Chapter 38: Pete and Stan meet Princess Annabelle

Ops! I forgot to mention that the two maids from the last chapter, Diane and Sarah, are the two other maids that showed up in QFAD during the song 'I Got This'. To be correct, Sarah offered an apple, and Diane offered the yellow shoes. As far as I have noticed, that's the only time they show up, but I needed more maids for this, so they were perfect. I may use them later if the occasion fits.

"I think it's so unfair, Stan!" Pete sulked as he and his friend walked through the hallway, each of them carrying a sack each of potatoes. "Despite Varian's escape, I think we did our best yesterday. I mean, imagine if someone else had handled him. What if Joe or Samson had done it? Or Leopold and Frank, or perhaps Ben or George? It's not certain they would have been able to handle him at all."

"I agree, but I don't think we should complain too much about it." Stan said determinant. "Besides, now we won't have to deal with him anymore. The Captain has put up so many guards that it's not necessary for us to be with him. To be honest, I don't really mind getting some days without having to deal with that crazy kid."

Pete shrugged and sighed. "Oh, I guess you're right. It's just that I... Oh my..." He suddenly stopped, his eyes growing wide and his jaw dropped.

"What?" Stan stopped and looked at his friend. "Pete, what is the matter with you?" He waved a hand in front of him and tried to get contact with his friend. "Pete? Pete, answer me!"

Stan turned around and found the reason for Pete's odd behavior, and found the most extravagant reason that could be. He gasped as he spotted the being that approached them from the other end of the corridor.

Approaching them was a lovely lady with a light teal colored silk gown with embroideries on the slender bodice and laces on the half long sleeves and the low neckline, and a huge skirt puffed up with several layers of petticoats of light blue chiffon. Her auburn hair were tied back from her face and the many perfectly shaped corkscrew curls were dancing on her shoulders as she walked with the dignity of an empress. Her light powdered skin, her bright red lips and the beauty mark on the left side of her nose and her long eyelashes made her look like a perfectly shaped china figurine.

And it looked like she was perfectly well aware of it.

"Pete, stop staring." Stand whispered panicky, trying to shake both his shoulders to awake him, with no result. "What has gotten into you?"

But Stan were for the moment talking to air, as Pete had trouble taking his eyes of the divine female as she walked closer. He was prepared to have her walk past him, but he got all confused when she stopped right in front of him.

"What are you staring at, you imbecile?" she spat sharply as she became aware of him.

Pete's already foolish appearance must have reached its climax when his face, with eyes threatening to pop out of his head, broke up in a wide foolish smile.

"You, for you are definitely the most outstanding beautiful being I have ever seen, and will ever see, in my life!"

Stan facepalmed himself at his friend's suddenly unexpected outburst.

At first the lady looked like she had just had a sudden slap in her face and wasn't certain of how to react. But then her eyes grew smaller as she glared at him. "Are you going to just stand there, or open the door for me?"

"Why, of course! I'll open the door for you, madam-eh... My lady?" Pete hurried to grab a hold on the right of the double doors to the dining room, bowing down deeply and as elegant as he could, peeking carefully up at her, still with the foolish smile on his face.

"Princess!" she spat back. "Princess Annabelle!"

"What a lovely name! I'm Pete!" Pete replied as he rose and, not thinking clearly at the moment, reached out his hand. Stan grabbed a hold on his mustache with both hands as if to control his mouth, deeply embarrassed on behalf of his friend.

But all Princess Annabelle did was to arch a perfectly shaped eyebrow at him, narrowing her hazel brown eyes at him. "And WHY should that interest me?"

Pete's foolish smile were threatening to burst as the icy cold words hit him like a snowball in the face.

"If you dare speaking to me again, you peasant, I'll have you whipped! Now open the door this instant!"

Pete opened the door, not really aware of what he was doing, and by that, she turned away from him and walked into the dining room, leaving Pete with a heartbroken pout as he closed the door behind her.

"Pete, I must say..." Stan was about to give a lecture to him, but when he saw how upset his friend became where he stood, his bottom lip quivering like on a child being scowled. So he swallowed it and walked over and gave him a pat on his shoulder. "Don't care about that, Pete. Some women just aren't worth it." He picked up the potato sack he had dropped on the floor and handed it to him. "Come on, pal. We've got work to do."

Pete sighed and wiped his nose with a gloved finger before he grabbed the sack. "Yeah, I guess so..."

