When among the trees, I sat down.
The trees had always been my refuge. I had come out here daily after Papa died. It was a place I could be left in peace.
Or at least until today, when I hear footsteps behind me.
Looking up, I saw the prince passing by me. He seemed lost in thought. I thought I should make my presence known, so that he did not find out by other means, as I was still on the ground, and he was in real danger of stepping on me.
Standing up, I curtsied, and murmured, "Your Highness" That woke him up. He looked amazed, that the servant he had seen in the parlor was now standing out here greeting him like it was perfectly normal. Seeing as he had no words, I began to ramble.
"I apologize for that display earlier, Your Highness. You see, I am the Lady Victoria's step-daughter, and I dislike company, and yet I need to know what is going on. That is why I adopted the disguise of a maid. When the Lady began to insult my father's character, I fell out of my disguise. I apologize.
He began to talk. "No need to apologize. I understand the dilemma you had on your hands. I only wonder why a lady would wish to be a servant in their own home. Now, do you like the forest?"
That was an odd question. "Well, yes, I do. It is one of the few places I can relax."
"Surely the life of a lady is not full of trouble."
"Sometimes you wonder…"
"But you have no responsibilities, at least compared to whoever runs your estate."
This is exactly why I dislike young noblemen so much. They assume that a girl could not do anything worthwhile. "Well, I beg to differ. Running an estate is a lot of work, and as a lady, I can tell you it is very difficult."
"You run the estate?"
"Yes, I do. Can you fault the circumstances"
"It would help if I knew what the circumstances were."
"Then I suppose you cannot, as I will not share that much of my personal life to a stranger."
"I apologize. That was rude of me. However, running an estate must be less stressful than some things."
"Such as what?"
He looked tired. "Such as being trained to run a kingdom."
I gave him a half-smile. "That would be rather stressful. I wonder, do you like the woods here?"
HE returned the half-smile. "Yes, for much the same reasons as you. I can see clearly here, unlike in other places."
"But it must be a bit of a journey to get here."
He shrugged. "Not when you have a sturdy horse and decent weather."
"I suppose…"
We stood in silence for a bit. Then I spoke again.
"I belive, Your Highness, we have many similarities."
"So it would seem. What is your name, by the way?"
"Danielle. And I know yours…"
"Yes, it is a common name, is it not?"
"Especially since our prince adopted it." I was grinning now, as was he. About what, I have little idea.
"Well, the prince must be a trendsetter. I should like you to call me Alex, my lady."
"As I would like you to call me Danielle."
"Very well. Would you like to meet again, Danielle?"
"Only if randomly. How about tomorrow afternoon?"
"Of course. May I escort you home?"
"No, that would be unnecessary. Good day, Alex."
"Good day, Danielle."