THE STABLE GUY, AKA SKY

Isabelle went to work far later than usual this day because she overslept and missed the morning bell. When she got there, the king was at the stables, and he was angry. The stables hadn't been cleaned yet, but then, the king never came around this place, so why now? Isabelle rushed to the stables and apologized to the supervisor, who was on his knees and ran into the stables to begin sweeping the stalls, ignoring the guards and the King, who she actually didn't notice. The supervisor knelt and begged the king who saw the girl working in the stables, all alone. The king was there for an unexpected inspection with his guards. "Why is a girl in the stables?" The king asked but the supervisor had his head down, unable to say a word. One of the king's right hand went to Isabelle. "Isabelle, sire" She said to his question. "What're you doing here?" He asked and the supervisor began to plead with the king. "I'm here to clean the stables sire. I'm sorry for being late, I missed the morning bell" She said with a bow. "Who do you work here with?" He asked. "I work alone sire" She responded. "I mean who grooms the horses" The man asked. "I do, sire" She said and the man left. She immediately went to cleaning the horses because she thought she was already in trouble and wanted to look as diligent as possible. As she was grooming the horse, she kept smiling at the people standing at the other side, staring at her. She was nervous and didn't know what to do.

Suddenly, her supervisor was being dragged out, crying for a second chance. She got scared then, realizing they were definitely powerful people. The king left with most of his men and one of the officials came up to her. "Come with me" He said and she followed silently, thinking of what kind of punishment awaited her. She wasn't scared though, because she was sure that with the energy she had in the bracelets, there was nothing too tedious for her.

The official led her to into one of the residences in the palace. "This is the room of the youngest princess. You'll be serving her henceforth" He told her. Then he asked, "Which of the maid's quarters do you live in?" "None" She responded, explaining the circumstances leading to her becoming a maid. "You will have to stay here for the princess. Move to the maids quarters tomorrow" He said and left. She went after him, trying to make him reconsider but he wouldn't listen. She gave up and headed home. When Kakra found out about this, she was saddened as she was going to part ways with yet another of her children. At this point, the only person she'd have around would be Madolika, who wasn't even her child. After throwing a tantrum, Isabelle finally packed her clothes for the next day.

Before Isabelle left, Madolika wished her good luck, since Isabelle wouldn't accept anything else from her. After Isabelle settled down, she left the maids quarters, in search of the princess' room. The palace was enormous and she struggled to identify which room belonged to the princess. All she knew was that the princess' room was to the left but it wasn't the left she was thinking as the place had a four royal quarters which looked the same hence the left and right depended on which of the four doors you walked through. So she went in the left direction but there were six rooms there. She didn't know what to do so she decided to ask the intimidating guards who stood along the walkway. When she approached one, he ignored her. Then she approached another but he too ignored her. She was irritated and just decided to try her luck. She knocked on the first door and went inside. She looked around the empty room and saw Sky coming into the room, through an open window, dressed in a commoner's clothes. She wanted to shout for help at first but after realizing it was Sky, she held back and ran to the window, pushing him out.

"Ouch!" he shouted, hitting the ground. She looked out at him and shut the window, thinking he was there to steal. She then quickly left the room, to avoid getting into trouble. She shut the door immediately she came out and turned around, only to run into a tall young man, dressed in royal robes who had a book in his hand. "Sorry" She said, bowed her head and went around him but before she could leave, "What were you doing there?" He asked her. "I…I…" She stammered, unsure of what to say that wouldn't get her in trouble since she was not used to telling lies. "Come" He said to her and barged into the room. He looked serious so she did not even dare to ran. There in the room was Sky, half dressed, putting on his royal robes. Isabelle stood back in shock, unsure of what was going on.

"How many times should I tell you guys to not bring your little mistresses in here in the guise of maids!" He shouted at Sky and Isabelle froze in shock, her hand covering her mouth. "I'm sorry William, It will never happen again" Sky said with puppy eyes. "It's alright. At least you didn't ran out of the palace this time. I'll let it slide on your side but she is getting punished" William said and shifted his eyes to Isabelle, frowning at her. Finally understanding what was going on, Isabelle finally let out a word. "Me?" She asked, pointing at herself. She quickly shook her head and Sky came to William. "William, come on, it's not her fault, please?" He said. "No way, I finally caught you. I'm going to use you as an example to the others lest father punishes me because of you guys" He said and threw a glance at Isabelle to follow him. "I didn't do anything. Sky, tell him" She said desperately to Sky but he told her to shush and pulled her behind him. "William, let it slide just this once, please. It'll never happen again, I promise. If you do, I'll let you win our fight" He said and William turned around. "Are you sure?" William asked. "Yes, I promise" He said. "I don't trust you. I'll keep her at my side until our match is over" William said and pulled Isabelle away. "Hey, hey, help me" She pleaded with Sky as she was being dragged away. When he closed the door, he let go of her hand. "Come, I won't punish you yet" William said to her. "I'm innocent. I…" "You do not speak unless spoken to!" William ordered, interrupting her. She followed him silently, weeping within her.

