The Woman In The Palace

Highest rank #1 in Historical

He glared at me with irritation. "Come inside!" ...And I did. He pointed to the stack of books on the floor. "Pick them up and arrange them the way they're supposed to."

With trembling hands, I did what he asked quickly. Fret in the way I moved, picking up the books into my arms and lap one by one only for them to fall back on the floor over and over. I was a mess, upset, and it was obvious. This wasn't the kind of first meeting I dreamed of.

The second prince was mean, and he was irritable. He had no clue who I am which made me resent it even more.

He scowled as he watched me made mistakes after mistakes and after a while, he grew frustrated and bent over, picking the books himself.

"Forgive me, I didn't mean to snarl at you the way I did. I'm not used to being distracted. No one ever walks in my office unless they have my permission. I don't even know how the guardsmen let you in."

I wanted to say because unlike you, they recognized who I am. But I kept my mouth shut in fear of aggravating his anger.

His voice took a lot gentler tone, I imagined he must've realized how upset I was and felt bad about it.

I said nothing.

When we're done, I rose up to my feet, couldn't wait to get out of this room. This man was so impolite to me that I couldn't wait to get away from him.

"I apologize, your highness. I didn't mean to distract you in your private office." I stepped back getting ready to leave when a sliver of sunlight struck highlighting my face.

"Wait!" He murmured and I turned back to look at him.

"You're beautiful." He said breathlessly.

I would have blushed, but he was so mean and rude to me that his compliment lost its impact long ago.

"I need to go," I told him.

"Wait." A wave of panic rose in the tide of his voice. The prince was afraid to lose me. "What's your name, girl?" He asked quickly.

"Jasmine, my name is Jasmine, your highness."

"My Jasmine?" He murmured hopeful.