The Princess and the Pea

Chapter 8: Late Night Talk

Dusting off the last of the shelves, Prim yawns and trudges out of the library. Blowing out the candles, she closes the doors silently behind her. So much work, and not enough time to look up what kind of flower she made grow. She still can't believe that she had done it. She's beginning to wonder if she imagined the whole thing to begin with. Sighing, she continues walking down the hall.

Lanterns cast lights along the halls, with the shadows dancing to and through. Servants come in and out of various rooms, either locking them up for the night or making sure the rooms are as they were before they were occupied. Yawning, she reaches her room and freezes when she sees that the door is slightly open. Slowly, she approaches the door, pushing it open.

She gasps and looks around her room. Her bed has been torn apart, and things have been knocked over. Clothes are strewned around the room and some of the chairs have been broken.

"What-What happened in here?" she asks, aloud, looking around in disbelief. She rakes a hand through her hair and stares dumbfounded at the mess.

"Hey! Lady in waiting!" Prim hears the princess call. She pops back out of her room to see the princess heading down the hall towards her room. "I believe I had asked you to-"

She stops when she notices the mess in Prim's room. Her eyes widen and she bursts into the room.

"What has happened to your room?" she asks and whirls around to face Prim. "What did you do?"

"ME?" she exclaims. "I didn't do anything. It was like this when I had arrived. Someone ransacked my room."

Odella rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest.

"Highly unlikely," she says. "Seeing as these rooms are usually locked during the day."

She arches a brow at Prim.

"Unless of course you didn't lock your door," she says, eyes narrowing.

"I did lock my door this morning," she says. "Someone must have broken in and ransacked my room. What I want to know is, why?"

Odella huffs and rolls her eyes again.

"Oh please," she says. "Who else would want to sneak into your room and ransack it? There isn't much here worth selling. No doubt you're just a slob and are now just noticing."

Prim gapes at her.

"WHAT?!" she exclaims. "I am not! My room was neat and tidy when I left it this morning."

"Enough Lyra!" she snaps. "You work here as a lady-in-waiting and as such it is your responsibility to keep your room cleaned."

Prim clenches her fists.

"I didn't do this," she says, through gritted teeth.

"And I don't believe you," Odella says and huffs. "You'll clean all of this up tomorrow, right before you come to attend to me. And I want it spotless."

She goes to walk away.

"Where am I supposed to sleep tonight?" Prim asks, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Why should I care?" Odella asks and turns to her. "You made this mess. You figure out where you need to sleep."

Turning to the door once more, she stops once again before turning back to Prim. A grin spreads across her face. Prim gets a bad feeling about that.

"Actually, on second thought, you can stay in the room you stayed in the day you came here," she says, and clasps her hands together. "I heard that it is very comfortable."