My feet stepping in front of the other as Lily do the same beside me, nothing but our footsteps can be heard as we go through the long hallway.
We reach the door of The Queen's suite and stop ourselves and face the tall white wooden door. I lift my fist and knock on the door a few times and bring my hand back to the side of my body. We wait for any answer, and The Queen herself opens the door, smiling at the both of us. We fall into a curtsy, smiles on our face.
"Anne, Lily. Come in."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
We go straight into the bathroom and prepare The Queen's bath. After I fill the bath with warm water, I turn off the tap and pour some of the jasmine scented soap as Lily scatters petals of roses onto the water.
I tell her that her bath is ready and she thanks us and go into the bathroom to take the bath. We start to clean up the room. As we finish cleaning up the room, The Queen walks out of the bathroom with a white satin robe on and walk straight to the dresser.
Lily strokes a makeup brush on The Queen's face as I style her hair into a french braid. We finish our works at the same time and The Queen smiles at our work.
"Impressive work as usual, Anne, Lily."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." We chorus, smiling brightly at her.
"Today is Carlton's birthday and I think I would be needing one of you to be by my side for the event. And I think Anne should go with me."
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. But, why are you choosing me instead of Lily?"
"I'm sorry, Lily. But I'm choosing Anne to go with me because the event could go on until late night and I don't really want you to get tired. And I only need Anne for a few things."
"It's okay, Your Majesty. I'm grateful you're giving me time to rest. Thank you."
"You're very welcome, Lily. And both of you should come back here by five o'clock to help me get ready for the party. But of course, I will call to your room in case you forget about it." I nod my head at her words.
"Okay, you both dismissed."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." We give her curtsies and walk out of the room.
"Oh, Lily! What should I do? I mean, I'm going to see important people of this kingdom. Probably important people from all of the kingdom in this big world. Maybe I'm just going to help Queen Alessandra for little things. But I'm feeling so nervous right now. And I don't even know why." I let out a sigh, looking down at my shoes as we walk through the hallway.
"You're going to be fine, Anne. There's nothing to be worried about. You're just going to be there to help Her Majesty. If you're too nervous about it, maybe I can take your job for the night." I look up at her in a little shock.
She's the most shyest girl I've know in this palace and she just say that she will be fine to take my job. Going to the place where there's going to be a lot of people. I'm scared she might get a panic attack and probably faint because of her nervousness.
"Are you sure?" I say, looking at her sideways with doubt.
"Of course! You should be the one who gets more rest. You just got out of the hospital wing two days ago. You deserve more rest than I do." She shrugs.
"I will be fine, I guess. Besides, I don't want to disappoint Queen Alessandra. She chooses me for a reason and I don't want to let her down just like that." I smile.
"Suit yourself. I'm happy for the resting time she has gave me, though." She shrugs, grinning at me.
"I'm actually kind of jealous because of that." I frown.
"Oh, you should be." She says, her grin grows wider. I laugh at her, smiling widely. "I am."
"Now, let's go to the kitchen!"
* * * * * * *
Before the clock hits five, we already on our way to The Queen's suite. We knock on the door and the door flies open within a second. Queen Alessandra looks at the both of us with astonishment written clearly on her face. We give her curtsies, smiling at her. "You both arrive a minute earlier. It's not like I mind." She smiles.
"It's better to be early than late." I say, smiling at her. She opens the door wider and take a step to the side. "Come in."
She closes the door and walk to the bed where three dresses lay on the bed in front of us. All of them look beautiful. Much more beautiful than the dresses she wears on any other day which are already beautiful enough.
"So, you both tell me. Which of these should I wear tonight?" She asks, facing both of us. I hold out the dress in front of me one by one, looking at them with Lily by my side.
The first dress is a white strapless simple, floor-length gown. Light pink flowers cover most of the dress's skirt. The second dress is a royal blue color. The dress is sleeveless and fall to the floor elegantly with a slit that would reach mid-thigh. And the third dress is a black dress. The upper body and the sleeve are made of lace and the lower part of the dress hugs her thigh and flares from the knees to the floor.
I knit my eyebrows as I try to choose the best dress to wear tonight. I ask Lily about her opinion, but she's just as confused as I am since we thought all of three dresses are amazing.
