Without a Crown

Beatrice

After a hot bath, Anna glided down the staircase in pink silk like, well, a princess. She lowered herself into the chair at the end of the table in the parlor as a servant poured tea into the china cup in front of her. At the other end of the table sat Charlie, who lifted the teacup to his lips to take a sip before asking Anna a question. "Where did you come from?" he asked, clinking his teacup onto the saucer in front of him before letting go of it. Anna smiled timidly.

"I come from Arzea," she lied, attempting to make him want to change the subject. " I lived with my mother and father there," she continued, "but there was a fire, and I... I..." A big, fat, crocodile tear slid down her cheek and dripped into her tea. "That should do it," she thought, almost breaking character trying to hide the grin inside of her, eagerly trying to escape.

"Oh," was all that came out of Charlie's mouth as he looked down at his feet. "My father died too," he whispered, tears sliding down his face. I was five years old, and we woke up one morning, and he was gone. He was just dead." Silence filled the room as they both thought about their pasts. "Enough about me, though," smiled Charlie. "What about you? What will you do?"Anna pondered this for a moment.

"I'm not really sure," she admitted. "I was hoping I could stay the night here tonight, you know, if that's okay with your mother."

"She'll be delighted," Charlie replied. "In fact, she should be home from garden club any second now..."

"Charles! I'm home!" called Charlie's mother from the foyer. "Come here and help me with the groceries!"

"Groceries?" he asked, confused. "I thought you were at the garden club."

"It's Tuesday, darling. Garden club is on Wednesdays. Now come and help me!"

"Yes, Mother," Charlie groaned. His servant, whose name happened to be Arlington, pulled out his chair to let Charlie out of his seat. Charlie went over and did the same for Anna. She could feel the red on her face as he beckoned her to follow him. As soon as they arrived in the foyer, Charlie's sister who couldn't have been older than twelve said,

"Who's Charlie's girlfriend? She's way too pretty for you, Charles. I'm surprised she hasn't left you yet."

"Emma!" cried Mrs. Whittington. "What a terrible thing to say! But I would like to know, who is this girl?"

Anna looked at her timidly and smiled. She gave a small curtsy. "I am Anna of Arzea. I met Charlie, er, Charles earlier this afternoon."

"Hello, Anna. Most know me as Mrs. Whittington, but please, call me Beatrice." She smiled. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" asked Beatrice, the mole on her face popping out as she grinned.

Anna bit her lip and looked at her feet.

"Well, you see, Mother, there was a fire in her home, and her parents..." Before Charlie could finish, Beatrice interrupted.

"Oh, how horrible!"

"Yes," continued Charlie. "Today she came to the door, and I was wondering if she could stay here, just for a couple nights, until she can-"

"Oh, that's a wonderful idea!" cried Beatrice, wrapping her arms around Anna and pulling her into a tight hug. "I am so, so sorry that happened! You can stay here as long as you'd like!"

"Thank you, miss," whispered Anna, before fainting of exhaustion.