Chapter 3

~ 3 ~ Paris, France ~ 3 ~

The palace seemed to be in a solemn state since their Princess had fled the castle. But the one who seemed to be taking it the hardest was Andrew, her brother. He seemed to blame himself for her rash thinking and her ideals. In their position and station the ideas that seemed to fancy everyone else they could not live by.

He had already sent spies to many different locations in search of his sister. Though it would have appeared that she wouldn't stay in any neighboring villages or towns within the reach of the palace.

King Lexington looked at his son who was staring out of the window. He too felt a pang of sadness for his daughter just up and disappearing as she had done. Walking over to him he clasped his shoulder and Andrew turned around to look at him.

"Come on son. The Royal Family of Spain is leaving and we must see them off." As the king walked away from him Andrew commented on something.

"Father last night at the banquet, the Prince did not seem upset at all. He seemed lost in thought more than anything else."

As they walked down the corridor Andrew kept the rest of his thoughts to himself. He wasn't going to leave the palace until he heard solid proof of the whereabouts of his sister. His parents needed him at the moment to know that at least one of their children were safe and where they knew where they were at all times.

As they approached the throne room the sound of voices started to fill the air. In the throne room were the royal family of Spain, the king and queen were talking to their son. The prince looked to be about six feet in height and had coal black hair that matched his fathers and his fathers eyes as well.

"Your majesty." Darien bowed to King Lexington. "I thank you for the banquet that you gave for my parents and I. I also apologize for not saying so the other night."

"That is all right. I am sure that your journey to here tired you out greatly." King Lexington smiled at the young youth.

"There you are King Lexington, we were starting to worry about you." King Marques laughed aloud as he spotted the other king. "Well now let us get down to business. As you have told me last night about something about your daughter. Is she feeling well today?"

King Lexington stared at him, weighing whether or not he should tell them the truth. "She is still a little under the weather. She has taken some time to get fresh air for awhile."

King Marques nodded his head and gestured for his son and wife to step forward. "I am sure that you know my son Darien. He wasn't there at the banquet last night. But of course you did meet my wife, Angelina. She is the angel in my life."

The Queen of Spain bowed slightly with a small smile on her face. She was short in height but held an air of authority all around her. "Ruben you flatter me so! But Jared, where is your wife Marie?"

Jared looked around him and noticed that she was nowhere in sight. Suddenly the person in question walked through the main doors of the throne room and joined her husband by his side. She bowed to the other royally and smiles at her husband and son.

"Ruben, Angelina. I apologize for my tardiness. Some maids were having trouble and I stopped to help them sort out the mess."

"It is all right, really. Lets go and talk before I have to leave." Angelina smiled at Marie as the two queens left to go and chat while their husbands talk.

Ruben turned to look at Jared and held up a piece of paper in his hands. "I have brought the contract that will unite our two countries Jared! Just think our two children will be married in no time."

As he set the paper down on the table he quickly signed his name on the binding contract. Ruben then set the pen down and glanced at Jared. He rubbed his goatee as he looked at the emotions that played over Jared's face.

"Ruben, might we make an alteration to the contract?" Ruben's smile faded from his face as he looked at Jared. "If my daughter returns not in love then let our two children get married. But if she returns and is in love, then have our two children not get married."

The king of Spain thought long and hard on this new issue that arose. "King Lexington, we had already discussed the parameters of this contract. But nonetheless I shall agree. But with a stipulation of my own. If she comes back by her freewill or not before she originally was to return, then she must marry my son."

Having said that King Ruben Marques quickly wrote that into the contract and stared at King Lexington. His smile did not return to his face, and King Lexington knew that he had pushed the King of Spain just a little to far. After all he didn't want to have a war with Spain, though he knew that King Marques would never do such a thing.

King Lexington stared at the three of them then at his son. He seemed to have aged by many years and he looked at the contract that was on the table. He thought over some more and knew that maybe some good would come out of it.

For the good of our two countries

With that thought in mind King Jared Lexington picked up a pen and wrote his signature on the contract. "Very well, now it is sealed. I wish all of you a safe journey back to your home. We shall see each other in two years, for the joining of our countries, if she is not in love. Or before hand, in love or not."

~ % ~ % ~ % ~ % ~ % ~

Four months pasted by and on that night Heero the master of the house came home and went straight to his room to sleep. He placed his travel bag by the foot of his bed. It had taken him longer than he originally thought that it would, practically 3 months and 3 weeks longer. The business trip was long and tiring, he felt the need to sleep due to the long travel by boat. As he laid his head on his pillow he insistently fell into a deep slumber.

In the morning Serena along with six other housemaids came inside talking and laughing. That seemed to be the routine now, ever since Serena's first day at the manor. It seemed that from then on she had a set routine of doing her chores. During her first three days it had taken her the entire day to clean the part of the manor that was assigned to her. Now it did not take her as long as it had before.

Whenever she got done early she would then go around to the others and help them. All of the others thanked her for showing them such kindness. Though the work seemed easy, keeping a manor of this estate clean was hard work.

"By the way Serena the master of the house should already be home. So don't forget to knock okay dear?"

