The King's Daughter

36 Intimacy

Earlier this morning Louis released Quinn from the basement. I still wasn't comfortable with the idea of seeing her, so I tried to avoid the places she might go. I stayed away from the doctor's wing, the side of the house where my old room was, and Harry's room. Louis told me of their relationship.

I even avoided the main staircases. There was an employee staircase that I hardly knew existed, so I decided to take that. Unfortunately, Quinn must have had the same idea, for as I was walking down the narrow stairs, she appeared heading toward me.

I stopped abruptly, wanting to turn and run away. But then she looked up and saw me. Her mouth parted and her expression turned sad, or was it guilty.

"Princess..." She murmured.

"I...was trying to avoid you." I mumbled, taking a few backward steps.

"Wait, please." She said quickly. "I know Louis doesn't want me near you, but I have to tell you that I'm sorry."

"Thanks." I said, frowning at the floor.

"Please forgive me. I didn't mean to hurt you." She begged.

I noticed her attire was different from what she usually wore. Rather than dressing nicely in expensive clothes, she wore what could have been mistaken for a potato sack. Her face was dusted with a white powder and her curly hair was in disarray.

She probably noticed me studying her as she spoke up, "I've been demoted to a kitchen maid. He's made it the chef's goal to give me as hard a time as he can."

"Hm." I didn't know what to say to someone who had deliberately put drugs in my tea without telling me. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you drug me?" My voice was quiet as I tried not to show how affected I was by her actions.

"I told Louis. I only wanted to help you accept your feelings for him, to open your eyes so you could realize your attraction for him." She said.

"The real reason." I demanded. "You can't have good intentions and at the same time put a harmful drug into your friend's food without their knowledge."

Quinn stepped up closer to me, glancing up and down the stairs to see if anyone was listening.

"I didn't want to hurt either of you hun, I just...I just love him." She whispered.

"And that's supposed to explain it?" I glared at her.

She sighed. "I wanted to give you a push so that you two would finally have sex. I knew that once Louis gets what he wants, he moves on and throws people away. He tossed me aside once he got in my pants. He would do the same to you and maybe he might come back to me once he was finished with his little infatuation with you." She said in a rush, her eyes tearing up.

My jaw clenched, never having experienced this kind of anger towards someone I once I called a friend. She was jealous of me. She was still in love with Louis and wanted me out of the picture. However, she thought Louis would lose interest in me after we'd been intimate, but that's where her plan failed.

Without thinking about my actions, my hand shot out and I slapped her. I immediately gasped.

"I'm sorry." I worried, surprised at my reaction, but I quickly composed myself. "No, I'm not sorry. You deserved that and more. I once considered you my friend, not to mention trustworthy. But because of your petty jealousy, you nearly ruined everything between Louis and I, which was exactly your plan. But hate to break it to you, sweetie; he's still in love with me, and probably will be for a long time. So get over it and stay away from me and my husband. "