The plush rug caressed her bare feet and she marveled at the feel. Never in all her one thousand years had she felt something as heavenly.
She crouched down to run her fingers through the fibers. The threads caught on her calloused hands and she snatched them away for fear of
damaging the floor cover. Returning to her full height, she stepped back onto the cool marble and continued her appraisal of the room she
should have been cleaning. Running her fingers over smooth mahogany desks and velvet upholstered chairs, she wondered at her luck.
She hadn't even been working in the palace for a century yet and she had already worked her way out of the kitchens to serve the royal
family. A prince. She had seen quite a bit of him in the last 10 years or so. She'd brought food to their table during meals or he'd have snuck
into the kitchens for a midnight snack. He had always been kind and she thanked her stars that it would be him she'd be serving. He always
had a joke to share or a riddle for her and the other maids. Despite his dark demeanor and quick temper, he could be quite genial.
Coming to a towering bookshelf, she stopped to gape. She fingered the spines of books she could only dream of having access to, let
alone reading. There was a library of sorts for the help. Just a handful of discarded books passed amongst each other, but she'd read them all
several times over. Despite her love of reading she knew herself far too uneducated to ever be able to comprehend any of these hefty books.
She stroked the feet of a bronzed goddess, then dusted the top of an ancient box. She wondered what it must be like to have so many
wonderful things. Picking up a tiny statue soldier, she leaned against the bookcase with a sigh.
From his spot by the doorway, he watched her peruse his belongings. He couldn't believe it had been so simple. When he had asked his
father for a new chambermaid he had never expected to be shooed away. "Well, then go get one!", his father had boomed. It had been
wonderfully convenient to catch him while he had been so busy with advisers. Now here she was, finally close enough to converse with without
any of their respective peers. He considered his approach while he appraised her for the first time without fear of being caught.
Smooth, pale skin, not unlike his own. A mess of dark red-brown hair, that she tried to contain with an old ribbon but always looked a breath
away from falling loose. Soft, rounded features; small chin, button nose almost childlike. Impossibly big eyes that were the warmest shade of
gray he'd ever seen, that he quite regrettably couldn't see from this angle. She stood a head shorter than him but the gowns that were standard
among the help let much to the imagination. Without thinking, he took several silent steps forward.
"Awfully bold for your first day, don't you think?" She let out a strangled cry and spun on her heel. The porcelain figurine smashed on the floor.
"Oh! My lord, I am so sorry! I am a silly girl. I've never been out of the kitchens and to see all these beautiful things- I don't know what came
over me!" She dropped to her knees, her first instinct to kneel, then scraping the shards of the ruined man together with her hands. With an
eyebrow cocked, he watched her panic with an amused smirk. When he heard her let out a hiss he dropped to her eye level and grabbed her
wrists. She flinched, both from his cold grip on her and from the punishment she knew was about to be unleashed.
Instead of the brutality she was expecting, he laughed. "It was but a child's toy. No need for such worry." He turned her hands over in his and
found what he suspected. A fragment of the shattered "toy." Toy. Treasured keepsake. Whatever. She watched with wide eyes as he pulled the
porcelain from her wound and inspected it. He wiped the blood away with his sleeve and leaned in for closer examination. She was beginning
to feel light-headed at his proximity. She tried to calm her breathing though she never could have prepared for his next movement.
He looked her directly in the eye. Too great an honor for a simple servant, all on its own. She noted for at least the millionth time how startling
green his were. She watched him, mouth open, as he pressed his cool lips to the tiny slice in her palm. He never broke their eye contact as he
waited for it to work. Looking back, she thinks she may have felt her palm start to burn but she'll never be sure if it was the magic or her girlish
astonishment. Finally, after what had to have been an eternity, he pulled her hand away. Confirming that her palm was intact he brushed a light
kiss where should have been a scar. She still didn't move. furrowing his brow, he shifted uneasily. He broke the silence. "All better?"
Certain that she was dreaming, she barely breathed out an acknowledgment. "Yes, thank you, Loki." His heart leapt at hearing his name
from her for the first time. She jerked her uninjured hand back and slapped it over her mouth. She began to stammer out another apology,
tripping over her words. "My prince, forgive me! How many times can I shame myself in one day?!" Trying to make herself lower than him in his
crouching position she pressed her palms and forehead against the flawless marble of the floor. Expecting the wrath that would surely come
this time, she sat motionless.
He stifled a laugh and grabbed the girl's arms. Standing her up with him, he lead her to a chair and sat across from her. He leaned forward,
resting his elbows on his knees and took her hand again. "Please, calm yourself. I would never hurt you." He tried to calm her tremble, placing
his other hand over top of hers. This wasn't how he had wanted their first day to go. "I only wished to speak with you!"
"I- You what?", stuttering again she was sure she hadn't formed a coherent sentence in the last 20 minutes. She was suddenly exceedingly
aware of her surroundings. She was sitting in a prince's chair. In his bedroom. He was leaning just so, so that she was forced to look down at
him. She was extremely mindful of her hands in his larger one, feeling every soft brush of his fingers.
It was his turn to stammer. "I- I asked you here. I requested you." This was too much. Her head was spinning now.
It seemed that she couldn't speak today unless she apologizing. She didn't know how to respond, which was odd because he had half
expected her to swoon at that... Maybe elaborating would help. He chose his words carefully. "I... picked you specifically. I want to get to know
you." He gave her a forced smile, he saw that it wasn't making her any more at ease. He added another thought. "Outside of the kitchen
setting."
She looked down at his hands enveloping hers and felt a hot blush creep up her neck. She couldn't grasp what he was saying. She knew
what it sounded like but surely a prince wouldn't be flirting with a kitchen maid. She racked her brain for what to say, a carefully phrased
question. All that she managed to squeak out was, "Why?"
For some reason, he hadn't prepared for this question. Perhaps, the prince in him had expected her to throw herself at his feet at his
admission of interest. He pressed his lips at the image. He found he didn't like her on the ground like that. He struggled to find the words. "Well,
I- You're beautiful." Her blush turned into a full body heat. "And you laugh at my humor. I love your laugh..." She was certain she had never been
so red. "You always seem happy to see me. Even if my mood is less than pleasant. I've never seen you cower, once." Though she didn't look
up, she did smile at this. She never had been able to really fear him. He felt her shaking subside and her hand relaxed in his. This encouraged
him, he sat up to his full height not letting go of her hand. "I can tell you're intelligent. Too smart to be in a kitchen."
At this she finally spoke, "My prince, I have almost no education at all."
"Education is not what makes one bright." He watched as she finally lifted her eyes, just enough to look up at him through thick lashes. A
small smile played at her lips and he mirrored it. All her positive reactions spurred him on. He lifted a rogue curl from her forehead and placed it
back with the rest of the unruly heap. Her blush returned at the intimate gesture.
She was begining to realize this new duty was going to be more than she had bargained for.
