"W-what are you doing?!" I stammered as she slowly slid one of my straps down. I backed away and she looked offended.
Something about the look she gave me made my heart beat faster. "Here I am offering my help- A ROYAL HELP- to you, and you dare REFUSE?!" She looked at me then looked away and folded her arms.
"Um..." I didn't know what to do. What did she even want me to do for her? I waited till she said something but she didn't. After what seemed like forever, she faced me. "Well?" she demanded. I stood there, not saying anything.
"Fine. Just-" she looked at me. "Just go, okay?" I hastily ran out of the room. What was all that? What was with her?
Then, I bumped into someone. "What the hell?" I heard him mutter. "Oh. Rhythm. Sorry." When he looked up and saw it was me, he gave me a half smile and nodded slightly. "It's okay, princess." I smiled back and helped him up. We both dusted our clothes and parted ways.
"Oh, wait! Xry!" he tapped my shoulder and I turned around to face him. "Yeah?"
"You haven't seen the queen have you?" he said. "We need her to attend to her guests at the royal dining hall."
I looked at him, a blank expression on my face. "Xry?" he asked, concerned. "OH. No. Nope. Definitely not. No." I stuttered. "Uh-okay?" he said and backed away slowly before turning around to ask a nearby maid if she had seen the queen.
I sighed and continued running towards the servants' room on the top floor.
You see, us maids share a room on the highest floor of the palace. It's not luxurious or anything. But, since it was the palace, it wasn't a dump either. It was an old fashioned, orphanage-styled bedroom with beds lined up on each side of the room. There were about twenty beds in that room, ten on each side. Beside each bed was a tiny dressing table. Above them were shelves to put our clothes. In that room, there was only one bathroom which we all have to share.
And, yes, in this room, both boys and girls share. Meaning, there ARE lovebirds in the servant level. What? Just because we're poor, doesn't mean we can't love.
I walked in the room and ran to my bed. I collapsed on top of it, exhausted. Since they will be having guests over, I won't be needed till after the event. It could take hours, so, I might as well take a short nap.
In case you were wondering how it works, our crew is divided into three sectors- the cooking crew, the clean-up crew and the servants. The servants are divided into two sectors- the servants and the royal servants. The servants are the ones who serves during royal events or when guests arrive. The royal servants are the ones who serve the royal family such as the king and queen. Right now, it's just the queen. The king passed away from old age. He was a great ruler. Anyway, I am on the clean-up crew. Its not fancy but at least I get a lot of free time. Heh.
A click interrupted my thoughts. I sat up and turned around. A couple of maids from the clean-up crew walked in. I smiled at them. Some of them smiled back. I don't usually interact with them. When I do, its only for professional purposes. Actually, I don't socialize with them at all. It's not that I'm shy or anything. It's more like I chose not to.
I laid my head back down and listened to the silent murmurs in the room. "Xry? You okay?" It was a girl from the servant crew. Snobby bitch. I sat up and nodded my head. "I heard you got in trouble with the queen." she snickered. I shook my head. "Nope." I smiled at her and laid my head back down, hoping she wouldn't continue. She stood there for like five seconds before walking away. How did she know? Did the royal bitch say something?
I felt tears start to form in my eyes. I quickly shut them. Ugh. Why am I about to cry? I know its not my fault the queen is such a prick. Slowly, I drifted off.
