Four

"Mademoiselle Elaine?" 

Elaine raised her head up, eyes meeting an unfamiliar face. Though unfamiliar, his dressing told her who he was.

"Yes, that's me."

"Okay," one of the palace guards replied her. "The king requests your presence."

"The king?" She got up.

"Yes, the king," he confirmed. "If I may then, I'll be leaving."

Still on her feet, she watched his figure disappear. She sighed as she returned to her original sitting position.

The king. After the prince's confrontation from the previous day, she could barely sleep a wink.   The prince's voice echoed in her head, the voices of all the maids around her chattering making it worse. 

She literally did nothing wrong. Since when did looking pretty and doing her job as a maid become a crime?

She got up to meet the king. She had only taken a few steps ahead when she met up with Lacy.

"Elaine," she called her, caressing her face as she got beside her. "How are you? I haven't seen you seen yesterday. How was the prince? What did he say?"

"Don't even remind me," Elaine replied her not stopping. "Apparently, the king requests my presence."

"What?" Lacy didn't sound so surprised. "Wow. That's wonderful."

"Of course."

"How was the prince, Elaine?" Lacy asked. "Is he really against all of this?"

"If him accusing me of sleeping with the king and trying to ruin his parents relationship is him being against all of these, then yes. He is strongly against it."

"What? He said that?" Lacy's fury was obvious. "How dare him! Does he think being a prince gives him a free pass to insult you?"

Elaine stopped to smile at Lacy. "You know how being royal works so of course, it definitely gives him a free pass to insult a mere servant."

"Thank you, though," she hugged her. "I'm sorry I can't stay longer to chat. I can't keep his majesty waiting."

"Don't let the prince bother you," Lacy hugged her back. "He's just another spoilt prince."

"Lacy!" Elaine cautioned. "Mind your words in the palace."

"Sure sure."

Elaine looked at Lacy one more time before she headed to the king. It was just the king. She wasn't supposed to be that nervous. She had seen him numerous times and it was just going to be another one of those times.

Except that it definitely wasn't going to be just one of those times.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the parlour. She bowed at the guards at the entrance, taking slow steps inside.

"Your majesty," she bowed to the king as she was few inches away from him.

"Come closer, come closer," the king replied her bow. "I was afraid you weren't going to show up."

"No of course not, Your Majesty," she replied the king taking few steps forward. "I dare not."

The king laughed lightly. "How are you, dear?"

She raised her head, her nervous eyes meeting his. "Very well, thank you, Your Majesty."

"I see," he was silent for a while as he stared at her. Unlike the first day he met her, her hair was braided neatly. Her gown was neat too, free of dirt and dust. Her cheeks weren't flushed too, making her warm skin glow with her bright lips.  She was biting her lips as she did the first time, the king concluding she did that whenever she was nervous.

"Don't be nervous," he broke the short-lived silence. "Or shy. It's fine. It's just the two of us."

"Yes. Yes, of course, your majesty," Elaine didn't know the most appropriate words to say.

"You might be wondering why I called you here," he said to her.

She nodded in response. She was wondering and curious but would rather stay curious than be told the words she suddenly began to dread.

"Yes, your majesty."

"Of course," he shifted in his seat. "I would not like to beat around the bush uselessly so I'll be frank with you. You're a very beautiful woman, Elaine."

"I'm extremely honored to hear such words from you, your majesty," Elaine replied, head still bowed. "Thank you for your kindness."

"And I have to admit, I'm interested in you."

His words attracted no response from Elaine.

He continued. "What I mean is, I want to marry you, Elaine."

"Your majesty-" Elaine didn't expect to be as shocked as she was. It was expected. The rumors had said it. The prince's actions had explained it but the King confirming it with his own words and self totally felt different.

"I know," he cut her off, taking a sip from the wine Elaine hadn't even noticed kept them company. "You must be shocked. Or not."

"Your majesty-"

"I heard about my son, the prince's behavior," he continued. "Do accept my apologies. He can be immature at times. Just like you, he was shocked."

"No, your majesty," she replied him quickly. "You don't need to apologise to me. You must certainly do not."

She took a quick glance at the king's face, not understanding what the smile on his face meant. Their eyes met briefly, her gaze immediately heading to the ground.

"Alright then," he nodded. "So back to the reason I called you here. I want to marry you."

"Your majesty," Elaine was at a loss for words. It was all happening so fast. "I'm honor-"

"Look, Elaine," he leaned closer. "Come closer. I like you and want to marry you, yes. But do I intend on forcing you, definitely no. The choice is yours. Do you want to accept the king's proposal and get married to him? Do you want to become the younger queen?"

Elaine gulped. "Your majesty-"

King Philippe leaned backwards and laughed. "The choice is yours. No worries, I will give you time to think about it. However, bear in mind that the king is not a very patient person and he always gets what he wants."

Elaine raised her head to meet the King smiling. She managed a smile in return, her head no longer bowed.

"Your Majesty."

This time it wasn't Elaine's voice of confusion. Elaine turned to meet the prince walking in.

"Prince Louis," his majesty replied his son.

"Father-"

"I'm in the midst of an important discussion," the king cut him off before he could go any further. "You have something to discuss with me? Patiently wait for me outside."

"Your majesty-"

"Hurry up, will you?" The king looked at his son and then his bride-to-be. "You are causing an unpleasant interference to my discussion."

"Alright, your majesty," Prince Louis finally said after a brief hesitation. "I will wait."

In less than a minute, the room was left filled with only the king and Elaine.

"So, back to our discussion," the king resumed.

"Your highness-"

"And about my son, do not pay attention to him. He's nothing more than a toothless lion and as you know, empty barrels they say, makes the loudest noise," the king smiled. "So do not be bothered by him and make your decision. That is, if you want to get married to the king or not."

