THE HANDMAID

CHAPTER FIVE

It had been a week after Oliver asked me to be friends with her, everything went smoothly, we were getting pretty close. Just like me, Oliver was adventurous. I was getting used to the chores at the palace, though sometimes I miss home and I missed my family except father who was so heartless to sell me out. Though my mind kept making justifications for his actions but I couldn't accept it.

Being friends with Maisie and Grace made my stay in the castle less boring, I spent mornings and evenings with them while I spent the whole afternoon with princess Oliver. Lucky for us, no one knew about our friendship. Oliver was really nice to me, she told me stories about royalty, I really felt comfortable about her.

Oliver wasn't anything close to what Maisie said about her.

"Amelia guess what?" Oliver said joyfully as she walked up to me, where I was sweeping the halls with other maids who looked at us. They bowed at the princess.

I was surprised because we had agreed to keep our friendship a secret "my princess" I called surprised.

"I have good news for you" Oliver said beaming and not paying the other maids attention "come" she said and dragged me out from the hall. We got to the castle balcony.

"I thought we agreed to keep our friendship a secret" I said in whispers as other maids walked past us, not without glancing at us severally.

"Not anymore" Oliver said.

"What do you mean, my princess?" I asked.

"So I spoke to father yesterday, about having a handmaid. He said I could choose from the maids" Oliver said beaming.

"Really?" I asked surprised.

"Yes. I have chosen you. You will be my handmaid Amelia" Oliver said.

"I am surprised" I said serious, I was really surprised and short of words.

"You are not allowed to work in the palace anymore, you will be my side all the time" Oliver said and hugged me.

I wiggled my body trying to free myself from her embrace. This was unacceptable, a princess hugging a maid. Other maids were looking at us.

Finally Oliver stopped hugging me and held my hands, pulling me across the halls and to her room.

I spent the whole day taking care of princess Oliver, I prepared a bath for her, picked her outfit, brushed her hair, brought her food from the kitchen, talked and then repeated the routine all over in the evening.

When she dismissed me, I went back to meet Maisie and Grace, we had lunch with other maids before retiring to the room assigned to us.

"So you are now the handmaid to the princess?" Maisie asked giving me a look I couldn't describe after I told them about the incident between me and Oliver.

"Yes" I replied.

"That is good news. That means she really likes you" Grace imputed.

"I guess so. Being friends with princess Oliver isn't that bad. She is nice and fun to be with. She doesn't treat me like a maid" I told them.

"Well I am surprised, you just came to the castle and you are already a handmaid" Maisie said still giving me 'the' look.

"I think it is luck. Amelia is just lucky" Grace said smiling.

"You speak as if you don't know who princess Oliver is" Maisie said whispering.

"I don't think she is what you described. Like is said she is nice and soft hearted" I defended.

Grace turned to Maisie "you told her?" She asked.

"I had to. She needs to be careful" Maisie retorted.

"I hope you also told her that she saved the castle from hoodlums" Grace said.

"She did?" I asked.

Maisie remained silent.

"Ofcourse she did. Like you said, princess Oliver isn't that bad, though she is scary. I think maybe we are scared because we don't know who she is" Grace said.

"Well you also have to be careful with her, I didn't mean to make her look that bad" Maisie apologized "I was only looking out for Amelia, nothing more" she added.

"Well while I was cleaning the queen's chambers, I overheard the king discussing with the queen of the arrival of their son, the prince from the queen's land" Grace announced.

"They have a son?" I asked surprised. I didn't know there was a prince.

"Ofcourse they have a son. I last saw him when I was 12. His royal highness sent him to the queen's land at a very tender age" Maisie input.

"I never knew" I said truthfully.

"I guess maybe they sent him there at a very tender age" Oliver said.

"So what is he coming back for?" I asked.

"Maybe because of his sister's engagement, I guess, I really don't know. Before I could get any other information, they sent me out" Oliver said.

"Well it's good he is coming back. He has been away for a long time" Maisie said.

"Someone is overly excited about his return" Oliver giggled.

"Who?" I asked.

"Maisie ofcourse. She has had a crush on him since both of them were little" Oliver chuckled.

"Hey. Don't tell her that. Besides my crush on him died. I don't have those feelings anymore" Maisie denied.

"You had a crush on him?" I asked wide eyes looking at her. Why would she crush on him?

"Well that was a long time ago. I don't crush on him anymore" Maisie denied.

"Oh she is a liar. You can still see her cheeks getting red already" Oliver teased.

"Oh stop it" Maisie chuckled as she tried to hide her face.

"Oh c'mon admit it. You are still crushing at him" Oliver teased.

"Fine whatever. It's only a crush anyways" Maisie retorted.

"Oh my gosh..... someone can't wait for his return......so that she could jump into his arms" Oliver said dramatically teasing Maisie who laughed and I joined in the laughter.

HOPE Y'ALL LIKED THIS CHAPTER, LET'S NOT FORGET TO FOLLOW, VOTE AND COMMENT ❤️