"I wondered what could have possibly delayed him in returning to his home? I mean for a man his age, he shouldn't be doing hard traveling." Serena gathered her supplies, and Sarah looked at her strangely.

"Well Serena remember what I said. Don't worry I will come and retrieve you later. Now off you go and have fun." Sarah smiled as she watched Serena go.

Turning around she replied "Of course I won't forget and now I must be off to finish my duties." Serena had gotten used to the routine that she was in and it took her no time to clean the four bedrooms and the master bedroom, as well as the den and the kitchen. Approaching the bedroom to get it out of the way first she remembered to knock. Hearing no answer she entered and saw that he wasn't inside. She stepped inside to clean and tidy up his room.

She hummed a tune that her mother used to sing to her when she was a little girl. She had always found it comforting for when she was scared or nervous. Today was no exception; she was a complete wreck on the inside. She knew very well that he was back in his home today.

He probably has gray hair and cannot see to well anyway.

In her minds eye she had the picture of him always bossing his maids around. As she dusted the furniture she gathered the linens off of all the beds and placed fresh new ones on them. She quickly placed them all into a pile in the middle of the floor, as a reminder to herself. Take the sheets to be washed and have them hanging to dry before nightfall.

After a bit over an hour she came out with the dirty sheets in tow and took them to the laundry maids. "I'll come back to check on them later." They nodded their heads they continued to wash.

Then walking to his business door Sarah stopped her from knocking, "Don't Serena not before you've meet him. Have you already done the den?"

"No not yet I usually save that for last."

"Well go do that and I'll tell him that you're waiting to meet him."

Walking to the den to dust and clean then decided to first see if anything else needed to be taken down to be washed. Serena then finally went into the den to clean. She dusted the tables and lamps and the furniture and cleaned the pictures hanging on the wall. She was glancing at the hallway that led to her boss' study area. He was in there; it was obvious because Sarah had stopped her from knocking on the door. "Well now what to do? I guess this is resting time. I'll look at some of the things."

Meanwhile Sarah was telling Heero about Serena the new girl. "She really is an excellent person to have around. She really does pull her weight and even has enough time to help out the others. She is a real dear and very sweet. Also she has asked to meet you as well, I guess to see that you approve of her working here."

Looking up from his papers towards Sarah he only nodded his head. "Very well Sarah you can show her in here and I'll talk to her. It seems that she needs some more chores to do."

Turning around to leave the office she went into the den and called Serena. "Serena he is waiting for you just go on in." Getting up from the sofa she walked over to the door. Opening the door and going inside she closed it behind her and stood in front of his desk.

Looking at him he was also standing but staring at some papers on his desk and reading. She glanced at him from underneath her eyelashes, seeing that he had the most unruly dark brown hair that she ever saw. His height was an astonishing 5'8" compared to her 5'0". He also had the most gorgeous of faces and not to mention that his overall appearance was handsome. Looking up from his papers he caught her glancing at him and she quickly lowered her eyes again. But she got a peek at his eyes the color of a deep blue, Prussian blue actually. Also being caught looking she lowered her gaze and a blush crept onto her cheeks.

"What is the matter?" His voice was firm and commanding. The kind of voice that made you fear being punished if you disobeyed.

"Nothing sir. It's just that I thought you were an old man." Her blush deepened as she spoke what she was thinking. He didn't even flinch at her comment. "I thought that you were in your late fifties."

"I hardly think that being 24 qualifies as being old." His gaze left his papers as he now stared at her. "Enlighten me on how old you are then."

She barely was able to not fidget in her spot. His gaze was making her nervous as it was. "I am only 17 sir."

"Your name is Serena is that correct?"

"Y…Yes sir."

Looking at her seeing that she still had her gaze directed downward he looked her over. Nice long golden yellow hair that reached down towards mid-thigh, her figure was one that any woman would die to have, and her face was very beautiful especially with the slight blush.

"Raise your eyes." Timidly obeying she meet his gaze and froze for looking into those eyes of his. The nicest pair of blue eyes. The color of the ocean on a thunderstorm night.

"Sarah has informed me that you have been working here for about a week. Doing a very good job, good to the point where you have time to help others with their chores as well as take extended breaks." Walking from behind his desk he came towards her and stood three feet from her. "With that much free time I think that you can take on some more chores as well. Don't you agree?"

Looking shocked and trying to make sense out of the situation she answered. "But sir the work I do is tiring and the same amount as any other maid that you have here in your house. I do my work and take only a few breaks I work hard. I am good at what I do and yes I do finish early but-"

"That is quite enough out of you Serena. Even if you do have the same amount of work as the others then it wouldn't hurt for you to have more to keep you busy. After all doing nothing for hours, is considered lazy to me." The look of shock on her face and then anger didn't surprise Heero. What did surprise him was that she blew up in his face.

"LAZY! You're calling me lazy! I work from the moment that I set foot in this house and don't stop until I'm done with my chores. After that I go around and help the other housemaids finish their chores so that they can have a chance to rest." She took a moment to catch her breath, "And you call that being lazy; you must have a weird definition of being lazy. Maybe if you actually get off your high horse and stop being 'lazy' then maybe you would see how hard not only I work but all the others!"

