The Last Princess

Chapter 85

We were cleaning the second section today.

We were all getting better at ignoring Begonia and Celosia as well. At the beginning of the day, Vanilla had pulled Lotus aside and had said something to her in a quiet voice. I don't know what it was, but Lotus was a lot more patient than she had been yesterday.

Maple and I had finished our bookshelf before Lotus and Vanilla had finished theirs- obviously, since theirs was larger, but we were getting faster. So we offered to do the window for them, and we decided (in low voices) that they would do half of Begonia's and Celosia's bookshelf, because from the way they were going, it didn't seem like they would do any more today than they had done yesterday.

"Oh, I'm so tired." Celosia sighed, while Begonia had a fit of coughing. I exchanged a skeptical glance with Lotus, who was right below me. She rolled her eyes and continued dusting. "They should really pay us maids more for all we're doing here." Begonia said, which was at least somewhat sensible.

"When are you two getting your salary?" Lotus asked loudly, breaking them off. I glanced at Maple. "At the end of the month." She said. What exactly were we going to do with the money? The question almost amused me. It's not like we had something planned for our meager amount of earnings.

"They should pay maids like us better at least, who are of higher rank." Begonia murmured, ending my vague thoughts of her sensibility. Maple glanced at me. It was taking all of my willpower not to set those two straight and tell them there was no such thing as better blood or better rank. If there was, the Princess wouldn't have been cleaning the library with them.

I looked at Vanilla and Lotus. Vanilla had turned slightly pink, but she was still dusting. Lotus, however, looked like a tomato. "Look. Stop thinking you're so much better than the rest of us. You aren't. We're all maids here."

That was a lot more controlled than I had expected, making me think Lotus was trying to make an effort to be more civil, however Begonia and Celosia behaved. Celosia sniffed haughtily. "You keep telling yourself that, Miss Laleh." Lotus glared at her, but managed to not respond. That was good of her. But I was getting really tired of those two sisters.

Still, I turned back to the window, wiping it with a wet cloth. The window was dusty, obviously, given it had been cleaned nearly a week ago, but it wasn't stained or cracked, surprisingly. Which meant you could see through it.

The view was beautiful, with the Sun almost touching the canopy of the trees, painting the sky with stripes of orange, light shining across the leaves on the trees. Half of the sky was still blue, providing quite the contrast. And we could see a bit of the Royal Gardens down below, with rows of roses and other vibrant flowers arranged in lovely designs.

It was risky, going higher on the ladders, especially because I wasn't that sure of my ability with the dirt. I had improved, but I still wasn't exactly confident. Still, Maple would catch me before I could fall, I hadn't fallen yet, and I was being very careful not to look down.

We went higher, and the rays of the sun shone into the room, lighting it orange as the Sun dipped lower on the horizon. When we were done, the orange was merging with pink,  and I finally climbed down carefully.

Sure enough, Lotus and Vanilla had had to finish the Waratah sisters' bookshelf, and  we had to force them to help us wipe the tables and dust off the chairs, and finally sweep the floor. Lotus warned them to do it more thoroughly today, and perhaps due to the utter seriousness of her tone, they did fractionally better than yesterday (though the difference wasn't that significant).

Finally, we left for the day, Lotus smiling with us as she left. I groaned inwardly as Begonia and Celosia began chattering again. I tuned them out and continued walking. Then, on top of everything, Celosia claimed exhaustion and wanted to stop for a minute (which I suspect was due to the large, handsome guard nearby).

I rolled my eyes at Maple, but she looked like she was too tired to argue, and Vanilla just accepted it. I looked to the side, a window nearby. I looked out of it to pass the time until Celosia was ready to walk again.

A line of soldiers walked by.

I squinted and looked closer. The soldiers must have come back from training or something, because they were all sweaty. Then I saw Aiden. I recognized him even with his disguised features. He looked sweaty, too, and his hair was all messed up.

He looked very handsome. And he had a very well-defined chest.

I coughed. His shirt was sticking to his body because of the sweat, so I could make out the shape of...okay, moving on. I felt my cheeks heating up, so started to turn when he glanced up. I couldn't tell if he had seen me or not, because I instantly whirled around, knowing for sure my cheeks were now bright red.

As if on cue, Celosia said (after trying to smile at the guard and getting no response), "I feel better now. If someone supports me, I think I can walk." Begonia let Celosia lean on her arm, and she looked around, waiting for someone else. I exchanged an exasperated glance wit Maple, which Vanilla must have caught, because she went and stood on her other side, letting Celosia put half her weight on her.

We were walking quickly to get back on time for dinner, when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vanilla trip and fall. In an instant we were next to her (Maple and I, the Waratah sisters were hovering above us). Vanilla's face was twisted in pain, and she was clutching her right ankle tightly.

"Vanilla!" Maple cried. I almost cried out too, but I remembered to restrain myself. Above us, Celosia babbled, "I almost fell, you careless girl! Oh, I can hardly stand!" Begonia murmured, "It's all that Vanilla's fault, the idiotic thing."

I felt like hitting them, but I was focused on Vanilla, who was obviously in great pain. Her eyes were scrunched up, and so was her nose, and her lips were pressed so tightly together they were almost white, matching the shade of her colorless face.

"Let's take her to the infirmary!" Maple said urgently, helping her get up. Celosia stared at us with an open mouth. "What? My sister is unable to walk, and you're thinking about that girl?" Begonia said. "We don't have time for this. Begonia, Celosia, you'll have to go on your own." Maple said briskly.

I went to Vanilla's other side and tried to prop her upright, but she fell down again, losing balance. Maple looked at me. "How can we get her there?" At that moment, the handsome, well-muscled blond guard, who Celosia had been trying to catch the attention of, walked up urgently.

"May I, Miss?" Maple nodded and we stepped back, letting him scoop Vanilla up as easily as if she was a doll. Her eyes were still shut tight, and I doubted she was too aware of everything going on around her. We left Begonia and Celosia standing gobsmacked as we walked off.

The infirmary was in the East Wing, which was inconvenient. I told myself that if we ever succeeded, I'd put an infirmary in every Wing. The guard carried Vanilla lightly, trying not to disturb her. "Misses, your names are?"

He was blond, and his eyes were icy blue. He looked strong and honorable, but there was a ring of innocence in his eyes. "I'm Tulip Wisteria, and this is my sister, Calla." Maple said. "Pleased to meet you, Miss and Miss Wisteria. And...her name?" He asked gallantly. "Vanilla Lucerne." Maple answered. He glanced down at her carefully. She looked tiny in his arms.

"Well, I hope Miss Lucerne gets better." He said softly. "What's your name?" Maple asked. "I'm Hyacinth Tickseed. Soldier Tickseed." We finally reached the infirmary, where a short, kindly matron was bustling around. She rushed to us. "Oh dear, what's happened?" Maple explained as she directed us to a bed on which to lay Vanilla. "Another maid injured, just what we need." She sighed.

"Will she be better soon?" The Soldier Tickseed asked. The matron pursed her lips. "Well, we'll have to see if she's twisted her ankle or broken it, dear. Now I can't have too many people, so I suggest you leave. One of you may stay."

"I'll stay-" Maple said immediately, but Soldier Tickseed cut her off, "No need, Miss Wisteria. You must have to eat, so you can leave, I'll stay. In any case, I can escort Miss Lucerne back when she wakes up."

Maple tried protesting, but he was quite firm. So we walked back to our room, where the other girls would definitely be worrying about us.