Doris POV
“Should I know you?” I asked, eyeing this young man curiously.
He didn’t look familiar to me; the way he was built, if I had to guess, I would say he was probably a guard for the Golden Palace. But he also looked so young, which made me believe that he was new. I have also never seen him before.
He gave me a boyish grin and he rubbed the palm of his hand on the back of his neck sheepishly. His dark hair lay shaggy around his features and for a moment, he looked almost puzzled.
“I guess not,” he finally said after a breath of silence. “I’m… um… David.”
“Hi David,” I said, still eyeing him carefully.
He had a trustworthy face, but I wasn’t sure I trusted him. It was rare to meet anyone around the palace that was genuinely kind. I lucked out meeting Beth, but I wasn’t going to test that luck twice.
“Are you a new guard for the Golden Palace?” I asked.
He hesitated a moment before answering; almost looking unsure of himself.
“Yeah, something like that,” he answered, staring down at the ground.
After another breath of silence, his eyes met mine and he stared around my face once more.
“You’ve been crying,” he observed.
I felt my features redden as I wiped the remaining tears off my face; I had forgotten I was crying, and my face probably looked puffy.
“I’m okay,” I assured him, taking a step away. “I should probably…” I tried to say but he grabbed onto my wrist gently and held my hand to eye view.
He stared at the burn with curiosity and worry glazing his eyes; he frowned, and it only deepened by the moment.
“You’ve been hurt,” he breathed. “Let me help you.”
I pulled my hand away from him once more and held it close to my chest.
“It’s okay, really,” I assured him.
“Please, that burn looks really bad,” he pleaded. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small bottle of ointment. I stared at it puzzled. “I take this with me everywhere,” he said with a small, crooked grin. “Never know when you’ll need it.”
I frowned.
I was hesitant, but he seemed persistent. He had this kindness to him that made me want to trust him.
Sighing, I slowly handed him my hand.
Relief flooded through his face as he gently took my hand in his and rubbed the ointment on the burn. The cooling sensation relieved the pain of the burn almost right away and even some of the redness started going down.
“This will help with the scarring,” he said gently.
“Thank you,” I said to him, catching his eyes.
“You never told me who you were,” he reminded me, his smile widening.
“Doris,” I introduced. “Lady Melody’s handmaiden.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Doris.”
…
A few days had passed since my encounter with David. It’s been a while since I made a new friend; Beth was the last friend I actually made in the 5 years of residing in the palace. But David seemed to be a suitable friend indeed.
He had a boyish personality to him that made me think of him as a little brother almost. Part of me wished I had a little brother growing up. But sadly, I grew up as an only child.
“Why are you just standing there?” Melody’s voice cut through my thoughts. “My clothes aren’t going to clean themselves.”
I had to keep myself from rolling my eyes; she had piles of laundry filling a basket in the corner of her room. I gave her my best smile, trying not to reveal my annoyance.
“Yes, my lady,” I said as I grabbed the basket and made my way out of her room.
She was worrying because William was due to visit her room once again tonight, which I honestly didn’t mind. Whenever William was around, I was able to slip out unseen. Melody was so preoccupied and happy with William’s presence, and William paid no attention to me, neither of them noticed me leaving.
I would use that time to go into the kitchen and make myself something to eat. Tonight, I was thinking about making a dish and bringing some to Beth considering I haven’t seen her in so long. It would be nice to share a meal in our old room as we used to.
I missed sharing a room with her; oftentimes my nights would get lonely. Well, if Melody allowed me to sleep that is.
The washroom was on the ground floor of the palace and down a long narrow hallway. It consisted of a few washboards and clothing hangers; it also had a door leading outside, which was another cloth washing area for when it was nice enough outside to do laundry. It was a patio that consisted of a couple of washboards and cloth hangers.
As I rounded the corner I bumped into a hardened exterior and I dropped the basket, allowing Melody’s clothes to scatter across the ground as the basket tipped over.
