To Be A Princess (court life)

10- Thoughts.

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Rose' POV

Three days.
Three days had been since arriving at the palace.
Three days of idle gossip.
Three days of court life.
Three days of boring rich ladies living their boring rich lives.
Three days of tiredness.
Three days of sleepless nights talking to a handsome stableboy.
Three days.

A lot can happen in three days. I thought this to myself as I soaked in the deep, hot, soapy and scented bathtub that sat in the middle of an otherwise empty room at the end of the corridor.

I was sent to this palace to find a rich husband, and all I have done so far is find a stableboy.
"A handsome, intelligent, kind and perfect stableboy." I thought to myself.
"Wait, what?"
I cannot think such things of someone so beneath me. I could never marry Theo, I am sent to marry a Prince or a rich noble with abundances of land. I cannot be having feelings for this stableboy. I couldn't possibly. We are just friends. Simply friends. Nothing more. Friends. I do not think of him in that way. I must not. I couldn't possibly. I simply must not, can not feel this way. I feel only for him as a friend, a companion. I do not have feelings for this boy.

Yes I do.

But he is not a noble, I would be disowned, lose everything if I married him.
Wait, what?
Marriage? I do not need to be thinking of marriage just yet. I am seventeen and I have sworn to never marry because all men are brutes.
"Theo isn't." I thought to myself.
But he believes me to be a maid. I am living a lie and I simply must tell him. I cannot pretend.

My thoughts are racing at a million miles per hour and I cannot seem to slow the process down. Question. Question. Question.
"Just breathe." I told myself calmly. "Everything will be okay."

My tiny problem of perhaps having feelings for a stableboy has escalated and avalanched into something huge. But I simply do not know what to do. Once the season of festivities begins, I will not have the time to sneak out and see him at night as the parties go well into the early hours of the morning. I don't want to never see him again. But that is what has to happen. I cannot sneak off into the night, every night to see a commoner. Imagine the scandal if I got caught. Even now, with the low security on the ladies rooms, I am still terrified of being caught out with a man in the middle of the night.

I will not be able to see him again, and even if I do, he will see me down at the stables dressed up in finery and being treated as a noble lady. For that is what I am. I cannot keep up this facade for much longer. I have two more days till the season begins. Just two more days of talking to night away with Theo. My heart heavies at the thought of that.

But do I tell him who I am?

Theo's POV

I stood in my office, staring out the window to the forests below. The view from this particular room is splendid and my personal favourite. From here you can see the gardens on the left side of the castle, if you look afar, you will see the forest, gloomy and dark, yet peaceful and elegant. Then if you look to the far right, you can see the orchards and the flowing river. I believe the river is never ending, I have not been able to travel the full distance, despite my venturing by horseback for an entire day. I wonder what might be at the end of this never ending river. Perhaps I will never know.

This room was once an unused sitting room, but when I was exploring the castle, I discovered it and instantly fell in love with the view. I demanded that the servants rearrange it immediately, carting my office furniture to this glorious room. It took them a whole day to move everything, which was quite annoying, but the fuss was worth it in the end.

As I gazed down into the forest, I thought of Rose. My darling Rose. What a beautiful maid she was. She had simply no imperfection, other than not realising I was the prince, but I cannot blame her for that, as I was in my old riding clothes when she first saw me. It was hard playing the role of a stableboy. Pretending to be a peasant and a servant at my own palace, but it was worth it, for I got to see that girl's beautiful, gleaming smile every night.

However, her immense beauty could in no utter way compare to her personality. Her brain, she seemed smarter than many men I know, and she can read, which is extraordinary for a maid. She loves to read, as I discovered when I met her in the stables and she was sitting with her delicate face huddled into a book, her eyebrows creased and a look of knowledge and desperation in her eyes as she turned page after page. And her kindness. She truly has a heart of gold and diamond, glittering in the sun, a vibrant gem.

Everything from her sense of humour, to her laugh, to her love of knowledge, to her sense of adventure. I loved it all. It saddened me that she was not a rich and noble lady that I could talk to freely, but she was instead a poor commoner. My heart saddened at this prospect.

I was pondering the thought of what I will do when the season begins. With all the monstrous parties and balls, I would not have time to see her. And if I told her I was a Prince, she might change the way she acts toward me and start treating me as all the other servants do.

I really don't know what to do.