The Crown Thief and Her Alpha Prince

CHAPTER 10 - THE PRINCESS

Amelia Cooper’s Point of View

Panic had taken hold of the castle. Princess Eleanor Cordova of the Ivory kingdom was arriving at the castle today, at the beginning of the afternoon, and everything was to be absolutely perfect. Plus, some days later, there would be a ball in honor of Edmund’s birthday, so that meant some of the staff were working on preparing that as well.

All the servants had been woken up an hour before dawn to clean every last inch of the castle - even though, as they had been preparing for Eleanor's arrival for weeks now, everything was already sparkling clean.

Despite her short night of sleep, Amelia felt more refreshed. Her meeting with Prince Edmund had reassured her. He was not going to blow her cover. She could see in his eyes that he wanted the crown gone. He was an arrogant asshole, but they had the same goal. 

Amelia had also learned something. The Prince was not remotely interested in her. He had told her so very clearly - heck, if he had wanted to, he could have had her right there in the gardens. Her silly little attraction was completely one-sided, which made sense. 

Louise and Isabelle, the kitchen maids that had been hired at the same time as Amelia, had told her that everyone felt desire towards the royal family. It was a pure matter of biology, wolf shifters being predators designed to attract prey to them. All the better. Amelia was here to steal the crown. Since the Prince was not interested in her, it would save her the trouble.

She could focus on her prize, the Golden Crown of Skavon, which was closer than ever. Eleanor Cordova was arriving a little more than three weeks before her wedding to prince WIlliam. In three weeks, the king, and his crown, would be here at the castle. 

For now, Amelia just had to focus on the present crisis at hand - or at least, it was a crisis according to Stacy.

How Princess Marjorie was going to be dressed for the arrival of her sister-in-law.

Amelia did not really get what the fuss was about, but seeing the level of stress it induced in Stacy, it seemed the fate of millions hung in the balance. 

“We need more maids to get you ready, Princess Marjorie!”

“You are a sweetheart, Lady Stacy, but I am sure you will do a fabulous job, as always. I have perfect confidence in your skills. I am sure I will look really regal once you are done with me.”

“Princess, with all due respect, I do not think you understand. We have to choose your hairstyle, your makeup, your dress, your shoes, your jewelry, so that they are elegant, refined. It is a very delicate balance - and I need more opinions of other maids. Your attire must not overshadow the princess of Ivory as she is our distinguished guest, but they must show the power and wealth of the Onyx Kingdom.”

Marjorie snorted, surprising Amelia by how unlady-like it was.

“I must show the wealth of the Onyx Kingdom? What wealth? We are ruined, Lady Stacy.”

“Perhaps, but thanks to the judgement of his Highness your Father, this alliance will bring our kingdom back on its glorious path,” Stacy asserted. “Oh, we should have started to think about this days ago! I wanted to, your Majesty, to save you the stress of the day, but you were always to busy with your thing to pay any attention to any clothing decision and -”

Marjorie’s demeanor changed. In the little time she had been here, Amelia had never seen the princess angry. However, now, she could see the princess was more than smiles and sweet words. She was, in a lot of ways, a lot like Edmund: tall, dark hair, golden eyes that could both be warm and welcoming or stormy and dangerous.

“My thing, Lady Stacy, is a reform plan for the agricultural output of the province of Blue Peak. My thing might look like boring paperwork and numbers to you, or to my brothers, or to my father. And maybe it is boring paperwork,”

The princess sighed heavily, looking much older, than straightened herself. She looked regal and fierce as she continued on.  

“I have been working on this for weeks now. But it will grow the agricultural production of the province by 30% in the next five years, and could save countless lives. That is the thing I’m working on instead of choosing whether my dress will be red or green.”

Stacy looked completely disinterested and annoyed, and did a poor job of hiding it. 

“Of course, Princess, your work is important. But it is not the duty of a princess, and if I may, it would be way more useful to choose who could help me dress and make sure you are ready for the -”

Princess Marjorie turned towards Amelia, cutting Stacy’s flow of words. Her face was pinched. 

“Lady Amelia, do you think you can take care of my outfit by yourself?”

Stacy was shooting daggers at Amelia with her eyes. The older woman had been nothing but a b***h to Amelia in the last few days, thinking she could boss her around and make the new recruit do almost all the work both their jobs required. So, without thinking, Amelia placated a sweet smile on her face.

“Of course, Princess Marjorie. I only live to serve your wishes.”

“It is settled then,” Marjorie stated. “Lady Amelia is to become my only maid. Stacy, I will ask if you can be transferred to serve Princess Eleanor. I am sure your expertise will be much more appreciated.”

In reality, Amelia knew little about court fashion, but pissing off Stacy was worth it. She had the feeling the princess would not mind even if she dressed her up in her undergarments to meet the new princess.

