I was awoken to a burst of sunlight coming through the thick beige drapes of my state room. Having woken up in a sudden way as that, I sat up quickly propping myself on my elbows. My eyes were kind of squinted shut as the bright sun blinded me. I saw the maids going around the room cleaning it up and laying things out.
"Morning Ms. Price," one of the women in the room said. She had a clipboard in her hand and a pencil between two of her fingers.
"Good morning," I said looking at her in a sort of daze. I had no idea who this woman was nor had I seen her before. "Who—"
"The names Priscilla Thurst," she said without a second thought. "I have your notes for the day. At precisely eight o'clock, you will join Prince Harry in his study for breakfast and your lesson until ten thirty. At eleven o'clock, you will have lunch with Queen Anne in the dining room. Following that immediately until two in the afternoon, you will have your etiquette lessons with her. Then you will join the royal family in the throne room for hearings until four. At four, you will eat dinner in the dining room with the royal family. After dinner, you will have the evening to do as you please," she said listing off everything I was assigned to do during the day.
"Wha—"
"I expect you to understand and follow your schedule quickly, Ms. Price," Priscilla said pursing her lips together. "This is not a joke for a life, Ms. Price. Only those who can follow the schedule is right for the young prince. Ms. Malik, if you would assist Ms Price in getting dressed." She ordered as she began exiting the room.
I didn't like this Priscilla woman. There was something about her that stroked me as a kind of "off" woman. Her nose seemed to be stuck up in the air in a proud sort of manner. It was as if she thought he was better than me. True as that may be, I was the one contending to be the future Queen of Ula, no one in her family appears to be at this position. She had the chance, that I am aware of, to send a member of her family to become a potential candidate.
I think the others noticed the look I had been giving the back of her head because they came over to me with a smile on their faces. One of the girls began to undress me from my nightgown once I stood up out of bed. They had dressed me in this gorgeous blue gown. It was a royal colored blue that hung down over my feet with gold accessories around the waist holding a see through fabric to the silky blue fabric. Gold embroidery with beads stitched in was on the bosom area.
"Come, sit," Trish said motioning to a large desk area in front of a large mirror. I sat down in front of it. As soon as I took a seat, she began brushing through my thick hair. She took a squirt bottle and squirted at my coarse hair to get all the knots that developed overnight out of my hair.
"Can someone make sure the curler is warm, please," she spoke softly with a rolled accent. The one where 'r's' are more prominent. I liked it, it suited her personality.
"It is, Mum," Doniya said with a sigh. "One of the first things I did."
"Good, good," she nodded. "You don't have electricity back home, do you?"
"No," I said with a shake of my head. "I wish we did, life would be easier."
"It would be," she nodded. "I'm going to curl your hair and make it not so thick, does that sound good?"
I nodded with a smile on my face. I watched her as she took hold of the curling iron and began winding my hair around it. I watched her in the mirror as she did this seemingly mindless action. It was all intriguing to watch, these women aid me in becoming royalty. I felt bad that I didn't know how to do much of what they had here otherwise I wouldn't require their help.
"Your hair already looks beautiful," Trish said placing the curling iron on the desk and unplugging it from the wall. She then began twisting portions of my hair and pinning it to the back of my head.
"Wow," I mumbled to myself once she finished my hair.
"Every girl needs an accessory, though," she said putting a gold and sky blue necklace on my neck. The sky blue pieces were large stones that embellished the gold chain and dangly bits. I touched the necklace with the pads of my fingers looking at myself in the mirror. "What do you think, Emerald?"
"I—I don't know what to say," I laughed nervously. "I almost don't recognize myself."
"That means you're absolutely stunning," Trish smiled placing her hands on my cheeks. "You look so much like your mother. Though, her hair wasn't nearly as long as this. Have you ever cut it?"
"I never dared," I said holding a curled piece of hair. "I love my long hair far too much."
"I thought as much, we did clean up your messy ends," she smiled. "Tonight we'll work on making your hair much healthier. We have some items in stock."
"Alright," I said with a grin. A knock sounded at my bedroom door at this point in time.
A guard entered my room and cleared his throat.
"His royal highness, Prince Harry requests to dine with Ms. Price," he announced. I hopped up off the stool I was seated in and nodded to the guard.
When I got out into the corridor, Harry is standing there with high curls. His hair looks disheveled and there are bags under his green eyes. He must not have slept a lot last night after what had happened. I wonder how long he was outside my door last night.
He does look nice, though, he is wearing a plain white button down shirt that had white buttons that matched the shade of white his shirt had. Over that, he wore a sleek black jacket that he left open. His trousers were black and clung to his legs. He also wore shiny black boots that his trousers tucked into.
