บท 16: Chapter 15

Charlotte woke up surrounded by maids. Her feet felt like someone had stabbed her continuously with a thousand tiny needles. It took a moment for her to remember the events of the previous night. She noticed that the sun was now out.

"What time is it?" she groaned, sitting up in her bed.

"Almost noon, milady," Anne answered.

Charlotte was shocked. "I have been sleeping that long? Why did no one wake me?"

"The prince said not to disturb you milady, and you woke a few hours ago and went back to sleep. We saw it was best to leave you be, milady."

Charlotte looked at the five maids around her, uncomfortable in their scrutinizing eyes.

"I'm alright now, the rest of you are dismissed." they left scowling.

Charlotte swung her feet off the bed and winced as her left foot touched the floor. Despite the thick bandages, some blood sipped through. Her right foot seemed fine.

"What happened?" she turned to Anne.

"You stepped on some glass milady.."

"What glass?"She did not remember the event of the previous night clearly.

Anne looked at her curiously. When had she stepped on glass?

"You dismissed the maids." a cold, sharp voice said. "You do not have the authority to do so."

She looked up at the chief maid, who was flanked by two maids holding trays of food. Charlotte did not feel like eating.

"They were doing nothing. I saw it fit to let them to their duties," she answered, tired.

"You do not tell my maids what to do, child. I do." she was raising her voice. Charlotte thought that perhaps she had woken up on the wrong side of the bed, it did not seem like her to raise her voice.

"Where is my tunic and weapons," she asked.

"The sword was returned to the prince, and for your tunic and little toys, you won't need them anymore, no lady does," she answered, smiling.

Charlotte was almost too exhausted to be angry.

"Well, if I had had my little toys, I wouldn't be in this bed as we speak, Miss Beatrice. I could blame you for my lack of security today, you see. An assassin in the palace, and yet, there were no guards at my door. Some would wonder." She hated how much like the king she sounded.

The chief maid was surprised. But Charlotte had vowed never to be as helpless as she had been if she could help it. The powerlessness she had felt, weaponless as the man stared down at her from the foot of her bed, had left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"What are you saying, child." The Chief's voice was strained.

"First, I am not your child," she said calmly. "And second, I'm just asking for my knives and sword back…And my tunic of course." she smiled.

"You are no one in this palace child, you do not give orders to anyone."

Charlotte's anger got the best of her despite herself.

"Give me my sword back, or I am not staying in this palace," she shouted, regretting it immediately as she realized how childish she sounded.

The chief maid was now amused. "Child, you have nowhere to go."

Charlotte returned her smile, "If I am in this palace, Miss Beatrice, it is because I am in this palace, not because I am forced to be in here. You could lock my doors and tie me to the bed, but if I wanted to leave, none of that would be an issue."

At that moment, the chief maid hated her position. By the look in Charlotte's eyes, she could tell she was not lying. Who knew what kind of nonsense this girl had been taught in the training grounds surrounded by men?

She rolled her eyes and sighed. It was only noon, and she had been ordered around like a simple woman twice, by children almost one quarter her age.

The sooner this girl was gone, the better.

She turned to her trusted maids and ushered them into the room.

"Drink some soup will you? You have to get your strength back if you are to threaten everyone in the palace, who knows who else will be in your room tonight," she said, smiling before she turned around and headed for the door.

She hoped the maids in the kitchen had followed her instructions. She did not want to leave a mess behind.

Charlotte watched the old hag leave.

"I want my weapons back," she said, her voice loud and steady.

The chief maid stopped at the door and said. "We do not have your sword, but your tunic and little toys will be returned to you if you insist. Just be careful not to hurt yourself playing."

"The only people that hurt themselves with knives are in the kitchen, not the battlefield," Charlotte answered with venom in her voice.

"And which one are you?" the chief maid shot back, leaving before Charlotte could answer.

The maids set the trays beside her bed and followed her, leaving Anne behind. Charlotte stared at the bowls of soup and bread. 'Do my teeth still work?' She wondered, her appetite gone with the last of the maids.

"How on earth do you deal with her?" she turned to Anne.

"If I may," she waited for confirmation. Charlotte nodded. "You learn not to talk back at her, usually, she leaves you alone."

Charlotte scoffed. "I doubt that will work with me, she has a personal vendetta against me. I wonder why."

The maid lowered her eyes. Charlotte sensed she knew something she did not.

"Tell me Anne, what do you know?"

Anne's eyes darted around the room. She stood up quietly and shut the doors.

"Don't you know?" she whispered. "Her granddaughter, Fiona was to marry Prince Frederick, and when he died… when he was killed, the king promised she would marry the young prince, but suddenly changed his mind and brought you into the palace." she lowered her voice even further. "The king did not even tell her you were coming into the palace, and since it is obvious that the prince fancies you…" Charlotte looked away from her uncomfortably. "... she now naturally dislikes you."

Why had Fredrick not told her he was to be married?

"Were they engaged? Fredrick and Fiona?" she asked.

"I don't know," Anne answered, her gaze on the floor.

"To her, I stole a golden opportunity from her daughter," Charlotte concluded.

"Yes milady," Anne answered.

"Where is Fiona now? I haven't seen her in the palace."

"Oh, she was never here, she lives in the country with her father."

Charlotte's jaws dropped. "The chief maid is married?" she asked, her senses tingling in excitement. She almost understood why people liked gossiping so much.

"Yes," Anne answered, smiling at her Lady's visible amusement. "he is very old, some say he cannot leave his bed. He has not been seen in months. There are rumors he is dead already." she continued.

"Scandalous!" Charlotte smiled, at last, some information.

Anne served the soup in a bowl.

"Soup, milady?" she asked, charlotte stared at the bowl. Her stomach turned at the sight of the thick brown broth.

"No, please. Maybe later." she noticed the longing look in Anne's eyes as she put the bowl away.

"You can have it, there is enough for the both of us," she said. And before Anne could protest, she added. "No one will know." she winked at her.

Anne smiled as she placed a spoonful in her mouth. Charlotte snapped a piece of dry bread and chewed on it.

"If I may ask, milady, why don't you want to marry the prince, when it is obvious that you care for him."

Charlotte watched the young maid, realizing how much more free she was with her. She realized she needed a friend in the palace.

"I don't know. Perhaps if I didn't know him as well as I do, it would be different." she smiled painfully.

The maid smiled back. Perhaps her lady wasn't so bad after all.

Charlotte stood and hopped on her good leg, to her drawer. Where was her sword? She would have to speak with her father, so he could bring her sword back.

She did not notice that her maid was doubled over in pain until the bowl she was holding clattered to the ground and broke, the brown soup spilling all over the floor, and the young maid fell off her chair to the ground, unconscious.