Mauve’s lips twisted into a small shy smile. The guilt escaped in the form of red on her healthy cheeks that she scrambled to cover.
The maids that were delighted to share in this new secret could hardly contain their shock. The scandalous rumored courtship between Lady Mauve Rosewood and divorced Prince Galen Maximus had taken an interesting turn. A secret kiss!!!
This was the kind of news that had fathers pulling out swords and innocent priests awoken in the middle of the night to oversee rushed weddings.
"How did you even find out about this? Do you have spies watching me?"
"Do not let a man into your private chambers if you do not want to become a subject of gossip. Also, do not kiss him by the window. This royal castle is monitored everywhere...." Sigrid laughed at her shy companion who appeared ready to enter the ground and forever be buried.
"Mama is going to kill me." Mauve cried out dramatically, throwing her upper body onto the table. "Oh-oh-oh.....on my grave stone, the words a kiss was her downfall will be inscribed."
’"I don’t think so, you are being a tad bit too dramatic." Sigrid said.
"Oh..." Mauve sat up groaning in the process. "You are right, that is too kind. It will probably be something that serves as a warning to the girls younger than me, "here lies the fool, she brought shame on the Rosewood’s with her mouth."
Sigrid swatted an insect with a fan. The unlucky insect fell to the table and it was cleaned up by Bella.
"Oh!" Mauve cried out in a broken high pitch voice, "That is how mama is going to swat me to death."
"Bring it down Mauve, I am sure a sword will do the job just fine." Sigrid told her in a dull voice that was somehow filled with laughter.
Mauve responded by pouting and placing her head on the table. "In the old days, fallen women like me were sent to the abbey."
"You have not fallen." Sigrid couldn’t the eye roll. "Perhaps we should discuss that kiss. Was it worth it? Was it worth being sent to an abbey?"
Mauve raised her head and peered at Sigrid through dreamy eyes that had a twinkle. She looked like a woman hopeless in love with her head in the stars.
"Let me guess, it was magical." Sigrid said with sarcasm on top.
Mauve nodded, giggled and buried her head on the table. It left Sigrid amused. How would Mauve know what a magical kiss was if she had only kissed one man in her life. Was it actually possible?
"Well...what does the kiss mean? Will he be making an honest woman of you?" Sigrid pushed the cup of chocolate forward curiously.
Brolin interrupted their conversation, clearing his throat to get their attention. "Lady Christie Shadowmere is here for you, your highness."
"The ship people! Which boat did she sail here on?" Mauve blurted out.
"That is not how we like to refer to ourselves." A woman’s voice joined in before Sigrid could say something to Mauve about not calling the Shadowmere’s ship people.
Her arrival came as a surprise to Sigrid who was not expecting to mingle with the Shadowmere’s so soon. She gestured at a chair, telling Christie to sit. Christie first curtsied and then she took a sit.
"Mauve, do not call them the ship people." Sigrid softly told her lady in waiting before turning to their visitor. "What winds blow you my way Lady Christie?" She could not help herself with the wind joke.
Mauve slapped the table with both hands two times, astounded that she could not call them the ship people but Sigrid could make a wind joke. Wind and ships went hand in hand!!
Christie smirked deliberately, taunting Mauve with her eyes. "It must be killing you not to crack another bad joke."
Mauve Rosewood was like a firecracker, when she started going off, talking all sorts of nonsense which people often found adorable. But...those people were not Christie, she found Mauve as annoying as a weed in a beautiful garden of roses.
Mauve pouted, seemingly displeased.
"So introductions are not in order, I take it." Sigrid said.
"We have met." Christie said, sending Mauve a dismissive glance. "It is hard to miss Mauve Rosewood in a room. She is usually the one laughing the loudest, surrounded by the most suitors, bare foot, holding a pastry or feeding a stray critter."
"This is what jealousy sound like." Mauve commented.
Sigrid observed them both, Mauve and Christie. While there was no blood feud kind of enmity, there was no friendship either. "You do not approve of her ways."
"I just don’t know if she is genuine or seeking attention. I mean no offense Lady Mauve, I just haven’t known many people so naturally cheerful all the time for no reason." Christie genuinely said. "You do what you want without a care of what anyone thinks. Maybe you are right and I am jealous."
Mauve had been sparking with anger when Christie started off but as she wound down, so did Mauve’s anger. In her mind, she was thinking that it was a lovely day, too lovely to be wasted on engaging in a screaming match with Christie Shadowmere.
"Okay." Sigrid muttered. "What can I do for you Lady Christie?"
"I want to be your lady-in-waiting." Christie looked up and declared boldly. "You are entitled to between three to six ladies in waiting. You have been crown princess for close to a year and so far you have only chosen her." She looked at Mauve briefly and then her eyes found Sigrid’s surprised ones again. "If I sound rude, I apologize. I like to think of myself as direct with my intentions."
Sigrid gestured for Lanai to take away the cup of chocolate which was now cold. Lama quickly replaced it with a new one. Mauve requested for one as well.
"I appreciate your boldness and candidness but why. Why do you want to be my lady in waiting?"
"You saved my family...." Christie started.
Sigrid groaned and shook her head. "That cannot be it, there must be another reason why. If you tell me the truth I will consider it but if you lie to me, I will have Brolin take a finger, just one to teach you a lesson."
"Ooouuuh...." Mauve started. A quick piercing look from Sigrid made her fold her lips together.
Christie removed her hands from the table, hiding them down and folding her fingers inwards. She called upon all the bravado she had and took a deep breath. "I am not here with deceit, your highness. I have more than one reason for wanting to be your lady in waiting.
The first one being that I am grateful for what you did for the Shadowmere family. The second being that I am here because my grandfather wants it to happen. The third reason being, freedom.
I want to be free like Mauve here. Out of her family’s thumb, she has blossomed and opened her own business. If I stand with you I think that I have a chance to pursue my dreams as well. "She got up and then knelt down. "My motives are selfish but I am desperate."