Maid For You 2

Chapter 6

Missus Lucille was just as mean as I'd expected she'd be, and yet I was weirdly grateful.

"You first refer to him as 'your royal highness,' and then you can refer to Prince Nikolas as 'sir.'" She had instructed.

Now I was heading to the main hall of the palace. Dozens of servants lined each side of the hallway, and when I entered, Luke perked up to see me.

"Cassie!" He said, taking brisk steps toward me. "Your position will be here."

"Okay."

Luke led me to the end of one line, the end furthest from the doors. "Good luck, Cassie," he told me in a very polished and professional sort of way. "I have to make sure that the Prince's hair is still in place." He rushed off to my left, up the short set of stairs and down the hall, leaving the rest of us servants to wait around in our lines whispering to each other. I was next to some girl who I hadn't officially met before, and she told me that we were in these lines to make Prince Nikolas feel welcomed or something. Nearly ten minutes passed before a weathered man in his 60s walked down the hall. I had seen him only once before—Mister Arthur. Neatly combed, thinning gray hair, wrinkles, and grey eyes.

"His Royal Majesty, King Collin!" he announced in his old man voice. Mister Arthur stepped to the side, and all of us servants turned our head up the hall to see the King. I had never seen Prince Coleman's father before, except for his portrait hanging in the family tree hall painted twenty years ago.

King Collin's chocolate brown hair was neatly cut and adorned with a gold crown imbedded with rubies. He wore a crisp red military coat with a blue sash across his chest, dark pants, and tall red-topped boots. Though a little wrinkled around the eyes, King Collin was undeniably handsome, and I could immediately see where Prince Coleman got his looks from. The Prince may have had his mother's coloring and eyes, but the rest of him undoubtedly came from his father.

Queen Klara stood to King Collin's right, her hand on the crook of his extended elbow. She wore a gorgeous black dress that kissed the floor and sparkled ever so slightly under the lights of the hallway. Her hair was tied back in an elegant updo, and she wore a sparking gold crown atop her head. Prince Coleman also wore a military uniform like his father, only his coat was black and his sash was gold. His hair was neater than I'd ever seen it—expertly combed and slicked into a nice hairstyle. Atop his head, he wore a small golden crown. I'd also never seen him wear a crown either.

Princess Calista took up the rear in a crimson dress. Her long dark hair, like her mother's, was pulled back into a pretty updo. She wore a silver tiara—breaking from the family's theme of gold—and I realized that despite her youthful appearance, she really was quite pretty.

The royal family stopped about ten feet before the set of carpeted stairs and the subsequent line of servants. Queen Klara looked back at Princess Calista, and the 15-year-old groaned before coming forward and standing ahead of the rest of her family.

"Mama!" she whined. "I don't want to."

"Calista, you will smile and you will greet Prince Nikolas," Queen Klara said through clenched teeth. Only myself and the few servants closest to the royal family could hear.

"But Mama—" she started, but was cut off.

"Enough, Calista." It was King Collin, whose voice was rich and deep and quite final.

I glanced at my watch, and saw the time click into 7:00. At that moment, the front doors of the palace opened outward, which I was sure was opened by two guards. Mister Arthur spoke again.

"His Royal Highness, Prince Nikolas Andrei Nikotovich of Nikoto!"

Even though almost every servant hated him, everybody was eager to get a peek of the Nikotan Prince. I turned my head to look at him.