One of the twins was talking but you weren't listening. Your mind was trying to connect all of the events that had happened this morning, and listening to incessant chatter was not its priority.
You were walking down another blue hallway, white marble floors passing underneath you. The twins were walking beside you, one of their arms linked with one of yours. You numbly glanced at both of them, but their faces only held smiles.
"But we won't have to worry about that for another week." You heard Connor finish as he looked to you for a reaction.
"Y-yes of course," You mumbled, detached from the conversation as you went back to the replaying events in your mind.
Aiden sighed, "She's not listening to us brother."
Connor looked over at your dazed expression and sighed as well. A sudden thought entered his mind and he quickly jutted out his foot causing you to trip.
You were brought back to reality as you slowly saw the floor coming closer to you. You went to put your arms out, but two people restricted both your arms and your fall.
Aiden tsked, "Careful there (Y/n). That could have been a terrible fall."
Connor looked at you in fake worry, "Are you feeling okay? Is it customary for people in the village to trip over nothing when in a new place?"
You felt your face grow hot in embarrassment and anger, but you held your tongue.
"Anyway, here we are." You heard Aiden say and you looked up to see the three of you in front of a door.
"Where is here?" You hesitantly asked as the boys let go of you to open the doors.
"Why the fitting room of course." Connor answered, "You do know that the job comes with a uniform."
Both boys smiled as horror crossed your face. Without waiting for your objection, they shoved you inside and closed the door behind you.
"Wait!" You yelled as you turned back to the door and began pulling on the handles.
"Dear (Y/n), why are you trying to leave?" You heard Aiden ask from the other side.
"Try to have fun," Connor stated, "And be a dear and give the seamstress the paper that's in your pocket."
"We'll be back for you soon!" Aiden called out, and then you heard two pairs of footsteps walking away.
You slowly felt the inside of your pocket and your hand encountered a small slip of paper.
When did he put this in here? You thought in horror and turned around to examine the room in front of you.
The room itself was big, but the lines of racks filled with different types of dresses made it appear small. You examined the rows and rows of dresses and concluded that in fact they were different styles and lengths of maid attire.
You cautiously took a step forward, clutching the slip of paper to your chest.
"Hello?" You called out as you continued forward. Suddenly, something grabbed your left shoulder and you whirled around, a scream escaping your lips.
Instead of a terrible monster, or the twins, you were met with a woman who looked to be about the same age as your mother. Her long purple hair fell down to her back and was kept together with a white ribbon. Her attire consisted of a light blue blouse and white leggings. Her brown eyes looked at you in worry before glancing down to the slip of paper you were holding onto for dear life.
"I'm sorry miss, I didn't mean to startle you. I'm assuming you're the new maid the princes have been talking about." A faint but tender voice asked.
Too shocked, you just nodded your head, your wide (e/c) eyes staring at her.
"Is that slip of paper for me?"
Another nod
"May I have it?" She asked as she held out her hand.
As if finally coming to your senses, you looked down at the paper. "O-oh yeah, um, of course." You embarrassingly stuttered as you handed the paper to her.
The woman looked down at the paper. "Option C," the woman muttered before turning and scanning a line of racks, "I swear, those boys make it more and more difficult to find outfits every day."
She started to walk off to a rack and sifted through a line of dresses as you slowly followed her.
"Um, Miss? Who are you?" You asked dumbfounded.
She looked at you startled for a moment, before laughing. "Deary me, I get so excited with fitting people that I forget proper introductions." She stuck out her left hand and smiled, "Sorry dear, my names Florence. I'm the head seamstress at the castle. Who might you be?"
You shook her hand and returned her smile, "I'm (Y/n)." You said, worry slowly leaving your voice.
Another voice rang through the room, "Ya know, her name might be Florence, but you can call her what everyone else calls her. Isn't that right Mom?" You quickly looked around to see a man leaning against a rack of clothes across from you, grinning.
Startled, you took a step towards Florence who laughed, "Now Micah, don't scare (Y/n). I'm sure she's already had enough of a shock coming to the palace."
The man shrugged and you studied him as he came towards you. He had black hair and blue eyes and if you had to guess, he seemed to be about 5'8. He wore a similar uniform to Florences, however he wore pants that seemed to be made of a foreign material.
He came up and rustled your hair, causing you to flinch, "Sorry. There's no need to be afraid of me. As the mother of the palace said, I'm Micah, Florences helper. It's a pleasure to meet you."
