I never expected her to be his... fiance. Then again, this shouldn't come as a surprise to me. It was only a matter of time before he would be betrothed. The news hit me like a ton of bricks from the shock it's given me. I can just imagine my expression, with my eyes wide and mouth hanging open. Wait, this shouldn't bother me! I shake my head, ridding myself of these strange thoughts.

"Adora, this is our head maid, Mona Zinger. She will be helping you with anything you need." Queen Madia says, gesturing her hand to the smiling Mona.

"Lovely to meet you, Lady Adora." Mona says in her fake sweet tone. Adora gives her a hand shake, and shoves her coat into Mona's arms in the process.

"Thank you, Mona." She doesn't even give her a smile as she looks back at Fredrick.

"But I am sure my Freddy will help me with anything I need. Right, honey?" Her hand snakes its way to his neck as she plays with his hair. My eye twitches at the site, almost making me want to gag.

"Of course.. honey." Why is he acting so strange?

"Mona, get one of your maids to bring the luggage to their rooms." The Queen commands.

Mona immediately throws the coat into a random maid's arms and stands in front of the ten of us. She intently looks at all the maids, trying to decipher which one to choose. I keep my head down, hiding my face in my shawl, as I always do. I then see a pair of black flats standing before me, as they are dangerously close to my own. Sweat threatens to spill off my brow as I stand there, motionless.

"Maid, go get the luggage." I look up to see an evil smirk appear on Mona's face, with it inches away from mine.

I quickly nod my head, and rush to the luggage, which was graciously placed at the entrance.

"Are you sure want her to get it? She is a twig, a lifeless leaf. I wouldn't want to strain her arms," Lady Adora says with strange concern.

I look up to see that everyone is looking at me, waiting for my reaction. The Queen and Mona have sly smiles on their smug faces, as if they purposely want to embarrass me. Lady Adora and the tall man look confused, while Fredrick is apparently now noticing that I'm here.

What they don't know is that I have carried many things that are pounds heavier than these bags of hers. I'm determined to prove them wrong, and I pick up the bags with ease. Not only her and the man's bags, but Fredrick's as well. A small chuckle comes from Fredrick, as the other's faces are priceless. All of their mouth's are hanging open, with a shocked look in their eyes. His mother glares at him, which he responds to by gaining back his composure. With my head held high, I walk down the hallway to Fredrick's room. I hear voices coming from the, used to be, silent room. Which means they are conversing once again.

I open the door to Fredrick's put-together room, the faint smell of him sending my heart a jolt. I walk over to his white chair, and place his bags on the floor. I look to find one more bag that's his still hanging on my arm. The bag must have become unzipped during the ride here, as I can see a familiar red and gold box peeking out. Odd, why would he bring the box back? I'm tempted to open it, just to see what's inside. The urge grows until it takes over me as I reach my hand into the brown bag. My fingers just brush the top, until I hear the door creak open.

Zipping the bag quickly, I get up to see the Queen menacingly standing inches away from me. Fear ensnares me in it's clutches as Queen Madia tightly grips my arm. She drags me into the bathroom, and carelessly throws me onto the ground. My knees are scraped for sure, but she doesn't care. She kicks my side over and over again, spewing words at me with each one.

"You disgusting piece of trash!"

"How dare you disrespect Lady Adora like that!"

An agonizing pain rushes through my body, as I desperately try to grab onto the bathroom mat for help. It feels like an eternity until she finally stops. She grabs the collar of my dress and roughly pulls me up.

"Never do that again." She harshly whispers. She lets go and stomps to the door. "Get cleaned up and help serve lunch." With that, she leaves.

A run away tear falls from my face, landing on the marbled floor. The mere sight of it makes me want to scream and cry in frustration, which hasn't happened in a very long time. I used to cry myself to sleep every night, wishing I could have a better life. Hoping that there was a green pasture at the end of my dry season. Once I knew that season would never happen, I made an oath to myself at the age of sixteen. I would never cry because of that nasty human being again. I will NOT give her the satisfaction of my tears. The memory makes me stand tall and suck it up. The pain brings back the older bruises, almost making me want to pass out on the already stained floor.

I clean them up, as well as my blood stained dress. Some cold water took most of the stain right out. I refresh my face with a splash warm water, making sure to erase any evidence of tear shed. I look up to see my face in the mirror. My lavender-like eyes are tinted red from the tears that wanted to fall. This will never happen again.

I walk out of that room with my face fully hidden from the world around me. Today's been bad enough, I don't need a certain someone telling me how ugly I am.

I run to the dining room, where everyone is already seated. The table is nicely dressed with a white embroidered table cloth. The elegant crystal plates make it look even more put together, as they match the royal cups.

I sneak my way to the kitchen, where I carefully tie my apron on. As soon as I secure it, Mona rushes in and hands me a mountain of sandwiches on a large silver platter. I hold it up high as I bring it to the table, using every ounce of my being to not drop this plate. The weight puts pressure on my arm, thus hurting the rest of me. I carefully place the little sandwiches in the middle of the long table, where they will be easily accessible for grabbing. As I comfortably set them down, a pain pierces through my side, making me drop the plate. It's as if everything is going in slow motion. The mountain tumbles onto Lady Adora, with them falling in her lap and face. Mona's face is full of rage, and the Queen is motionless. The plump man looks furious and Fredrick is in deep shock.

Adora lets out a shriek as she abruptly stands to her feet. The sauce from the sandwiches got all over her dress and face. Her hair has pieces of ham and bread hanging on the ends. The King stands as well, looking very apologetic.

"Lady Adora, are you okay?" She heaves a heavy sigh and regains her composure.

"I am fine, thank you." She utters, taking deep breathes as she looks at the horror scene in front of her.

"King William, this maid is obviously not right in the head! I hope you punish her with extra work for this tremendous incident!" The plump man says, trying to help Adora with her dress.

"Sir Louis, I assure you that she will be rightfully punished." The Queen smirks as evil intentions ghost her words.

"It was a just mere accident. I'm sure it wasn't on purpose," Fredrick finally says, worry seeping through his eyes.

"Oh, it was no accident! People like her would be put to death if it were up to me." Sir Louis expresses, pointing at the nothing that is me as embarrassment takes over my being.

Even though I know that my side is hurting, I walk up to Lady Adora, look her straight in the eye... and bow.

"Lady Adora, I am so sorry to have troubled you. I truly did not mean to drop the sandwiches on you. Please accept my small apology, for it is all I can offer."

The room is now without a word or sound to be heard. I start to clench because of the pain, but I immediately straighten up. I look up and see a fork hiding in the Queen's hand. The reason for me dropping the plates was because she stabbed me with the fork!

"I suppose I accept." Adora finally says without a shred of emotion.

I stand up and say, "Thank you."

After that, I was left alone to pick up the mess. The sauce really did get everywhere. It somehow made it to the wall and neighboring chairs. The others went outside to enjoy the rest of the day, for the rain had finally stopped, whilst I cleaned up. I did end up getting more chores to do. I am now finishing one of the useless bathrooms they have for no one to use. I need rest, badly. My bruises are never going to heal. But, I need to finish cleaning before getting any rest. So instead of going to sleep, I go to my window. My only place of rest.

As I arrive to the window, it appears as if someone beat me to it. There is a masculine figure sitting on the ground, with his head tilted downwards to the garden. He looks back and gives me a warm smile. A smile that I've missed. His real smile.

"Hello, Lily!"