The maids were leaning against the outside of the door listening to every word that was being said. "Do you think she's going to get fired Melissa?"

"Who knows maybe he is going to punish her and I hope he doesn't. Serena really is a hard worker and she sticks up for all of us." Another maid voiced her opinion.

Narrowing his eyes he approached her and his height forced her to look up to meet his gaze. "It would do you good to learn and know that I am the boss of this house."

"And a very mean one!" Serena shot back at him.

He studied her appearance. She defied him while all of the other maids bent to his will. Here she was staring at him as if he was also her equal. An untamed fire danced in her eyes, he could tell by her posture that she was a fighter.

"You would be wise to watch your tongue! Since you're so high-spirited you wouldn't mind having this chore. Go to the market and pick up some mangos I'm sure you can find it now!" Storming out of the room the other maids scurried to get back to their chores. When they saw her she was fuming mad and didn't bother to hide it.

"That arrogant man!" She stormed out of the house towards the market.

"Well," Melissa began, "Maybe they will learn to get along? I mean they cannot be working in such as disruptive manner. I'm pretty sure that once they both have the time to cool down they'll forget all about this right?"

The other maids looked at anything else but at Melissa, who slumped her shoulders in defeat.

"Why are you ladies not working?" All of their backs stiffened and then they quickly set to cleaning. "So, it is true to what she says. I think that maybe she needs to learn some manners."

Heero then walked away towards his office again. Melissa looked at the closed door and promptly sat down on a nearby chair. Fanning herself she looked towards the others who were leaving to go do their chores. Finally she was left alone to ponder on her thoughts.

"Maybe Heero will lighten up on the work for us to do for a change." She stopped fanning herself and stood to go and clean. "I mean with Serena around maybe things will become slightly interesting."

~ * ~ The Market Place ~ * ~

Upon entering the market she was pushed aside by all of the other buyers and kept on getting lost. She went from stand to stand looking for mangos that he so much wanted to have. They all laughed in her face and told her to move aside for the real customers that were coming. Not looking where she was going she bumped into another young lady.

"Hey you watch were you're going and to make sure that you look as well!" A lady with a hood covering her face retorted.

"Sorry, you don't need to yell about it!" Serena said as she tried to get her bearings back.

"You have no right to yell at me you servant." She threw her hood off her head and glared at the servant that dared to try and talk to her in such a way.

After getting up and still looking down Serena threw her head up at that remark and was about to give a biting comment back, when she got a good look as to who it was. "Raye is that you?"

Hearing her name being called she looked up as well and was stunned. "Serena no way! What are you doing here?" Pulling her aside to where they had some privacy they continued their conversation.

"I'm a servant for the most horrible person I have ever met before." Serena straightened her hair as she answered Raye's question.

Raye looked at her and asked, "What was it you were looking for here in the market?"

"I was looking for some mangos and they all laughed at me!"

Raye began laughing as well, "Not you too!"

"Sorry but I can't help it. There are no mangos here during the summer! I cannot believe that you fell for something like that! I mean if they were here do you know how disgusting they would taste, unsweetened, dry as a bone and stringy."

Looking shocked she started to mumble "I'm going to get him."

Raye breaking the silence asked the most important question. "When are you going to come home your highness? Your brother Andrew misses you so much as does all your ladies in waiting including me. So do your parents."

"Raye I have already told them that I will be home in two years. I want to see and experience the world and to fall in love. I want to marry for love not forced into a marriage that I will be unhappy in, just to unite Spain with France."

"Your brother won't like that. He'll probably come chase you down and drag you back to the castle!" They both had a good laugh off of that one and then they parted to say good-bye to one another. "Serena who is your 'boss' anyway?"

Turning around for a second she responded "Heero of Venetian."

"Heero huh?" Raye sifted her weight from one foot to another. "Well Serena I hope that you know what you are doing. On a serious note Serena, Andrew is looking for you. He has sent spies all around, so you really don't know who is spying on you right at this moment. I came to check on you, I mean do you know how long I've been searching for you?"

Tilting her head to the side Serena continued to stare at Raye. "No actually I don't. So I guess this is when you tell me."

Smirking at her Raye crossed her arms, "Try four months Princess Serena." Serena's mouth dropped open and she stared wide-eyed at Raye. "So now that I've found you I am going to head back to the palace. Don't worry I promise not to tell Andrew a thing, but I am going to tell the others."

Raye then waved to Serena and walked back out into the crowd. She approached a carriage and another passenger got out and helped her inside. The young man bent down and gave Raye a kiss on the check. So, Chad accompanied Raye in her search for me.

Snapping back into reality she too exited the alley and started to head for Heero's manor. "Now it is time that I deal with Heero, the bane of my existence. I will not let him talk to me in such a manner, or anyone else! He thinks that he can trick me, boss me, or anything else I don't think so!" Serena then started her trek back to his house, to have a word with Heero.

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AN: Well hopefully this was a good chapter. So now please take the time to review if you feel like it. See you in chapter 4. Weasel01