King | j.b

III

Ariana woke up to the sound of someone banging on the door.

"Everyone get up!" The person shouted. Ariana immediately heard shuffling around the room and figures moving around.

She heard footsteps outside the door, thinking whoever had woken them up had left. She still lay in bed, not wanting to get up.

Suddenly, a cold hand touched her arm. She flinched at the unexpected touch. She looked up to find Rachel.

"Come on Ariana," she whispered. "You've got to get dressed."

Slowly, Ariana started to get up. As she sat upright, she bumped her head on the top bunk.

"Ow," she groaned, clutching her head. This was going to be an awful day.

Once Ariana had gotten into her clothes, she looked at the single mirror in the room. But the person she saw in the reflection was not her. It was not the happy, caring girl from town. It was a shady, broken, and sad servant that would spend much of her life serving the king.

"Time to go," Rachel said to her. She nodded and followed her and the other servants out the room.

The king had told her her schedule yesterday. She was working in the kitchen first and preparing breakfast. Thankfully, Rachel was also working in the kitchen.

They walked into the large room she had seen the day before. For some reason it looked bigger than she had remembered it. She gazed at the hundreds of pots and pans hanging along the walls. The other servants working in this session were getting right to work. They were wearing white aprons as they hurried to work.

"Come on," Rachel said. "I'll show you where everything is." And so she did. She showed Ariana where the aprons, pans, pots, bowls, plates, silverware, and where everything was.

After she was finished, they started cooking omelets for the king and his fellows. Ariana had always cooked omelets at home. But of course not with such luxurious equipment. Her plates and bowls she used back in town were mostly wooden.

As she stirred the eggs and milk in the bowl, she looked at the servant standing beside her. Just as she was about to pour the eggs in the pan, the servant beside her turned towards her.

"Wait!" He said grabbing her hands to prevent her from pouring the mixed eggs. "The king likes his eggs really mixed- so that it is almost like water," he said as he took the bowl away from Ariana and stirred.

This servant was probably around her age maybe a little older. Ariana found him quite handsome. He had bright hazel eyes and curly brown hair. But she looked away before he would notice her looking. Once he finished stirring, he handed the bowl back to Ariana with a big smile on his face. How can someone be so happy in a place like this? Ariana thought to herself.

"Ariana, right?" he said as he went back to his work.

"Yes," Ariana said shyly. The boy smiled.

"I'm Harry. Harry Styles," he beamed. Ariana nodded keeping her eyes down.

Harry laughed. A cute laugh. "Why are you so quiet?" he asked.

Ariana sighed. "Well, maybe its because I'm still not used to this place and don't wanna be here right now," I said annoyed. Harry's eyes widen and he stayed silent for the rest of the morning. Ariana felt bad for what she said. The boy was just trying to be nice.

Before the servants were to bring the food to the dining hall, Ariana grabbed Harry's arm. He spun around, looking confused.

"Hey look I'm sorry for being a jerk, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything. I'm still just not used to this place and miss home," Ariana said sincerely. Harry raised his eyebrows and a smile grew on his face.