"Anna," Liam said. I felt his hand lightly shake my arm. "We're landing."
I rolled over and rubbed my eyes. I didn't want to wake up yet.
"How long was I asleep?"
"About twelve hours. You even slept through the layover."
"Where are we?"
"Germany."
"Germany?"
"That's where I live," he said.
"Obviously."
He handed me a gray jacket. I was nervous and slightly upset to be meeting my fate but I did it silently.
"You don't sound german."
"Irish, originally."
"I'm from California."
"Is that so?"
"Hard to believe?"
"The auction house is in western New York. "
"New York?"
"Mhm. I just assumed you were from there."
I scoffed, "And none of this bothers you?"
"What?"
"The fact that I was drugged, kidnapped, and hauled across the country to be sold at auction? None of that bothers you?"
"Why should it?"
"Because you can't just do that to people! You're a prince and you have influence. Shouldn't you use that to help people?"
"I helped you, didn't I?"
"Yeah but how many other girls were there? Not everyone gets snatched up by Prince Charming," I ranted.
"So you think I'm Prince Charming?"
"I think, if that room was any representation of royals as a whole, you're about as close to Prince Charming as it gets."
"I'm not sure how to take that."
"Well, it wasn't a compliment."
"I didn't think so. Why do you care? You're the one that did get picked by someone that won't abuse you. You should be grateful."
"Grateful that you made me into a servant? That I can never have the life I wanted?"
He opened the door and left the room. I slipped on my shoes and followed him to the cabin door. He didn't acknowledge me in the least. I couldn't tell if he was angry with me or just done trying to make me see his point. Either way, I didn't care. I was right. Just because he didn't treat his servants poorly didn't mean that others were the same. He was well aware of what awaited the other girls. He wasn't naive and he didn't claim to be. He honestly believed the practice was acceptable.
The cabin door opened and I followed him down the steps. I had never put much thought into how Germany would look but the airport looked just like an American airport.
"Liam!" a high-pitched squeal broke out. I watched a little girl run from a limo into Liam's arms.
"I missed you," she said.
"I missed you too. What are you doing here?"
"Mommy said I could come if I was good."
"Is she here?"
"Nope. Just me and Donny."
I couldn't tell if she was his daughter or sister. She looked exactly like him but her blonde hair fell in tight ringlets down her back.
"Who's she?"
Liam turned slightly and set the girl down. She tangled her hand in his and played with her hair.
"This is Annabel. Anna, this is my sister, Bridget."
"It's nice to meet you, I said.
"Why does your hair look like that?" she asked.
"Bridget-"
"Because your brother didn't let me brush it."
"You were taking too long."
"I apologize, Your Highness. I'll be quicker in the future."
He would have been stupid if he missed the sarcasm in my voice.
"Bridget, why don't you tell Anna all about your favorite Disney princesses?" he suggested.
If he thought that was going to get under my skin, he was mistaken. He knew nothing about me.
"I love Tangled."
"You could be Rapunzel," I said.
"Do you think I could? Liam said my hair isn't long enough."
"But it's pretty enough. In fact, I think I like your hair better than hers."
"Really?" she asked. Her bright red eyes lit up at the mention.
"Mhm."
"Can I play with your hair?"
"It's knotted right now."
"I can fix it. I promise I'll do it just like my mommy. She does it really soft."
"Sure. Do you have a brush?"
"Liam, can I get a brush?"
"I kind of just want to get home."
I watched him carefully as he interacted with his sister. I wondered if he was really going to deny her or if he would give in.
"Please, Liam?"
He sighed. "Fine. Richard, can you go find her a brush?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
I wondered if it bothered Richard to be put on such trivial tasks. He seemed tough, like a solider, but he was searching for a dog and a hair brush.
"No luck on Zeus yet," Liam said.
I nodded.
"Who's Zeus?" Bridget asked.
"Anna's dog."
"You have a dog?" she asked, excited.
"Uh, well, I did."
"Where is he?"
