Hailey had tried to solve the problem on her own as Lavina suggested, but she had never managed to find the strap. Now carrying firewood up to the third floor, her arms itched. The logs shifted uneasily as she climbed up the narrow staircase. She gripped them against her chest even tighter.

As she laid the firewood in the fireplace, she looked down at her arms. Little red bumps covered them and she had splinters in several places. The king and queen shared a massive bedroom with a bed large enough for five people. She wondered if they got lost in all of their blankets. Furs lined the floor on either side of the bed. The view from the doorway that led out onto the balcony was breathtaking. The entire city stretched out below, the lake shimmered to the left and to the right, she could almost make out a patchwork of farms.

Keep moving, Hailey, she thought to herself. She had other rooms to see to. Some of the nobles would be staying in rooms in the castle, the ones who had traveled all the way from Crenalia. Those rooms should have been taken care of, since no one slept in them last night, but she thought she had better check.

The princess’s room was next. It was all done in shades of pink from the curtains that framed her window to the blankets that covered her large bed to the canopy that framed it. Even the paintings in the room seemed to over use that color. The curtains were closed, and Hailey used her shoulder to push them open a little to let in some light. Her hands were black with soot, but she could barely see what she wad doing. After cleaning out the fireplace, she thought of closing the curtains, but how would she manage without getting them dirty? It would be safer to leave them as they were. Besides, the ladies maid would be up here to prepare everything for the princess before Aurora walked in.

She opened the door to one of the guest chambers and found dresses all piled up on the large bed. The fireplace didn’t need cleaning, but she placed fresh logs inside and moved on to the next room.

Maybe when she got done with this floor she would have an opportunity to clean the fireplace in the dining room. Maybe then she would have a chance to see what the princess and the nobles were wearing. She loved looking at the new dresses, even if she would never have one of her own. She tried to imagine how they walked with that many layers of fabric to trip you. They all looked so graceful.

When Hailey was little, Lavina had told her that they were foolish things to want. “Not useful for anything except looking pretty in.” she had told her, but Lavina had been one of the most sensible people Hailey had ever met.

Hailey was climbing up the steps again with another armful of logs when she heard a noise in the corridor. Who was up here? She glanced around and saw no one. All of the nobles should be downstairs celebrating, anyway. She ducked into an alcove and waited, but whoever was laughing did not get any closer. She ignored it and moved on with her tasks, placing all of the split logs on the grate. Finally done, she headed back to the princess’s room to pick up her bucket of ash.

The laughing came closer and Hailey groaned. She recognized that laugh. What was Esmerelda doing here? If she found Hailey, she would just make fun of her again. Hailey ducked into the princess’s room and peered around the doorway. Esmerelda was walking with the young man who had come to the kitchen this morning. It took a moment for Hailey to remember his name. Had all of that been a ruse to get out of chores so she could sneak off with Greg? They passed, Esmerelda with a hand on his arm. In her other hand, she carried the leather strap that Hailey had needed to do her job.

Hailey ground her teeth and balled her hands into fists. She wanted to strangle the older girl, but she knew that if anyone caught her, Esmerelda would claim that she felt bad for Hailey and had come to help. What could she do? She tried to calm her breathing. Nothing right now, but she would come up with something.

Hailey waited. Had Esmerelda been looking for her or had she just been looking for a private place to go walking with Greg. Either way, she would do what she could not to get caught. Probably the latter, she decided. Her fellow kitchen maid may be nothing but trouble, but Hailey doubted that she spent all of there time coming up with schemes to taunt her. More than likely she just had a talent for getting under Hailey’s skin.

Esmerelda’s laughter rang out down the corridor. Good, Hailey thought. She should be far enough away. Leaving the princess’s room and even more careful with the heavy bucket of ash.

She picked up her heavy bucket of ash and headed down the servant’s staircase. On the fourth step down, she paused. She always skipped that step because it creaked so much, but the spiraling wooden staircase could be a slippery. A groove had been worn into the steps. She stepped down, almost missing the fifth step altogether. She gasped, held tight to the bucket of ash and the railing with the other hand. That was a foolish thing to do. Going up the steps was one thing, but tumbling down an entire staircase with a heavy bucket of ash would had left her in bed for days. She could have broken something.

She tried to slow her breathing, to think of something else. She wondered about the curse. So far, the party had gone of ok, even with the lack of servants. She was certain that if something had happened to the princess, she would have heard shrieks. She passed the doorway to the dining room.

Laughter and the smells of good food greeted her. Her legs were still shaky from almost falling down the stairs. Her hands and arms were covered in ash. She stepped out of the door and placed her ash in the wooden bucket. The ash would be used later to make soap.

Heading back to the kitchen, she found the leather strap hanging on the peg where it belonged. She splashed cold water over her hands, getting her sleeves a little wet in the process. At least it got some of the ash and soup out. She grabbed a washcloth, gave a half smile to Margaret, who had been put in charge of turning the spit and headed back upstairs to wipe down anything she had touched, the doorknobs in particular.

If she hurried, she would still have time to help Margaret with some of the chores and share the cake she had hidden away with her. The thought made her smile. She raced up the stairs that had almost killed her, skipping the fourth one from the top and walked into the guest bedrooms.

Once she had everything wiped down in there, she finished up with the king and queen’s bed chamber. She found herself thinking about the curse. Maybe Esmerelda was right and there was nothing to worry about, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something might happen. The princess did have that aura after all.

She heard noises in the hallway and ducked into the princess’s room. She cleaned the doorknob and made sure that nothing else was smudged with soot. How many times was she going to have to hide from Esmerelda?

The voices were getting closer. They sounded serious now, not the giggles she expected. She glanced around the room. Maybe it wasn’t her enemy but she didn’t want to take any chances. There was nowhere to hide. They curtain still hung half opened but they didn’t reach the floor. Someone would see her feet. She dashed under the bed, hoping that the coverlet would be long enough to hide her. A cold wooden floor pressed against her face and chest. She lay still, hoping not to be discovered.

She felt foolish all of the sudden. This didn’t have anything to do with her squabble. She should have just ducked out of the room. It wasn’t like she was doing anything she shouldn’t be. She cursed herself for a fool and lay still. Why were there so many people in the princess’s chambers? It didn’t make any sense. Shouldn’t all these people be part of the party? She tried to slow the thumping of her heart. Whatever they were doing in here, they might be hiding from the king and queen. Maybe it was lucky that she was here. She could find out whatever they were planning. She felt a righteous anger burn within her. Whoever these people were, they had no business coming in to the princess’s rooms.