Grooming Weeds

Act Three

"Here it is!"

Heather felt her jaw drop as the bedroom door opened before her. This was her room? This room?! There was no way this was the room for a maid let alone for her. Her eyes darted from left to right, what was she going to do with all this space? In the right corner was a rather large sized bed and from the left of that sat a large walnut dresser drawer.

"Do you like it?" The tiny voice of the princess at her side made the baker flinch.

Heather glanced downward to see Sofia with her tiny hands at her chest and a large smile on her face. Aw, did she want her to feel at home? "This is my room?" She asked instead, best be sure she wasn't assuming things again and get her hopes up.

"Yep!" The smaller girl nodded her once. "I hope its okay; this part of the castle is where the maids stay. You don't mind?"

"Sofia," She felt her features soften, "This is great. I've never had a room to myself before," The maid tore her eyes away from the princess and again focused on the large bed. "It's so big."

"Come on in," Sofia broke away from her side and stepped inside the wide, near empty room and opened up her arms. "It's a little empty now but once your stuff gets here, it should feel more at home."

Even with all of her things would even half of this room be filled? It wasn't like she had a lot of stuff; half of the stuff back home was Rye's anyway. Huh. But that was a good thing, right? After all how many times had she complained to Rye that their room wasn't big enough for the both of them? But now? Whew! She could even decorate the way she wanted without having to worry about her sister's opinion!

"You had to share your room back home?" Sofia's voice again made Heather smile.

"Yeah," She replied, finally making her way toward the extra-large bed. Shoot, would her sheets from home even fit on this mattress? "My older sister and I always shared a room. Actually we've been roommates for pretty much forever!"

"Oh," The girl's voice took a sudden depth. "Will you be lonely without her? I know sometimes it can be kind of hard to adjust to all the space. At least it did for me."

"Ah, I don't think that'll be a problem." Heather spun around on her heel and shot a grin at the tiny female. "It's not really a bad thing; our room at home was getting really cramped. And I've never had a bed this big before! It's great!"

A tiny string of giggles left Sofia as her features relaxed. "I know how that is. My mom and I shared a room for a long time before we moved to the castle. But it was still kinda hard to get used to being alone."

"No worries." Heather waved her right hand a single time. "This is nothing."

"Okay."

This was gonna rock. A beginning to something wonderful, something that could change her and Rye's life forever! No more struggling for money or worrying about groceries. And Rye could finally have her room, her own space to do what she wanted, when she wanted. Her older sister deserved that, after all she'd given up for her? It was the least she could do as a younger sis.

Heather paused, inhaling through her nostrils. There was only one person she had to thank for giving her this chance. The taller woman allowed her arm to fall back to her side and her shoulders to relax. She then took a few steps toward Sofia and once within a reasonable distance, she dropped to her right knee. Making sure to look right into the bright baby blues directly in front of her, she felt her heart swell.

"Thank you so much, Sofia. This means a lot to me, you really are helping me out a bunch."

"Oh you're welcome." A light dusting of pink hit the girl's round cheeks for the short second she pulled away. "You looked really scared and worried back there and I didn't want you to feel bad. Not after you were so nice to Clover."

Ah so the rabbit was the real hero of the day, was he? "Yeah well, it helped that he was cute."

"I'll tell him that."

"Good." She laughed to herself as she pushed off her knee once again stood up straight. "If there's any way I can repay you, let me know. I'll help out anyway I can, it's the least I could do."

Sofia shook her head. "You don't need to do anything like that, Ms. Heather. We wanted to help."

"Hey," The newest staff member felt a grin grow across her cheeks. "What's with the miss? You're making me feel old, call me Heather."

Her tiny pale hands shot up to her mouth as another round of lighthearted laughter filled the air. "Okay, if I call you just Heather, you can call me just Sofia. Besides, we're friends now right?"

Awww! She was so sweet! No wonder the whole village rejoiced when she and her mother came to be a part of the royal family. "Sure."

"I would really like to introduce you to Amber and James tomorrow; I think they'd like to be your friends too." Sofia allowed her hands to drop from her face.

"Oh yeah, not a problem. I'd like that."

Just as the younger female parted her lips to reply the sound of tapping on the bedroom doorframe caught both girl's attention. Heather lifted her chin only to see Baileywick standing there. Behind him was a maid with a tray of hot food set in both of her hands, oh wow was that her dinner?! Oh and not a moment too soon, she was starting to get the shakes as it was!

"Here is your dinner for the evening, Heather." The white-haired man stepped inward, only moving a side for the worker at his heels.

"Oh thank you so much!" She nearly gushed the moment the plated smoked turkey hit her senses.

The slender maid then made a beeline for the dresser in the far end of the room. Once there she dropped the wooden tray, spun on her heel and stood with the lone male. Having had the plate of food moved closer to her, the smell of potatoes, gravy and stuffing forced extra spit to gather on her tongue. Oh man, talk about being spoiled!

