in the midst of what looked like an interesting conversation with Lady Katherine.
He discreetly excused himself, thinking that he would put some more effort in tomorrow if need be. Tonight he just needed his own space. He open his bed chambers to find his maid drawing a bath. Everything he had asked of her had already been done, thankfully, and he made his way into the room. She stood near the bath, he hands cupped in front of her as he began getting ready to undress.
He looked over at her briefly before saying, "you're excused."
Niklaus saw her expression tighten at his words but made nothing of it until he heard her mumble under her breath.
"What was that?" he said.
"I said you could at least be polite enough to say 'thank you,'" she said, turning around to face him.
He was surprised at her words, and at the gall she displayed at saying them.
"And why would I do that?" he said, "you work for me, no where in this arrangement does it say I have to say that."
"It's being polite and well-mannered," she said, "I do work for you, showing a little appreciation would be nice."
"Let me make something clear to you," he said, "I will not now, or ever, be bossed around by anyone, especially some maid that only started working for me an hour ago. I've gotten rid of maids for less, so I suggest you stop you antics before I get angry."
She glared at him, looking him straight in the eyes before speaking.
"You know, everyone talks about how cold and mean you are, I even felt bad that you can't even choose to fall in love before marrying, but now I see that it wouldn't matter anyway. You isolate yourself in this castle and in your room. You treat people unfairly. You don't connect with people because you don't even try to understand them."
She made her way to the door, leaving him stunned.
"Oh, and I'm not just some maid, my name is Caroline. Not that you even bothered asking. Goodnight, your grace," she said, walking out of the room.
Niklaus was flummoxed. In this short interaction she was able to see through part of the facade he put up and it disoriented him and made him feel uneasy. How was it that she just waltzed in and cause chaos in her wake?
He looked around the room, everything immaculate, her attention to detail obvious. Taking his clothes off, he got in the bath, eager to be finished with the day he'd had, but he couldn't get that last conversation out of his mind. Or, even more so than that, he couldn't get her out of his mind. The blonde hair that she had pulled into braids on her head, the blue piercing eyes, the soft creamy skin. He remembered her expression as she spoke to him, how unafraid she was to speak to him blatantly, a trait most people didn't possess.
She angered him, but she also interested him, and he found he was more affected by her than he cared to admit. But it didn't matter to him, it couldn't. He had a duty to fulfill, and getting sidetracked by some woman that shouldn't matter wasn't in the plan.
Despite that, he fell asleep with the name Caroline on his lips, her eyes that last thing he remembered before falling asleep.