"What is King Carlton's favorite color?" I ask, putting back the dress I was holding onto the bed carefully. She thinks about the answer to my question and smile. "He actually loves the color black and blue."
"Hmm, okay. That means we're down to two dresses." I put a finger on my chin, thinking about another question to make choosing the dress easier. And then one question pops inside my head. "What's His Majesty going to wear for tonight?"
"He's going to wear a black suit, I think." She stops for a second, thinking about what King Carlton will wear once again and nod her head, bringing her attention back to me. "Yeah, he's definitely going to wear it."
"Then you should definitely wear the black dress!" I say too excitedly. The Queen stares at me and I feel my cheek turning red as I look down my shoes. "I'm sorry if I'm being to loud." She laughs and smile. "It's okay, dear."
"We better prepare your bath now." Lily suggests. I nod my head at her. "Yes."
After The Queen finishes her bath, we quickly and gently lather her in a rose scented body lotion. After that, Lily works on her makeup as I do the hair-styling.
I curl her hair with the curling iron and put her hair into a bun, pulling some strands out from the bun and some strands of hair frame her face.
I put on a pair of diamond earrings to her ear and a simple diamond necklace. Lily slips on a black stilettos to The Queen's feet. We stand beside each other, admiring our work.
"And, we're done."
"Thank you, Anne, Lily." She puts on her crown carefully on her head and smile at her reflections. She rises from the chair, facing the both of us.
"Lily, you can go back to your room now."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." She curtsies at Queen Alessandra and leave the room. A knock on the door make my head automatically turn at the door.
"Come in." The Queen says elegantly. The door swings open and reveal King Carlton on the other side. He's already dressed in a black suit, just like what Queen Alessandra has told. Badges and pins embellish his suit coat. And a crown sits on top of his head.
He walks up to us and I give him a low curtsy and rise back up and stand straight. He nods a little at me and turn to Queen Alessandra, smiling brightly at the sight of her. I step to the side, giving them space.
King Carlton kisses Queen Alessandra on her cheek, and she smiles at the gesture. "You look beautiful. As always." He grins. I can't help but smile at the sight of them and look away, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.
The door throws open and Max walks into the room, grinning widely. He's dressed in a black suit, and pins and badges also embellish his suit jacket, not as many as King Carlton has. And his dark blonde hair styled neatly.
His eyes find mine and I smile at him. He walks to us and I give him a curtsy. He returns it with a little bow, the grin still staying on his face.
He turns to King Carlton and Queen Alessandra. "Happy birthday, old man." Max grins at The King, giving him a hug. King Carlton pats him on the back, smiling widely at Max.
"Thank you, son. And don't call me that again, I'm not that old." He chuckles.
"Ah, so you're still refusing the fact that you're actually getting old as you've been said all the time." He says, still grinning at The King.
"I am not that old, son. Stop saying that." He says, his face turns rigid as he stares at Max hard in the eyes. He chuckles at The King expression. "Okay, okay. I will." Max turns to me, smiling. "So, mother, could you tell me why is she here with us?"
"Oh, she's just going to be there in case I need something." Queen Alessandra replies.
"Oh." Max nods.
"We should get going. We can't keep the guests waiting." King Carlton says, placing his hand on the lower part of Queen Alessandra's back.
"Yes, we should go."
The King and Queen walk out of the room. Max stay behind with me and we follow them close behind.
"So, you're coming with us?"
"Yes. Because Queen Alessandra wanted me to, in case she needs me for something." I answer.
"Weird. She's usually never brought any maid to any event before." He says, his eyebrows knit together as he keeps his gaze forward.
She never take any of her maid to any event? It's kind of reasonable. I mean, they're having a lot of Servants working there and if she need something she could just ask one of them on duty. The question is, why is she bringing me to the event when I'm probably not going to be that useful?
"Really?"
"Yeah. What's the point anyway? There would be a lot of servants working, actually. And when she needs something, she could probably ask it to the servants there on their duty. But her, bringing her maids? It's something new."
Just like what I just thought of.
"You're kind of scaring me, you know?"
"Why? I'm just saying the truth."
We arrive in front of the great room door and Queen Alessandra turns to me. "Anne, you can wait by the stage until we finish the opening. On eight we'll going to celebrate Carlton's birthday with the candle blowing and any other things. And on nine, there's going to be some tradition that we always do on King's birthday celebration. And at ten, we're going out to the garden to watch the fireworks show."
