Maid For You

Chapter 31

Prince Coleman took a step forward into the window light, and scanned me carefully. "You're standing so far away. I can barely see you."

I sighed and joined him in the large patch of moonlight.

"Better?" I asked curtly.

Prince Coleman just shrugged and turned his head toward the window.

"This is the lowest level of the castle, so there isn't much of a view from here," I said.

"That's very true. The view looks much better from my balcony."

"...Your highness?"

"Hmm?" He turned to regard me.

"You're very quiet tonight. You've never been this quiet before." I looked at him curiously.
"Sometimes I wander down here to the kitchen to grab a snack or to clear my mind." He shrugged. "I guess I'm just tired."

"Makes sense." I smiled gently. "Well, I guess I better leave you to it." I started heading back to my room, but his gentle deep voice stopped me.

"Cassie?"

I turned to him. "Yes?"

"Why did you leave me?"

"What?" My eyes widened. He sounded like I had broken up with him!

"At the gardens on Saturday. I was going to show you around. One second you were there, and the next you were gone. Why did you leave?"

There was a defeated calm about us, allowing us to say what had been on our minds.

I hadn't even thought much about how I ditched him in the garden. It really hadn't been on my mind.
But it had been on his.

I looked up at his handsome face illuminated by the pale moonlight. "Well, you just got surrounded by people so quickly that I...you know, thought that it would be best to leave." When Prince Coleman didn't quickly respond, I continued. "Also, you said stuff like how you were just trying to get out of paperwork or whatever so I didn't think you'd care."

"That's true," he mumbled before turning to look out of the window. "Well, we could always go now."
"To the gardens?!"

"Yes."

"Prince Coleman, it's nighttime. Most people are asleep by now..." I started.

"So? You and I are not asleep."

"But..." my voice dropped to a whisper. "What if someone saw us? It would look..." I was fidgeting with my hands.

"It would look what?" He rose an eyebrow.

"Scandalous," I answered.
Prince Coleman looked down at the ground. "I suppose so. And I thought you didn't care about what others thought."

"That's not entirely true, Prince Coleman." I sighed. "I saw those women today at the pool party. I watched as they threw away their pride and any form of modesty or chastity for you. And the truth is," I looked at Prince Coleman pointedly. "Despite their standing, I had no respect for them."

"What does this have to do with anything?" he asked.

"I don't want people to see me that way. As someone who is willing to run off into some dark corner of the gardens with you without a second thought."

"It's different, Cassie." He frowned. "I'm only suggesting that we look around."

"I believe that," I answered. "And I believe that's all that would happen...but that's not how it would look." I walked past him toward my room before turning a moment. "I'm sorry, but I'm not going to let myself be labeled as just another one of your women."

That night I sat in my bed, wondering if I should have gone with the Prince or not.

I bet it would've been fun, I thought. And he was being nice for a change.

And yet, he was only being nice for the moment. It was only earlier this day when he had been so rude to me, and only earlier this day that I declared my everlasting hatred for the man.

Besides, as odd as it seemed, I felt a sense of loyalty to serving men of the castle. I led them to believe that I disliked Prince Coleman (which was usually true), so how would they feel to see me walking off with him into the gardens after hours?

If Ethan or Luke or even Jonathan saw...

My heart twisted. The idea of it felt like a betrayal somehow.