"Now," The sound of the Baileywick's deep voice caught the attention of the room. "I will have your work schedule ready tomorrow morning. Meeting me down in the front hall just before noon would be preferable."

"Yes, sir." Heather bit her bottom lip, her eyes flickering from the well-dressed gentleman back to her steaming plate of poultry.

"Also, I have several guards headed to your home to pick up your things." He continued the heaviness of his eyes on her making her tear her attention away from her future meal. "I've told them to inform your sister about your new employment and to come down for a quick tour."

"Oh!" Heather lifted her fisted hands to her chest. "Great! I can't wait!"

"I did mention the subject of your dog to king Roland, he will be sure to have an answer for you tomorrow on whether we can accommodate her."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Baileywick." The girl with the pixie hair cut dipped her head a single time and shot the castle steward a smile.

Instead of any verbal reply, said man repeated the gesture then turned his focus to the tiny princess at her side. "Now, Sofia let's leave Heather to her food. It's getting on your dinnertime as well."

"Okay." Sofia glanced once over her shoulder. "Good night Heather, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alrighty," She watched as the princess stepped away from her side entered the doorframe with her assistant. "Good night you guys."

"Enjoy your meal." Baileywick guided the girl and the maid that come with him out of the room, holding the door in the process. He then managed to crack a smile in her direction before shutting the bedroom door.

Ah! Finally food and a warm bed for the night! Who could ask for anything more? This was the life! Sure, she'd be working from here on out but at least she could enjoy the night, right? Tomorrow wasn't looking too bad either, seeing as Rye was gonna pop on by. Oh the look on her sister's face was gonna be priceless.

Before moving on to her food, Heather paused for a moment and looked back to the extra-large bed waiting for her tired body. Huh, what was it going to be like, sleeping all alone on a mattress that big? It wouldn't get…lonely would it? What? No way! Sleeping on a huge bed like that was something she'd always dreamed of! She wasn't gonna start feeling bad about this now.

Am I?

No.

But…the bed was kinda big for just her and the room was kinda too quiet.

This might be harder than originally planned. Shoot.

XoXoX

Oh geez, dresses were never her thing in the first place but to wear a maid's outfit, a maid's dress was something new and rather unflattering. Ah man. Heather cringed as she looked at her full body reflection in her room mirror. So many frills, what was with the frills? And that weird little headpiece? What was that about? She moved the white fabric in toward her chest as she curled her lip. How would she even wear that on her head, her hair was way too bushy and unruly as it was!

Nope, not wearing that. She then proceeded to stuff the article into her apron pocket.

"This is just terrible."

It could be worse; they could have given you a uniform to sizes too small.

She exhaled through her nostrils and turned her torso around. She moved her backside to face the front of the glass and scanned the back of her dress. Ugh, the bow! How was she supposed to tie a straight bow on her back? Wouldn't it take two people to do that?! Only if Rye were there to fix it.

Ignoring the crooked bow for the time being, she turned back around to face the mirror. She took a moment to straighten out her dress and adjust the frills around her neck. Gah, it just looked so awkward on her! All the other maids looked nice but this outfit on her? Agh.

"You can't just slap a dress on a rhino and call it a lady." She frowned.

Knock, knock.

Oh? Great now someone was gonna see her in this monstrosity? Well, it wasn't like she could hide forever, she had to work sometime. Giving up on the mess staring back at her, Heather took in a deep breath of air before leaving the mirror and approaching the door. Once within distance, she reached out and popped open the heavy slab of wood and screws.

"Good morning Heather!" Sofia greeted her with a wide, happy smile.

Before she could respond, the two blonde siblings just beyond her shoulders caught her eye. She locked stares with the prince first. He was quick to shoot her a grin; then again it looked like he might have been smiling at her the whole time. He seemed spirited in any event, was he always that excited or was it just the idea of meeting a new potential buddy that put the moxie in him?

She then allowed her brown eyes to flicker to the right, landing squarely on the princess. Oh wow, she was so pretty. Sure, she'd seen Princess Amber in portraits and maybe at a public event from a distance but up close her skin seemed flawless.

"Hey guys," Heather allowed her arm to fall away from the door.

"Good morning Ms. Heather!" James piped out without any hesitation. "Sofia told us that you're a baker, is that true?"

Ah, typical boy. Then again, if there was a promise of a dessert within her grasp, she'd jump at it too. "Yep, it's true! And please, call me Heather."

"Oh, okay." The male took a step closer, his smile growing with each second. "Are your cookies any good? Sofia said that Clover really liked them. Will you make some for us?"

"James." A sharp hiss came from his sister at the right end of the room.

