Hidden Beauty

Hidden Beauty

Chapter one

Rebecca Ann sighed to herself.  She found herself wallowing in her self-pity, yet again.  She had it easier than most people, she tried to remind herself.  Yet, she still had it pretty bad.

Rebecca put on a fake, yet still stunningly beautiful, smile.  She straightened her hair out with the tips of her fingers, making the curls unwind a bit and rest around her waist.  She hated pulling her hairs up like her step mother demanded of her.

She didn’t believe the rumors, but they said that the reason her step mother kept her hidden and made Rebecca her servant was because she was jealous of her.  Jealous of her long, thick, brown curls; jealous of her dreamy, yet piercing blue eyes; and most of all, jealous of the attention the Prince paid Rebecca Ann.  Rebecca was completely oblivious to all of this, of course.  She wasn’t aware that the handsome young fellow who would talk to her, make her feel beautiful, and make her feel accepted, was the heir to his father’s throne.  And Prince Jonathan planned on keeping it that way.

The naïve young woman walked out of her bedroom that was cut off from the rest of the house.  It was the only room on the second floor, and the stair way was blocked, so not many knew that her room even existed.  It didn’t matter much to her, because hardly anyone knew that she existed.

Upon opening the thick, dark oak door at the bottom of the stairs, she found Prince Jonathan or John as she knew him, being forced upon her step sister, Faith.

“Faith, would you please step away from John?” Rebecca asked kindly, knowing if she didn’t stop her, Faith would force him to do something he did not wish to.

“Why, look at this, Jonny!” Faith giggled, her blonde curls bouncing as she turned her head to glare at Rebecca.  “It’s your little hero here to rescue you.  Too bad, it truly is a shame that she cannot.  She has to do what Hope and I tell her to.”

As if on cue, Faith’s twin sister, Hope, walked in casually and dumped a basket of her and Faith’s clothing.

“Wash those,” she demanded.  “I want them washed, dried, ironed, and folded and in my room by sundown.”

Rebecca just sighed and looked over at John apologetically.  “I’m sorry, John, I have to take care of their things.”

“It’s quite all right, milady!” John smirked and winked at her jokingly.  “I can handle this!”  Rebecca chuckled.  Leave it to John to make any situation joking and fun.

She smiled at him and carried the basket of clothing off to be washed.

~~~

Jonathan didn’t know what to do.  He was sitting in the room he shared, out of choice, with his younger brother Matthew, thinking about Rebecca.

She was beautiful.  No, she was absolutely stunning.  If he told her this, however, she would never believe him.  She told herself that she was a hideous monster, which is why no one loved her.  But that was not true, and Jonathan knew that.

They had barely known each other for six months, but they both already knew the other nearly better than they knew themselves.

They had only been friends for a month when Rebecca took a huge step in their friendship.  She started trusting John, and she told him her biggest secret; something she had never told anyone before.

“My mother,” she said, quieter than a mouse.  “When she died, my father was devastated.  I was only seven, and I thought that my mummy was taking a long nap, and that she would wake up soon.  Eventually, daddy told me about death.  I could not stop crying for weeks.  I couldn’t believe that my mummy would never tell me she loved me again.

“About a year later, my daddy brought a strange woman and two pretty girls to our home.  He told me that they would care for me, and that things would get better with them.  He told me I would have a mummy again.  But that woman was not my mummy.

“My daddy and the woman were married for two years before daddy started acting weird.  He would come home late, leave home early, and forget to tuck me in at night, little things like that.  The woman didn’t know anything was wrong, but I knew my daddy better than she did.

“It got worse and worse for a couple of years.  I was thirteen when my daddy didn’t come home… That was four years ago.”  Her blue eyes filled with tears, but she continued her story anyway.

“He was missing for a couple of days.  When our neighbors found him dead in their stables, they found a knife with him…  He had carved my mother’s name into the wall of the stable.  He loved her more than anything else, including me.  So he left me to be with her…”

Jonathan wrapped Rebecca in his arms when she started crying.  She didn’t hold back on her tears, and Jonathan didn’t blame her.  To be thirteen and have your father, your last family member, you world ripped from you… It was devastating just to think about.  He promised to himself that day that he would always be there for her.  He had only known her for a month, yet he felt a strange but strong and comforting connection to her.  She was his best friend, but she may be becoming more.

~~~

There he goes again.  Always running off, leaving him to cover for him while he was gone.  Matthew was really getting tired of getting in trouble for what Jonathan failed to do while he was away.  Sure, they were best friends and brothers, but there was only so much you could do for a guy.

He guessed he would be doing more for his brother.

Matthew was a few years younger than Jonathan, but they looked like twins.  Matthew was only 18, however, where his brother was 22.  They may be young, but they have had their share of adventures together.

When the moon was high in the sky, and their parents were fast asleep in their room, Matthew lay wide awake, waiting for his brother.  Soon enough, he walked in the door.

“And where, my dear brother, have you been?”  Matthew questioned him.  “I will not groom your horse again because you snuck out.”

Jonathan sighed.  “Fine, I’ll take you to meet Rebecca tomorrow.”

“Wait a second; you’ve been meeting up with a girl?  If Father found out…”

“But he has not, and he will not!”

“Jonathan, if you get caught…”

“I know the risks, Matthew.  You don’t need to remind me.  Rebecca needs me.  She doesn’t have any friends besides me, her mother and sisters made her their slave, her father is dead…  She needs to know someone cares about her.”

“Jonathan;” Matthew said, studying the look in his brother’s brown eyes.  “You love her, don’t you?”

“I never said that.”

“I know you.  And I know what someone in love looks like.  You, my brother, are in love.”

~~~

*A/N*  Hi everyone!  I just wanted to ask you for your support on this story!  I like it when people enjoy things I write ;)

Josephine <3