She was made to wait outside his room as he was aided by his squire to get changed into his armor and then came out. They then headed for the arena in the courtyard for a knightly swordfighting combat at the palace courtyard. There were several men who fought against each other. Finally, one knight made his way onto the arena. He had a blue feather on his helmet. Each night had a different symbol to show their identity without revealing their faces and Sky's was the blue feather. The crowd burst into cheers as he made his way onto the arena. His opponent tightened his grip on his sword and Sky ran around playfully, showing off his sword skills and agility. It ended almost as quickly as it started but perhaps that was because it was the first round. He hadn't shown his face yet but everyone seemed to know who he was, especially the young princesses present at the front row. Isabelle's leg began to hurt from standing for so long so she bent down, leaning on William's chair at the topmost row. William's opponents didn't seem to be his match either. After a lot of rounds, it was left with the final two. The only helmet she could identify was William's. She didn't know who the other person was. The cheers for the final round found many losing their voices, both men and women.

The last battle was intense. At the signal, they charged at each other, their swords flashing with precise and calculated strikes. The audience gasped at their intricate techniques of swordplay. They moved with great speed as they dodged and attacked. They acted swiftly in response to changing dynamics during the fight. William ran on the wall and leaped into the air, coming down with momentum to strike his sword at Sky who dodged with a backflip. Sky kept defending while William kept aggressively attacking him. Eventually, William was exhausted, irritated that Sky lied to him and wasn't going to let him win. He kept attacking Sky. Sky, seeing that he was losing his strength, he jumped to make his attack, unaware that William had only pretended to be weak. Sky's attack was met with a blow to his head from the back of William's sword. Sky fell to the ground from midair. When William approached him, Sky was still trying to see what was going on around him. William came closer but when he approached, Sky slid backwards and swept his leg under William's, causing William to trip and fall. He then disarmed William and kept his sword to William's neck. The people cheered and he took off his helmet. "Him?" Isabelle realized. "What? Didn't he say he'll concede for my freedom? Oh no, what's going to happen to me now?" Isabelle said, her face in her palms. "Well done son!" The king shouted from his seat. Isabelle looked up and saw him. She covered her mouth, hoping the king didn't remember her.

The Ballroom

After the knightly combat, there was a party in the palace. Everyone ate and drank to their heart's content. Everyone praised Sky, calling him the leader of the next generation of knights. Many ladies and princesses lined up to greet him, seeking his attention. Isabelle was stuck with William, who was still upset because Sky had defeated him and he kept sending her on random errands during the party. He'd tell her to get him something like a napkin, then tell her to return it. She quietly followed, cursing Sky in her mind. During the dinner party, Sky was given the floor to speak. "Father, I would like to claim my prize now" He said and his father nodded with a smile. Sky looked to William's side and beside him was Desperalda, the daughter of the wealthiest businessman who was an ally of the king, and was going to be staying with the royals for a while. Sky had always had a crush on Desperalda but so did William and William always kept her closer to him since he knew her first. Everyone knew most of the princes were interested in Desperalda, especially these two. She wasn't known as the most beautiful for nothing. Sky's glance met Desperalda's and she rolled her eyes away pridefully, thinking Sky was going to ask for her company or something else related to her.

Sky moved his eyes to Isabelle who was standing beside William. "I want her, father" He said, pointing to Isabelle, who was giving him a death stare, thinking of all sorts of evil that she wished would happen to him. When he pointed at her, it took her a few seconds to realize the attention on her and she immediately lowered her head to look down. William stood up and took her by the arm. "You can't. Father she is his mistress who entered his room in the guise of a maid. I have to punish her for that!" William said angrily, still holding her hand. Desperalda was upset because the attention wasn't on her but a mere maid. The victor and his competitor were fighting over a maid. She didn't love any of the princes but liked to have them at her feet.

"Mistresses are a disgrace to society. How could you, as a woman give yourself away so freely!" Desperalda said and all the other princesses and daughters of wealthy men around, as well as the young men murmured in approval. Sky looked around the room, unsure of what next to do to free Isabelle from William's clutches. He only wanted to playfully repay her for her slap and save himself but things had spiraled out of control because of the people agreeing with Desperalda. The king suddenly lifted his hand and a horn was blown, putting the room into complete silence.

"I know you, young lady" The king said to her and she nodded quickly, hoping that she would at least get punished for lateness, which would be nothing compared to trespassing on palace grounds. What if she was arrested and accused of being a spy? No one would believe her. "I do! You were a maid in the stables and you were assigned to another duty. What happened?" He asked her "Your highness, I lost my way while searching for the princess' room and ran into Sky's room by accident and the prince misunderstood, your highness" She said. "A lot of maids get confused at first but that doesn't justify anything, no wonder William mistook you for that. You should pay more attention as a palace maid. For failing to pay attention, you will go for classes as a palace maid and work extra hard this week as punishment" The king said to her. He had liberated her without giving her to Sky. He found it weird since she called the prince by his name, without a title, but the truth sounded closer to what she said.

"Thank you, your highness" Isabelle said and bowed, then one maid came to escort her to where she was supposed to go to. She felt so much pressure that she forgot everything about herself, not to talk of her environment and followed the maid, away from the drama.

After she left, the party continued and Sky smiled at William. William felt fooled. He had just been made a fool of in public. Desperalda felt embarrassed. Although she had been declared innocent by the king, William didn't believe Isabelle was innocent. It just didn't make sense to him and he began to think Sky was being suspicious with the girl's arrival during a time when maids were not being recruited but somehow, this girl was new. "No" He told himself. "This was just another one of Sky's pranks that had gone too far" He said to himself.