The maid laughed before she had any chance to contain it. This kid was going to be a good test subject alright. And maybe if she could make cookies good enough she could persuade him to talk his dad into promoting her! "Of course my cookies are good!" She replied, moving both hands to her hips. "Rabbits are the harshest food critics, you know. And he loved them!"

"So will you bake some for us?" He asked again regardless of what Amber had to say.

"Sure, if I have the time."

"Great!"

"So Ms. Matthews, do you start work today?" Amber spoke out, drawing all eyes to her.

Ms. Matthews? Oh man, that sounded too weird! She wasn't that old yet, was she? Just being called miss yesterday made her bones ache! "Oh please call me Heather! Ms. Matthews is my mother's name!"

The tallest female moved her right hand off her waist, lifting it to her lips as released a round of laughs that echoed in the near empty hallway. Wait, echo? Shouldn't there be the delightful addition of three other voices indulging her joke? The awkward snickers came to a grinding halt as she moved her eyes back down to the trio, only to see three very confused little faces.

"Okay, bad joke." Her arm dropped. "But you get it right? You know, Ms. Matthews? My mother?"

The three siblings took a silent moment to stop and look at one another. Oh geez, either they were very confused or offended by her terrible sense of adult humor. How sheltered were these kids?! This wasn't a precursor to a very awkward future, was it? Ugh.

"Uhhh," Sofia was first to lock eyes with her once again. "We don't get it."

"Your last name is Matthews, right?" James bright blue eyes suddenly narrowed and his lip pouted just before he leaned into her.

The urge to slap her right palm against her forehead came to mind but the idea of scaring the poor children even further turned her arm to stone. "Yes. Sorry, that was a really lame adult joke. Forget it."

"Okaaaaaaay…" The boy released his stance, relaxing once more.

No one will ever appreciate your humor.

"Ah well," She cleared her throat and forced a small smile to appear on her features. "But yes, Princess Amber, I should start working today. I'm meeting up with Mr. Baileywick in an hour or so and he's gonna fill me in. He's bringing my older sister with him for a tour too so I can't be late."

"You're older sister's coming?" Sofia chimed in, no doubt intrigued. "What's her name?"

Aw, such curious little ones. "Her name's Rye. She's coming down to see my new room and to say…good bye." She hitched for a moment, the words 'good bye' tasting far more bitter on her tongue than first anticipated. "You know since I won't be staying at home anymore."

"Is she a baker too?" James' lighter tone made the older woman take a deep breath.

"Nah," She replied with a small shake of her noggin. "She's a librarian."

Why did her tear ducts have to burn now? She had all of last night to cry her eyes out and it was just now that she felt like bawling? Not in front of these kids, these kids she hardly knew! Not to mention they were the children of her employers, that'd look super weird if they went running to the king and queen telling tales of her weeping like a willow.

She needed a change of subject, fast.

Her eyes darted right, left, up and down until a bright shimmer caught her attention. She followed the invisible line of light until she found herself staring at the tiara at the top of Amber's head.

"Oh wow," Heather bent forward just slightly, eyes locked on the golden headpiece. "That is a beautiful tiara. So shiny! It looks very nice on you."

"Oh?" The blonde female hesitated for a second, only to recover by lifting her right hand to her collarbone. "This old thing? This is nothing. I have many others, much prettier and shinier than this one."

How modest. "Ah. It's still really nice."

"You should see my newest tiara," She lifted her chin while her half-lidded eyes scanned her face. "It's just gorgeous! But it's only for special occasions, not like this one. This one is for every day." She continued, while her brother on the left gagged. "My new one has the most beautiful blue diamond right in the center!"

"Is that right? I've never seen a real blue diamond before. It must look really pretty on you."

"Oh of course it does." Amber dropped her arm. "Would you like to see it? It's worth the price of admission, really."

A few nervous chuckles left Heather as she stood up straight once again. What was she supposed to say? No? Wasn't that like…wrong, to deny anyone royal? But then again, a fast visit shouldn't take too long, right? "Well, I do have to meet with Mr. Baileywick pretty soon but I guess a quick look would be okay. I can't stay long though."

"It won't take long at all," Amber turned about with all of her grace and began her march down the hall. "You won't regret it, I promise!"

"We'll make it super-fast, okay?" Sofia added, moving aside so she could walk through the doorway.

"Thanks." Heather bobbed her head a single time as she removed herself from her new room and closed the door.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as James tipped his head downward and waited for her to bypass him. Oh? So he was learning to be a gentleman early on, huh? How cute. The maid resisted the urge to giggle, only placing her chin against her left shoulder as she moved by him. With her nose pointed at a slight left, she watched as the young boy broke out of his stance the moment she began to follow Sofia. Walking behind the women? Aww! Did his dad teach him that?

Were all the guys in this place so sweet? Then again she was in a castle; all the men were going to be polite. That was a given.

Act End.