"You look beautiful," he said with a grin, his eyes looking me up and down. I dropped my hands in front of my waist and looked at the floor feeling the blush creep up on my cheeks.
"Thanks," I said quietly. "Um...shall we? I'm apparently on a tight schedule."
"Right, yeah," he said offering me his arm once again. I took it mindlessly and followed him down the hallway.
"You ready for your first day of learning how to read?" he asked with a smile.
"Yes," I smiled. "Though I am unsure of how well I will do."
"You'll do fine," he said confidently. "It is going to take some time, but you will get the hang of it."
Harry turned to his door and unlocked it and held the door open for me. I walked in and saw his circular table near the window filled with food on it. The food was on plates covered in those fancy silver things. Glasses filled with orange juice were also placed at the table as well as a large bowl of fruit.
"I hope you like eggs and hash browns," he said with a smile. "They're making us some toast as well." I let out a soft laugh at the thought of hash browns. I only had them yesterday for breakfast.
"It is fine," I smiled to him. "I do eat a lot of hash browns though," I laughed. "Well, a variety of them, we slice up our own potatoes and then fry them."
"Sounds fun," he smiled.
"A lot of work," I sighed. "Explains why my mum and I get up at four... she had to do it all herself this morning."
"Wh—"
"My mum is starting to get a bad back and she can't stand or sit too long. I usually take over when she needs it. Hopefully my brother helped her," I said with a sigh. "I'm sorry, I just, my Dad's not exactly the easiest guy to get along with."
"He seemed okay yesterday," he said pulling out my chair and allowing me to take a seat in it.
"I told you, he hates me."
"No one hates their children," he said softly.
"Well, he hates me because I'm not married," I said removing the lid from the plate in front of me. "He thinks of me as a business transaction. I am only worth a good sum of money for being his burden for nineteen years."
"When I become king," Harry started softly. "My first law I make will be the age of marriage. Eighteen is the youngest. That way, we can prevent all the young mothers and gruesome marriages."
"You can't just change the way things have always been. My mother and father were married weeks after she left here," I said. "My father was twenty, same age as you, my mother was seventeen."
"I still think that's too young." He said. "Even for us, it's too young to find the right person. I mean, we've both barely experienced our lives. You've had to work at home since you were a child. I've only just finished schoolwork, why is it that I have to find my wife now?"
"Ha—"
"Don't say what I think you're about to say because I hear it enough from my goody two shoes sister."
"What did you think I was going to say?" I asked.
"That I need to find a suitable wife now in case anything were to happen to my father. I need to have a wife at the ready to become my right hand partner. I don't want to think about my father being gone is all," he said putting pepper on his eggs and potatoes. I noticed he likes pepper just as I do.
"I'm also not ready to be a father," he said and I started choking on my food. "You alright?"
"Didn't realize we were talking about this at breakfast," I said taking a sip of my juice. "You were saying?"
"When I get married, if it is you, I am asked to produce an heir immediately in case something were to happen to me. I'm only twenty, you're nineteen, I don't know about you, but I am no where near ready to be responsible for a human life," he said and ran his hands over his face.
"You're scared," I said to him. "I'm shitting my pants over here so you're not the only one."
Harry let out a laugh, "Thanks. You do mean figuratively, right?"
"Of course," I said. "We all have the right to be afraid. I think that you have the right to wait a few years before you start thinking of fatherhood. If you're marrying someone like this, I think you need to get to know them some more before you start multiplying."
"Only you would say multiplying," he laughed with a blush on his face. "I mean, I love my life, I just don't want them growing up when things are still shit."
"Then they won't," I said with a smile. "You have the power to change how your children grow up. They're your kids, not your parents."
Harry smiled at me and took a forkful of food and bit into it with a grin on his face. He just watched me as he chewed his food. There was something behind his green eyes that changed in the past few minutes of our conversation. It was like he had gotten the answer he had been waiting for. Like an answer from the Gods above.
"Why are you staring at me like that?"
"You're just very wise," he smiled to me. I laughed and shook my head. "I am dead serious, Em, you are wise and I like that about you."
"Thanks, but I still don't think I'm wise," I chuckled. "If anything, I am dumber than a box of rocks. I help my mother with the woman chores in our house and I am always hungry since I am undernourished at my house."
"You are not dumber than a box of rocks," he said with a smile. "You are more intelligent than the last girl who was here. She was selfish only asking if she was pretty. She always had her boobs popping out of her gown. I released her the following day because she was always talking about herself and looking for someone to pity her life despite the fact she lives in the richer neighborhoods."
