Thursday night was horrible and as a result the dates were moved to Saturday, i.e. today, instead. It was the first time in my life that I'd ever been truly scared of what could have happened.
Flo could have died, hell, she almost did. I couldn't even think about what would have happened if Hardin hadn't have run in after me.
There was no way I would have been able to have carried Flo and we both probably would have died.
Flo was still in the hospital buts he was recovering well. I saw her early this morning and she was her usually peppy self, trying to boost up my confidence for tonight.
Tonight, where I was hopefully going to have my first date.
I was appointed a new maid called Helga, but less than a couple of hours with her and I already hated her. I swear she learnt her manners off Ivy.
She was always judging every single thing I dis and she pulled this awful face if I stuffed my face with ice cream because my friend almost died in a fire and it just dawned on me that the guy I like was I n a relationship with four other girls.
I was currently trying to paint my own toe nails, something I'd never done since Lilia used to do them for me, and it was going terribly wrong. For one, I think I used the wrong colour.
I wanted a simple pearl white just so my nails would shimmer but this looked more like yellow and the paint was practically all over my toe apart from on my actual toe nail. I'd also got half the paint on my hands and a bunch of tissues that are coated with the paint too.
I did ask my maid for help but I received three angry grunts as a response and then she muttered something in a language I didn't understand, before starting to clean my bathroom.
Several knocks sounded on my door and I screwed the lid back onto the nail polish, but my maid came rushing in and opened it up before I could even get off my bed.
The one thing this woman did well was answering the door. She was like a cheetah when she heard a knock.
"Oh hi, you must be Flo's replacement. I'm Prince Hardin, here to see Arabella. Lovely to meet you," Hardin politely put out his hand for Helga to shake but she instead she grabbed a basket full of laundry and left the room.
"Wow she's um.."
"Rude, angry, grumpy, looks like she would rather be in hell than here with me." I recited, blowing on my toes in an attempt to make them dry faster.
"Yep, that practically sums her up. What's wrong with her? What did you do?" Hardin shut the door and then walked over, sitting himself down on my bed.
"I did nothing, I swear. She just hates me, and all people I guess." I shrugged, remembering her cold behaviour towards Xander earlier on.
"Well anyways, I came here to check up on you. Last night was...hard for a lot of people, especially you. You almost died."
"So did you." I pointed out.
"My father isn't happy with the both of us. He thinks you were stupid to run in and I was foolish for chasing after you." I recalled the harsh glare the King gave me, just before I was escorted back into the Palace.
"And you? Do you think I was stupid for running in? Do you regret coming in after me?" I held my breath as I waited for his reply.
"No, I would run into a thousand burning buildings if you were in danger." Something in his tone told me he was completely serious.
"Just, please let the guards do their job next time." I rolled my eyes.
"I'm not sure about that. Flo would have died if we didn't save her."
"Correction, if you didn't save her." He moved a little closer, his shoulder bumping against mine.
"I wouldn't have been able to save her unless you picked her up,"
"I wouldn't have been able to save her unless you found her," We both grinned at each other and then I bashfully looked away.
"I think it's pretty clear that we make a good team." I nodded in agreement, my eyes focusing on my screwed up nail polish.
"What happened to your toes? It looks like a child painted them with a paintbrush..and had a blindfold on." He chuckled, reaching over and pinching my big toe.
"Shut up!" I giggled, trying to push him away as he continued to tickle my toes. Eventually he stopped and we slipped into a comfortable silence.
"Do you know what caused the fire?" I whispered, my voice breaking slightly as Flo's limp body came to mind.
"We aren't sure but we think it's rebels." I gasped in horror, and the look on Hardin's face was one of fear.
Everyone knew that there were rebels running around the sectors, since many people disliked the way Dahlia was run, but never had I witnessed an actually attack.
"Do they do this often? Attack the Palace, I mean?" He sighed as if recalling past memories.
"We get at least three attacks a year. My theory is that they did it because of the competition. They're not very happy that I'm trying to find a bride." He paused for a moment.
"Look if I tell you something, you have to swear you won't tell anyone."
"I promise." I said sincerely.
"Well I've been getting threats, me and my father. Notes and letters saying things like if we don't give up the crown they kill us or they'll bomb the sectors if we don't hand over control to them. Yesterday I got another and it said end the competition or else we won't miss next time."
"They wanted to kill somebody?" I breathed out, not really believing what I was hearing right now.
"Yes, I think they wanted to kill one of you. They hate the idea of me having a queen since that means more heirs and more of my bloodline. They even have the nerve to threaten my future children and wife. They say horrible things like they will rape my wife and kill my children in-front of me. It's all talk but it's still scary to think about."
I couldn't even begin to imagine your potential family being threatened. The family you wish to have, being threatened simply because of your title.
"Wow your life really is dangerous."
"There are risks with being a royal, but the perks are pretty great too."
"And what are the perks?" I whispered, leaning in closer as my hand slowly crept up and held his.
Then the door slammed open.