I gasped as I fell to the floor to collect the clothing, praying that nobody had seen me dropping all of her finest gowns.
“Doris?” Said a familiar voice; I looked up to see David standing there with his eyes wide and alert.
He knelt on the ground before me and helped me pick up the clothing, gathering them in the basket.
“David…” I said, relieved that it was him I ran into and not a royal. That was the last thing I needed right now. “I’m so sorry,” I breathed.
He surprised me by chuckling.
“Why are you sorry?” He asked. “I bumped into you.”
“I was walking so fast. I didn’t see you around the corner,” I told him, trying to stifle my own laugh.
“Nor did I,” he said as he stood to his feet and held a hand out to me to help me to my feet.
“Thank you,” I said to him, running my fingers through my hair and allowing it to fall lazily around my shoulders as I lifted the basket off the ground.
“How’s your hand?” He asked, tilting his head so he can see my hand better.
“Much better, thanks to you,” I told him as I started walking past him. “I really should get to the laundry room. I need to get Lady Melody’s clothing done before she has a cow.”
He laughed and grabbed the basket from my arms, lifting it onto his shoulders and walking towards the laundry room. I felt the heat rising into my features as I followed closely behind him.
“Excuse me,” I said with a fake pout. “I can handle it myself.”
He laughed again.
“I do not doubt that. But let me help you,” he offered.
“We could get in trouble if we are found,” I warned him. “We need to play by the rules or else we will never get out of here.”
He turned to look at me but continued walking, a small frown placed on his lips.
“Why would you want to get out of here?” He asked, genuinely confused. “Isn’t this place everything you’d hope for?”
“We are prisoners here,” I told him, raising my eyebrows. “We aren’t here by choice. I was brought here at 14 and forbidden from leaving. The king is going to sign an amnesty that will grant me freedom in a couple of months. But I must abide by the rules or else he will reject the amnesty.”
He pushed the door to the laundry room open and headed towards the back door.
“It’s a lovely day out. How about we do laundry outside?” He suggested.
He didn’t wait for me to answer him before he was pushing the backdoor open. The outdoor patio washroom was a secluded area, so we weren’t afraid of being seen right away. I still wasn’t sure why he wanted to help me so badly though.
He sat down and started filling the washing boards with water from the hose as I started readying to soap.
“You really don’t need to help,” I told him with a chuckle.
It was weird seeing a male washing clothing, but he was already elbowed deep in the water washing Melody’s clothes. I sat beside him and started washing her clothes as well.
“I know I don’t have to,” he said with a smile. “But I figured what better way to get to know you better.”
“Me?” I asked, staring up at him. “Why would want to get to know me better?” I asked.
He shrugged, casually.
“You’re an interesting creature,” he said.
“How am I interesting?” I asked as I continued to wash the clothes.
“You just have this way about you,” he answered. “Like a genuine kindness.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Funny; kind of what I thought of you when I first met you,” I admitted.
“Really?” He asked, blinking a few times as if he couldn’t believe I had said that.
“Yes,” I answered.
There was a breath of silence for a moment and before I could grasp what happened, soap suds were flying in my direction and landing on my face. I stared at him puzzled for a moment. He looked away, innocently, and grinned.
I gave him a fake scowl that he seemed to have bought for a moment. He met my eyes and his face fell.
“I’m sor…” he was about to say until I flung soap in his direction, and it landed on his face.
He looked at me surprised and I burst out in laughter.
We both laughed for a long while; I couldn’t remember the last time I laughed like this. It felt so nice.
Once the laughter died down, we were done washing the clothing and we were hanging them up to dry.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what landed you here?” David surprised me by asking.
I frowned and thought about it for a moment. Another question about how I ended up at the palace; I trusted David and part of me wanted to tell him everything about my past and about my mother.
But I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
I opened my mouth to answer, but a distant voice stopped my words.
“Prince Daniel!”