"Well, I'm sorry I don't have anything to flaunt in the boob department," I laughed.
"There's plenty there, Em," he smiled. I narrowed at my eyes at him.
"Are you being cheeky with me?" I asked with a smile.
"I don't know, am I?" he asked wiping his mouth off with his napkin. "Because I don't think I am, I'm just saying you have a nice pair of—"
"Your Highness, your father has a note for you," someone said coming into the room.
"Eyes," he finished with wide eyes. "Excuse me for a minute, Em." I nodded and picked my fork back up and continued to eat my breakfast as Harry stood out in the hallway reading the note from his father.
"Thank you, Eaton, I'll get back to him following my lessons with Ms. Price," he said with a nod. Harry came back in the room with a smile on his face. "Sorry about that, just some news from last night."
I nodded and continued to eat my breakfast.
"You're not going to ask what it was about?"
"It's not really my business is it?" I asked with a smile. "You shouldn't have to tell me what it's about because the note for you to know, not me."
"I just was expecting you to ask is all," he smiled. "I'm surprised, actually."
"I know when not to ask questions," I laughed.
"That's good," he said leaning on the table with his elbows. "If my mum were to see me sitting like this and talking to you in this fashion, she would probably shave my head."
"Not the hair," I laughed. "Poor you."
"I happen to like my long hair," he said with a grin. "She would even take the clippers and personally shave my hair off. I don't think I would look good with a buzz cut, do you think I would?"
"I couldn't picture it because I like your hair the way it is," I admitted. It really did make him look nice, it made him look unique instead of like every other prince. "Your curls suit you."
"Did you want to run your fingers through my lush locks?" he joked.
"No, not at the present moment," I smiled to him. "It looks as if you went through a wind tunnel this morning though."
"It's called I woke up late," he laughed. "I didn't get time to finish getting ready so when they finished blow drying it, I had to be in my father's office for a meeting about upcoming events. Boring stuff, really."
"It doesn't seem boring," I said with a smile. "The whole idea of your life is beginning to fascinate me."
"How do you mean?" he asked cocking his head to the side.
"This life of luxury, politics, and these grand events in your favor. It is all so different than what I am used to. I just wasn't expecting you all to be as humble as you are. I am fascinated in everything in the palace because it feels like I am living some sort of fairy tale in my head. I never want it to end," I said with a smile on my lips. He smiled to me. "I've only been here a day and I feel like I never want the fairytale to end. I feel like Cinderella."
"It may never end, Em," he smiled. "Who knows, you may sitting across from me at breakfast until the day we die. Right now, I'd be fine with that because I like the conversation," he smiled. "Speaking of Cinderella, there is a ball coming up in a few days."
"A ball?" I asked with a shocked laugh. "May I ask what for?"
"We're having a ball in honor of my sister's birthday," he smiled. "She's also meeting her fiancé for the first time that night. Since we are here, I want to know if you would like me to escort you to the ball? It would be the first time everyone would meet you."
"I would love that, actually," I smiled to him. "I'll make sure not to wear white," I laughed.
"Yeah, save that for a later date," he grinned to me. "You'll look beautiful in everything you wear, of course."
"Why do you keep complimenting me? I don't need the compliments, H," I laughed. "I'm fine without them."
"I know," he smiled biting his bottom lip. "I just like giving them to you since I know you don't get them all that often." I blushed at this remark.
"How about those reading lessons?" I asked dropping my napkin on my plate. "You promised me you would teach me to read and write."
"I did," he smiled. "Mrs. Willer," he called raising his hand in the air.
"Yes, sir?" she asked.
"We're done with breakfast," he said motioning to the table. "It was lovely, thank you for the meal."
"It was my pleasure, deary," she smiled. "You don't need to thank me, sir."
"I always do, when are you going to learn otherwise?" he asked.
"Never," she laughed tapping his nose. He grinned at that gesture. "You have a lovely morning with Ms. Price, I'll be back afterwords with your lunch."
"That won't be necessary," he said. "My father is having lunch with me today."
"Alright," she smiled. "Will I be needed for dinner?"
"No, we are having a formal dinner in the dining room once again," he said. "I will see you in the morning, Mrs. Willer."
"I'll see you then, sir," she smiled and pushed the cart of dirty dishes out of the room.
"She's been my nanny since I was little," he said standing up out of his chair. "She's like a second mum, hence the nose tapping thing. I always ask her to make me breakfast because it's good food," he smiled.
"It was very good," I confirmed.
"She forgot the pepper, but I didn't know if you liked pepper," he added turning to me. "That's probably why mine didn't have pepper."
