The Brooding Prince

Chapter 3

                   ******

        "Oumf!" I fell face down on the covers of my bed as the exhaustion of the day seeped through my bones.

I exhaled loudly and spread my arms on either side, my boot clad feet dangling from the bottom of the mattress.

Never have I experienced labor like today's. The steward made sure to keep us on our feet the whole day despite our protests, and even threatened our positions if we stepped a toe out of line. Oh, how I despised that man.

I could hear Charlotte plopping on her own bed on the other side of the room, loud protests and even mild profanities leaving her mouth, which, for Charlotte, was quite the scandalous affair.

An amused giggle left my mouth as I looked at her lying form. "Remind me again of how exciting you thought cleaning guestrooms was."

"Oh, shut your trap." Her response came quick which made me laugh harder. I couldn't tell if it was genuinely funny or if I was tired enough to find everything amusing.

"I hate those royals. And I know hate is a strong word, but I do, I hate them." She said with her arm over her eyes. "How can someone be so messy? Are they organising private parties that I am unaware of? Did a tornado pass by and sweep everything throughout the rooms? Are pigs living in there?!"

I sighed loudly and closed my eyes as I kicked my shoes clumsily off my feet. "Just be thankful the day's over."

"And, God, did you see how that woman looked at us? The one with the gigantic pink dress and insufferable dog? She looked at us as if we were vermin. Us! Vermin! While she was the one holding the salivating animal!" She said. This time her arms flailing around with each word she spoke.

"You mean, Lady Huntington? Lady Katherine's mother?" I asked as I remembered the aforementioned woman.

My eyebrows frowned as visions of a frilly pink dress and a wrinkly face scrunched in disgust flashed through my mind. The Huntingtons arrived today and we had the immense displeasure of meeting the middle aged Lady Huntington. And to put it mildly, I felt bad for Prince Henry for having such a future mother in law.

I just hoped her daughter, the future queen of our beloved kingdom, was nowhere near as unpleasant as her mother.

God, I could still smell the putrid stench of her cheap perfume. My face furrowed in displeasure. No wonder that dog looked half dead.

Charlotte kept going on and on about the disarray in which we found the royal guest rooms, and I couldn't help but go in and out of consciousness as the day's labor finally caught up with me.

I was listening to her mumble for one moment, then I was gone the next.

The next morning I was up before Charlotte, so I made sure to arrange her uniform at the foot of her bed and gently stirred her from her deep slumber.

With a few grumbles and yawns we managed to get ourselves to the kitchen, where we found everyone having breakfast in silence, only hearing small talk once in a while. At the far end of the table we could see Sarah with her head on her arms as we made our way around.

Apparently we weren't the only ones to suffer the steward's torture yesterday.

"Hello there." Charlotte said when we sat down infront of her.

Sarah lifted her head slightly to see who the newcomers were, only to put it back down on the table with a growl. I managed to glimpse dark circles under her eyes.

"Good morning to you too, sunshine." Charlotte chuckled, grabbed an empty plate and began filling it with the warm food spread on the table. I immediately followed suite.