"Alright, Your Majesty."
"Stay close to me. I will call you over if I need you for something. And enjoy the party. You're also a guest here other than doing your job." She smiles.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
We walk into the room, and the orchestral group change the song to something different, more uplifting. I look around the room, people are dressed in elegant dresses, jewelry sparkling from the light as they move and the men dressed in suits. I look down, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.
"It's okay, Anne. Don't worry about the stares and the people. Just take a deep breath and calm down." I nod my head at his words and do as he says. I let out a sigh, feeling a little better.
"Thanks." I flash him a little smile. "You're welcome."
The Royal Family steps up to the stage, facing all the guest with smiles on their face. "Good evening, our honored guests. Today we're here to celebrate the day the king of England born into this world. There's no way this kingdom would be this great and wonderful without him as the king. We're going to keep working together to make this kingdom better than it was before and keep making great things happen."
Queen Alessandra stops for a second and turn to King Carlton. "Happy birthday My King, My Husband. I hope we will be together until death do us part just like our vow and I will always love you until the end of time." She pecks him on the lips and the guests cheer at them.
Queen Alessandra hands the microphone to Max and he gladly takes it. He stares, seems a little nervous, at the crowd who's looking back at him. He straighten his back and smiles.
"Good evening. Thank you for your attendance this evening. It's a pleasure to have you coming here to celebrate my father's birthday. And what I want to say is, happy birthday, father. I hope you will live long enough so you can see me marry someone I love, having your grandchildren, and be the future king of this kingdom. I hope I'm not going to let you down when I'm taking your place when you retire." Max embrace him in a hug, patting him on the back in process. He hands back the microphone to Queen Alessandra and she turns back to the guests.
"Now, please enjoy the party as we wait for the cake to be prepared. Once again, thank you for your attendance this evening." The Royal family descend the stage and The King and Queen walks to the crowd, greeting the guests in person as they engaged in a conversation. Max comes towards me, smiling.
"Hey." He greets. I smile a little at him. "Hi. Why don't you go and greet the guests as your parents do right now?"
"Nah. I don't really do that kind of thing. I usually just stay in the back of the room, watching the guests. Well, sometimes they're the one who approaches me and make some quick talk with me." He shrugs.
"Liam!" I turn my head towards the source of the sound and find a little girl in a black sequin top and a white tutu and a boy in white suit running towards us. They hug his leg tightly and look up at him, smiling widely.
"Hey there, Charlotte, William. How are you?" He asks, looking down at them with a bright smile showing on his face.
"I'm great!" Charlotte exclaims, grinning widely at Max. She moves her lips closer to Max's ear and whisper, "I have eat all the cupcakes and chocolate with William. Don't tell mom about it." He looks down at the girl with wide eyes. They look back at Max pleadingly with a little pout on their faces.
"Please Liam, don't tell them about it. They're going to be mad." William says, pouting at Max. He chuckles at the both of them and put his hands on their shoulder. "Of course I won't tell them. You're just enjoying the food. And that makes you happy."
"But what if mom finds out? She's going to punish us!" Charlotte says, her eyes go wide.
"No, she won't. Just for times like this, perhaps." Max shrugs. Charlotte and William faces falls at the words. "Oh."
How is it possible for someone to look that cute? The both of them is definitely one of the cutest kids I've ever seen in my life. Not to mention, funny and kind.
A little laugh slips from me and both the kids look up at me with confusion and curiosity.
"Liam, who is this?" Charlotte asks, looking up at me questioningly. William looks up at me, her face reflects confusion.
"This is Anne, she's my friend." Max introduces, smiling at them. "Hello there, Charlotte, William. It's nice to meet you." I smile at them.
"Hi. It's nice to meet you too, miss." They look at each other and quickly run off from us. I shake my head at them, smiling to myself. I turn to Max and ask, "So, they're your cousin, I assume?"
"Yes. Aren't they the cutest?" He says, grinning.
"Oh, they definitely are." I look up and fortunately find Queen Alessandra waves at me to come to her. If I don't look up and see her waves at me, I don't know what would happen to me.
I turn back to Max and smile. "I guess I have to go. Duty call."
"See you later." He smiles. I return the smile. "I hope so."
