Chapter 5
LIZ
It was like a vivid dream I had in the middle of a particularly good night’s sleep, one that was filled with happiness and things that would never, ever happen to me in real life.
Except they were happening, and I was living it.
With Kyle.
“Welcome to my humble home,” Benjamin said, his voice soft but proud.
“Humble?” I echoed. Then I shut my mouth when I realized the bodyguard who had been on the plane with us—a bald, muscular guy named Willis—gave me a disapproving look. Right. No talking to royal men that way. I focused on staring at the front lawn instead, where the limousine dropped us off.
It was huge. It was also so perfectly manicured that it somehow didn’t look real. We’d arrived from London to this charming little place in Northern Europe called Osmerol just around dawn, but even then, there were already gardeners outside trimming bush edges and watering the colorful flowers, which meant everything here, was indeed real. My gaze then zoned in on the palace in front of me, the one Benjamin referred to as his humble home.
It was made of marble and gold—a white thing with large columns, stone staircases, and a grand balcony in front filled with tall marble vases and even more gorgeous flowers. I supposed that was where the royal family stood for photo shoots and such, and I couldn’t help glancing at Benjamin again, who looked…well, bored. On my other side, Kyle was speechless, his eyes wide with awe.
I couldn’t exactly blame him because I was pretty sure I had the same expression.
“I can’t believe you ran away from this,” I muttered.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Nothing, Your Highness,” I said pleasantly. “I do thank you for taking me and my brother back here.”
“Quit with the formalities,” he admonished, then shot a warning look at Willis. “And tell my brother she can keep calling me Ben for all I care.”
So that unpleasant, rude man really was his brother. A part of me wondered where he was and why he didn’t come with us, while the other part of me was just relieved.
Before I knew it, we were ushered in, with Benjamin walking down the front doors and Willis directing Kyle and me to the side—for propriety, they said, because some people were apparently really big on formalities. Willis eased up on me once we got inside, allowing us to gawk at our surroundings before he politely advised me that the head housekeeper would be briefing me about the job.
Nerves simmered, but I didn’t allow it to show as I flashed the bodyguard a smile. This was a once-in-a-lifetime offer, one I almost didn’t take because Benjamin’s brother’s words cut to the core and had me wanting to hold on to my pride more than anything. But the look on Kyle’s face…it was everything, and I realized I would gladly lose any pride for him.
The area Willis left us in was a room that had many doors, with a grand door to the side. Unable to resist, Kyle and I peeked out that door and found a large foyer that had vases of flowers everywhere, wide, lush carpeting and marble tiles polished to perfection. There were crystal chandeliers that glinted with gold, and everything was so staggeringly understated with elegance.
“Miss Liz?”
Kyle jumped away first, then hid behind me. I closed the large door as quietly as I could and turned to face the speaker, who was a middle-aged woman wearing slacks and a white blouse. She carried a clipboard in one hand and looked at me expectantly.
I smiled and held out a hand. “It’s Elizabeth Pippins. Are you the head housekeeper?”
There was a moment of silence while she looked at my hand as if examining it thoroughly. Her nose wrinkled a bit before she turned to give me a cool stare. “Miss Pippins, I’d like to speak with you about your new job and responsibilities before you get settled in. Follow me. And please don’t go peeking without permission next time. There might be guests on the main hall, and it’s quite disrespectful.”
Then she opened one of the smaller doors, slipped in and kept it open for us to follow—well, for me to follow.
I already had a strike two, and I hadn’t even gotten to working yet.
I didn’t know if it was just me, but I was pretty sure I felt the housekeeper’s dislike for me radiating in waves. It should have discouraged me.
Instead, I straightened my back and followed, determined to think positive and push through.
For Kyle.
* * *
Everyone disliked me.
Well, not everyone, but certainly a lot of people did. One week in and I managed to spill tea only once—except it was on the queen, and Benjamin had to defend me from facing her wrath and getting fired. It was special treatment at its finest, one that the head housekeeper witnessed with her sharp eyes, and one that the queen watched with her lips pursed.
It spread throughout the palace, especially when Benjamin waited for the queen to leave before pulling me aside and telling me to take it easy…right in front of the same disapproving housekeeper. My cheeks flooded with heat, even while I admired the way the prince looked handsome in his crisp suit. Then I was telling him that it was fine, and I didn’t want any special treatment from him or anyone else.
But it was too late.
By the time my second week in the palace had arrived, everyone was either avoiding me like the plague, gossiping about my special connection to Benjamin, or openly being derisive and being flat out rude. It was harrowing, to say the least—and by the time I received my nth lecture from Mrs. Bing, the head housekeeper, I was already clued into all the possible insults floating behind my back.
Do not think that your connections will get you anywhere but where you are.
We do not tolerate slacking off from a lowly maid when hundreds could replace you.
You are a liability we don’t need.
