"Ella, I told you a million times. Stop. With. The. Singing," Courtney shooed all the birds off the window sill with her broom, "It's attracting so many animals!"

Ella giggled. "I'm sorry. It brightens my mood!" A bird fluttered onto her finger, and she let it go out the window.

Courtney on the other hand just threw the poor animals out. And Lindsay just screamed and ran away from them.

"Lindsay, they're not going to hurt you. They're birds. And squirrels. Squirrels don't bite," Courtney told the shrieking girl.

Lindsay stopped shrieking and looked at her. "Squirrels? Oh, I thought these were skunks."

"Guys, can we please get back to work? Queen Heather will literally scream at us if we don't clean this place," Beth said from the other side of the room, still sweeping away all the shattered plate Lindsay had dropped before.

"Yeah, and stop petting the animals!" Courtney hissed, snatching the squirrel Ella was cuddling out of her hands and chucking it out the window.

Ella gasped. "Courtney! We're five stories high!"

"So?"

She huffed. "That squirrel is probably seriously injured!"

"Or dead…" Beth mumbled.

Lindsay brushed her hands on her long light brown skirt, that went with the chocolate brown torso with a big, white neckline. It was the palace maid's everyday outfit. But Lindsay accessorized a bit and put a white bandanna in her long, silky blonde hair. "Ella, are you sure you're not a mix?" She asked.

Ella brushed a strand of her black bob behind her ear. "I don't believe I am. I mean… It is a possibility."

"Hell yeah it is a possibility!" Courtney said, continuing on with her sweeping, "whenever you sing, some sort of animal shows up at the window. Not only that, but you can pet them too… And they're wild animals! You must be part fairy."

She shrugged and picked up her own broom. "I don't know. There's no fairy gene in my family. Well… Except for my great, great grandmother. She was half fairy, half vampire."

Beth walked over to them. "Then there you go. You probably have some fairy genes in you. Wild animals won't let any random person get close to them, let alone touch them. They only let fairies do that because they sense the 'Nature-Connected' aura that fairies have. And only fairies have."

"Maybe…" Ella mumbled and started sweeping.

The four girls went on with their everyday maid responsibilities. Courtney, Ella, Beth, and Lindsay were only a quarter of all the maids in the palace. There were about sixteen in total, but the four girls never really spoke to any of them except for each other. They were all in the maid outfit, since it was against the law to wear anything else when working. Courtney was the most strict and aggressive out of the four girls. Ella was kind-hearted and gentle to everyone and everything around her. Beth was a bit more on the serious side, preferring to get things done right away, but she could let loose and have fun. And finally there was Lindsay, who suffers from bad memory-loss. She was friendly to everyone, but could become rather frustrating when she questioned everything multiple times.

"Ugh, sweeping sucks," Lindsay groaned, "sometimes I wish Queen Hellen would just pick up a broom and sweep her own room."

"It's Queen Heather," Beth corrected, "but I second that."

Courtney grinned. "Well girls, there are perks to being a witch," she dropped her broom and rolled up her sleeves, "you can do this." And with that, she snapped her fingers, and her broom immediately lit up and started sweeping on its own.

"Man, I wish I was a witch," Lindsay whined.

"I wish I was at least some sort of supernatural," Beth said, "I'm just a plain old human."

Lindsay put a hand on her shoulder. "Me too, Beth."

Ella smiled. "You guys shouldn't wish to be anything but yourselves."

Lindsay and Beth both scoffed and waved her off. "But being human is so boring," Lindsay said.

Beth turned to Courtney. "No but seriously, can you actually make our brooms sweep on their own too?"

Courtney chuckled and snapped her fingers once more. This time, all of their brooms lit up and started seeping on their own. They all started thanking Courtney, but suddenly Ezekiel (the very sloppy butler) came running into the room.

"Ezekiel, what do you want?" Courtney crossed her arms.

The short, pale-skinned boy tripped on his own feet and crashed to the ground. Courtney and Beth both snorted, trying to hold back laughter. Ella went to his aid.

"Sorry…" He mumbled as Ella helped him up, "But I was ordered to let you girls know that there will be a man coming into the palace in about five minutes, and you have to let him in and inform Queen Heather that he is here."

Lindsay cocked her head. "A visitor?"

"No, more like a messenger," he told her.

Courtney sighed. "Alright, then let's head on down to the palace doors."

The four girls left their sweeping brooms, and walked down the long hallway leading to the grand staircase. The hallway was fairly dark in colour, with a grey marbled floor, and plum walls covered with tall, thick pillars that were the colour of storm clouds. On the left side was just plain wall with a few windows, but on the right, just halfway down the wall, the wall opened up, revealing the huge ballroom. The girls began walking down the wide staircase, all bickering to one another. The staircase was wide, with a maroon carpet going all the way down the center of it. The stairs were right along the wall, but they curved just slightly near the bottom. And then there was the ballroom. The most breath-taking room in the whole palace. It was mostly shaped like an octagon, and had tall marbled pillars all over the walls. The floor was said to be a special type of glass made from a bunch of melted mermaid pearls.

