"I cannot throw this man out of the palace because of that, Catalina." My mother shifted weight.
"It is what is right. Father, he abused her! Beat her!" The doors opened and an older man was drug in.
"Put me down! What did I do-"The officer hit the struggling man.
"Enough!" I raced over to the bleeding man. "What did he do?"
"He was fraternizing with a young maid and not doing I work. He slow and has not met his work hours over two weeks." I looked at Jethro.
"She was crying because you hit her! And my brother has been extremely ill lately!" My father stood up.
"Enough! You are fired!" I whipped around.
"Sir! Please!" I protested. "Let me handle this." He shrugged.
"Fine. Amberly, overlook this. I have to deal with the rebels." The King kissed her on the head before leaving.
"Continue Catalina." I turned to the officer.
"What's your name?"
"Officer Watergate, ma'am." I nodded. "What's your name, sir?"
"Jethro." His voice was hoarse with age.
"Jethro, was this maid's name Nicki or Nicole?" Jethro nodded.
"Ma'am," A maid ran into the room. "North is on the line for you."
"Tell them I'll be on soon." She nodded before leaving.
"You are relieved of your duties at the palace, Officer Watergate. We will send you overseas due to the violence of my maid and friend. Get out of here." Watergate's face flushed before bowing. "Jethro," I sat down. "How bad is your brother's illness?"
"Life-threatening. We don't have the money to pay for the surgery."
"Go and use our medical wing-"
"Catalina you can not-"
"I'll pay for it!" I interjected. Mom relaxed.
"Go ahead." I smiled and helped Jethro up from the floor.
"I'll see you around Jethro." I went into the library to our landline.
"Catalina!" Georgina's voice sounded happy.
"Hey, how are things?" I sat on the desk, my legs forced together by my tight pencil skirt.
"Not so good. August is mad at me."
"Why are you calling me?"
"I don't know." She sounded distressed.
"What are you doing on Saturday?"
"I have a meeting at three for an hour. Why?"
"I want some coffee with you. There's this great place down where my aunt grew up. I'll pick you up."
"I don' have nice clothes."
"You'll fit into some of mine." One of the selected walked up to me. The girl looked meek and nervous.
"Princess Catalina, can we talk?" I placed the phone against my shoulder.
"What about?"
"The other girls."
"I am on a work call. Not at the moment." She gave me the famous teenage girl glare before storming away.
"Rude much?" Georgina laughed.
"Please, all they want to do is talk about Maxon." My mother walked into the room. "Hey, I have to go. My mother is here. I'll call you later, yes?"
"Of course."
"I hope you and August figure things out. You two are cute together."
"Thanks," The phone rustled. "August! Her mother-"
"G? What's going on?"
"We need to talk." August breathed out.
"I'll talk to G. about it later." My mom stood next to me waiting. "Goodbye, Aug." I cut him off and slid down from the desk.
"Go talk to the selected." I pouted.
"But Declan and I were going on…Fine." I complied as she gave me the 'do as you're told and quit complaining' look.
"Try to be nice."
"Yes, mother dearest." I climbed the steps and down the numerous halls.
"I don't know why they adopted her. I find her to be rude, distasteful, she hangs out with a bunch of sixes instead of real women of her status, and she's not built like a woman at all! She looks like a fat man in a dress!" The same girl who was rude about my aunt was talking about me.
"The funny thing about that, sweetheart," She whipped around to see me with a bright red face. "Is that I would actually like to see things from your perspective…." I sighed. "Too bad I can't shove my head that far up my ass." She gasped at me as I turned around and walked back to my room.
"Are you alright?" Elsie laughed at me as I curled up on the bed.
"No."
"What's wrong?" She sat next to me. Nicki and Christina were downstairs sewing my outfit for the Report.
"The selected are a bunch of bitches. I haven't seen one good one out of the bunch other than America." Elsie giggled and placed the cleaner on the table next to her.
"How's Declan? I haven't seen him in a while." I sat up.
"What time is it?"
"Almost five. Why?" I grabbed a hair tie and pulled my hair up.
"I promised I would meet Declan at four thirty at the stables!" I ran out the door and downstairs, into America and Maxon. "Sorry! Tell mom I won't be at dinner!" I raced outside and across the lawn to an anxious Declan. "Sorry! I'm so sorry! Georgina called and my mother wanted me to visit the selected and one of them called me a fat man and Elsie's so young and has been through hell and-"Declan stood up and kissed me. "Sorry, I'm late." I giggled.
