Maid For You

Chapter 48

We finally stopped for the night in a small clearing. I had to set up Prince Coleman's tent, and I mumbled bitterly to myself all the while.

I was exhausted from hiking, and I felt like my shoulders were going to crumble from beneath me. The instructions for building the tent were confusing at best, and I was half certain that the tent would collapse in on itself in the middle of the night.

"Do you need help?" Dewey approached me, having already helped with setting up Roiben and Mercucio's tents.

"Yeah," I sighed hopelessly.

Sweet Dewey was a probably a little too excited to build a tent, but I found it endearing. It wasn't that I was into him, but his reverent staring was rather flattering, especially considering I looked like an actual sweaty train wreck after hiking for forever and a half.

After setting up the tent, the other servants and I were tasked with starting a fire. Prince Coleman sat on a log, and Lady Madeline snuggled up right next him. It was strange to see Madeline like this. Without other women around, next to Prince Coleman, she truly looked content. Angelic, even. She rested her blonde head on Coleman's shoulder and smiled blissfully. She looked up at him and then quietly spoke into his ear, her white teeth gleaming in the firelight.

Madeline looked truly happy. No hint of scheming, malice, or anger in her features.

"She really loves him," I murmured, standing a ways away from the couple.

"She does," a voice answered. Lord Roiben.

I turned back to see his grim expression as he watched to pair.

"And you..." I started, but I stopped. I didn't want to upset him again.

"And I what?" he asked.

My voice was barely above a whisper. "You like her. Don't you?"

"I—I, of course I, yes, I like her. I mean, she's been my friend since we were children. Why wouldn't I enjoy her...a—as a person?" he stumbled.

"Well, who am I to contradict a Lord?"

Roiben pursed his lips and sighed. "You're rather insightful. For a servant."

"I mean, I get it," I said. "She's gorgeous."

"And powerful and smart and to the point." Roiben sighed. "Well, unless Coleman's around. She'd do anything to be with him."

"She is still rather straight to the point with him around," I offer.

"Perhaps. But she's different with him. It's like she forgets who she is."

It was strange, hearing about Lady Madeline like this. I always saw her as my dumb blonde enemy bent on ruining my life. I guess I forgot she was an actual person.

"I guess it's true what they say: love makes you stupid." I shrug.

"Does he talk about Madeline much?" Roiben asked.

"Not particularly."

Roiben sat stewing for a moment. "He hardly cares about her."

"I'm not going to dispute that. Prince Coleman is a player. There is no getting around that fact," I glanced at the moping Lord. "And I get to witness that firsthand."

"And you? Are you really immune to his charms?"

"Immune?" I thought a moment. "No. Not immune. Only tolerant. He drives me crazy and yet he does have his own charm. It's probably his stupidly good-looking face. But I would never do anything with him. I don't trust him."

"You may fall for the Prince yet."

"That's what everyone says." I sighed. "But I like someone else. And he cares about me. I wouldn't be just another notch on his belt."

"And his station in life is...?" asked Roiben.

"He's a servant like me, you'll be happy to hear." My voice came across more coolly than I had intended.

A pause.

"I'm sorry." Lord Roiben started. "I should not have gotten angry with you and hurt you. It wasn't right...or very noble."

"Was that a nobility pun?" I grinned. "Thank you for apologizing." I bit my lip, and thought a moment. "But you are right in some ways. Some ways. Servants are still people and deserve to be treated as such, but...sometimes I forget the lines between station. I'm too casual with people of a higher class."

"Like the Prince?"

"Yeah. I suppose it's because he lets me get away with it."

"Does he, now?" Lord Roiben said.

I looked at Prince Coleman, who was telling Lady Madeline something that was making her laugh. "Yeah, he does. I didn't understand why at first, but I genuinely think he's bored, and I don't exactly cow-tow to him. That's why he tolerates me."

"That's why he plans a last minute trip when his butler is sick and drags you off the mountains when you can't even properly put up a tent?" Roiben commented.

I stood there, a little dumbstruck. "Well..."

"That being said, I could be wrong," Roiben admitted. "He hasn't paid you much attention this trip."

"Roiben!" The very man in question called. "Why are you skulking in the shadows with my maid? Come closer to the fire."

Lord Roiben sighed and plastered on a smile. "Alright, Coleman."

"Bye, I murmured, content to be by myself in the dark.

"You too, Little Maid." The Prince added. "Don't try to look so ominous back there."

Immediately, Madeline's face drops, and I actually feel bad for her. I move closer to the group, still keeping a distance between me and the Prince. I drop to the dirt ground, cross my legs, and fiddle with a stick on the ground.

"Have my servants been nice to you?" Mercucio asks me, his arm slung around Lila.

"Yes, they have been. Dewey even helped me set up Prince Coleman's tent," I said.

"A trooper, that Dewey. I mean, ugly, but a trooper," Mercucio laughed. "Unlike your master, I don't keep around good-looking help."

Master.

The word felt ugly to me.

"Like that butler of yours, Coleman. Isn't your sister in love with him, or something?" Mercucio asked Prince Coleman.

"It's a silly schoolgirl's crush on Lucas. That won't last long," Prince Coleman said.

"How would your parents feel if she married your butler over Prince Nikolas?" hummed Madeline.

"That will never happen," he laughed. "Calista's a pest, undoubtedly, but she's still far above him in station."

I just kept fiddling with my stick, unsure of what to say.

"But she's not going to marry Prince Nikolas either. I'm not going to let my little sister go live with that monster," Prince Coleman continued.

What makes him monstrous? I wanted to ask, but chose to keep silent. The gap between the nobility and me felt ever widening on this trip.

I hated feeling insignificant.

***

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~Little Friend