Erika (ON HOLD)

Chapter Eight

I was sound asleep until I heard the noise of curtains being drawn. I opened my eyes and light from my bedroom windows instantly burned my eyes. "Rise and shine!" A women with long brown hair said. I didn't recognize her, but she was wearing a uniform, so I assume she works at the palace.

A few moments later another person walked through the door. She had brown hair secured in a neat ballet bun. She wore a long, black dress. A serious look was planted on her face. "Thank you Maybelle, but I can take it from here." The women said. The girl in the uniform nodded and walked out with her eyes I the ground, almost like she was afraid if looking the women in the black dress in the eyes.

I sat in the bed looking up at the women in confusion. "Good morning Erika. I am Madame Ellie." She said. Ellie, that name sounded familiar. Suddenly it clicked, and I remembered where I heard that name from. The queen told me that I would be getting lessons from a girl named Ellie. She was going to help me learn how to act proper and royal.

"Good morning." I said back. The expression on her face remained the same. I really hope she isn't as strict as she looks. Then again, by the way that girl walked out of here, she probably is strict. "You must get up and get dressed. We have a long day ahead of us. Today you will be learning the rules of the palace, and what's acceptable behavior." She said. "I will give you and hour. After that hour is up, you must be downstairs in the dining hall for breakfast. This is your first lesson. Royalty is never late. If you are there even one minute late, there will be consequences." She added, then walked out of my room without letting me say a word or introduce myself.

So she was going to be strict.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I finished getting ready with ten minutes to spare. The lady who had drawn my curtains this morning had come back to help me. I found out her name was Crystal. I stayed in my room, not knowing if I should go down yet. She made it clear that I could not be late, but she never said anything about being to early. Ellie said a minute past the time was too late, but she never said what was too early.

I'm already starting to overthink things. I decided to go downstairs anyway. What could be wrong about being early? I walked out of my room, and began to walk down to the dining room. After five minutes of wondering the halls, I realized I was lost. Great, now I would probably be late.

"Erika!" I heard someone say behind me. I turned around and saw Christian walking down the hallway behind me. He came up to me and put his lips on mine. "Good morning. Are you going down to breakfast?" He asked. "Yeah I am, but I'm kind of lost." I replied. He let out a small laugh. "I can help you with that. Just follow me." he said grabbing my hand. He led me down a bunch of hallways. I tried my best to remember where he was taking me so I could learn the way. After about three minutes we were at the dining room. We walked in and I looked up at the clock and saw that I had two minutes to spare. I mentally patted myself on the back.

"You're on time." Said Ellie. She was sitting at the dining table. "Please, take a seat." She said pointing to the two empty chairs. The king and queen were already seated. Christian pulled out a chair and gestured for me to sit. I sat down in the chair and thanked him. I wasn't used to guys acting like gentlemen. Back in my village the men treated me like I didn't exist. Then again, Christian was raised as royalty and was probably taught manners before he could even sit.

I looked down at the table. There was a plate with two spoons on the right and three forks on the left. How much silverware did you need to eat eggs and toast? Two workers came in and placed food on our plates. I should have guessed since we were in a palace we would be getting more than just toast and eggs. We were served eggs Benedict with crepes filled with cream and fruit. I looked over at Christian to figure out which fork I was supposed to use.

The table was almost completely silent. Were we not supposed to talk while we ate? Or were they waiting on me to start the conversation? I decided to just stay quiet and eat my breakfast like everyone else. After we were finished eating, the workers came and collected our plates and silver wear. Ellie wiped the corners of her mouth with her napkin, then spoke. "Erika, come with me. It's time to start your lessons." she said. I got up from the table, and followed her out of the dining room.

This was either going to go great, or be the most humiliating experience of my life.