The princess left with Stacy, probably to go downstairs in the servant quarters to explain the situation. Amelia was left alone in the princess’s room. She had never been in without the nagging presence of Stacy. It was a beautiful room. Many rooms of the castle were over-decorated, every last inch covered in tapestries, carpets and paintings (most of them of the king in either human or wolf form). 

Marjorie’s room was more simple, decorated with beautiful plants instead of gaudy pieces of art. The only painting was one of her mother, the late Queen Camilla. Her four-poster canopy bed was covered with white drapes and pillows that looked softer than anything Amelia had ever touched. The most ostentatious thing about her room was the cloth collection.

In her frenzy, Stacy had opened all the wardrobes, desperate to find the perfect dress. For now, Amelia ignored them. In a corner of the room, there was a desk completely covered with papers and reference books. Amelia took the papers on top, as well as the book that was opened and a quill with its ink bottle, and brought it over to the vanity where the hairbrush and makeup were. 

That way, the Princess could continue her work a little while Amelia was pampering her. Amelia had been impressed by the initiative. Blue Peak was very far from the castle. That Marjorie showed any interest in it at all was surprisingly noble, coming from a Harrow.

The bedroom door opened. 

“I am very sorry for this display, Lady Amelia,” Marjorie apologized, surprising Amelia. “My temper got the better of me. I truly hope this will not be too much work for you - if it is, I’ll ask for a second girl to be transferred to my room. Stacy is sweet, but… I’m sure she will be happier working for the Princess of Ivory.”

“I would not say Stacy is sweet,” muttered Amelia under her breath.

She had forgotten wolf shifters had better hearing, and was mortified to see Marjorie looking at her, shocked, having clearly heard her comment. Amelia was about to apologize, sure she was to be transferred too, when the princess bursted out laughing. 

“I guess she is not that sweet, indeed. I was only trying to be polite. I know how hard you ladies work. I really hope -”

The princess stopped talking abruptly, looking at the vanity, her expression unreadable as she looked at her work, sprawled on the table. Amelia realized that it might look a little invasive, having moved her stuff without asking. She should have asked before doing so.

“You… You moved my work. So I could work while you help me get dressed.”

“Yes, Princess,” Amelia answered cautiously.

“You believe… You believe it is appropriate for me to work on this kind of thing.”

“Of course! It could save lives, lives of people like me! I think it is way more important than a dress color!” Amelia noticed she might have said too much and amended “But it is not my place to say.” 

“Yes, I think I made the right decision. Never be ashamed to speak your mind. You are the very first here at the castle not to think I am ridiculous for attempting to help my people. Everyone thinks it is not the place of a lady.”

Marjorie’s eyes were shining with passion and anger.

“I am the first born,” the Princess proclaimed. “I should be the one to take the throne after my father. But ladies cannot inherit . The only way I’ll ever be queen is if I marry a king. Which would make my Father so happy… But I don’t want to be whisked off to another kingdom. I want to help the people of Onyx. I will not marry unless I find my fated one, which I doubt will ever happen.”

“Your fated one?” Amelia asked.

“Oh, right! Most humans do not know about that… Us wolves have someone destined for us. Someone that is meant to complete us.”

“Like soulmates?”

“I suppose. Some call it imprinting. No matter how one tries to deny their attraction, fated mates cannot keep away from each other. It is our wolves… They just call each other. Once you have found your fated mate, you cannot be happy unless you are with that person. Which is why I hope I will never meet one. It just sounds so… Messy.”

“How would you know it’s them?” asked Amelia.

“We just know. As soon as we see them, the pull towards them is just unescapable. If you do not know about fated mates being even a possibility, you might think it is a spell, a trick.”

Amelia felt a chill run down her spine. That whole description reminded her just a little too much of what she felt towards Edmund...

“Imagine an attraction orders of magnitude stronger than everything you have ever felt before,” continued Marjorie.  “You trust someone before even knowing them. You cannot get them out of your head, no matter what you do. ”

Amelia did not have to imagine. She had felt it. This sounded way too much like what was happening between Amelia and Edmund. How sudden and how seemingly random her attraction to him had been… Could they be fated?

That would not do. Amelia did not want to stay forever in the castle with him or be cursed with eternal unhappiness for being apart from her mate! Plus, Edmund did not even feel anything towards her...

“Can it happen to humans too? And can it be one-sided?” Amelia asked, desperate to be told what she felt had nothing to do with stupid magic bonds between mates.

Luckily, Marjorie shook her head.

“No. Only shifters can have fated mates - and I have never heard of the feeling not being reciprocal. That would be quite horrible.”

There. Amelia was human. She could not have a fated mate. What she felt towards Edmund was just unusually strong because he was a sexy shifter. That was all. She would get over it. 

She had nothing to worry about.

Nothing at all.