09

***Princess's birthday***

The night had come as the sun made its way down the horizon, and the hall gradually filled up with guests of distinguished personalities, such prominent occasion was for the eminence and not mere villagers.

The hall was decorated in the Princess's favorite color, but I chose designs, although the skills of the artist could not be over-emphasized. It was beautiful with flowers and curtains hanging from the ceiling.

All sorts of delicacies known to the Aeradonians, drinks, and snacks filled the arena while soft tunes soothing to the ears were played by the skillful hands of those who played the musical instruments.

The day before was hectic for those who had different roles to play, the invitation letters were handwritten by those with one of the best handwritings in the kingdom using gold inks as a symbol of royalty.

Those in charge of catering spent their day gathering the required ingredients while I dealt with Allesio Rowan.

I got to the quarters and I was asked several times about my reason for coming to which I replied that I would love to see Allesio but they were security conscious even in the quarter which was expected since they were guards.

I eventually got to see him after minutes of long explanations. His apathetic attitude towards me when I saw him was one of a kind, if he had always acted that way then I would have never gotten into that kind of trouble.

It was difficult to explain my reasons but I succeeded in doing so even though my constant stammering gave away my anxiety, however, I didn't let him know that Samantha had anything to do with it.

I told him how bad I felt about rejecting him which according to me wasn't entirely false and agreed to dance with him. And Ialso emphasized on the fact that it was just going to be a dance and nothing else.

He may not have been happy with my emphasis but with the smile on his face, I knew he was delighted that I agreed to dance with him.

With all the guests arriving I was made the Princess look like a damsel as expected, she was dressed up like it was a marriage ceremony even her hairstyle I made into a nice wedding bun with a special tiara to match her pink dress.

But as did all that I received a whole sermon on how disappointed she was with me concerning the incident of the previous morning to which I apologized over a hundred times.

When I was done with her, she looked gorgeous and she confirmed how much she loved it by hugging me. To be honest, the Princess's swift change in demeanor never ceased to amaze me.

When she was done, it was my turn to look presentable, although I wouldn't be around her all the time since needed some time alone with the love of her life, still, I had to look good as a handmaid.

I took a shower, and wore a pink dress almost similar to that of the princess, I applied very light makeup, and admired myself in the mirror several times.

Before I stepped out of my room, a guard stood there knocking at my door, he had come to inform me of the sequence of the Princess's Grand entrance.

First, we had to wait until all or most of the guests arrived, then the Prince would madd an entrance and the ceremony commenced, the King first gave a five to ten minutes speech about his daughter where he showered her with praises in her absence.

Next, the dancers went ahead of us, they dance following the rhythm to entertain the people and while that was happening, snacks and drinks were be passed around by servants in trays for everyone to pick a snack of their choice.

Next, the Prince gave a speech and narrated the story of how he met the Princess which took up another ten minutes while the Princess waited anxiously.

And finally when it was our turn, a red carpet was rolled by servants from the door to the center of the room where red petals were be scattered all over the floor, and the tune played was changed to a very slow and emotional one before the Princess would took her to walk slowly from the start of the carpet to the center while I walked behind her but stopped halfway and the king took over.

He held her hand and danced with her for over three minutes and everyone watched with a smile on their faces, their legs moved uniformly as if they had been practicing for that moment, it was indeed a beautiful experience for both father and daughter.

I scanned the room for Prince Andrew and saw him standing by a corner with a glass of wine in his hand as he watched the dance unfold, I would have believed that he felt jealous but a man wouldn't feel such a way when his lady dances with her father would he?

The dance stopped eventually and the crowd were back together in a cluster, lots of people congratulated the Princess on her twenty-second birthday.

I noticed she felt perturbed by the attention she got, so I stepped in with a little white lie.

"My princess, his majesty requests your presence," I uttered and she left with me immediately.

"How could you tell I needed the freedom?" She asked me in a tone of appreciation.

"As your handmaid, I must know when you need me without saying it, now my Princess, his majesty awaits you," I said to her and staring at Prince Andrew and back to her.

She understood my point and left with a broad smile on her face, I went with her to avoid more interruptions on the way, and left as soon as she was close to the Prince who took her hand without wasting a second.

"A dance?" A familiar voice spoke to me from behind and when I turned my jaws dropped in astonishment.