King | j.b

VI

Ariana awoke to the familiar sound of banging on the door. Her eyes flipped open as she heard shuffling and quiet whispers around the room. She sighed and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She stood up and opened her trunk full of her clothes. They were all the same of course, except for one. And this one outfit was to only be worn specially on one certain day. The king's birthday. And that was today. Unfortunately...

This outfit was an elegant, simple white dress that all female servants were required to wear only on this day in order to honor the king. As for the boys, they were to wear a tuxedo.

But it wasn't time for them to put this outfit on yet, so Ariana threw on her regular old servant clothes. She had remembered Rachel talking about they how didn't have regular sessions today. Today, all the servants were to set up for the grand celebration.

Ariana huffed as she thought about this. He didn't deserve a celebration. Why would someone want to celebrate the birth of such a vile human being? But then she thought about the incident that occurred a couple of days ago. He was actually nice to her for a moment. Maybe there's a good side of him... And although she hated to admit it, he was not bad looking.

But Ariana soon snapped out of her thoughts when everyone started to leave the room. She spotted Rachel and walked up to her. When Rachel saw her she gave her a slight smile. She smiled back.

Everyone walked silently through the castle's hallways and headed straight for the grand hall where they were to set up the tables and decorations.

This was going to be fun...

Everyone immediately got to work. Ariana started by putting a white tablecloth on a rounded table. She then set up the plates and utensils. One by one, she placed a plate at each chair.

Then, to her surprise, Ed came over to her table. He gave her a smile.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she replied.

"Need some help?" he asked. Ariana nodded.

Ed placed the utensils in the correct spots as Ariana set down the napkins and glasses. And finally, to finish it up, she placed the center piece in the middle of the table. The center piece consisted of a bouquet of beautiful white flowers in a crystal clear vase.

Ariana and Ed stepped back and admired their work. She had to admit, it was a beautiful set up.

"Great," Ariana said. "Now we have fifteen more of those to do." Ed grunted. "How many people are even going to be here?"

"I think around 300," Ed replied. Ariana's eyes widened.

She looked around the hall. There were servants scattered all over the great hall. Some were decorating the pillars with white ribbons, some set up a bar, while other set up the tables.

This was going to be a huge event.

Ariana had even remembered how big of a deal it was back in the village. All the villagers were required to also have a celebration for the king whether they liked it or not. She remembered dancing in the streets with other villagers and putting on fake smiles as she pretended to enjoy herself. She remembered watching the beautiful fireworks shining in the night sky. But she hated the fact that it was all for the king.

No villager liked this dreadful day. Why would they honor the king? What good had he done for them? For anyone?

Ariana sighed as she set up another table. She looked up to find Harry looking at her. What was with everyone always looking at her? She quickly looked down avoiding eye contact with him. Thankfully he didn't come over.