Maid For You 3

Chapter 65

The next morning, I didn't want to get out of bed. The disaster of the night before felt overwhelming and I didn't want to face the consequences; I didn't want to talk to Luke or Coleman or think about any of it. I had no idea where Luke and I stood, I had no idea what Coleman thought after Nikolas's speech, and we were all about to be on a plane together for Durmanhein in a couple of days. Should I resolve things by then, or just ignore the problems? Coleman I could probably ignore, but Luke? Not so much. I still had so many things to think about. Should I keep dating Luke, or are we just star-crossed at this point? Is Marstella going to press charges? Hopefully not, gosh. I don't really know the laws in regards to slapping—maybe Queen Klara can acquit me? And on the topic of Queen Klara, what is Queen Klara's motivation for making me Calista's lady-in-waiting anyways? Is Luke right? Is she trying to push me towards Coleman? If so, what does that even mean for me? The Queen hasn't mentioned Coleman hardly at all to me, and even seemed fine with my relationship with Luke. Maybe she just figured we would fail like everyone else seems to think.

Sherry had come in with breakfast already, but I told her I wasn't hungry and needed more time to sleep. However, waking up initially had reminded my mind of all my worries and now I was too stressed to sleep. I flailed around in my bed for a few seconds in frustration, my covers fluttering as I did so. Then, I heard a knock at the door. Probably Sherry back to see if I was up yet.

"Come in!" I yelped, too lazy to get up and open my own door. Two weeks of being a lady-in-waiting and I was already slothful. I stared up at the canopy over the bed as I heard the door open. I heard Sherry walk over to me to stand by the side of my bed, but when I looked over at her, it was not Sherry.

"Queen Klara!" I cried, bolting upwards to sit upright.

She wore an amused smile. "Sorry, it seems I have arrived a bit too early."

"No, I'm sorry!" I said, jumping out of bed. Of course, I still wore my pink pajamas. "We, uh, we can sit over by the couch if you'd like. Or, you know, whatever works for you, your majesty."

"That's fine," she said, walking over to sit on one of the plush loveseats while I hurried to take the sofa across from her. I was acutely aware of my hair lazily thrown up in some loose slept-in bun and the reek of my morning breath.

"Did you have a good time last night?" the Queen asked.

No, I thought, but I wasn't going to tell her that. Afterall, it had been a lovely ball, and it wasn't her fault that everything became stupidly dramatic.

"The ball was fantastic," I said, which wasn't a lie technically. "And Calista looked so pretty!"

"She did," the Queen smiled. "But you looked quite nice yourself."

"Oh, thanks," I said. Got the dress off promposals.com.

"I was wondering if you learned any more about Prince Nikolas and Princess Esmerelda?" she asked.

Oh right. THAT. I thought. In the midst of everything, their not-courtship thing was the last thing on my mind.

"Oh yes," I said. "I asked him about her. They're not courting."

Queen Klara relaxed and a smile rose on her face.

"Well, not yet, anyways," I continued.

She rose an eyebrow. "Not yet?"

"Nikolas said that he's basically just thinking about it right now. He's getting to know her some before he decides if he wants to officially court her or whatever."

Her eyes narrowed for a second. "I see," she said. She clasped her hands together and looked at them seriously for a few seconds. "Did he say anything of Calista?" she finally asked. "Do you know what he thinks of her?"

"Well, I think he hasn't ruled her out, your majesty," I said. "But he hasn't ruled her in either, I guess. He said he's going to see what the future brings."

Queen Klara continued to look down in intense thought. "This is a tricky situation, Cassie," she said. She looked up at me. "Calista may be an adult in Aregano, but she isn't one in Nikoto. There are still two more years until she could officially court Prince Nikolas."

I honestly felt a little weird about this conversation, as Calista seemed so young to me right now as someone who could date Nikolas. I mean, she was my brother Calvin's age and Nikolas was closer to my age—a few years older than me, even. I mean, if I wasn't so below him in rank and he'd look twice at me, maybe I would be interested in him. It seemed weird to think that Calista and I could be competing for the same guy—assuming that anything could ever happen between Nikolas and I, which was of course impossible. However, I guess she liked Luke, but he'd always seemed to brush that off as a little schoolgirl crush.

"That is tricky," I said. Despite the weirdness, I found the politics of it interesting. "But, all we can do is wait."

The Queen looked at me and smiled slightly. "Thank you, Cassie. I appreciate your help."

"Oh, sure," I said. "You're welcome."

"I need organize a budgetary meeting before we leave for Durmanhein," she said, standing up. "We're about to cut some expenses, but on the bright side, you'll have a nicer Christmas present."

"Oh!" I was surprised. "I, um, do I need to..."

"You don't need to get anyone presents," she said, smiling. "Have a good day, Cassie. I'm glad you'll be joining us for Christmas."