The Bastard (Darling #2) [complete]

Chapter Twenty-One

" L A D Y  L O U E L L E , " Ruby whispered loudly for the fifth time to wake her sleeping lady. The prince was snoring as he soundly slept in his designated spot beside her, and Ruby didn't wish to wake him, either.

Just Louelle, and only because she had to.

Finally after the shakes and poking, accompanied by her calling out Louelle's name, the lady slowly began to stir awake.

"Lady Louelle," she called out again, taking a step away from the bed to allow her space to fully awaken. "We must make haste to get you ready for the day. You have been called upon."

Hearing that first thing in the morning confused her. Telling by the soft light peaking through the drapes, she could sense that it was only dusk. No one had ever called for her presence so early in the day.

She presumed it was perhaps the queen who'd called upon her. Although Louelle had finished Maryann's dress, aside from a few tweaks she would have to make, the queen was still insistent on Louelle getting her gown completed as quickly as possible in the case King James paid her a visit in the sewing room.

That spoken thought almost made her laugh at the obscurity - King James would never step foot in the sewing room, just as he would never step foot in the kitchen or the servant's quarters. He would never be caught in either one of those places in the light of day (or even in the dark of the night) because of the simple fact it was where the working class belonged. And the king was no working class man.

Yet, however, the queen mentioned that King James had appeared to be more on edge regarding the wedding and thought he might. If Louelle was in the middle of preparing her own gown and he happened to walk in on it, he would have been able to surmise that it wasn't quite as finished as he'd been told. There wasn't any telling of how he'd react if he didn't believe it was done.

Louelle pulled her sheets tighter around her chest and yawned. "Please fetch my robe, Ruby. I am in the nude underneath these sheets."

"Yes, Miss." With her cheeks burning as red as her name, Ruby nodded and quickly made her way to the hook on the wall that held the robe Louelle was requesting.

It was part of her duties to see Louelle nude, yet the thought of it had still made her uncomfortable - and she'd seen her nude on many occasions. However, something about it was still foreign to her. She'd grown up being taught that her body was sacred, and that everyone else's was as well. Everyone's body was for one's own to see. When she became Louelle's lady in waiting, she witnessed just how normal it was for a lady's servant to witness her dress for the day or night, or help dry herself after a bath.

No matter the amount of times she'd seen Louelle fully unclothed, she feared it was too many to count - she still always felt like she was invading Louelle's privacy.

Once she handed off the robe, she made way to the vanity to ready the necessary tools to do Louelle's hair, and so she would avoid seeing her lady in such a delicate manner. As she was finishing up, she heard her dear friend shuffle towards her.