"I'm surprised you didn't see me douse my meal in pepper as well," I chuckled. "It's like my favorite ingredient."
"Hmm... we have things in common it appears," he smiled sitting down in front of me with a pad of paper.
"I thought we were learning to read and write?"
"We are," He smiled. "In order to read, we have to learn the alphabet and it's sounds. Pardon me if I sound like a right twat when we begin the sounds."
"Okay," I laughed. Harry began writing the alphabet onto the paper in large and small sizes, each looking different than the next.
"Alright, so there is a song to remember these," he laughed. "You know Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, right?"
"Of course, who doesn't?"
"Well, it's to the tune of that," he said and cleared his throat. "I'm going to sing, sorry if I make your ears bleed."
As he sang the alphabet, he was pointing to the letters on the page. I payed attention the first time he sang the song, but the second time, all I could listen to was his singing voice. It was beautiful, really. He had a great singing voice.
"Em," he said interrupting my thoughts. "Can you sing the alphabet now?"
"I got A," I said pointing to the first letter, "And Z."
"Well, we'll just do it slowly then," he smiled to me. "We'll pair it with objects."
"Okay," I nodded. "I do know the letter H, too."
"I know," he smiled to me. "A is for Apple. B is for baby..." he began listing objects and drawing them on the piece of paper.
"Sir, it's ten thirty," the man, Eaton, from earlier said walking into the room. Harry turned around and nodded to him. Harry sat up straight in his chair cracking his joints and looked at me.
"I'm afraid this concludes the lesson," he said with a smile. "We can continue this tonight or tomorrow?"
"How about tomorrow?" I asked with a smile. "Same time?"
"I'll make sure of it," H grinned. "Did you want to spend time together tonight?"
"It's not like I have anywhere to be after dinner," I chuckled. Does seven sound good? I'm sure Trish and her daughters would like to start my dress for that ball. I don't want them to have to rush," I said.
"Of course, and who is Trish?"
"One of my ladies maids. She was my mother's maid, her daughters are also my maids," I said and Harry smiled. "I'll see you in the throne room, later. I don't know where it is, though."
"One of the guards will bring you there," Harry said with grin. "I can't wait to see you. Maybe we can talk, hearings are the dullest of dull things if you're not the king or queen."
"It's a plan, only if we're sitting next to one another," I smiled.
"What do you make me for? I'm the Prince, if I say I want to sit next to you, then you'll sit next to me."
"Cocky now, aren't we?" I asked.
"Sir, your father—"
"I'm coming, Eaton," Harry snapped. "I hate schedules," he whispered to me before placing a tender kiss against the softness of my cheek. "I'll see you at two o'clock. I'll be counting down until I can have a real conversation."
"Same," I smiled. "I'll be with your mother until then."
"Have fun," he laughed. "See you later, Em."
"See ya, H," I waved as he followed Eaton. A guard came in after him and escorted me to my bedroom to freshen up a little bit.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Eleven arrived and I was seated in the same room I was the previous night. Queen Anne was talking with one of the ladies maids as the butlers placed food in front of us. Once she finished she turned to me with a smile on her face.
"How are you, Ms. Price?" she asked with a grin, the same as her son's.
"I'm well, thank you," I replied. "If you want, your highness, you can refer to me as Emerald, I don't really care for the formalities."
Queen Anne smiled at me and took a sip of her tea.
"You remind me of myself," she smiled to me. "You're very independent and you don't like people doing things for you."
"I suppose," I shrugged.
"First lesson, don't shrug at the dinner table," she said to me with a nod. "You must also sit up straight, your back away from the chair. and never rest your arms on the table. If you must rest your hands somewhere, let it be your lap," she said wiping her mouth off with a napkin. I adjusted my posture as she instructed
"As a candidate for future queen, you will be expected to do everything that is expected of royalty. At dinner last night, I noticed your mother still practices everything my late mother-in-law had taught me," she smiled. "I suspect that you will learn everything in great stride. You appear to be a fast learner."
"I guess," I said.
"When you speak with someone of importance, you must speak confidently," she said picking at her salad. "You don't want to appear to be uninformed about anything when talking to them. You have to know everything gossip wise in the kingdom. Like the local celebrities, the painters, the best of the best you must know about."
"Like what, your majesty?" I questioned.
"The rumors," she smiled, dimples appearing on her cheeks. "I heard there is a boy in the middle class village who has the most beautiful voice. His parents don't wish for him to pursue singing as they are a family of carpenters, but everyone in the village wishes for him to become a professional singer."
"What's this boy's name?" I asked, intrigued by the story.
