The Prince Chose Me

Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Weeks earlier;

The palace was massive.

It was big, but it wasn’t grand. It was over 50 years old. So the building was quite ancient. it stood proudly amidst lush gardens, its towers reaching for the heavens. It was a dull colour of Grey, representing the city portishire. It had massive towers and trees surrounding it. The castle was always busy. There were always council members going in and out of it. The maids were always scuttling around cleaning one thing or the other and the guards stood gallant in their posts.

It was however rather quiet on this day in spring. The huge castle looked gloomy as the leaves fell off trees. But even within the castle, silence prevailed. The maids were scrubbing the floors and cleaning the rooms and chambers. Among those maids was Aria Bristle. The only black maid in the palace.

Aria had been scrubbing that same spot for hours. She was lost in thought and her scrubs were lazy, compared to the vigorous movements of the other maids around her.

“Why’re you scrubbing so slowly, Aria?” Jasmine asked.

Aria looked up at her friend and fellow maid with sleepy eyes. Shaking her head in response.

“ you need to stop sneaking around at night, you’ll soon get caught” Jasmine said.

“It’s not about my night activities Jas, I’m just not in this mood today”

Her friend scrubbed her way to her side and assisted her with her portion. The two of them had been friends since the day after Aria came to the palace for the first time, about a year ago.

Aria was just adjusting to her new life in the palace as a maid. She wasn’t from a poor home initially, but things had taken a sudden turn for her family and they found themselves at the mercy of this job and that of her two elder brothers. So when she first came to the palace she was very clumsy. She couldn’t clean properly and was always making some sort of mess or the other. On the second day of her stay, Aria was assigned on serving duty with Jasmine. Aria slipped and spilt the tea meant for the council members on their way to the meeting room. Jasmine remembered seeing the scared little girl shake in fear as she stared at the mess she’d made. She remembered rushing to the kitchen and covering for Aria, telling Madam Mary the head maid, that the elders had requested more tea. That was where the friendship kicked up from.

As the two young girls cleaned together, they got quite carried away and forgot the mood of the palace. The other maids stared at them baffled.

Did these girls not know what was going on in the palace? They thought to themselves.

Just as Jasmine and Aria burst into another bout of laughter, the head of staff walked into the kitchen shocked at the noise they were making

“Were you brought to this palace to work or to chat?” A voice boomed.

Jasmine and Aria separated in shock, they hadn’t known they had gotten so obvious.

“We’re sorry Madam Mary” they replied moving a safe distance away from each other.

The kitchen returned to its silent self, only the sounds of brushes to be heard.

At the other end of the palace, in one of the royal chambers, lay the King of Portishire—the great King Leopold. The best doctors in the kingdom surrounded his bedside, trying to figure out how to save the king this time. It was the rushing in of over 15 doctors at about 1 am that morning that had sent a signal to the inhabitants of the palace that the king's condition had worsened, hence the gloominess of everyone. The King was over 65 and had struggled with bouts of illness for the last 2 years. The last few months had not been the best for him and he had struggled with this mysterious illness. He could barely lead anymore and his wife Clementia and first son Lysander had been handling the Crown's affairs for the past few months.

The door opened and Queen Clementia walked in. The queen was no doubt a beautiful woman. Her light rosy skin and pink thin lips drew attention wherever she went. Currently, her auburn hair was tucked neatly in a bun, on it she placed the simplest crown. She was in a simple silk gown too. Frankly speaking, was there time to be fancy when one's husband was on his deathbed? Clementia had always been a bold leader, firm, so assertive that many suspected most decisions were made by her even when the King was in good health.

The doctors all rose, bowing slightly in reverence to the Queen,

“Your majesty”, they chorused.

‘Yes, doctors. How is my husbands' condition? Any signs of improvements?” She asked, her eyes fixed on her dear husband. One could see the distant look in them, although her face showed nothing but strength, the doctors felt nothing but pity for the poor Queen.

“We are doing everything in our power to keep him alive, your majesty. Although we’re not sure there’s anything else we can do, the King’s heart has weakened.”

The queen nodded in response. She didn't say another word as she turned and stepped out of the room.

…

A bit of time had gone by, it was about 4 pm now and nobody knew the status of their King. The maids hardly ever saw the royals although they both lived within the same buildings. It was only the Head Staff that acted as an intermediary, taking orders and ensuring they were executed. The tables were always set before meals and the rooms were cleaned when the owners were out.

Aria had always wondered what these people would look like in person. She had only ever seen the King and Queen once, at the beginning of her stay at the palace. They had summoned her once she had been hired. Aria had thought that it was a routine. She felt it was done to all maids who were employed, but the way the Queen's stony eyes scanned her from top to bottom, she knew it was because of her skin. Aria was black. The queen was very expressive about her disapproval of the situation at hand.

Aria remembered her exact words “We cannot have them among us”. She remembered holding her breath when the queen made that statement. She had heard of the strength of the queen and how all her decisions were final, she feared that she would be sent back home. She couldn't afford for that to happen. Her family’s condition at the moment was drastic.

But the king only gave the Queen a stern look and said “Welcome to the royal palace, Aria Bristle. Madam Mary here, will take care of you okay?”

Aria knew there was something odd about what occurred. But she was too grateful to think deeply about the situation.

Aria nodded sharply, curtsying deeply before the King and queen.

“Thank you, your Majesty”

These were the memories that flooded Aria’s mind as she and some other maids were cleaning the Royal room. It was the very room where she had met with the king and queen. As she wiped the tables and dusted the chairs, she stared at the framed Paintings of the royal family that hung on the wall. There were also a few of this odd new technology, called photographs. She always wondered why they were only in black and white. She stared at the portraits above her, taking in every stroke. She had always thought that Prince Lysander was handsome. Her younger sister had had a crush on him for as long as she remembered, not the giggly kind that other girls her age had. Just the type where when she heard he was on the small tv in the kitchen she would slip in quietly and act as composed as possible while watching him. The portrait proved her point. Everyone in the family was attractive no doubt, but the prince who stood beside his father in that particular picture, was breathtaking.

