Royal Rebellion {on hold}

Chapter 6

The castle was absolute chaos. The midsummer ball had been planned for weeks and an excited buzz hummed through the air. Even with all the planning it seemed as if there was three times as much work to do.

Deftly dodging a maid with a teetering pile of coloured silks who rushed passed me, I couldn't help but grin in anticipation as well. I dodged more servants as I continued down the hall.

The midsummer ball was always more of a hearty event and was the only one where father allowed the servants to join in. This year it was a masquerade ball. Of course, mother had been the one to set the tradition and though father hated it, he wasn't about to change anything about mother's memory.

As I turned a corner, I tried to dodge the next colourful pile of cloth but my shoulder clipped the edge and the whole pile had no hope. My foot stepped on a sheet of silk and paired with the polished floor, I too, had no chance. I slipped and fell, taking the maid with me and a blizzard of fabrics fluttered down.

I fought my way out of a sheet of silky purple and eyed the mess around me. The last remaining sheets of fabric fluttered down, one slipping beneath the foot of a servant, who was walking past carrying a tray of flowers from the garden for the ballroom.

I winced as he went down, creating an even bigger mess in the centre of the hall as the flowers scattered everywhere. His legs tripped another servant close behind him who also fell. And another. And another. I cringed at the resounding echo of items clattering to the ground all down the hall.

The hall was silent and many eyes flickered to me. I couldn't help it any more. I burst into laughter and clutched my stomach, hearing the servants slowly join in as the entirety of the situation dawned on them.

A lilting chuckle sounded beside me and I turned to find that the maid I'd knocked down was Skye. Her laughter faded when she caught me looking but the mirth didn't fade from her eyes.

Someone tapped me on the back of the head. Mertle's stern and kind voice ordered the servants to "chop chop". She's like a mother to me and was by far the most respected servant.

"Now, now Julian!" she scolded. "What have you done!" I rubbed my head sheepishly as I climbed to my feet.

"Er..." Mertle only shook her head and clicked her tongue.

"You naughty boy!" she exclaimed as she pinched my cheeks. "Always causing trouble. Now help this young lady and don't forget your fitting appointment this afternoon." She patted my red cheek and headed off, no doubt to oversee the next bit of the preparations.

When I turned, Skye had already collected all the fabric. When she raised an eyebrow at me, my face flushed. Her smirk was very evident as she dumped half the fabric in my arms and I grunted from the sudden additional weight.

"She seems very nice," Skye said nonchalantly as we started in the direction of the ballroom.

"I'm never going to live this down am I?" I groaned.

"Nope!" Skye sounded so smug. "You looked like a boy caught stealing candy."

My face flushed again and I fumbled for a retort.

"W-well, so I uh." I cleared my throat as a thought passed my mind. "So, are we friends?" She frowned at me but didn't deny it. At least we had gotten onto stable ground.

We soon reached one of the smaller sitting rooms. All the furniture had been pushed to the side and a bunch of maids were cutting and sewing little flowers. Some imitated the flowers from the garden and some used gold and silver fabrics to make flowers that would accent the colours of the ballroom.