The Tale of a Princess Kidnapped by Pirates

Chapter Sixteen

"Ro are you dreadfully busy?" The arrival of Annalise's unexpected voice nearly caused Ro to jump out of her skin.

"Oh Annalise! You scared me!" Ro exclaimed with her heart pounding in her chest.

"Sorry Ro, that was not my intention!" The Princess apologised.

"It is ok, no my work load is not too bad today actually. I believe that Evangeline is having tea with you and Princess Rosilabeth this afternoon, so it should be quite an easy time for me." Ro smiled as she stood up from the bathroom floor she was scrubbing.

"Perfect! Well, about the afternoon tea, unfortunately Ladies Hera, Drusilla, Magnolia and Anna have come down with dreadful stomach-aches and are quarantined to their rooms, so we have a lot of food going to waste. I was wondering if you would like to take one of the Ladies places? There is no pressure Ro, it would only be me, Princess Rosilabeth who is lovely and unfortunately Evangeline, but I had one of the maids tell her we changed the time, so she is going to turn up late anyway." Annalise giggled mischievously.

"Are you sure that is... proper?" Ro asked nervously.

"Yes of course Ro! My mother may be forcing me to meet with my possible future sister-in-laws, but it is up to me who I invite." Annalise insisted.

"Ok... I will come." Ro replied with a giddy smile.

She had never had afternoon tea with Princesses before.

Twenty minutes later Ro felt out of place yet it did not bother her too much. She had taken her white apron off so she was only sporting her plain black maid's frock, but apart from a fleeting judgemental look from Rosilabeth, she did not feel too disapproved of. The Princesses obviously looked impeccable, sipping tea out of little china cups and sitting on armchairs with golden legs and pink flowers embroided into the material. They both had sparkling tiaras and lavish gowns on, talking eloquently with faultless manners. Ro felt a little like an ogre next to them with her wild hair she had forgotten to pin up and her untrained hands making her spill her tea slightly.

"Oh I am just so excited for our ball. You know how much I love to dance with fine society Annalise darling. They are the highlights of my life." Princess Rosilabeth giggled frivolously. "Tell me dear – how are things going with Lord Timotus? He certainly is dreamy."

"Oh I do not know Rose. He kissed me two nights ago, but yesterday I saw him talking quite closely with Lady Magnolia." Annalise sighs.

"Well, he is a fool if he thinks he can lead you on." Rosilabeth proclaims.

"Yes you are certainly beautiful and a lovely girl Annalise, as well as an actual Princess! You deserve someone who will love you and only you."

"That was quite poetic Ro. Do you like to read?" Rosilabeth asked as she clicked her fingers, and Sally who was waiting by the door hurried over to pour her some more tea.

"Yes, I have recently got back into it. Do you like reading?" Ro replied.

"Not if I can help it! My tutors used to make me read all of the time and I hated it. My sister Sapphira and my brother Gabriel are always reading though. I prefer to be read to." Rosilabeth explained.

"Did you know that Ro here was rescued by Theo from a pirate ship?" Annalise asked the other Princess making Ro blush.

"Really? Oh you poor creature, pirates are simply awful and deserve to be slaughtered. Have you been reunited with your family?" Rosilabeth asked with a hand on her heart.

"Not yet... I lost my memories." Ro replied with a sad smile.

"That is just so tragic. If I lost any more family... oh I do not think I would ever be ok again." Rosilabeth revealed in a choked voice. "It is hard to believe that my eldest brother Cassian's son Mordecai is now older then Aurora when she went missing. And my sister Sapphira is married and pregnant with her second baby. Time just flies so fast. Goodness, when we get back to Alluvia, it will be Cassian's wife's thirty-second birthday! It feels like only a couple of months ago it was her thirtieth."