She was interrupted from her thoughts by the sounds of the other maids cleaning. She rushed to finish up too. The day was almost at its end. The night was Aria’s best time of the day. it was when she could carry out her secret activities in peace and without getting caught.

She cleaned quickly and once she had returned her equipment successfully to the kitchens, she rushed off to meet up with Jasmine. Every day by 6 pm, after both girls had successfully finished their chores, they met at the pillar beneath the princess’s chambers. There wasn't anything particularly special about that spot. It was just the most convenient at the time. They walked together to their rooms on the lower grounds chatting as they moved. As Aria stood there, she tapped her foot uneasily. Jasmine was running late. She didn't like to waste time here, as the night was full of adventures for her.

A few more minutes passed before she spotted Jasmine walking towards her. She stared crossly at her.

“What took you so long?” she asked with a hiss.

“Sorry, Aria. I was assigned to work with Maria today. You know how lazy she can be. She just kept gossiping and observing new things to gossip about. That girl knows and sees everything in this palace, I swear it.”

Aria burst out laughing. The look of frustration on Jasmine's face was enough to let her off the hook. Everybody dreaded working with Maria. You ended up with an ear full of worthless information and absolutely no assistance in the chores you were both meant to be doing.

‘What was today's gossip about” Aria asked with a chuckle.

“She was telling me about every single doctor with the king presently. I don't even know how she knew all their names. Plus their Kids' names, who were separated and who had illegitimate children. Then she kept on going on and on about the health of the king, trying to blame someone”

Aria knew in this moment, that truly her friend had gone through a lot.

They had walked all the way to Aria’s room now. Jasmine’s was just a few doors after.

“Be careful Aria, I keep telling you to quit this night habit of yours,” Jasmine warned.

“I’ll be fine” Aria replied, smiling at Jasmine.

“I’m just concerned Aria, I don't want you to get caught”

“You know its importance to me, Jaz. It’s the only memory I have of him” Aria whispered sadly

Jasmine looked at her friend with pity

“Just be safe,” she said.

The girls said bye to each other with a hug before entering their various rooms. Aria had always hated the sight of her room. She shared it with about 6 other people. Back home she had a room to herself that she had decorated to her taste. The room here was spacious but also very crowded. There were two metal bunk beds and an extra 3 single beds. Aria didn't really interact with her roommates. They didn’t really like her much and had moved her bed to one side of the room, isolating her from them. Frankly speaking, Aria couldn't care less. She was one of those people who could spend hours in the company of herself. She hated any relationship that involved her pretending to like people or forcing conversations and sparks. Plus she liked her own space, so the isolation was welcome.

This part was the hard part of Aria’s night routine. She freshened up quickly as the other maids started returning to their rooms. Soon enough her room was filled up. She sat patiently in her cheap satin nightgown watching her roommates get ready for bed. The good thing was that maids typically rushed to bed. They had to get up really early in the morning and begin the day’s work, so it didn't really take time. But it was the waiting she didn't like. Aria wasn't a very patient person. So she dreaded having to lay in bed and look at the ceiling in boredom as she waited.

Sooner or later, the maids all fell asleep. The lights had all gone off and she could hear the heavy breathing of the worn-out maids resting. Aria stood up stealthily, putting on her robe and coat quickly. She picked up a candle and scuttled quickly out the door, closing it silently behind her. Once in the hallway, Aria lit her candle and made her way out of the maids' chambers. The thing about her journey was that she had to pass a set of guards on the third floor. The palace was structured in such a way that those on the third floor could see clearly what was happening on the first, while those on the second could see the fourth. Her destination was on the 5th floor, But the back stairway didn't get up to that floor. So Aria had to find a way past the guards on that floor to get to the fifth. She had almost been caught several times. There were even some days that she’d bumped into items and made loud noises. but as luck would have it, she was never caught. At least not yet…

She had made her way to the fifth floor now and was about to enter the room when she heard voices. Aria ducked quickly behind the stone way, wondering if it was the guard and his secret girlfriend again. She paused breathing as she saw two of the king's doctors pass right in front of her. When they were well gone, Aria slipped into the only place she’d ever known total peace in this palace. As she closed the door behind her she took a deep breath and lit her candle, She smiled as her eyes took in the familiar view of the shelves. Aria was in the King’s personal library, and she’d been sneaking in there for almost half a year now. The king's illness had made things easier for her as he was here less and less. He was hardly here before then. This library wasn't his official library. It didn't contain books the king actually needed. The library was filled with novels of different kinds. Short stories, poetry, fairy tales, and things of the sort. So Aria snuck in every night and delved into a new world. One where things weren't this hard.

Aria picked up the current book she was reading, it was called “ The Chronicles of Kinetic Energy’. She was loving every moment of the book and had had to literally force herself to stand up and leave the day before. Aria followed the large clock on the wall. Once it got to 11 pm she had to leave, as once the clock struck 12, the guards rotated again, making it harder to leave.

Aria sat cross-legged behind the shelf and delved right into the book before her. She continued reading for a few hours and as soon as the clock got to 10;45 she stood up to leave. She tidied up the library and cleared any candle wax obvious at any point. Just as she slipped out of the library and was almost at her chambers

Aria heard a loud blaring noise.

It continued for a few seconds before realisation dawned on Aria.

It was an alarm.

One that Madam Mary had educated the maids on recently.

And it had only one meaning….

The king was dead.