The Princess and the Pea

Chapter 15 Out of Control

Helping Princess Odella to dress the next morning, Prim adjusts her top. Odella is oddly silent as Prim works. Leading her over to the vanity stand, she sits her down. Brushing her hair, Odella sits up straighter. Sunlight is lighting up the entire room. Prim got very little sleep last night. Her thoughts churned over and over again. And what little sleep she got were plagued by nightmares. She has no idea how she's standing up right.

Finishing up with Odella's hair, she places some leaves.

"When you're finished here, you can head down to the festival grounds and help out with cleaning," Odella says. "And with decorating."

"Yes, your highness," she says, backing away. She curtsies before turning and heading out of the princess' room. Heading down the hall, she walks out of the castle towards the village. Seeing the village up ahead, she heads down the path. Villagers are already working on carrying around supplies and setting up decorations. Prim can see leaves fashioned into banners hanging across the booths already set up. Harley is standing with some of the other servants. Prim grins and quickly walks over to her.

Harley sees her approaching and grins. Waving at her, Prim waves back.

"You here to help?" she asks, as she reaches her.

"Yes," she says. "I'm to help clean up and get everything decorated."

"I can't believe the Autumn Festival is already here," Harley says and jumps, clapping her hands. "My mother and I go every year. They have food, drinks, games, music, and, of course, music."

She's grinning, excitement shining in her eyes. Prim can't help but smile at her friend's enthusiasm.

"Will Kenneth be there?" Prim asks, and smirks. Harley's face tinges pink and she looks away.

"Yes," she mumbles.

"And has he asked you to go with him to the Fall Festival?" Prim asks, and grins.

Harley sets her lips into a thin line and glares at Prim. Prim laughs and Harley huffs.

"No, he hasn't asked me," she says. "Why would he? I mean, there are plenty of other girls to choose from."

Prim arches a brow at her, but before she can say anything, a cart rolls up carrying a whole bunch of pumpkins. They look fake though. The man running the cart gestures for everyone to grab one and spread them out. Prim obliges and grabs two. She and Harley walk around the area, placing down pumpkins.

"I'm sure he'll ask you," Prim says as they grab more pumpkins. "He did come for you a couple weeks ago. He clearly likes you."

Harley rolls her eyes as she grabs more pumpkins.

"Yeah, and so does every other girl in the village," she says and sighs. "What chance do I have?"

Prim isn't convinced and continues set out pumpkins. Adjusting the pumpkins, she stands back up and sees Harley going off to get more pumpkins. Looking around, Prim sees how well everything is coming along.

"If we get this all set up quickly, they may have the festival earlier than planned," One of the workers says.

Prim continues to work, setting up decorations as she goes along. As the day wears on, Prim feels sore, and shivers slightly at how cool it is getting. The sun begins to set, and the workers begin to slow down. Hearing another cart rolling away, she yawns. Harley tugs on her arm and they head over to one of the barrels to get something to drink.

Grabbing a cup, she pours herself some water. She begins to drink it. Suddenly, someone slams her cup up, causing water to pour over. She gasps, inhaling water down the wrong pipe. Sputtering and coughing, she lowers her cup quickly. Hearing laughter, she recovers and looks over to see Odella standing there with one of the servants. Both Odella and the servant are laughing. Some of the other workers are laughing also.