Mermaid pearls are similar to regular pearls, except they're almost transparent, and contain a bit of magic in them. To match the maroon walls, they tinted the almost-transparent floor a darkish grey. Big windows were all along the room, with long thick curtains pulled back with golden ropes. The ceiling was the best part of the room. It was an enormous painting of Omaria. The palace right at the corner of the island, the road leading down from it to the small village where everyone lived, then the Woods of Eve covering nearly half the island. The small mountains on the far left side of the island. And of course, the part that stood out the most, the Omarian Tree. Right in the center. Surrounded by the shimmering pond, and the different coloured leaves all over it.

"I wonder if Queen Heather will ever throw a ball in here…" Ella sighed as she took in the breathtaking room.

"Yeah, she hasn't had one since she became Queen," Beth added.

Lindsay nearly tripped on the last step of the staircase. "A ball would be so much fun! All the dancing, and the elegant gowns, and the amazing deserts, and all the…"

Courtney squinted at her. "The what?"

She sighed dreamingly, lost in thought. "The princes."

Courtney scoffed. "Princes? That's not why I want a ball. I just want one so us maids can actually get a break from cleaning for once."

"Yeah, but guess who's gotta clean it up after?" Beth pointed out.

"Us…" Courtney grumbled, her happiness fading.

They continued through the ballroom, and reached the big double doors that lead into another very wide hallway. On each side of the doors, there was yet another big hallway. The one of the left side lead to the maid's chambers, and the one on the right led to the throne room. Then, the one in the center led to the main palace doors. The doors that actually lead into the outside world, something many of the maids and butlers didn't see much of.

"So, Ezekiel said five minutes," Beth said, "it probably took us ten minutes to get here, so this man should be here any moment."

Lindsay, Ella, and Courtney snickered at her comment.

"Seriously, why does this palace have to be so big?" She asked, "I mean, there's only Queen Heather and all the service, but our chambers are about the size of her bathroom for heaven's sake!"

Now they were all laughing.

"Um, excuse me?"

The girls spun around and saw a young man standing behind them.

All of their jaws fell open. He was gorgeous. Slicked back dirty blonde hair. Emerald eyes. A defined jawline. Very tall, with a slim but buff build. A grey shirt tucked into a pair of light brown pants, with an aegean coloured cape that sat on his left shoulder, and ended at the ankles of his chestnut boots. A belt was strapped around his waist, and there was a sword in its holder on it.

"My name is Topher, I'm a messenger for Queen Heather. I have a message for her from her uncle," he told them, his soft lips forming a small smile.

"Right," Beth started, "and Queen Heather is expecting you?"

He nodded. His eyes landed on Ella and they stayed there for a minute. Ella stared right back at him. Courtney, Beth, and Lindsay looked back and forth between them staring at each other.

"Um… You have a message to deliver?" Courtney cut in to their anonymous staring.

"Yep," he blinked, looking away from Ella.

"The Queen is in the throne room," Beth pointed down the hall to the big set of double doors.

He smiled. "Thank you, oh-" he gaze went over to Ella again, "can I get your names in case I see you again?"

They all knew he was just asking to get Ella's name, except for maybe Ella herself, but they told him their names anyway. After that, he made his way to the throne room, and the three girls turned to Ella, all filled with excitement.

"Ok, what the heck was all that?" Courtney asked.

Ella blushed. "I… I don't know."

"He's totally in love with you," Lindsay squealed.

Ella's brow shot up. "What? He's definitely not-"

"Go talk to him when he comes out," Beth told her, a grim forming on her plump lips.

"N-no! I'm not gonna-"

Courtney linked arms with her. "Admit it. He was gorgeous."

Ella turned even pinker. "Ok fine. He was r-really… Handsome."

Lindsay squealed again. "We are so going to hook you up with him!"

"No. I'm a maid, he's a messenger of the Queen. Did you see what he was wearing? Better-quality material then this piece of junk," she held up her thin skirt, showing off the torn ends.

Beth patted her arm. "That doesn't matter, Ella. Hell, a king can choose to marry someone wearing dirt-covered clothes who's sleeps on the road if he wants. Money doesn't matter. Talk to him, if he doesn't give you a chance because you're 'scum material', then he's an idiot with no heart."

She gave Beth a small smile. "Thank you, but I think I'll pass."

Lindsay gasped as Ella started walking away. "Ella, this could be your Prince Charming!"

