Just a Girl

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

            Winnie saw a butler pushing a cart full of desserts on it. That gave Winnie the greatest idea. She ran over to the butler and said, “Excuse me, but the king told me it was urgent that I get back to my room. I share a room with Liz and I need to get back there right away! Could you show me the corridor I need to go down?”

            “Sure,” the butler said, and as he turned his back to Winnie, and she disappeared. “Right down here miss… Miss… Miss…?” he asked and shrugged his shoulders going straight to the parlor room.

            Once the butler had entered, Winnie slipped out the side of the cart and quickly slide into the kitchen, while everyone was mesmerized by the marvelous looking desserts. She slipped into the door off the kitchen that said Royals ONLY.

            Winnie heard a few “How delicious” comments and others on how good the food was. It was going to be a while before they would be done, so Winnie decided to dig in to the left overs.

            Winnie hadn’t heard anything over the course of a half an hour or so, and got worried. ‘What if they left?’ she thought to herself. Winnie wondered if she should peak her head out the door when she heard the sound of a hushed voice. It was hard to make out exactly what they were saying, but Winnie heard a woman’s voice say, “Is anyone around? Or can I speak normal?” she asked as her voice rose.

            “Well, the servant was sent upstairs, so I don’t see why not.” a male voice said, which was certainly not the king’s voice.

            “So, when did you get another servant? You go through them so quick! You need to pick one already! And this, time stay with it!” a queen had said. Winnie shuddered at the thought of all this.

            “Well,” the king’s voice rumbled, “she will be staying with us, and longer than I bargained for too.”

            “Wow. You have to bargain for your servants?” a king’s voice laughed, mockingly.

            “What do you mean ‘bargain for?’” Another queen asked.

            “Well, if you will all let the king finish,” Loretta said pausing, prompting the king.

            “So, you see,” the king’s booming voice said proudly, “her parents could not afford taxes for her, so I took their house, and seeing that it was no use to me, I knocked it down, leaving her on the street, without her parents, alone. I had made arrangements for her to be picked up, shortly after I demolished the house. She was picked up and brought to me…” Winnie couldn’t listen anymore. She couldn’t believe how evil this all was. ‘And Liz wasn’t even saying anything! How could she do this to me?’ Winnie thought in disbelief. She knew that if someone told her that they heard this, she would never believe them. And yet, this was another time, where Liz couldn’t stand up to her father. “….so the peasants came up to the castle in offering money, which is their yearly salary, and paying that way. So after a year, the peasants will have their daughter back, or so they thought…” Now he was referring them to ‘peasants!’ Winnie was disgusted by this. She was contemplating whether or not she should just crawl up in a ball and cry, or if she should run out and just run out of the castle nonstop, or run up to her room quickly and cry there. Her parents had tried for her, but she was unaware of this, and wasn’t sure what to think now. Her thoughts when she got to the castle were utmost awful, but now, she questioned herself. “…and so, now I’m keeping her as long as I please. She is such a great servant as it is.” Winnie heard nobody say anything, probably stunned at the greatness of the king’s cruelty and power.

            “Wait!” Winnie heard a familiar voice exclaim.

            “What now?” the king asked, snobbishly, even for a king.

            “That’s not right, dad.” Winnie couldn’t believe her ears! It was Liz! She was finally standing up to her father! Winnie felt a sudden burst of shame go through her  body. Winnie had underestimated her parents, and Liz. Apparently, she just had low-standards for everyone. She felt absolutely awful!

            “Elizabeth-”

            “For one, DAD, it’s LIZ, and second, I don’t care what your excuse is. You always told me when I was little, that the Cartérs’ where faithful, great, and strong leaders. Not manipulative, cunning, and unkind! That is not any of that! You are the king, dad! There is no one else above you-”

            “All the more reason…” but Liz kept on going, not even stopping for him as he began to talk.

            “So someone has to do the right thing! And that is you! And if you shall not then I will! Someday, dad, I’m going to rule, and things are not going to be how you have set them now. I will not let you do this to her family! You wouldn’t like it if we were in that situation!”

            “But we never will be!” his voice boomed, barely letting her finish.

            “But Winnie’s family is! And that is not right! You know I want Winnie to stay, but she’s like a sister to me, the sister I never had! She’s my only friend! Even though this is all true, you cannot take Winnie from her family!” Winnie wondered what Loretta’s face looked like, as her daughter had spoken up, while she failed too.

            “You know, she’s right, honey,” Loretta said, somewhat sweetly, and very improper in front of their guests.

            “Okay, I will take it into consideration, but I’m not promising anything I cannot keep.”

            “No!” Liz complained, “You will let her go back to her family!”

            “Elizabeth, reason with me…”

            “No! And don’t call me Elizabeth!”

            “That is your name and I will call you that!”

            “No, you won’t!”

            “Now that’s enough!” Loretta yelled, “We have guests. This discussion is not over. We will discuss this later. Elizabeth Marie, up to your room!”

            Loretta never called Liz by her full name, only when she was mad. Winnie was in absolute shock of what Liz did. Winnie knew she needed to get out of the kitchen.

            Winnie heard the sound of the wooden chair slide off the floor, when Liz got up. Next thing she knew, there were footsteps along the floor and then the wooden door slammed shut. This was all for Winnie, and she couldn’t help but feel ashamed. Winnie couldn’t believe what Liz had done for her, and how badly she had embarrassed herself and the king and the queen. Winnie felt awful.

A/N So I dedicated this chapter to PurpleFlame1324 because of her awesome works! Please check them out! They are Sudden Change and Just Imagine!