Anti Heiress

Chapter 18

I wake up to Malissa's wide eyes staring at me. When she realizes my eyes are open too, she looks away. I half expected her to be gone when I woke. The sun's barely risen, but it casts a small strip of sunlight on the floor through the crack in the window.

"You were very unkind to me last night," she whispers, dragging a finger along my chest.

"I know. And I'm sorry. Truly."

Malissa nods solemnly. "You're never like that. What's bothering you?"

"It would be easier to say what isn't." My head hurts a bit from the wine last night, and I'm eager to eat. Besides, I don't want Talise to walk in on us, especially while I'm undressed. 

Malissa braces herself on her elbow so that she can look at me better. Her other hand caresses my face, pushing my hair away from my forehead. "You can tell me anything. You know that."

There's no point in worrying Malissa over something she can do nothing about. Besides, it will only sound like I'm prioritizing Talise. "I need to see Damon."

"I assume it isn't about painting," Malissa sighs. She sits up. "But first, breakfast."

"You're actually going to cook it for me this time?" I ask. 

Malissa nods. "I told you I'm not upset anymore. I'd really like to start anew. Wouldn't you like that? After everything we've been through?"

I would love it more than anything but I can't, not truly, knowing what I've done with Talise. "Yes, I would."

Malissa gives me a small smile and leans forward to kiss me. "I mean it, Sarina. I love you. With all my heart."

"I love you too." I watch as Malissa gets out of bed. She pulls her hair back. I follow after her, getting dressed. She reaches into my wardrobe and hands me a clean shirt.

"We'll have to take the laundry soon," she says idly. "It hasn't been done since I was sick, has it?"

"No," I shake my head. I still forget that household chores don't simply get done, that people have to go out and do them. It only occurs to me when it's time to go drop off the laundry with Malissa. I follow her out of my bedroom, glancing down the hallway to make sure Talise is still in her room.

"That can be a problem for tomorrow," Malissa decides. She looks down at the floor. "I need to sweep the stairs."

"Doesn't it bother you to have to do all this?" I question. Serving a princess is far more glamorous than having to keep up a household. At least the servants in the palace got paid. Malissa does it all for free.

Malissa shrugs. "There isn't much else to do. No parties, no baths to prepare, no boring audiences to sit in on. You no longer have an impossible amount of hair to style..."

"Do you miss it all?" I whisper.

"It's lonelier here. At least in the palace there was always something happening, for better or worse." I may not have been happy all the time at the palace, but I was never bored. At least we had visitors, and excuses to put on dresses and makeup. I could ride horses, paint, or practice swords. I learned at least a dozen card games. Malissa had friends in the palace. She probably misses them dearly. I haven't given much thought to Malissa's life in the palace outside of her tending to me. Though, she was with me the majority of her time, I suppose she had her own things she liked to do when she had the time.

Malissa pushes open the door to the kitchen. I take a seat at the table. I watch her cook. Malissa hums an old folk song to herself. I stare at the table, drawing designs with a piece of charcoal and then rubbing them away.