Six

Ironing Princess Ava’s heavy traditional dresses was harder than Arya had thought when she switched roles with Mercy. She should’ve been the one to accompany the princess on her visit to one of the orphanages in the island but she’d not been in the mood to travel. As an orphan herself, meeting a bunch of little children who had lost their parents might bring back so many memories and probably make her cry in public. Not a good sight. Besides, she had to keep watch and monitor everything that happened in the palace. How else would she find out who had tried to attack her and why?

Arya gasped when she realized she had paused and there was a hint of burning cloth smell. She swiftly turned up the flat iron and luckily, the cloth was of hard material and it hadn’t burnt. The white had now developed a hint of cream but since it was on the inside petticoats of the dress, the princess wouldn’t be finding that out soon.

A few minutes later, Arya had completed her tasks and put everything in a laundry basket. She went to the head house keeper and together they delivered the items to the princess’ room which was more like a suite. There were two bedrooms, one reserved for the princess’s best friend whenever she stayed over. There was a closet that went on forever with both modern and traditional attire and accessories stocked to the maximum. A studio with a glass wall topped it all. The princess liked to paint but the maids had the paintings were amateur and she just held on to the hobby to sound cool. One even said that she had paid expert ghost painters for some of the good paintings.

“Let’s go,” the housekeeper told when she caught her staring at the door to the studio.

“Can I have a look?” Arya asked, feeling an urge to enter and check out the paintings clearly and give her own judgment. She had heard so much about them that she wanted to feed her curiosity.

“Not today,” she said. “Let’s go have lunch.”

The maids were talking in lowered tones when they entered the kitchen. The conversation died down as soon as they saw Candela and Arya.

“Arya,” Mercy said. “Your boyfriend is waiting for you outside the gates.”

“It’s been like four days since you got here and he wants to see you already,” Jessa commented. “What a lover.”

“I don’t know why he is here but this should be the last time he comes here,” Candela informed Arya. “You all have off days, one day per week. That’s when you see your friends and family. I’ll let you go only because you’re a newbie.”

“Thank you, candela.” Arya said and removed her apron leaving her white collared black uniform on. She walked speedily, wondering what Kalen thought was so urgent he had to pretend to be her boyfriend. Ever since that day they spoke on phone, she hadn’t picked up his calls. She had been so busy learning how to be a good maid and was always too exhausted to deal with his questions.

She was mad that he would risk his life in such a way. If the queen mother, Orianna realized who she was, he’d be dead in seconds and this whole plan would have been useless.

She found him leaning on the outside of the towering gate. 

“What are you doing here, Kalen?” she inquired. 

He said nothing but threw his arms around her. “I was worried about you. How dare you refuse to pick up my calls?”

“I was busy,” she pulled away from his embrace. 

He sighed. “I couldn’t sleep yesterday because I was worrying about you but now it turns out you were too busy with royal life to pick the calls of a peasant like me.”

Her lips parted. “But I told I could take care of myself. Even you know that.”

“I’m sorry for trying to patronize you last time. I truly regret it and I hope you can forgive me.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “Now that you’ve seen I’m fine, I guess we can do that on my off day.”

“I missed you,” he said. 

“I missed you, too.”

And she did. But probably not as much as he did. She didn’t have time to miss him but his shift was only five hours long. She wondered what he did during the time he was free. Watch television? She knew he didn’t pick up random girls like most men of his age who weren’t in relationships.

Five months back, he had confessed that he’d fallen in love with her over the years. Given his reserved nature, it had taken a lot of bravery for him to let out his feelings. Arya had listened awkwardly for she did not shared his sentiments. Had always been like her brother, is mother hers and she had always thought it would be like that. When he confessed, she didn’t know what to say. 

All she could do was tell the truth. It was painful seeing him in pain and she wished there was a way to prevent him from feeling that way. It was impossible even to reduce it. He had become distant for a while and it was okay. She tried to see if it could but it didn’t. Ultimately, she was going to feel bad.

She hugged him gain for it seemed his feelings hadn’t changed one bit since the first time h confessed. “I’m sorry for not keeping in touch.”

They broke away after a few seconds. “My lunch is waiting for me.” 

“By the way, have you spoken to Patrick?”

“No, why?”

“I have not seen him since that day he was here.”

“And you’re just telling me now?”

“Well, you weren’t picking up my calls so how did you expect me to get the information to you?”

“Oh well. She might have killed him. That witch.”

“I told you it was a bad idea.”

“Can we just try to find a solution?”

“It possible that she paid him off. She couldn’t have killed him here.”

“I don’t know. This place is pretty dangerous. That’s why I’ve been telling you to leave but you’re extremely stubborn.”

“Okay, I have to go now.”