Ella turned around. "I really don't think so, Lindsay."

She kept going. "Think about it. You and him walking together through the Woods of Eve, then suddenly a vicious monster jumps out of the trees, lunging itself at you. But Topher saves you. He slices right through the beast, blocking it from your path! Then, you thank him… And kiss him!" She squealed at the last part, but stopped when she saw everyone staring behind her with wide eyes.

"What?" She turned around and saw Topher standing there, looking a bit flustered.

"Sorry, am I interrupting… Something?" His gaze landed on Ella.

Courtney took Lindsay's hand and started pulling her towards the doors that lead to the ballroom, and gestured for Beth to follow. "No, no. You're not interrupting anything at all, Ella was just… She just wanted to go take a walk in the gardens! So why don't you go join her? We…" She looked at Lindsay and Beth, "We have to… Go finish our chores, but Ella here has already finished all hers so she's free to go." With that, she pushed the two through the doors, leaving a very embarrassed Ella and a very confused Topher alone together.

Ella looked away from him. "I'm terribly sorry about that. My friends just get a little too excited about… Um, their chores sometimes."

Topher chuckled. "That's alright," he moved closer to her, "so you said you wanted to take a walk through the gardens?" He held out his arm, grinning.

She blushed. "You don't have to do this…"

"Don't worry, I want to."

She smiled up at him and linked her arm with his. Together, they walked out the palace and into the massive gardens. The sides were filled with mass amounts of flowers of every colour you could think of. To go along with those were finely trimmed bushed and mini trees. Then going down the center of the garden was a long, narrow pool of water, with fountains a meter apart from each other.

"So, how long have you been the Queen's messenger?" Ella asked.

The sun made his green eyes sparkle. "Just started last year after my older brother passed away. He was the previous messenger."

She rose her eyebrows. "Oh, I'm so sorry... I didn't know."

He smiled. "No need for apologizing," he cleared his throat before continuing on, "anyways, he was our only source of income. And with him gone, my mother and I wouldn't be able to keep our home down in the village, right by the cliff."

The cliff. Ella thought about the little houses built right along the cliff side, right where the waves of the ocean crashed against the rocks. Those houses were known as the lucky houses. Because whenever the sun would set, you could see it perfectly from the window in any of those houses.

"So one day the guards from the palace came down to the house, and offered me the job. They told us my brother had done exceptionally well, and if I could do just as well as he could, I could keep the job. Since I was underage, everyone doubted it, but my mother kept motivating and encouraging me to keep going. So after a month, they told me the Queen agreed to let me keep the job," he looked down at Ella, a grin forming on his lips, "but, after my year of delivering messages to her majesty, I have never seen you or any of your friends around."

Ella chuckled. "Well, we're usually stuck sweeping or scrubbing the rooms in the upper levels."

"And when you're not?"

"Then we're in the maid chambers."

"And where are those?"

"Just left of the ballroom."

"When do you usually get your break?"

"Excuse me?"

"A break from cleaning?"

Her smile faded. The maids didn't get a break from cleaning and all their chores until late at night. Then they just went to bed and woke up early to start placing the table for the Queen, and drawing the Queen's bath, and making the Queen's bed, and setting up the Queen's gown for the day, and-

The Queen. It was always for Queen Heather. It was never for any of the service that spends tireless hours cooking or cleaning or guarding or serving. It was just for her.

"We… Don't get a break. None of the service does," she said slowly.

His eyebrows shot up. "What? But don't you get a break during your lunch?"

"We don't get that big of a lunch. Just some bread and cheese and crackers," she told him, "we usually finish it in less than fifteen minutes then get straight back to work."

He stared ahead. "Huh…"

"What?"

"I've seen Queen Heather been served fancy meals a lot. Rare steak with a beautiful smelling gravy, delicious garden salad, the finest wine in the kingdom, perfectly toasted garlic bread, and much more," Topher squinted his eyes.

Ella shook her head. "Well, she is the Queen of our kingdom. We're respecting her by making her whole life perfect."

"But she should respect you too."

She nodded. "I know… But this is what we agreed to do for her."

After a minute of silence, they started bickering about their families, hobbies, and childhoods, each enjoying the presence of each other. However, their conversation died when they reached the end of the gardens.

Ella turned to face him. "Well, I should get back to my chores now."

He grinned. "I hope to see you again, Ella."

"And I you," she replied, staring into his dreamy eyes.

He picked up her pale hand and brought it to his lips. Tingles zipped down Ella's fingers and arm, all the way to her heart which caused it to flutter and the sudden movement. She blushed and gave him a small curtsy, before practically skipping up the wide stone stairs to the palace doors. She turned around just before she went inside, and Topher waved at her.

She waved back.