"He goes by Liam Payne," she smiled to me. "You did well, you asked the right question, Emerald. Tell me something that sounds like gossip, even if you have to make it up. Go ahead."
"Ummmm..." I hummed to myself thinking of something. "Oh, I have one!" I said making the queen let out a soft laugh. "Sorry, I wasn't supposed to do that, was I?"
"No, but I'll let it slide, it's only your first time doing this and it's me you're doing it in front of," she smiled. "Go ahead."
"There is a boy in my village who came from overseas. He is also a musician of sorts, he always has a guitar with him when he is in the town square. Him and his friends make a huge ruckus when people are trying to sleep, but he also has a nice voice. Of course, he is expected to take over his family farm when his father is too old."
"What is this boy's name?" Queen Anne smiled.
"Niall Horan, son of Bobby Horan," I said with a smile.
"That was a great tie in with mine," Queen Anne complimented. "That was a great story, was it true?"
"It was," I nodded. "If I wasn't here, my father was arranging for us to be married despite my distaste of the arranged marriage to him."
"Hmm..." she hummed. "Your father, he seems peculiar, is he a loving man? Does he ever abuse either you or your mother?"
"I don't know what you mean, your majesty," I said.
"Does your father ever hit you?"
"No," I shook my head. "He just isn't my biggest fan, your majesty."
"I won't ask you to expand, but thank you for admitting that," she smiled. "Now, how do you like my son?"
"He's lovely," I smiled. "He's very kind and caring."
"Respectful?" she asked.
"Absolutely," I confirmed with a smile. "We had breakfast in his state room this morning then we had a lesson."
"I wasn't aware you had a lesson with my son," she said furrowing her brows and picked apart a bun placing a chunk of it in her mouth.
"He's teaching me to read and write," I said quietly. "I was never taught how."
"That's nice of him," she smiled. "I assume he's doing that with you every morning?"
"That is what Prince Harry said," I confirmed. "He was teaching me the alphabet this morning."
"How come you never learned to read or write?" she asked me.
"I was ill a lot as a child," I started. "Since I am the only girl, my father thinks I don't need as much food as my brothers so he tends to leave me undernourished. As I was undernourished, I tended to fall ill easily. Since I was ill so much, I wasn't able to go to school."
"Undernourished?" she asked, shocked.
"Yes," I nodded. "My father thinks the boys in the family deserve to have the delicacies and my mother and me to have whatever it is they don't eat."
"That is horrible," she gasped covering her mouth in surprise. "Do other families think the same?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "I'm a business deal for him."
"A business deal," she gasped. "Was it him who sent you here?"
"No, my mother," I said and she let out a puff of air. "She wanted a better life for me than being married to someone of the same stature. She wanted me to be fed and have a nice husband. After her experience here in the palace, she most likely knew King Desmond was an incredibly respectable man."
"He is," she smiled. "Your mother is very caring."
"She is, I love her very much."
"Your brothers, are they like your father?"
"Some are, but Lucas isn't," I said. "He helps my mother and me the most, he's the closest in age to me."
"Your father seems like a horrible man," she shook her head. "He's never done anything against the palace or the kingdom so I'm afraid we can't do anything about him."
"I understand and I didn't expect you to do anything," I said. "I just don't want to be around him for a while if he thinks I'm as good as dead."
"Well, you're here and you are sure going to enjoy your time, aren't you?" she asked. "It will be hard, but I am positive you will fit in well. Has Harry discussed Gemma's ball this coming Friday?"
"He has," I nodded. "My maids and I will be starting my dress this evening."
"Wonderful," she smiled. "I expect Trish and her daughters will do a lovely job as always."
"This dress is absolutely stunning, so I am positive they will."
"I think we're done for the day," Queen Anne smiled standing up. "I usually like to take a break and spend some time to myself before throne room time. It takes a lot out of person even if it is for two hours of the day. I'll have a guard bring you down to the throne room at quarter to two."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," I said bending down into a bow.
A guard walked me back to my room where I walked onto the balcony immediately. I sat down on the white chair next to the table and looked out onto the palace grounds with fascination. This whole place was gorgeous and I just couldn't get enough of it.
"Trish," I said turning to her. "Do you think you could fetch the piece of paper off my bed for me?" I asked. She nodded and came walking over to me with the paper and handed it to me. "Thank you."
I looked down at the paper and began to run through the alphabet in my mind. I was determined to learn all of these letters by tomorrow so we could do something more intriguing. Here I was expected to be relaxing, but I was learning the alphabet. I didn't mind, though, I was learning something I have always wanted to learn.
________________________________________________________
This is probably my favorite chapter thus far. I hope you think the same.
~Amanda