34: Gap between the books

Gap between the books

The kitchen area was busy when evening came, as an extravagant meal was being prepared for the royal family and the guests of the Blackthorn Palace. Anastasia and Theresa were in the kitchen when Mr. Gilbert arrived and ordered, 

"Anna. Follow me."

Theresa looked slightly worried at the thought of the young woman being in trouble, and shared a look with Anastasia before she stepped out of the kitchen with the man. When they stepped into the inner side of the palace, she wondered why and who had summoned her. 

Approaching the large double doors, Mr. Gilbert knocked on the door before the doors were opened. When Anastasia stepped inside the room following the man, she noticed the walls were painted red and cream, the furniture, like the couch, had red cushions, and there was a carpet spread at the centre of the room. 

"Queen Sophia, I have brought the girl," Mr. Gilbert bowed to Queen Sophia, who sat in the centre of the long couch while the two princesses sat on the other side. She felt the members of the royal family stare at her. 

Alarm bells rang in Anastasia's mind about whether she was brought here to be interrogated. After all, Princess Niyasa had stared at her the entire time. The room was quiet, except for a maid who was softly playing a harp at the corner of the room. 

"Raise your head, girl," Queen Sophia ordered Anastasia, and the latter gingerly looked up to meet the woman's eyes. She said, "I hear that you are very obedient and cannot speak, which is what I am looking for. My daughter is short a personal maid, which is why you will fill the empty spot."

Anastasia's face had a subtle frown, as she had never guessed that she would be assigned as a personal maid because of her false disability. 

Mr. Gilbert quickly asked in a hushed voice, "What are you doing standing there quietly?"

Anastasia quickly offered a deep bow as if to show her gratitude. Though she had already received clearance to allow her to step outside the palace, this was not a bad turn of events, she thought to herself. 

Queen Sophia took a sip from her tea while Princess Niyasa said, 

"Consider this to be a blessing, that you will be working for a princess."

"I am sure she does," Queen Sophia smiled before stating to Anastasia, "You will be with the princess from the time she wakes up until she goes to bed. Take care of her belongings and her personal needs, and if you find anything odd, you will come to report it to me. Do you understand that?" 

"Mother…" Princess Emily said to her mother with a frown. 

Mr. Gilbert said, "My Queen, Anna has never gotten into any trouble and she focuses on her work better than most. You won't find any complaints," he assured. 

If only he knew the trouble she had brought to her and her sister this week, Anastasia thought to herself.

Queen Sophia asked Anastasia, "Do you know why you are being appointed to this position, even though there are many maids better than you? Much more experienced than you?"

Anastasia could feel the atmosphere of the room turn heavy. While Princess Niyasa hid the smile from her lips, Princess Emily held a troubled expression. 

"The last two maids that served my daughter used too much of their brains and tried to sway my innocent daughter into believing that she should not marry the man I chose for her. Not only that, they urged her to leave the palace. The alliance didn't go through, but with that, so did the two maids' heads off their shoulders," Queen Sophia's voice was pleasant to listen to, but her words weren't. The older woman in the room held a polite expression and smiled, saying, "With a maid like you who cannot speak, there's nothing to worry about."

The royal family didn't think twice before beheading someone, and it left a sense of dread in Anastasia's mind. She bowed once again to let the Queen know she understood the woman's words. 

Princess Niyasa stood up from her seat and bowed at Queen Sophia and said, "Please excuse me, Queen Sophia. I should go see if my mother needs me." 

Queen Sophia nodded and said, "Your earlier mistake is pardoned, Niyasa."

Princess Niyasa said, "I am grateful for it, my Queen," and she exited the room with a cunning smile, knowing how miserable her sister's life was going to be with no one to talk to and with a maid who had more drawbacks than the others.

Queen Sophia placed her teacup at the side and stood up. She said to her daughter, "I hope you won't repeat your mistakes again, Emily. You wouldn't want more blood on your hands. I will go see how things are proceeding with the preparation for Maxwell's engagement party. If only Aiden had found his soulmate, but that's fine." She turned to look at Mr. Gilbert and ordered, "Tell Minerva that I want to talk to her."

"Yes, my Queen," Mr. Gilbert obliged, before the two of them stepped out of the room, leaving Anastasia alone with Princess Emily. 

When Princess Emily stood up from her seat, Anastasia quickly bowed with her eyes cast to the ground. She heard Princess Emily say, 

"Anna, was it?" 

Anastasia raised her eyes before nodding, then heard the princess say, "You don't have to be wary around me… because of what my mother said. What happened to the previous maids, I won't let it happen to you." 

And though the princess smiled to help her feel at ease, Anastasia noticed sadness in the young lady's eyes. She could tell that the princess didn't hold any power to stop it if the situation arose. At the same time, she was happy to be working for Princess Emily and not the devil's minion, Princess Niyasa. 

