Serendipity ✔

VI

"Good girls, hopeful they'll be, and long they will wait."

♫ Sad Beautiful Tragic - Taylor Swift  ♫

♛

Madam Mary woke up the next morning in a bright mood. After getting herself ready for the day, she decided to cover for Anna and let the girl rest for a bit. On her way to the kitchen, she bumped into another maid who looked slightly dazed. 

"What must be on your mind, Miss Jane?" she asked the other maid.

"Have you not heard, Madam Mary?" she asked in disbelief, looking at the elderly maid with wide eyes. "Prince Alexander danced with the most beautiful of princesses last night." 

Madam Mary's curiosity grew bigger and bigger during the morning. All everybody seemed to do was talk about the night from before. Something was bubbling inside the maid's stomach. A little voice in her mind fueled the possibility of, perhaps, the young maid Anna dancing with the Prince. But, she quickly dismissed those thoughts. 

From the corner of her eye, she saw someone running towards her. She soon discovered that it was the servant Marcus. 

"Slow down, boy," she scolded him. "Her Royal Majesty does not like people running in her castle."

"Have you heard, Madam Mary?" Marcus breathlessly asked, strands of his jet black hair falling against his forehead. "Have you?"

The elderly maid found out the truth at that exact moment.

"Oh, Annabelle."

  ♛  

By noon, everybody in the castle was talking about Princess Annabelle Grey. Luckily for the poor young maid, nobody had noticed it was her. Madam Mary, having felt Annabelle's absence, quickly went to their room to find her. To her relief, Annabelle was wrapped up in her bed sheets. 

But, she was not sleeping still.

"Sweet Anna," said the elderly maid after she saw the look on Annabelle's face. "What have you gotten yourself into?"

"So you have heard." Annabelle's voice was merely a whisper as she covered her face with her hands. 

"Word sure travels fast around this castle," Madam Mary sat down next to the girl and stroked her hair. "I also heard that you left the poor prince." 

"How could I have stayed, Madam Mary?" she uncovered her face and the maid pitied the girl after seeing her sad green eyes. "How could I have forgotten I am just a maid, a simple commoner?"

"Annabelle," Madam Mary wiped the tears that fell from the maid's cheeks. It was the first time she had ever seen the girl so vulnerable. "The prince has been looking everywhere for you." 

"What?" Annabelle asked in disbelief but a small part of her did believe that. It was no doubt both of them felt something the previous night. The thought of never seeing him again in that light brought even more sadness to her eyes.

"He has, Annabelle." The elderly maid kept trying to cheer her up. 

"To what use?" she cried. "If he finds out I am not a princess but a worker in his castle, there is no doubt he'd change his mind."

She wished that the elderly maid would say something, anything, to cheer her up after that sentence. When the maid seemed at loss of words, the hope that Annabelle was holding on completely faded away.  

"Oh, my dear," Madam Mary wrapped her arms around Annabelle's petite figure. "If only I could do something to help you."

  ♛  

By the time supper came around, the rumors were either very intense or very silly. Some said the princess who danced with Alexander was already married. Some said she was a man in disguise. Everybody tried to find explanations on why the young girl had run away from none other than the prince. 

Luckily, nobody was ever close to the truth. 

"What is all this chit chat?" Her Majesty had had enough of the servants and maids blabbering about her son and not doing their chores. She looked at Annabelle, who had her back turned to her and was cleaning the windows, and pointed one long finger at her. "Let that young girl serve as an example for every single one of you."

The maids scrambled to their tasks as soon as Queen Katherine left their common place. It was no doubt that Her Majesty had an extremely soft heart but, she was very strict when it came to work.  

Miss Jane, who liked to think of herself as a head maid even though no one had assigned that, started ordering everyone around. "Anna," her rough voice called out to the young maid, "You are to bring supper to the Royal family."

Annabelle looked at Madam Mary in panic. 

"I can do that, Miss Jane," Madam Mary offered when she saw the look on Annabelle's face. Miss Jane shook her head and humorlessly laughed. "I need you to fold the linens, Madam Mary. Annabelle is just as capable to serve the food."

Annabelle sighed and pushed the cart with supper food down the hall. She nodded at her friend as if to tell her she appreciated her effort. Alas, she could not hide forever. 

Taking a deep breath and opening the big dining room's door, she found only two of the Royal family seated at the huge table. Her thoughts immediately went to the prince, who was missing from the occasion. 

He never missed family suppers. 

After carefully setting the plates down on the table, she turned to face the King and Queen. 

"Is there anything else I can do for you, your Majesties?" 

The Queen started ordering Annabelle to go and bring a plate of supper to the prince's room, when the door opened and in came the very prince.

"No need for that, mother."