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"But I'm not hungry for that!" Daniel complained loudly from his seat by the table, between his father and his uncle. Both the grownups seemed a bit frustrated over the boy's lacking interest in his food, not to mention his lack of manners. Lars sighed and touched his son's shoulder gently to get him turn to him.

"Come on, son. Smoked salmon really isn't that bad."

"But I don't like it, and I don't wanna eat it!" the boy crossed his arms adamant and turned away, raising his nose in the air. "And you can't make me!"

"But you haven't tried it yet." Lars said, getting more and more frustrated by his son's behavior.

"But I know I don't like it!" the young Prince replied.

Frederic sat on the edge of the table, and watched the scene with the boy refusing to finish his breakfast. "And I thought Varian was quite a problem." he whispered as he leaned his head discreetly towards Nigel, who stood beside him with a bundle of papers in his hands containing the day's program.

"At least the Young Prince is not throwing his food." Nigel said, as he too had discreetly been watching the scenario with another kind of meal fresh in mind.

Frederic had to hold back a chuckle when he recalled how Varian had thrown the slice of turkey right across the table. It had obviously been intended for him, but bad luck had lead it towards Nigel, who had been far from pleased.

But both men looked up when they heard Daniel give a loud cry, and then saw him throw his fork across the table, hit the wall on the other side, and land on the floor with a few jumps. Both men were mute for a moment, before Frederic turned to Nigel, unable to keep back a smirk and an arched eyebrow. "You were saying?"

The talk around the table went all silent as the trio suddenly heard the doors went open, and Nigel found a grand excuse to change the subject. As Annabelle strolled into the room, the royal advisor approached her and gave a deep bow.

"Ah, Princess Annabelle! How splendid you look in this morning!"

"Of course, why shouldn't I?" Annabelle said sarcastically as she walked past him.

Jonas were up in a wink and rushed over to greet her. "Good morning, my dear." he said smiling as he took her hand in his and kissed it. "Did you sleep well?"

"Barely." she replied dryly, but she smiled at him when he pulled out the chair for her to the King's right. Then she turned to Frederic with a frown. "Uncle, you have got to something with those guards of yours. I have never seen such lack of discipline on a castle staff. I assure you, my father would have had such fools whipped and replaced."

"Oh dear, thank goodness he's not here then." Frederic mumbled and rolled his eyes.

"Hm?" Annabelle gave him a half look.

"I said, eh... nothing."Frederic coughed shortly before smiling ot her. " I said good morning, my dear." He briefly exchanged looks with Nigel, who returned to his place beside him, both of them suddenly aware that this was obviously not a good morning at all for the Princess.

"Very well..." she said, not satisfied as she looked around the room. "Where is auntie? She'll miss breakfast."

"You were late too!" Daniel said in a mocking tone, forgetting about the salmon on the plate for a moment.

She turned around to give him a glare. "Uncle Lars, smack his tongue." she said harshly, not taking her eyes of Daniel.

"Well..." Lars looked up in the roof, then lead a hand behind his head as he peeked halfway at her. "You were rather late today, Annabelle..."

"Are you siding with him now?" she were almost snarling at him. "If you have to know, it was that ghastly girl you gave me for a lousy excuse for a lady-in-waiting. She never showed up. Instead there was an old hag that came to tend to me. One worse than the other!"

"Has old Lady Crowley started replacing the maids?" Nigel mumbled to himself, shortly exchanging looks with the King, who looked just as confused.

"Oh? Weren't you satisfied with Millicent?" Frederic asked, remaining calm.

"Oh, so they go by names here?" Annabelle replied dryly. "I demand another, more punctual!"

Frederic arched an eyebrow at her, then turned back to his food. "Well, I'll... see what I can do!"

"And you, butler?"

It took Nigel a moment to realize that it was him she was talking to. "Hm? Me, Princess?"

"Yes, you moron." she spat back. "Are you going to serve me, or not?"

"Eh... I beg your..." Nigel were so whipped of the branch that he for a moment forgot his manners and couldn't help but drop the papers on the floor, along with his jaw. Then he quickly covered his mouth and sent a look at the King, who also seemed a little confused at the situation.

"Well, you don't expect me to serve myself, do you?" Annabelle gave him a glare with small eyes.

Everyone around the table went silent from her comment. Even Daniel stopped complaining about his food and stared from his cousin, then Nigel, and back to his cousin, not really understanding what was going on.

In the end, Frederic felt he had enough and turned to her again, a bit more strict this time. "Annabelle, Nigel is my personal advisor, and not a servant not that sort that you refer to! It is not his job to serve any of us. So may I ask that you do not address to him in the tone?"