I shrugged. "He, um, I lost him."
I didn't know why I lied to her but I didn't think she should be exposed to exactly what I was and what happened to me. She couldn't have been older than five or six. It felt wrong to tell her about what happened.
"Liam, if you find him, can he come live with us?"
"I don't know, Bridget," Liam said, uneasy.
"But Anna wants him."
"Yeah, well, Anna is a servant," he trailed.
She looked confused by Liam's statement but I was sure she knew what a servant was. It wasn't like I would be the first servant. He had others.
"But why?"
"Because we bought her from the auction house. Come on, Bridget, you know how it works."
"But she's pretty."
Liam half laughed, "That doesn't mean she can't be a servant."
"But you like her."
Liam ran a hand through his hair. I could feel his frustration but he was containing it. I wasn't going to help him here. She was right to question the system even though she was so young.
"She's a nice person-"
"No, you love her," she giggled.
"Stop it, Bridget. Anna is a servant. Nothing more."
Clearly, Bridget didn't like that answer. She pulled her hand away from Liam and came to stand next to me. I couldn't help the satisfaction I felt that someone her age could tell the difference between right and wrong.
"She's not a servant."
"Yes she is."
"No. She's my friend."
"You don't even know her."
"She likes Disney and dogs and she's nice to me."
"There's more to her than that."
"Then you don't think she's a servant. Daddy said that we shouldn't get to know our servants."
"I know what he said. She's a special servant."
"But why can't Zeus live with us too?"
"Ask Dad."
"But Daddy always says yes to you."
"No he doesn't."
"Yeah he does 'cause you're gonna be king."
"Fine. I'll ask him when we get home."
"They went to a party."
"What party?" Liam asked.
She shrugged. "I'm not telling you."
"Why not?"
"Because you're being mean. Is he mean to you, too?" she asked.
I glanced up at Liam for a moment. I knew I could sway her in either direction. Honestly, I wanted him to suffer a little but I knew it wasn't good to be vengeful. I had silently forgiven him for everything that he had done to me and I couldn't harbor resentment. He didn't put me in this situation and I knew that.
"He's just tired. We had a long trip."
"From where?"
"New York."
"You're from New York?"
"No. I'm from California."
"You are?! Did you live at the beach?"
I laughed a little. "No but I went there a lot."
"Liam took me to Disneyland once. We got to stay in the hotel in California Adventure and I got to meet all the princesses."
"That's so cool," I said, humoring her. "What else did you get to do?"
"We went on most of the rides. Sometimes I wasn't big enough but I think I am now."
"What was your favorite?"
"I love Peter Pan! I got to fly in a ship," she said proudly.
I noticed Richard approach with a black bag in his hand.
"Princess," he said. He handed Bridget the bag.
"Come on!" she exclaimed. She grabbed my hand and pulled me to the car.
Before I could get in the car, Liam stopped me by my other wrist. I turned back to look at him but kept any emotion off of my face. I hated my situation but he wasn't fully responsible for it. I couldn't blame him forever. What did I really expect? That he would get to know me and suddenly that would undo years of slavery practices?
"I shouldn't have downplayed what happened to you."
"Yeah, well, what's done is done. Not much I can do to change my situation now."
"Look, Anna-"
"You're next in line to be king. I get it. I know what my place is now. Perhaps you should remember what my place is, too."
"It's not like that."
"Then tell me what it's like. Tell me I'm something more than a charity case," I challenged.
"You're not a charity case."
"Admit it. You felt bad for me and that's why you picked me."
"I don't know why I picked you but I did."
"You know what, I don't care why you picked me anymore. It wouldn't really matter if I did care because as you've pointed out several times, I'm nothing more than a servant."
"It would confuse her if I told her you were different from the other servants."
I dropped my eyes to the black ground. I knew things would be different as soon as we landed but I hadn't really prepared myself for how drastically they would change.
"If you'll let go of my wrist, Your Highness, I'll get back to entertaining your sister."