ALL THAT IS MINE

Prologue 1

She knew better than to stay awake past the curfew but she wanted to have a head start. She could only imagine the look Penny's face would possess the next morning. Her hand worked fast, folding and dropping the curtains in the basket just two more and she'd be done.

She couldn't wait until winter was over. She never saw the reason for celebrating such a dreary cold season. She was glad about her saviour's birth but she despised the snow and cold. Each winter brought back sharp memories that pierced her heart.

Unlike others who had a home to go to, she was a full time staff, living in the castle with nowhere to go. She was always glad when the other palace staff took their leave. It gave her more time to work and catch up o places they'd slacked off.

She was really looking forward to her promotion from laundry staff to garden staff. She'd heard talk of how majestic the climbing gardens was but she had never visited it herself. She never had the chance but now with her promotion coming soon after the festive season, she was sure she would not only see it but till it also. The thought made her feel giddy inside and a smile shone on her baby pink lips as she folded another aquamarine velvet curtain and placed it in the basket.

Her thoughts strayed on to the other duties she still had to do. She couldn't possibly finish them all tonight but she would try. If she kept doing her work the normal way, she wouldn't achieve her aims until she was seventy and by then she wouldn't have the zeal to do what she wanted. Her plan was really quite simple but it involved so much secrecy that everyone had started to mistrust her. Not that she did anything wrong to anyone. A heavy sigh escaped her lips and in the dead of the night it was loud enough to wake up the dead. Luckily for her, the closest cemetery was over 50 miles away but the guard at the door was a living man through and through.

"Who is in there?" She heard his deep baritone voice boom. His voice echoed all over the chamber and bounced around her as though mocking her inability to stay detected. She held a curtain to her chest and sent shifty glances at the door, half expecting him to come in armed. There was no movement or sound for a few minutes so she assumed he'd gone. That was until she heard not one but two footsteps heading towards the folding chamber.

Her heart raced at the thought of the guard being with someone else? Possibly another guard or the head maid or worse still, the royal butler. She scoffed silently at the thought of the guard rousing any of these people at this time of the night. First, one would have to be absolutely crazy or sinister to be awake at this time. Her mouth tightened in grimace as she realized she was not one of the two and the guard wouldn't see it that way.

She tried to narrow down her suspects as the footsteps drew closer. If she knew who it was then she would know how to deal with the situation. The first problem was the guard. She had counted on him being asleep like everyone after an exhausting day of packing. Thankfully, it was a day she could avoid.

There really wasn't any need for him to watch the folding room. What did any one want to steal from here? Clean clothes and laundry baskets? She didn't think so but she knew the guard could have other reasons and with a thief on the prowl in the castle, security had doubled.

Assuming it was really the guard then who did the other footsteps belong to? She haphazardly threw the clothes in the basket. Her job was too important to lose over her loss of sleep.

She lifted the basket with her slim long fingers and hurried to the table beside the window where she threw the basket under the table. She stared at the door as fear laid its icy grip on her body and mind. What if the guard was with another guard? She'd hear stories of guards taking advantage of maids who dared to break the curfew law. Goosebumps danced over her skin as she bunched her nightdress in a tight fist. She wasn't ready to find out if the stories were just stories or if it indeed had some truth in it.