I walk over to the queen and the guests. The couple have crowns on their head and within a second I know they're the King and Queen of another kingdom. I give them a deep curtsy, smiling a little at them before I turn to Queen Alessandra. "You need me, Your Majesty?"
"Yes, Anne. Could you go to the kitchen and make sure if the kitchen staffs already got the cake ready?"
"Of course, Your Majesty." I give them a curtsy and advance out of the room and quickly go to the kitchen. The kitchen bustling as they prepare another plate full of hors d'oeuvre and glasses of drinks. I look around the kitchen and find some of the staffs busy getting the birthday cake ready. I go to one of the staffs and smile. "Hello, when will the cake going to be ready?"
"We'll take it out in 5 minutes. Just need to add some more garnish." He smiles at me.
"Okay. Thank you."
I walk out of the kitchen and go back to the great room and find Queen Alessandra still talking with the King and Queen of another kingdom, with king Carlton by her side. I give them a deep curtsy and give them a little smile. I turn to Queen Alessandra. "The cake will be ready in five minutes, Your Majesty."
"Okay. Thank you, Anne. You're dismissed."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." I give them another curtsy and go back to the back of the room, finding Max hugging a girl and smile brightly at her as he talks to her. I stay a few metres away from them, giving them some space as I watch guests talking with one another and enjoying themselves.
After a few minutes, the kitchen staffs bring the cake into the room and up on the stage. Everyone stops their doings and bring their attention to the stage. Queen Alessandra and King Carlton walks up the stage and stand next to the cake.
"Now the cake has come, let's celebrate this special day."
One of the staff lights up the candles and go off the stage when he's done. The birthday song starts to play and Queen Alessandra gleams at King Carlton who's grinning at her.
Everyone starts to sing along to the song and as we reach the end of the song, King Carlton blows out all the candles. All the candles are blown off and all the people in the room cheer and applaud. I smile at the sight and look back to see Max clapping his hands and cheer. His eyes find mine and he grins at me. He make his way to me, still having the grin on his face.
"Enjoying the party so far?"
"I guess." I shrug my shoulder, my gaze focused on King Carlton slices the cake and the crowd cheer as he bring a spoonful of cake towards Queen Alessandra's mouth and she eats it. "I'm not really her for the party, I'm here to help Queen Alessandra."
"And it seems like she doesn't really need you a lot this evening."
"Yeah."
"Then you should enjoy the party." He smiles. I let out a sigh, looking at the people in front of me, smiling at the couple on the stage. "How can I? I'm just a Servant. I'm not here for that."
"Oh come on. Mother is the one who told you that before the party started." I shake my head, frowning. "I can't. It's not my right to do so."
"Stop being so stubborn. Or should I just bring you drinks or probably some hors d'oeuvre?" He asks. I turn to him, my eyes turn wide as I stare at him. "No!" I close my eyes, letting out a sigh and look up at him. "Don't. I don't really want to."
"I'll bring it for you anyway." He shrugs and begin to walk away from me towards the refreshment table.
"Ma-" I stop myself from saying his name and sigh. He turns around, staring back at me. "Please just, don't." He ignores my words and continue moving his feet to go grab some drink. I look around the place and once again watch the people having conversation with one another.
Max comes towards me, drinks in both of his hands. He hands me one, smiling. "Here's your drink."
"Thanks." I take a sip of the drink and continue watching the people. My gaze falls to Queen Alessandra and King Carlton talking with another Queen of other kingdom.
A slow song starts playing and everyone take their partner with them and start slow dancing to the song. Queen Alessandra dances with King Carlton, gazing into each other eyes with smiles on their faces.
"Would you like to dance?" I turn to Max and stare at him in confusion and doubt. "Are you sure you want to dance with me?"
"Yeah. Of course."
"People going to watch."
"They won't. They're busy with their own dance and partner. They won't even notice. And it's not like I care about it if they stare."
"But-"
"Come on. Loosen up a bit." He grins, taking the glass of drink from my hand and give it to the server nearby. He pulls me with him to the center of the room. I start to feel pairs of eyes staring at the both of us, mostly me, and I look down in embarrassment.
"Hey, don't mind them. Just ignore that they're even here."
So he expecting me to ignore hundred of people in this room? How could I?