I let them all wash over me and just did my work, shielding Kyle from the situation as much as I could. But there was really no big shielding involved, because, for some reason, no one disliked my brother. In fact, his quiet ways seemed to intimidate them at first, enough to leave him alone. Then he used his quiet, polite ways to talk to them and volunteer to help around, and by the end of the second week, everyone raved about what a great boy he was and people took him under their wing.
It made me feel relieved because Kyle never really had company other than me. He’d been very nervous at first coming here, but as the days went by, he began to explore around and found his most favorite spot in the world: the library, where he would spend hours reading, then cleaning up. Because no one bothered him and the royals didn’t really go in that area, I let him be and tried to find ways to keep myself preoccupied, of which there were plenty.
Like cleaning.
Cleaning the palace was different from cleaning the diner or offices—another one of my side gigs—mostly because while the palace was so big, it wasn’t necessarily dirty, and there were so many servants and cleaners that it was a wonder why they even let me stay. Still, I did my best to prove myself, especially with my assigned tasks: cleaning guest rooms, some bathrooms and delivering tea to her majesty every afternoon. For someone who was so graceful-looking, the queen was intimidating as hell, and I tried not to make the same mistake that I did before.
“Hey, new girl. Want some tea with those deep thoughts of yours?”
The words startled me from scrubbing the floor in one of the guestrooms. I looked up and found a familiar face—one of the young maids who was blond and didn’t glare at me like the others. Or at all for that matter. I stood up and eyed her warily, wiping the sweat from my brow and trying to look professional.
“Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t see you. I’ve been trying to get a stain out.”
I expected a scathing remark and was surprised when the woman giggled instead. She held out a hand. “I’m Darla. You’re Elizabeth, right?”
“Yes, Elizabeth. Liz for short. Nice to meet you.” I shook her hand, then waited for her to wander off. She didn’t, instead sitting on the bed as she eyed me watchfully.
“So are you really the prince’s friend?”
This was gossip at its finest, and I wasn’t even sure we should be discussing it. I wasn’t sure what Darla’s intentions were. But she looked pretty sincere, so I decided to just let some of the caution go.
“He had some trouble in the city, and I helped him out. Being hired as a maid…it’s sort of repayment. But I really want to do good work, too, and not to rely on his kindness.”
“Sweetie, I would so rely on him if I had that kind of connection. Has he tried seducing you?”
I blinked. “Seducing me?”
There must have been something on my face because Darla’s eyes widened. “Oh. Oh. Never mind. So you’re really friends, huh? Well. Can I give you some tips?”
I eyed her doubtfully. “Wouldn’t you get in trouble?”
“From?”
“The other maids. Everyone working here.”
She waved a hand, getting it instantly. “You mean those bitches? Don’t mind them. They’re just jealous of you.”
“And you’re not?”
It was a daring question, and Darla appeared startled. But then she grinned. “I’m curious about you, not jealous. So I want to give you tips.”
“What kind of tips?”
“Ignore all the snide comments. They’ll pass. It always happens when someone pretty and new comes along, especially if the prince takes a liking to them.”
“I plan to,” I said.
“Good. And don’t go to the west wing at night.”
“West wing?”
“Yes. That’s where the two princes reside every night.”
I tried to process that information in my head, but it didn’t sit well. I also didn’t want to ask too much, though there was one question that nagged at me. “I wanted to ask you something.”
“Yes?”
“What’s the royal family like?”
Darla tilted her head, leaning even more on the bed. Her body was curvaceous, suiting the maid uniform we wore perfectly. I stifled the urge to tell her that I just changed the sheets, not wanting to make any further enemies.
“The queen is a force to be reckoned with. The crown prince is one of the kindest people on the planet. The bastard prince, well…”
“Bastard prince?”
“He’s a half-sibling. His mother was an entertainer, I heard. And he’s quite a personality. You’ll soon see why.”
I already knew why, but I kept my mouth shut. I wanted to ask more, wanted her to elaborate, but I didn’t want to seem too eager. So I smiled.
“Thanks for letting me know. I hope we can be friends.”
She bounced around on the mattress, then beamed and said she hoped so, too. It was such a random conversation, but I realized with a start that it eased off my deep thoughts and had me breathing in relief for the first time in a while.
At least not everyone hated me here.
I completed some more of my tasks, then returned to my maid chambers and tried to get ready for bed. Since we arrived here, Kyle and I retained our usual routine of telling each other how our day went, and it was one I looked forward to as it eased whatever loneliness I felt.
But I didn’t find him in the room. I wandered over to the library, prepared to scold him for reading so late.
He wasn’t there, either.
Anxiety slid over me, especially at Darla’s words. What if the bastard prince spotted him and did something rude again? My back went up at the thought.
What if the queen found him and decided to throw us out?
Not good.
With a sigh, I started my search and hoped against hope I’d find him before I was in full panic mode.