"It's fine Catalina." He chuckled and hugged me. "It's fine. " I laughed.
"Why are we here? It's your day off." He smiled and took my hand.
"To ride, of course." He leads me to my favorite horse, Dusty, who was already saddled. A beautiful black horse was tied next to Dusty for Declan.
"'Hi, buddy." I stroked Dusty's face. He nuzzled my hand.
"Ready?" Declan smiled down at me.
"Yeah." I placed my foot in the stirrup and swung myself over to the other stirrup. "Lead the way." We raced out of the stables and into the woods. "Declan! Where…" The woods thinned out to a small river. "Woah." I pulled Dusty back and hopped off after tying him next to Declan's horse.
"Catalina, you look beautiful today." Declan stared at my backside.
"Thank you." I kissed him gently.
"I have good news." He smiled.
"You're pregnant?" I joked.
"Ha ha ha, very funny." He tugged my hair.
"What then?"
"My father is coming to the palace in a few months with Peter. They'll be in for a few months before a second deployment." I smiled and took a drink of water.
"Really! That's so exciting!" Declan nodded and kissed me gently before pulling out food from a basket and a bottle of wine. I ate with him, enjoying the warm air before laying down on his lap and falling asleep.
"Cat? Cat, wake up." I opened my eyes to see Elsie hovering over me.
"I'm in my room. Why am I in my room?"
"Declan brought you inside last night. A woman is asking to see you."
"Georgina. Shit. I forgot. Let her in." I rubbed my eyes before making my way into my bathroom to pull myself together.
"Catalina! Declan had to let me in! Do you know how awkward that was?" Georgina barged open the bathroom door with my maids at her feet.
"Very? Do you want to shower? No offense; but, you smell a bit." I smiled at her.
"Yes! Our water quit working last week." I pulled on a hoodie.
"Our? Who consists of our?" She blushed.
"August and some of the others." I turned on the water for her.
"Take as long as you want. You have all day." I exited with my maids.
"Who is she?"
"How do know her?" I turned to my closet and pulled out an older pair of boots.
"She's an old friend from the orphanage. We're just going to get some coffee. No big deal." I let Elsie braid my hair before pulling on my jacket.
"Your bathroom alone is amazing." Georgie walked out in a giant towel.
"Thanks, Christina can you grab her the one outfit from the bottom of my closet?" Georgie reemerged a few minutes later with her hair in a sloppy bun. Declan walked in with pride and in a flannel button up. "Hey." He looked at me with awe.
"Hey," He kissed my cheek. "Ready to go?" I nodded and took his hand.
"August says hello, Declan." We exited through the safe halls and over to the kitchen exit. An old beat up Dodge Dakota sat waiting for us. I pulled my sunglasses on before moving to sit in between Declan and Georgie. I navigated for Georgie as we went through the towns.
"It must be nice to be the darling of the country." I gave a bitter laugh.
"You should have heard what one of the selected said this morning."
"What?" Declan turned to me.
"She was criticizing my friends and said, and I quote! "She looks like a fat man in a dress." Georgina laughed. "So I told her that I wanted to see things from her perspective, but I cannot shove my head that far up my ass." They laughed as we pulled next to the coffee shop. I let Declan help me out before crossing the road. A small band was playing folk music and a small crowd had begun to dance. Declan pulled me to the crowd and began to dance.
"Come on killjoy." He taunted. I joined with him and moved my feet with the box drum. "There you go, lass." His accent became thicker. His arms found my waist as he picked me up and turned me. "You should see Kilkenny in spring." I smiled and spun under his arm. Georgina had joined, finding a friend to dance with. We switched partners and moved in a circle. I turned and felt a pain in my side, so I left the circle.
"Miss," I turned to a man about three years older than me. "You're bleeding, let me help you." He took my arm.
"Wait. Declan!" He and Georgina turned to see me.
"What happened to you?" I shook my head. I whimpered in pain
"I own the shop, we can help you." The man spoke. "My name's Fredric." I nodded as Declan helped me through the shop and up the steps. I was brought up and Declan helped me out of my shirts.
"Oh shit." I mumbled as I saw blood pour out of my body. I was ushered my August to a couch and was handed a glass of whiskey. I drowned the glass as an antiseptic was wiped over my wound. I cussed like a sailor before a needle was dug into my skin. I groaned before passing out.