Beautifully Invisible #Wattys2019

Chapter 6

"Spill what?" I ask innocently as I rip the dress back from Alice so I can finish folding it.

"You know what I'm talking about!" Alice then gasps at her 'realization'. "Did you lie to us when you said you weren't allowed to see the Prince?!" I profusely shake my head, not wanting her to think such drastic thoughts.

"No! It's not like that at all!"

"Then what is it?" She puts her hands on her hips, tapping her fingertips against her sides.

I tell her what had happened just a few days ago, starting from the day I cleaned his room to today's extraordinary events. She has an interested expression throughout the whole talk, allowing me to tell the story.

"Please don't say anything to anyone. I'll be sent to the dungeon for sure if this were to ever get out." After that, I notice her interested expression disappear and in came a mischievous smirk. The second I see the sudden change, I panic, thinking 'Oh no, what is she thinking?' "What?" She wiggles her eyebrows at me, "Alice, what are you thin-" before I can even finish my sentence, she busts out with,

"That is the cutest thing I have ever heard!" I stare at her in disbelief. What in the crazy world is wrong with this girl? "You guys are so adorable!" She says with her English accent shining through.

"There's something seriously wrong with you." I give her a deadpan look, trying to ignore the nonsense that's escaping her mouth. She grabs the yellow dress I'm folding, and jumps on top of the nearby well. She holds the dress up to her chest as she dreamily sways and dances on the stoned well.

"Imagine, Lily! You and the Prince dancing together? It's just like the folk tales I heard as a little girl! The poor girl and rich boy fall in love. Who knows! Maybe, one day, you'll be wearing these dresses that are more expensive than our own houses!" 

I quietly laugh at her swaying, rolling my eyes at her eccentric idea. At some point of me getting lost in my own thoughts, Alice grabs my hand and brings me up with her. After pestering me for countless minutes, I finally come out of my shell and start to dance with her. I grab a dark red dress and mimic her movements on the well. Sometimes, it's nice to act like a kid. Because my childhood was literally stripped away from me at a very young age.

As we laugh hysterically, I accidentally slip and fall into the shallow well, bringing Alice with me.

"MAID!!" I faintly hear. I swear, that woman has the lungs of a howler monkey.

"Ugh, great." I scramble out of that well like there's a turkey dinner waiting for me inside. 

I put my hand out to help Alice, only to be rejected.

"Go ahead! I'll clean the dresses." 

With a thankful smile, I run inside. My dress is heavily hanging on my shoulders as it trails large drops of water with every step I take.

I speed walk into the throne room, stopping in front of the queen. She's going to kill me for leaving a puddle. I keep my face hidden in my shawl, not daring to look at her. I don't hear anything for a moment. All I can hear are her finger nails tapping the arm rest of her chair.

"What on earth happened to you?!" She finally says.

"I fell, ma'am."

"Great, now I'm going to have a wet stain on my beautiful red carpet! Not only a stain, but a dirty stain, thanks to you and your disgusting self!" Though it was mean to say what she said, it's true. It's been two weeks now that I haven't bathed.

"I am sorry, my queen." She sighs a tremendous sigh and surprisingly, she doesn't hit me. That means she isn't the only one in the room. Which means, the Prince is here.

"Just go clean my sheets and get out." Is all she says. I nod, and run out of there. I look down to see the dress is now clinging to me like glue. I shiver, but continue on to the room. After I squeeze all the water I can out of my dress into a nearby plant, I enter the queen's room to be met by a made up bed. That's strange, I don't remember doing that. Nonetheless, I take off the covers. Until I hear the door creak open. Oh no, I knew she wasn't going to let it slide.

"Lily?" That voice is not of an evil queen, but of a sweet prince. I stay frozen, not wanting to speak. He gets closer, so close that I can see his shoes. He's wearing his blue ones today, which are my favorite ones he wears. He puts his hand on my dirty shoulder, apparently not phased by the dirt. "How about if you go clean yourself up? I'll call someone to do this," I immediately shake me head.

"It's alright. I can do it,"

"I know you can do it, but you also need to take care of yourself." I do? All I've ever known was to take care of others, not myself. I slowly nod. He takes his hand back and walks away. I guess I should go and take a shower then? I go to the well to get a bucket of water and bring it back to the shower room. This is where all the maids go to take a shower. It has multiple cubicles divided by thin walls and few windows to let in some sort of light. I walk into one of the tiny spaces and start to strip down.

As I'm washing all of the dirt and oils off my body, the curtain suddenly opens. What it reveals is Mona Zinger. She is one of the maids from the other side of the castle, where I usually don't work. I need to stay where the queen is so that I can tend to her every need. Mona's curly blonde hair bounces as she laughs hysterically with her grey eyes giving me a sickening stare. She used to bother me all the time when we were teenagers, but she's grown up a bit since then. Though, she still takes great pleasure in bothering me. Ever since she heard the Queen call me maid and not my real name, she's made fun of me. At times, she made life nearly impossible.

"Wow, I'm surprised the dirty maid is taking an actual shower."

"Mona, please leave me be. I need to get back to work." I calmly tell her. She gives me a sick smile and kicks my bucket of water. I watch in horror as it goes down the rusty drain.

"Look at you, maid. How disgusting. And those eyes? They are the weirdest things I've ever seen." She then grabs my dress and and holds it up higher than I, not allowing me to grab it.

"Oh come on Mona, grow up!" I spit out, trying not to get out of the cubicle to rescue my dress.

"Come get it, maid!"

She then proceeds to run out of the room, and into the outdoors. I see my shawl and, instead of putting it on my head where it should be, I put it around my hips. I hold it up with one hand, and the other over my chest. I race out of there, feeling the chill of the summer breeze bite my wet skin the second I set foot outside. I don't pay attention to where I'm going because I'm looking every possible way except ahead.

I run into something with arms... wait, arms? I look up to see who's caught me. My brain locks on the dark forest green eyes. "Oh my goodness, Lily, are you okay?" After closer inspection, he proceeds to gasp and exclaim, "What happened?!" He quickly takes off his jacket and puts it over my shoulders. Warmth instantly consumes me as I melt into the jacket that reaches to my upper thigh. I quickly put my damp shawl onto my soaking hair.

He puts an arm around me, which warms me in a strange way, and caringly leads me to his bedroom.