"Out now. Girl needs beauty rest. Not sleep last night well." Helga practically screamed, pointing at the open door. Hardin sighed and pecked my cheek, before rushing out without a second glance back.
I didn't 't blame him though, Helga was scary.
"Sleep. Nap, now!" She ordered and just like that I tucked myself into bed and closed my eyes, quickly falling into a deep slumber.
***
"Ari, Ari, Ari," A wave of cold water washed over me and I shot up, coughing and spluttering as I did. I quickly wiped my eyes with the back of my sleeve and looked up.
No it couldn't be, I had to be dreaming.
"Flo?" I said in a panicked and wary voice. My hand reached out to touch her, just to make sure she was real, and I gasped when I made contact with her arm.
"Boo!" She suddenly screamed, causing me to shriek in fright. She suddenly burst out into laughter and hunched over holding her stomach.
"What are you doing here?" I asked in concern, my eyes scanning her body to make sure she was clear of injuries.
"You really think I would miss this? I know the Prince is besotted with you and I know for a fact that he would have chose you last time if it wasn't for that bi.."
"Flo okay I get it, but you're sick. You should be resting." She shrugged her shoulders and spun around about five times.
" See I'm fine. Now I'm thinking pink or green or black or....what the hell are those?" She shouted, utterly horrified as she stared at my feet.
"Oh, I tried to paint them myself."
"Oh god okay, first things first, we fix that mess and then get you ready for the date of your life."
"Sounds like a plan." I exclaimed, swinging my legs out of the covers.
She got to work, gently removing the sticky mess I made and the reapplying a softer tone of nail polish. She did my fingernails as well, before moving onto hair and makeup.
As usual my raven tresses were tightly coiled and flowing down my back like a waterfall. Flo grabbed two sections of hair from either side of my face and then plaited each one until they met in the middle, where she then somehow tied them together and secures it to the back of my head with about a million bobby pins.
My make up look was quite simple with the exception of my eyes and lips. Flo painted my lips blood red, and lined them with a burgundy lip liner. For my eyes, she applied a thick wing using black eyeliner and then a thin layer of bright red eyeshadow on top. She went over it again with a darker shade and then applied some gold shimmer directly underneath my eyebrow.
I looked beautiful. For the first time in weeks, I felt beautiful again.
"You really need a haircut," Flo muttered under her breath as she sprayed a can of hairspray all over me.
"I like my long hair. It's nice." For as long as I could remember, I'd only ever cut my hair three times and each time I screamed my lungs out.
"Well, you're not the one who has to style it." I snorted out a laugh.
True. I couldn't even imagine myself trying to tackle my jungle of hair.
"Dress time, I had it ordered before I came up here. It should be right here," Just like that, she pulled out a stunning floor length gown.
The same shade of red as my lips and it had a plunging v-neck with thin spaghetti straps and two long slits, showcasing my tanned legs.
"Wow it's..it's.." I choked on my own words, still in awe of the dress I was supposed to wear in-front of the entire kingdom in less than ten minutes.
"It's gorgeous, it's sexy, it'll make the Prince want to rip it right of your hot bod."
"Hot bod? Who are you and what did you do with Flo?" I laughed, slipping on the gown. The soft silk material fit my body perfectly, and showcased my hour glass figure.
"I just realised that I want to live my life the way I want to live it. I want to speak the way I want to speak. Nearly dying opened up my eyes for me." I looked down and it broke my heart a little to speak the words.
"So, are you going to leave?"
"What?"
"Well, you can't want to live you life as a maid right? You have dreams, aspirations." She laughed quietly, as she zipped up the back of my dress.
"My mother was a maid, her mother before that was a maid, her mother was a maid. This is in my blood and yeah, there are some bad things that come with the job but there are also wonderful things too. I met you, right? You're different from anyone else I've served before, I love working for you and when you become Queen, I'll be honoured to be your official hand maiden." My heart warmed at her speech.
"When, don't you mean if?"
"No, I mean when. You are already the winner in my eyes, and I know for a fact you will be my Queen someday."
"Whatever," I chuckled, putting in my sapphire red earrings that weighed down my ears like a ton of bricks.
"Wow, you look beautiful. I have a good feeling about tonight." Xander said, shutting the door behind him. I have a good feeling too.
"Hurry up and do your stupid handshake thing so we can leave." Me and Astrid glanced over at Xander, before breaking out into laughter.
"We only do that for competitions, not the dates, otherwise we'll get jinxed." I quickly put on my black heels and then patted Xander on the back, as I walked over to the door.
"Are you coming, we're going to be late?" I taunted, trying to desperately not to laugh my face off. He grumbled something incoherent under his breath and then stormed out.
Note to self, piss Xander off more, it's funny.
Me and Flo laughed once more and then I ran as I fast as I could to catch up to him. We quickly rush down the winding corridors until we reached the familiar set of doors leading to the ballroom.
Xander whispered good luck and walked away, leaving me with my nerves. No matter how many times I did this, I was always going to be nervous.
Yet this time, it was the good kind of nerves. The ones that made me feel butterflies.
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A/N: Ready for their first ever date! It's been a long time coming!
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