"Are you trying to tell me that you have all been serving yourself this morning?" She rolled her eyes and huffed. "Incredible!"

Nigel didn't reply, but as he bent down to pick up his papers, he allowed his face to turn into a frown before he got a hold on himself as he rose.

Sensing he tension in the room, Jonas rose from his own seat and grabbed the plate with scrambled eggs and a slice of loaf that he brought over to her and started putting some on her plate as he cleared his throat carefully.

"Annabelle. "Eh... Sweetheart? I... I have an appointment with Daniel this morning, but I thought perhaps that after that maybe you and I could take a stroll together? Perhaps in the garden?"

"Why the garden, of all things?" she said, still frustrated.

"Oh well, I was actually just hoping to... be alone with you!" he leaned closer to her and whispered the last words as he was to serve her some smoked salmon, catching her eyes as she turned towards him. "Would you like some butter on your bread?" he said low as he smiled to her.

His dashing appearance made her smile, and there was a slight blush underneath the powder on her face. "A little, perhaps!"

Daniel looked at them and reached his tongue out of pure disgust. "Yuck!"

"Yes... Yuck!" Lars replied as he rested his chin on a hand, leaning his elbow on the table as he looked away from the lovebirds. A distant and suddenly sad look appeared in his deep, brown eyes that no one noticed at the moment and he let his eyes wander until the somehow landed on his son's unfinished dish.

Then his eyes suddenly lightened up when he got a slight idea and turned to his son again. "Eh, Daniel? If you take only one bite of the salmon, we can go straight to Varian. Alright?" He used his knife and fork to cut off a forth part of the smoked salmon. "You don't even have to chew it, just swallow it whole. And then we can go. Deal?" He gave his son a hopeful, encouraging smile as he hoped it would work.

He leaned closer and whispered into his ear. "Then we don't have to watch them!" he pointed with his finger toward Jonas and Annabelle, still flirting with eachother.

Daniel didn't answer right away, but as soon as Annabelle started laughing at something Jonas said, he looked at the salmon at his plate, had one more look at Annabelle and then made up his mind and grabbed a hold on the small slice with his fork. He hesitated one last moment, but when he heard Annabelle say "Oh, Jonas..." he couldn't take it anymore. So he put the salmon in his mouth and with a few retches, he managed to swallow it. His father gave him the rest of his own fruit juice to swallow it down with before the boy spoke out.

"NOW can we go?"

"Of course!" Lars said, the relief glowing in his brown eyes as he rose from his chair. "Right away!"

"HURRAY! Come on, uncle Jonas!" Daniel jumped off his chair and ran past his uncle, grabbing a hold on his right hand and pulled his poor, unknowing uncle, right off his feet in a swirl as he had just finished smearing butter on Annabelle's bread, whipping Annabelle of her branch as the bread landed in her lap, causing her to give a cry. Poor Jonas had barely managed to get back on his feet when Daniel dragged him along out the doors.

While Nigel were shocked by the sudden scene, Frederic couldn't help himself and chuckled by the sight.

Lars laughed and rose from his chair, looking at Frederic. "May I be excused, Your Majesty? I... I should go and check that my brother keeps his shoes on the way."

"By all means." Frederic wiped his mouth and put his napkin down. Then he rose from the table. "Not at all. I mind as well accompany you. I need to speak to Phineas."

Annabelle managed to avoid getting butter on her dress and placed the bread on her plate like it was a disgusting rat, and turned back to look at him. "What? Are you all leaving me?"

"We have finished eating, my dear. And I must see the physician. The Queen didn't feel so well last night, so I must ask him to do something about it. Enjoy your breakfast, my dear. Come, Nigel." Frederic said as he walked with Lars towards the door.

"Yes, Sire." the advisor replied, doing his best to hide how relieved he was to leave the room, and hurried to open the door for the two royalties. "Shall I prepare the documents for Your Majesty in the meantime?"

"Yes, sort them out and wait for me in my office. I don't know how long it will take, but I suppose we have time..." Frederic said as Nigel closed the doors behind them.

Annabelle was all mute as she was left alone in the dining hall. Then she gave a loud huff and grabbed the napkin and started unfolding it. But as she gave it a harsh whip to straighten it out, she suddenly felt a sharp cent and before she could help it she gave a sneeze. Then she looked at the napkin, spotting hints of brown powder, and her rage returned.

"Oh, that little... DANIEEEEELLL!"