"How could I? There's hundreds of people in here!" He chuckles at me and hold both of my wrists and put my hand on his shoulders. "Just focus on me." He puts his hands on my waist and I start to feel heat crawling up my cheek. I look down, trying to hide from embarrassment. "But-"
"Enough buts for the night, Anne. Just enjoy the song because it won't last long and you won't really enjoy it if you keep saying those words." He says.
"Fine. Just for tonight."
He pulls me closer into him and we start to sway to the music. As the minutes pass by, I seem to forget about the people, and ignore the stares they're giving me. I look at the people once, and some of them still have their gaze on me.
"Anne."
I bring my eyes up to his and stare at him questioningly with my eyebrows raised a little. "You know what, you have a pair of beautiful eyes. It kinds of remind me of mother's eyes."
"Really? Uh, thanks. You're eyes are also beautiful. It kinds of look like chocolate." I mentally face-palming myself, feeling stupid after saying the words. He chuckles at me and I look away, my cheeks starting to burn. "Thanks." I nod my head and we keep swaying to the song.
The song stop and we step away from each other. I look at him one more time and look away to see Queen Alessandra already smiling widely with King Carlton by her side.
"Now, for our tradition every year. King Carlton and one person of his choice would be fighting against each other in a sword fight. Carlton." He grins at Max and Max huff a laugh.
"I choose Max to be my opponent." He takes off his suit jacket and hand it to Queen Alessandra. He rolls up his sleeve, still grinning at Max.
"It's not like I didn't see that coming." People laugh at his words. He turns to me, taking off his suit jacket and hold it out to me. "Would you hold this for me?"
"Sure, Your Majesty." I take his suit jacket and hold it close to me. He walks to the center of the room, rolling up his shirt sleeve just like what King Carlton done.
Guests starting to move away from the center of the room watch as Max and King Carlton prepare for the fight. A guard hand each of them one shining sword. They hold up the sword the sword in anticipation as they stand across each other.
"Go!" Queen Alessandra shouts and The King and Max starting to move their feet carefully, still facing each other with grins on their faces.
"Surrender now before it's too late, son." The King says, grinning at Max as he moves in the same pace as Max in circle. Max shakes his head, grinning. "I'm not backing down that easy, father."
"You're going to regret it."
"Let's see who's actually going to regret it."
Their swords clashes and the guests roar at them. Some of them chanting for Max and some of them chanting for King Carlton. Their swords keep clashing against each other and Max makes a move and put the sword on King Carlton's neck.
The guests cheer and applaud their hands at the victory of Max and the defeat of The King. The step back from one another, grinning.
"I'm too old for this, I guess." King Carlton says, shaking his head as he huffs a laugh. The guests laugh at that and Max stares at him, still having the grin on his face. "You finally admit it."
They hand the swords back to the guard and embrace each other in a hug and slaps each other back. William and Charlotte run to Max, hugging his legs as they congratulate him and tell him how great he is.
"Now, please follow us to the garden for the fireworks show." Queen Alessandra says and walk out of the great room. I follow closely behind her and Max steps beside me and walk by my side. He takes his suit jacket from my hold and I look at him, smiling. "Congratulations."
"It's nothing, really. He was pretty distracted so that's why I win. He's actually a great fighter. I can barely survive for minute when we practice together. He always beat me at this."
"You should just enjoy the moment of victory, I think."
"I am."
We stands in the garden, looking up at the sky as we count backwards. "Five. Four. Three. Two. One!" Fireworks go up to the sky and explode with beautiful colors. People cheers at that and shouts out "Happy birthday, King Carlton. Long live The King." and I shout out the same words with Max. His hand finds mine and hold it in his. I look up at him in confusion and he smiles down at me.
We stay in the garden, sitting on the bench near the grand fountain in the middle of the garden, watching the guests as they say their goodbyes to King Carlton and Queen Alessandra and leave the venue. Minutes have passed and few people still linger around the garden near the entrance and having conversation with one another.
We better get going. It's getting late." I say, shivering from the cold night air and I rub my arms with my hands up and down, trying to keep myself warm. Max moves beside me, taking off his suit jacket and put it over my body. I tighten the suit jacket around me, starting to feel a little warmer.
"Thank you." He nods his head, but the look in his eyes telling me he's elsewhere at the moment, lost in thoughts, as he stares off at the distance blankly. He leans back into the bench and cross his arms. "Let's just stay for a little while."
"Okay."
"So, you're with her now?"