Sold (complete)

9

"Anna, would you mind showing Mariah to one of the guest rooms on the third floor?" Liam asked of me.

"Of course."

I went to help her with her luggage but she picked it all up herself and smiled at me. She motioned for me to walk. I glanced at Liam for a moment in confusion but led her inside the castle.

I felt awkward letting her carry all that luggage alone but she wanted to so I wasn't going to stop her.

"Your name is Anna?" she asked.

I turned slightly. "It is."

"I'm Mariah."

"It's nice to meet you."

"You too. How long have you worked here?"

"Just a few days."

"Oh wow. You seem to be handling it well."

I half smiled. "There's not much I can do."

"I guess that's true. What do you do here?"

"Um, well, I'm actually not sure. Right now I'm just watching Bridget."

"She seems to like you a lot."

I laughed a little. "We've been having fun. I never had a little sister so it's kind of fun to do these things with her."

"So you like kids?"

"I do. They're a lot of fun to be around."

"Maybe you can give me some tips on how to talk to her."

"She's pretty easy."

"I don't know. I've never been good with kids but Liam talks about her all the time so I want to try."

I nodded, finally partially understanding their relationship. She was either his girlfriend or someone wanting to be very close to him.

"They're pretty close from what I've seen."

"That's what he said too. Do you know why I'm here?"

"No."

"My father is trying to marry me off to Liam."

"Li- uh, the king is a good person."

"Yeah, but, I don't love him."

I turned a little to look at her but she wasn't looking at me.

"Maybe you could learn to?"

"I don't think so. I love someone else."

I felt bad for her. She didn't want to be here and she didn't want to be with him. Still, I found it hard to believe that someone couldn't at least be happy with him. He was a good person and he was respectful. There was just something about him that made him click with people. I had really only been around him for a couple days and I felt like we clicked.

"What's his name?"

"Tara. She's pretty upset with me right now." She said as she watched the marble floors closely.

She? So this girl wasn't interested in Liam because she wasn't interested in any man. Everything made much more sense.

"How long have you been together?"

"About four years. It was stupid. I knew I would never be allowed to marry her."

"If you don't mind me asking, why wouldn't you be allowed?"

"She's not royal. Just a guard."

"So if you're royal, you have to marry a royal?"

"Yep. Why else would Liam choose me and not you?"