Christmas day passed in a blur of food preparation, waiting at tables and carting Christmas gifts between guests. I hardly saw the Prince at all except at dinner, when he caught my eye and beckoned me to him with an almost imperceptible swing of his head.
"Please bring out more champagne" he requested, handing me the empty bottle from his table. As I took it from him, I noticed the unexpected sensation of parchment under my fingertips. A thrill ran through me as I realised that this exchange constituted the passage of a secret message. I caught his gaze and twitched my eye into a subtle wink. His lips turned up at the corners. I took a step back and bent into a curtsey.
"Yes, your majesty".
~~~
In the wine cellar I removed my hip flask from its uncomfortable hiding place within my corset and filled it from a bottle of expensive-looking merlot. My Christmas bonus from the Royals. Then I set my candle down on one of the racks, retrieved the note from my cleavage and unfolded it:
Evelyn,
Merry Christmas.
Come to my rooms at 11 this evening, I have something for you.
Wilhelm x
I raised the note to my mouth and brushed the lone 'x' gently against my lips before slipping it back into my cleavage. With a smile of anticipation spread wide across my face, I ascended the stairs, bottles of champagne clinking cheerily together in my arms.
~~~
At 10 o'clock we filed out of the kitchens after being given a serving of Christmas cake for our hard work. Ava caught up with me as I bumbled down the corridor, the thought of the Prince's note blinding my eyes to my surroundings.
"Where are you staying, Eve? No one seems to know which room is yours. I spent half an hour trying to find you last night."
I glanced around me and waited for the other girls to pass before taking her arm and leaning my head in close to hers. "The Prince has given me a room in the Royal suite." I confessed, barely able to keep the exhilaration out of my voice.
"What?!" Ava yelped and stopped short. I tugged her onward as more servants advanced on us from behind.
"Shh, you mustn't tell the others." I implored "I can't have rumours circulating. It could cost me my career." I folded up the bottom of my corset just enough to reveal the metal glint of my hipflask. "Come with me to my rooms and I'll tell you everything." Her look of wonder melted into a sly smile, and we slipped together into a side corridor.
~~~
I told her everything. Words tumbling out of my mouth in quick succession. The treehouse, the cufflinks, stolen glances across the hall, the gallery, the touch of his thumb grazing lightly over mine... And now the note. Hearing it out loud made it sound dreamlike, as if it were happening to someone else...
Ava sat spellbound in the centre of my four-poster bed as I paced the room and sipped from the hipflask, the heat of the wine spreading up my neck and pooling in rouge patches on my cheeks. When I finally finished speaking, she looked stunned.
"Ava, say something." She held out her hand for the hipflask and I handed it to her and watched her take five hearty swigs.
"This is... This is... This is..."
"I know" I flopped down onto the bed next to her, arms flung up over my head.
"But Eve..." she said hesitantly "you are not the first maid to be seduced by Royalty..."
YOU ARE READING
Hung Royals
Fanfiction*Contains explicit sexual content and language* So I took the characters of Young Royals, sent them back 200 years, added in a fiery redhead housemaid and some Bridgerton-esque sex scenes and voila! I've never shared any of my work wider than a coup...
