String of Fate

Chapter Eighty One

As I re-arranged the flowers in the vase, I couldn't help but check the string that led from my left hand. It had been there for over a year already, and I couldn't help but kind of wish that it hadn't. The person at the end of it would get no benefit from being with me. I mean, no prince would want to spend the rest of his life with a servant girl.

"Lola! You're here. Perfect." The princess said as she came into the room. I left the flowers on the side table in the sunlight, allowing the aroma to spread out among the large room, and turned to curtsey to the princess as she headed to the mannequin that held her latest creation. "I have told you to stop that. You are my childhood friend who also happens to be my maid, so, stop that ridiculous curtseying right now."

"Apologies, Princess." I replied, standing straight with my hands clasped in front of me. It was strange being Hannah's maid, but she had requested me when I turned sixteen and it had saved me actually searching for a job. "How can I be of assistance?"

"Can you try this on for me, please?" She asked, gesturing to the ball gown on the mannequin. She was staring at it, in thought for a little bit. "It looks good on the mannequin but I want to see it on a person."

"Of course." I answered, not able to actually deny the princess of anything. She walked to the mannequin and started to pull the dress from it. The dress was too nice for someone like me but I guess it would be nice to try it on. Hannah always designed and created beautiful dresses. "Just tell me where to put myself so I won't damage it."

"Oh, don't worry about that. You need to worry about the couple of pins still in it." She laughed as I pulled the maid dress from my shoulders and she slipped the ball gown over my head, arranging it and then stepping back to look at me. I struggled not to cross my arms across my body. "That's actually not too bad. Look at yourself in the mirror."

I turned and walked over to the stand mirror that the princess had in the corner of the room, allowing her to see her dresses when she was wearing them. She had somehow managed to make the dress the perfect length for me and it was beautiful. The ruffles fell in the right place to show off my figure and the colour managed to bring out my eyes. "It looks amazing, Ma'am."

"It's Hannah. Seriously, Lola, we're the only ones here. I miss you calling me by my name." She told me, coming over and putting her hands on my shoulders from behind. She was slightly taller than me normally but she also wore heels whenever possible, so now she was almost half a head taller than me. Her and Archie had really gotten their father's height gene. "Anyway, this is going to look perfect on you when we go to the ball on Saturday."

"Wait, what?" I questioned, turning to her so quickly that the dress fanned out. Being completely honest with myself, I liked how it did that. "I am not going to the ball on Saturday. It's your, and Archie's, birthday ball to try and find him a wife. It's a royal ball. I am a maid. I am not invited."

"Of course you are. You're coming under royal invitation of the actual birthday people." Hannah explained, smiling at me. "You're the whole reason that we're having a masquerade ball anyway. Archie and I wanted you to come and it is a good way to sneak you in. We've planned this all, and I really wanted to finally design you a dress. Please, come and wear it. For me?"

She gave me her version of puppy dog eyes, which always seemed to work on her parents. I sighed. I couldn't say no to her. Plus, it could be a fun evening. "I suppose I could come for an evening. Just, make sure I stay away from your parents."

"Of course. That reminds me, my dad doesn't know what you look like lately, does he?" Hannah queried, messing with the dress a little. "He hasn't really seen you since you were about nine, has he? This castle is full of people, yet you can go eight years without meeting someone. Dad is kind of always busy running the country, though."