Princess Emily then softly laughed, "Though we must agree that it will be a one-sided conversation…" her words trailing without wanting to offend the disabled maid. 

Anastasia raised her hands to sign and speak, 'Forgive me for my dull company.'

"You speak through hand signs… Unfortunately, I don't understand all of them," Princess Emily turned a little embarrassed before she remembered and said excitedly, "But there's a book on sign language. Come with me," and they walked towards the library room. 

Once they reached the wide and circular library with tall racks at the centre of the room, Princess Emily made her way to one of the racks, and Anastasia stood behind her. After some time, the Vizier stepped inside the library and offered a bow upon seeing the princess. 

"Princess Emily," the Vizier greeted her while ignoring the maid and not looking at her, as if she was unimportant. 

"Are you here to collect a book, Zion?" Princess Emily politely asked him. 

"I was walking by when I saw the doors open. I wanted to make sure that no one without authorisation entered here after what happened last time," the Vizier replied. 

Princess Emily's eyebrows rose subtly, and she asked, "Did something happen here?" 

"There's nothing much that you need to worry about, Princess," the Vizier assured her before saying, "The maid who was punished recently entered the library during the night of the celebration. I found her clothes here, which had her name stitched on them. The servants need to be disciplined to quell their audacity."

Anastasia clenched her hands.

The Vizier then said, "I shall leave you to your reading, Princess," and he excused himself from the library. 

After twenty minutes, the sounds of approaching voices reached the library, and Princess Emily, who was reading the sign language book, quickly closed it. Turning to the maid, she said, "Take this and put it back on the shelf. Pick any other random book. Go!"

Anastasia wondered what that was about but followed the princess's command. 

Soon the doors were pushed open, and four people who had finished their stroll in the garden and beyond stepped inside. 

"It was a good walk, wasn't it, ladies?" Prince Aiden asked, scratching his neck, while Lady Helma and Lady Amara tried hard not to scratch their arms.

Lady Helma gave an excuse, saying, "I am a little tired and shall return to my room, Prince Aiden. Prince Dante. Lady Amara."

On the other hand, Lady Amara had not given up on Dante, even though the hem of her dress was smeared with mud. 

A while ago, when two princes had taken her and Lady Helma outside, the conniving young woman had pretended as if she was about to fall, hoping for the gentleman-like prince to catch her. But at that same moment, Dante had turned his back to say something about a tree, leading to the woman's fall, before she gracefully tried to fix herself. 

"I am good," Lady Amara took a deep breath and said, even though no one had asked her. 

Dante's eyes moved to look at her, who was trying hard not to scratch an itch. His lips twitched as he intentionally led them further past the garden, where insects had bitten them. Though he was used to it, the others were not. 

Unable to stand still anymore, Lady Amara exclaimed, "This is a huge library! Let me take a look around." She moved her feet to make her way behind a rack, where she used her nails to scratch her itchy skin. 

Noticing his sister ahead, Dante walked towards her while she smiled, and they greeted each other. Princess Emily asked him, 

"How was the promenade, brother?" 

"Better than I thought it would go." There was amusement in Dante's eyes, and Princess Emily gave him a curious look. His black eyes looked around, and he asked, "Sitting alone in the library without company?" Though Emily was his half-sister, they shared a close bond along with Aiden, and he knew she often hid in the library when something troubled her. 

"Oh, I do have company! Mother assigned a new maid for me, starting today," Emily replied, which Dante acknowledged with a nod before turning to look in the direction his sister was looking. "She's gone to fetch me a book."

"Does she know which one you want?" Dante asked her, considering the maids didn't know how to read or write. "Which one are you looking for?" 

On seeing her elder brother raise one of his eyebrows, Princess Emily replied, "That, uh, is the one with the ship drawing." As much as the princess loved all her siblings, she didn't want to mention that she was learning sign language. 

Emily respected her older brother Dante the most, but she was aware that her brother was strict when it came to his family, and wouldn't be pleased about her interest after her now-deceased maids had tried to sway her mind to go against her family's rules the last time. 

Dante walked towards the rack where the book his sister mentioned was. When he reached the beginning of the rack, his black shoes moved on the floor while his eyes skimmed across the books. And as he did so, his eyes fell on a head that moved on the other side of the rack through a small gap, but he couldn't see the face. 

At the same time, Anastasia returned with another book as per the princess's request, but upon seeing Prince Aiden standing with her, she started walking backwards, making sure her footsteps were as quiet as possible. But no matter how carefully she placed her footsteps, they sounded sharp and precise to her ears until she stopped. 

She wondered if she should escape the library and explain it to the princess later. 

While Anastasia's mind raced, the book beside her was pulled off the shelf,  leaving an empty gap. Sensing the opening, she turned her head and met the gaze of intense midnight eyes that stared at her.  0

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