Maid In Royalty

♛ 3 ♛

         All the lights in the village were off today. Due to the preparations for the King's funeral, every corner, every room, and everyone was busy. It has been two days since his death, and two days since Aiden hasn't been home. The royal guards sent a search party to find him, hopefully, they do. The kingdom needs a new king, and he's defiantly not acting like one.

       I wonder if he's alright.

      Midnight has never looked so dull. Now all I can do is sit in the starless darkness and wait until the dawn. I sighed and looked down at my hands and smiled. My memories of my mother made me shiver as the cold breeze hit me. I got up from the wooden bench and rubbed my hands.

     Stay positive Iris, or else your dumb teeth will start clacking.

     "Right," I said to myself. I turned to the right and saw none other than Prince Aidan himself.

      My eyes went wide with shock. My teeth started clacking really loud. I looked down at his hand and saw that it was bleeding. He had a vodka bottle in his other hand and a few bruises on his face. I rushed towards him and brought his arm around my shoulder. He walked unsteadily towards the bench with me and slumped down. He looked like a man who had given up on life. His once perfectly ironed tux was stained with blood, probably from his hand, and his hair greasy. His eyes had a strange sunken look and were threaded with scarlet so densely that they appeared pink. The pink from his cheeks and lips were gone.

      "Your Highness, are you alright?" I asked shaking him a bit. His eyes were half closed and half open.

      "Is h-he dead?" he slurred. I looked away and swallowed really hard. I nodded in grief as he laughed. He got up and threw the bottle, as far away as possible, violently. I looked at him with confusion.

      "Your Highness, please sit down."

     "Shut- just please shut up! Stop c-calling me "your highness". I'm sick and t-tired of people depending on me!" He exclaimed. His back was facing me as he complained. I looked down and let him continue. "My m-mother, my deceased father, and that clingy Olivia!" He turned towards me and looked me dead in the eye.

      "Do you know how much my hand hurts after h-hitting her? I s-slammed it into a brick wall because I couldn't get rid of the pain!" he said. That's why it's bleeding. He turned his back on me and sighed. He sat down on the ground, like a little kid who doesn't want to go home. I got up and sat next to him, to be by his side. Tears were flowing down his face as he looked around the beautiful front yard.

     "I mean, what's the point of all this? W-when you don't even have your father with you," he said.

     "I'm sorry."

     My eyes started getting glossy as I thought about how he consoled me when my mother passed away. What should I do? If I even put my hand on his shoulder, I'll be kicked out of the palace. All I could do was look at him with guilt. I looked up at the sky and sighed.

    King Philip is in a good place now Aiden. Your father and my mom and dad are all happy in heaven.

    As his head lolled onto my shoulder, taking me by surprise, his eyelids finally slipping closed; I smiled. The rest of him slowly leaned into me, the rest of his body going limp. I could finally see him sleep. Without the complex workings of his conscious mind, he looked so vulnerable and childlike. His breaths were even and calming, the expression on his face no longer stressed but relaxed. His eyelids fluttered, but he seemed too out of it to notice.

       With the help of Mary-Jane, we took Aidan to his room through the back door that no one knew about. I guess you could say that it was Mary-Jane and I's secret hideout for chores. Once we laid him down on his bed, Mary-Jane left to go tell the staff about his arrival. I sat next to on his bedside and watched him. When he turned towards me, scaring me a bit, he started to shiver.

      "Oh sorry," I said. I got up and gently placed the warm blanket on him. I looked at his hand that was bleeding and bit my lip. I grabbed the first aid kit from his gigantic bathroom and walked towards his bed. First, I removed the plastic from the band-aid, same as the one I used on Olivia, and gently covered up the bruises on his face. I smiled at his appearance and moved on to his hand.

         I gently grabbed his injured hand and wiped the blood off of it. His eyebrows twitched a bit but then they relaxed. If I used alcohol, he would get up. What should I use?

        Water.

       I grabbed the empty glass on his lamp table and walked back to the bathroom. I filled the glass with lukewarm water and walked back to his bedside. His hand was still where I left it. I took out my handkerchief and dipped it in water. I gently started cleaning his soft hand and getting rid of the remaining blood stains.

       I unrolled the bandage and wrapped it around his hand carefully. He looked so calm and gentle when he's sleeping, but so angry and stressed out when he's awake. I cleaned up the mess I made with the first aid kit and sat beside his bed again.

     "Goodnight," I whispered and got up. As I was about to leave, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me down to his bed. I yelped as he wrapped his arms around me. He put his chin on the top of my head and pulled me closer to his chest. I felt like a tiny, squished bug beside him. I looked up to see his face and saw the warmest smile ever, which made me smile too. I felt my face flush warm and the hair on my neck stand.  His embrace was warm, and his big, strong arms seemed very protective when wrapped around my frail body. The world around me melted away.

       "Olivia, I'm sorry," he mumbled sleepily. My smile faded away as I tried looking up at him. There was nothing left to feel, nothing left to say, nothing left but the void that enveloped my mind in swirling blackness. I'm just another maid brought into royalty, forever serving to the riches. I carefully slipped out from his embrace and looked down at him with teary eyes.

      "My name's Iris."

      I walked out, looking at him one last time, and then gently closing the door behind me.


__________

i need to improve my writing skills lol. vote & comment. lets get this to a 100 reads? 
thank you and I'll see you in chapter 4