Wrongly in Love

45- Meet Again

Guinevere had hoped to stay away from Arthur as possible.

It was tradition for the groom not to see the bride for 24 hours before the wedding as it was considered bad luck. Quite an advantage, Guinevere thought, as Arthur was back at Paxley Castle and therefore out of her sight. Never heard of a wedding planned within a week.

She passed a hallway in which she quickly realised was the staff area, off-limits to guests and royalty apart from the king and queen. People were busy with different chores- washing dishes, sweeping the floor, and carrying boxes of desserts which Guinevere had finally decided on after several days of taste tests. She also spotted a box full of envelopes placed by a corner.

Pushing aside the rule she was breaking, she pointed at the box. "That much mail for my father?"

"Oh, no, your Highness," A staff member saw Guinevere poking around. She sounded too exhausted to notice her trespassing without permission, and Guinevere almost felt guilty. "The messenger brings mail to him directly. Those are the weddings invitations."

"I see," Guinevere replied. "Mind if I open one?" Without waiting for a reply, and the staff was too busy to focus on her anyway, she opened a pale pink envelope.

To the Queen of Golgl,

You are hereby invited to the wedding of Prince Arthur, oldest son of Aldamus Paxley and heir to the throne, and Lady Guinevere "Violet" of the Baroque Royals.

WHEN: 7 AM on Sunday until 8 PM on Monday.

WHERE: The entrance ceremony will be located at the Paxley Castle grounds. The location for the next event will be announced after the ceremony.

"Why didn't they just announce it here?" Guinevere muttered. Then her eyes landed on a footnote, so small she had to squint to see it clearly.

p.s. the date for the execution will be moved on wednesday

Why was the execution moved? She thought. Then the answer dawned on her: They weren't caught yet. The couldn't find any trace of them anywhere so Arthur decided to give the hoods time to find them. Other than that, isn't it weird that all letters were in small letters, with no capitalization and punctuation marks? Did Arthur really want people to see the postscript?

A shiver went down her spine.

Or... Was it possible that he was ashamed of himself?

Obvious, isn't it? His minions have travelled to various regions in the Land of Dawn but not a single one was caught. Of course, she did come back to the castle, but she came in willingly and she will never be executed by Arthur come hell or high water. She wished she could say the same for her friends, though. And her brother? Pretty slim chance, but he may if based on crowd approval, given that her father didn't give a damn about Lancelot ever since he left the castle to become a knight.

"Your Highness, may I have that back?"

Guinevere turned to see a maid with a veil over her face. "The chariot's been waiting for the invitations to deliver them, and there is no time to waste. Besides, his Majesty made us memorize yours and His Royal Highness's schedules, and it seems as though you have to do a final fitting at the boutique at the town square. Another chariot is waiting outside, too."

Guinevere smiled. "Can I have this one? It looks like you've got plenty extra. Only one envelope is going to be delivered to a region- that box got hundreds. "

"You can't get a letter with a specific address, your Highness," The maid mumbled almost inaudibly. "That is specifically for the Queen of Golgl-"

"Oh... I see," Guinevere said. "But how did you know it was going to be for the Queen of Golgl- when I didn't even make you read it?"

The maid stood up rigid. "Um.. it says so, your Highness. The calligrapher wrote it."

"Is that so, and not Arthur himself? Very well... But then I noticed something, just right now. This is the only pale pink envelope. The other ones are in shades of purple and red, my favourite colours. Is that supposed to be a special invitation..?" She asked.

"No... Her Majesty is very fond of pink... So..." Her voice was louder this time. Guinevere was sure to remember their last encounter.

Guinevere's eyes flashed. "Take off your veil."

The maid stared. "Wh-what?"

"Take it off. I order you. Besides, it's not even part of the uniform anyway, so why wear it?" Guinevere's eyes were beads.

"Er... This is a very old tradition that my hometown imposes upon us. I think it would be considered disrespect..."

"Come on, can I just have a look? Then you can wear it again," Guinevere stared expectantly.

One, two, three...

"Your Highness! There you are! You are going to be late!" Maid Celeste opened the door suddenly , startling a few dishwashers. She looked like she'd been running and was panting in exhaustion. "The chariot's been waiting for half an hour now, and is asking me to escort you immediately!"

"Oh, okay, okay," Guinevere said distractedly. "But do not raise your voice next time you talk to your mistress, do you hear me?!"

"Yes, your Highness!" Maid Celeste sank in a breathless bow.

"Good. And for you, my little veil maid..." Guinevere turned on her back one last time. "We meet again."

After taking a shower and sneaking out for a few seconds to get some fresh air, Fanny went down the stairs to the servant's wing.

No one asked her any questions. Natty, the only one who made the effort to talk to her, did nothing than stare at her quizzically. Which was good, because she didn't want anyone questioning her whereabouts. No one knew her identity down here even without the veil- they were servants, meant to serve the royal family with their whole life.

She changed out of her tight uniform and put on a flimsy white dress. She lay down on her bed with exhaustion. It was very, very exhausting to investigate as well as look after the royal family, and she only got a mere 50 bucks for her hardwork. Not that it mattered, for she was living quite the life at the Land of Dawn, but she deserved some free time. If all went well, this was her last day being a maid.

Well, she was going to take a break no matter what. Besides, with the number of people looking after the castle, surely no one would notice her absence right? Maybe. Royals seem to know the name and whereabouts of every maid that comes at their feet.

And she was especially known by that one girl of the royal family.

She just didn't realize it yet. She had to thank Celeste for saving her at the last minute.

"We meet again." Was that some sort of line to threaten her? She thought. Or was it just Guinevere being her poetic self? She was too tired to think about it tonight. She patted her moldy pillow into the right shape and immediately fell asleep.

If she wasn't Guinevere's friend, she wouldn't have lifted a hand to help Gusion at all.