Elaine finally smiled. "Yes, your majesty."

---

  "So you are asking me to accept the king's  proposal and get married to him?"

"Of course!" Lacy was excited. "You definitely should."

"I do not know, Lacy. You are literally all I have," Elaine replied. "I don't have parents to ask. Relatives to talk to. It's just me and myself to make such a huge decision."

Elaine sighed. Growing up wasn't easy for her and she'd told herself she wasn't going to be getting the luxuries of life- just the basics needed to go by each day was fine.

Her parents died while she was still growing up. Her father died when she was two, her mother said. She was so young she had no memories of him except for the ones her mother painted in her head through stories. Whenever she called her father the best father in the whole world, her heart ached. Not because it was a lie but because she couldn't experience what it felt like to have the best father in the world first hand.

She was eleven when her mum bid her an eternal goodbye. She was ill and getting food to eat was hard enough not to talk of getting medicine. That faithful day, Elaine had gone out to seek for food. Luckily, she got bread and headed home excitedly to feed her ill mother.

The day's event was still vivid in Elaine's memory. No screaming or wailing could wake her sleeping mother.

She was left all alone and had lost all hope until Madame Betty found her roaming the market and took her in to work as a palace maid.

"Elaine," Lacy's voice shook her out of her thoughts. "What are you thinking about?"

"Eh? Oh, nothing," Elaine replied, without thinking. "You know just, all of these."

Lacy smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You know what, forget everything I said. You said the king's not forcing you, right? Then do not feel pressured. Just do whatever makes you happy because at the end, that's all really going to matter. If you're happy, I'll be happy too."

Elaine smiled back at Lacy and hugged her. "Thanks, Lacy."

Before they could exchange more words, Madame Betty appeared out of nowhere. Dressed in her normal cream colored gown, her blonde hair tied up in a fancy hairstyle with hands sitting comfortably on her waist.

"I see that the palace is now a place where you can lurk around and chit chat all you want."

They both flew to their feet, hands flying to their backs. Their reply was in unison. "No, Madame Betty."

"Hurry up and leave here then, will you," she said in her usual tone. "There's plenty of work to do!"

They both bowed and turned to leave.

"Elaine," she called out, Elaine stopping. "You come back. I want to have a word with you."

"Yes, Madame."

After Lacy was out of sight, Madame Betty began.

"Oh my, am I supposed to bow now since I'm talking to the future queen?" Madame Betty said in a rather serious tone. "I see and hear everything, Elaine."

"Madame Betty."

"It's fine, child," she laughed. "It is alright. And come on, loosen up a bit. You do not have to be so prim and proper around me anymore."

Elaine simply nodded.

  Madame Betty adjusted her sitting position. "So tell me, has the king really asked you to be his wife?"

Elaine nodded shyly. "Yes."

"Wow, that's splendid!" Madame Betty said in a rather excited voice. "That beauty of yours. I was captivated the very first i set my eyes on you too."

"I'm honored. Thank you for your kindness."

Madame Betty laughed. "So, tell me, what is it? What's the matter now? You know you can talk to me, right? About absolutely anything."

Elaine was silent for a while. "I do not know, Madame Betty. What do you think? Am i to accept the proposal?"

"Oh, child," Madame Betty drew closer. "What are you exactly scared of?"

"Everything," Elaine let out. "The king wants to get married to a mere maid. A servant. Me!"

"And that scares you?"

"Is it not supposed to?"

Madame Betty smiled. " I understand you but trust me you shouldn't be scared. The king's in love with you and wants to marry you."

Love? Did she deserve something that like? For her love was a luxury. One of the luxuries she had concluded she could not have.

And the king was in love with her? Was that really how love worked? He barely knew her and vice versa. He was the king and she respected him but love? Marriage?

"You might be thinking you're young and unfamiliar with all these but it's not much of a big deal," Madame Betty continued. "Look at this from this angle. You are a maid and the king is interested in you. Think about it, does this happen frequently? It's an extremely rare opportunity and i think more than anything you should grab it. Think about the things it will change. A maid and a queen. Do you really want to let go of this opportunity?"

Elaine was silent. Truthfully, it was a rare opportunity. An opportunity to change her life forever. Perhaps, life was finally about to give her her own share of happiness.

Accepting the king's proposal was going to mean and change a lot. She might not harbour any feelings for him at the moment but just maybe the way he fell in love with her at first sight, she would look at him one morning and do the same.

"And," Madame Betty resumed. "You know very well he can decide to force you to get married to him but here he is giving you a choice. If you are smart enough, you'll know well that the chance he is giving you is not a chance for you to reject him. Imagine the fuss it will create. The king proposed to a maid and she rejected him! Do you really want to be the subject of such news?"

"But the king already has a family..."

"And you think he wasn't aware of that when he asked you to join," Madame Betty clapped her hands. "Isn't working at the palace all your life a bit boring? Do you not want a little drama?"

"Madame Betty," Elaine called out, watching a mischievous grin make its way to Madame's Betty's face.

"Yes, honey," she got up. "That's all i have to say to you, Elaine. The choice is yours. Make it wisely."

Elaine got up too. "Sure. Thank you, Madame Betty."

"Of course," Madame Betty smiled at her. "Your highness?"

"Madame Betty!"

She laughed at her. "I trust you will make a good decision."

---

"I'm here to see the king, his majesty."

"For what reason?" the guard questioned. "You should know a servant can not just demand to see the king."

"Of course," Elaine's voice was calm. "If you insist, please tell him it's Elaine. And if you are interested in knowing the reason i want to see him or you want to pass it on to him..."

"Would you please say the reason you are here?"

"Tell him I've made my decision."