You nodded, "(Y/n)."
He grinned again and turned his attention back to Florence who was mumbling something and searching through more dresses.
"Whats the verdict?" Micah asked as he walked over beside her and started looking through them as well.
"Option C." You heard the woman huff and Micah let out a whistle.
"Really? Wow, they must want you to have a challenge."
You came up behind them and peered at the dresses on the rack, "Pardon me for asking," you started, "but what exactly is 'Option C'?"
Micah held up a dress, looked at you, shook his head, and continued searching before saying, "Option C is a special section of clothing. Its usually reserved for top employees and those who have earned the princes trust. Typically, they're tailor made which is why we don't have a lot laying around. Especially maid outfits."
You nodded your head and glanced at the rack. It did seem a bit more empty than all the others, but was still packed full. You pulled a dress to glance at it before your cheeks turned red. The dress itself was cut into two pieces and you could clearly see that the middle was missing. It kept the light blue and white colors as all the other uniforms but had ribbons hanging all over the skirt part.
Micah noticed your redness and laughed, "Oh (Y/n)! You want that one?"
You quickly turned around and looked at him, "No!" You rushed out, "I was just looking at the dresses and that was the first one I pulled out!"
He let out another small laugh before grabbing a dress in front of him and holding it up to you. "Now this looks more your style." He said, but pulled it away when you went to look at the front. He tossed it onto a pile with another dress and went back to the rack. Huffing, you let it slide and turned back to looking at the other dresses.
About ten minutes had passed before you heard Florence sigh. "That might be all that would fit her." She muttered as she turned to look at you. "Now, (Y/n), Take these dresses and go try them on." She gestured to a screen on the far side of the room and you reluctantly trudged over.
You went behind the screen and removed your clothing before putting on the first dress on the pile. Looking down you noticed that it resembled a simple maids uniform, with the apron and three buttons leading up to the neckline. You pinned the bow that was placed with it into your (h/c) hair and stepped out from the screen. You could see Florence fight something in her mind as she studied you, Micah doing the same.
"Okay, try the next one." She said and you went back behind the screen.
You carefully took the outfit off before reaching for the next one.
The next one was similar to the one you had originally looked at but didn't show as much of your stomach. It still had the small white apron, but instead of the bow going in your hair, it went around your neck. You shifted from side to side, contemplating if you should veto it on your own as you kept pulling the short skirt down. Slowly, you came out from the screen and your cheeks burned in embarrassment as you watched Micah try to hide a laugh.
"Ms Florence, I really don't like this one," You muttered as you looked to the ground, your hair covering your face.
"Me either my dear, but someone put it on the pile." She shot a pointed look at Micah whos face was red with the effort of holding back his laughter.
You hurriedly went back behind the screen and practically ripped the outfit off.
You reached for the final dress on the pile and slowly put it on. You examined it carefully, not finding much you didn't like about it. The dress itself belled out at the waist and stopped just before your knees. There were white ruffles underneath the skirt portion. There was an oval apron tied to it and the dress's neckline scooped down but stopped just above your chest. Like the last one, there was a small white bow that was tied around your neck, but in addition, there were white gloves that ran to your elbows.
You stepped out in front of the screen, smiling slightly as you saw Florences face light up in delight.
"Yes! That one looks perfect on you dear!" Florence practically squealed as she came up to you. Micah quickly turned away from you and walked away and you could've sworn you saw his cheeks were slightly pink.
You were quickly brought away from the thought as Florence sat you down on a small plush chair. "Now dear, lets just do your hair and then you'll be all ready for the princes!"
You felt your mood immediately sink as you remembered why you were trying on the outfits. You enjoyed yourself in the fitting room with Florence's soft voice and Micah's quick jokes and wished that was how it was always going to be. Sighing, you felt Florences small and nimble fingers work your hair in different ways.
Nodding to signal, she was finished she positioned a mirror so that you could see the back of your head. A portion of your (h/c) hair was braided towards the back and met at the middle. Below, your hair had been curled. Small gems of blue and white sat in the braids and reflected the light in the room.
You gasped, "It's so pretty!"
Florence laughed as she pulled you up from the chair and walked you towards the door, "Thank you my child, but its best not to keep the princes waiting. I'd assume they're in their rooms."
Your face paled, "I'm not going back to the throne room?" You shakily asked.
She gave you a funny look before opening the door, "No dear of course not! You're going to work!"
You numbly felt your feet move out the door and into the lonely hallway.