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Chapter 11 My Bracelet

My eyes flew open before the sun was fully up. I remembered instantly where I was, and my interaction with Prince Theo weighed on my mind.

I took a few deep breaths, trying not to let his constantly irritated state get to me. I had slept well, had good dreams, and had a lot of energy pulsing through my veins. Why would I let his pessimism ruin my day before it had even begun?

I glanced down at my pillow and saw the flower that Prince Warren had given to me and instantly felt a rush of

adrenaline.

No wonder I’d gotten a good night of sleep. The blooms were slightly faded from the vibrancy they’d had when he’d first picked it and handed it over to me, but the fragrance still filled my lungs when I inhaled, and I thought it might last another day or two.

I quickly put the flower in the top drawer of the night stand and hopped up, ready to prepare for the day. Lots of hard manual labor lay in front of me, but I was mentally prepared for all of it.

After a few hours, I had almost finished wiping down the entire wing. Almost, because the ceiling was too high for me to reach. While I was pondering what I should do to get

myself up there, I had an overwhelming feeling that someone was watching me from behind.

I looked down the hallway and saw a tall, lean form coming toward me, and immediately, my heart knew who it was.

Quickly, I sprinkled some water on the floor so I’d have an excuse to speak to him. “Be careful, Your Highness!” I called. “The floor is wet here!”

“There you are!” Prince Warren greeted me as he approached, staying back from the area I’d just dampened. “I had wondered why you weren’t outside with the animals. So… you were chosen to be my brother’s personal attendant, huh?”

Something was slightly off about his tone. He was saying kind words, but he didn’t exactly seem happy about the news.

“This is my assignment, for now,” I said, keeping my head down. “It was… an accident… sort of.” I couldn’t quite explain to him how I happened to be at the pavilion at the same time that Prince Theo was expecting his attendant there.

“Well… congratulations.” His smile looked forced for some reason that I didn’t understand.

“Thank you,” I said. “But honestly… if I had a choice….” His eyebrows raised, and he took a step closer to me, as if he knew I was hesitant to say what I was trying to get out, which was true. “I wouldn’t have chosen to be Prince Theo’s attendant.”

I wasn’t sure whether it was a good idea to share my displeasure about one prince with another prince, but looking at Warren’s face, I knew I could trust him.

“Really?” His tone suddenly changed, and I thought I heard a bit of lightness to his voice. “Well, it looks like you’ve got quite

a bit of work to do, cleaning up this wing of the castle. You know, a personal attendant isn’t meant to be a maid.”

I felt my cheeks redden as I thought about how I had gone

| into Prince Theo’s room last night and ended up getting myself into this predicament. But at least I had something to do. “I don’t mind a bit of hard work,” I told him.

“Perhaps I could help you? I’ve never done much cleaning, but I can give it a try.” He flashed a kind smile to me that made my heart skip a beat, and I wondered if he could hear it.

clean!” I had to turn down his offer.

flare up

to spend more time with him. I glanced around and suddenly realized exactly what I could ask him to do. “Well, I am having a

a moment, his hand in his pocket as he studied the problem. He

a duster with a long pole, he moved over to the

his sleeve moved

as I got another, clearer look at

same material and color as the one I’d given away as a gift all those years ago, I could see some wear on one of the beads. I remembered scraping

couldn’t lose this opportunity to satisfy my curiosity. It had

my throat, I said, “That’s an unique bracelet you

He held it up so I could see

against my rib cage again. “From… whom?” I was fishing for information

it to me.” He climbed down off of the ladder and moved it to

another web above him.

have fond memories of receiving

at me, and I had to avert my eyes, grabbing the mop and sliding it across the floor as

“I-I was just curious.”

I got from him for today before he got suspicious. I had

I could just blurt out to him that it had come from me, that I’d been the girl who saved him in the woods all those years ago. I wasn’t sure whether this was a good time

hit my ear, and I suddenly wished I’d mopped the entire floor

she is again, doing the dirty

stand to

to greet Prince Warren, “You Highness, please do not

to look at her and then climbed down off of the ladder. I couldn’t quite read his expression.

a whore!” Sophia

not lady-like at all for

way. Likewise, you shouldn’t be spreading rumors and speaking unkindly about others. That’s not the

she said, “Come along, ladies. Let’s get back to the clean part of the castle. Clearly, this girl is a terrible maid who doesn’t know how

she didn’t like me being so close to Prince Warren. She probably saw it

she was going to be making more trouble for me soon. I

I turned to Prince Warren. “Thank you for sticking up

hand touched me briefly on the shoulder. “You’re quite welcome,

tingle of electricity

he

while he was there, I enjoyed his company. He was so different from his brother, so much more thoughtful and

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