The Maid
I had been a maid my entire life.
My mother had been a maid, and her mother before her.
For generations, the women in my family had served the aristocracy, passing down the same quiet life from one generation to the next.
But none of us had ever served in a place like the royal palace.
When I was nine years old, I was brought there to work for the king.
At first, it felt like a dream.
The palace seemed endless—miles of polished marble floors, intricately woven rugs, and towering walls adorned with sculptures and paintings created by masters from every corner of the kingdom. Sunlight poured through enormous stained-glass windows, casting colors across the halls like jewels.
I lost myself in its warmth and splendor.
Of course, I tended carefully to my duties. I swept the floors, washed the dishes, scrubbed the rooms, and carried baskets of laundry until my arms ached.
But somehow, it never truly felt like work.I loved the fine linens and delicate lace dresses that passed through the laundry room. Sometimes, when no one was watching, I would run my fingers slowly over the soft fabrics and imagine what it would feel like to wear them.
For years, my days were filled with sweeping, washing, mopping, and tidying.And I was happy.
The other servants were kind to me, and the king treated us with a generosity I had never known outside the palace.
I thought my life would remain that way.
Simple.
Quiet.
Safe.
I was wrong.
Everything changed the year she arrived.Her name was Princess Seraphine, the eldest daughter of a distant kingdom feared for its military strength.
Her homeland possessed an army powerful enough to make even the neighboring kingdoms hesitate. And our kingdom, Elaria, was slowly becoming vulnerable.
War was approaching.
Desperate for an ally, our aging king proposed a marriage between the two royal families.
No one expected the arrangement to last.But it did.
The princess became our queen.
And almost immediately, my world changed.
Queen Seraphine was nothing like the king.Where he had been gentle, she was cold.Where he had shown kindness, she showed cruelty.
She treated the servants as though we were toys created for her amusement, taunting us whenever boredom struck.
I learned quickly to stay out of her way.
The other servants began pushing me toward the less visible parts of the palace, leaving me to work almost exclusively in closets, kitchens, and washrooms.I was warned not to wander through the gardens anymore.
Not to tend the flowers.
Not to linger in the halls.
One of the older maids finally told me why.
"The queen doesn't like pretty girls."
She was determined to remain the most beautiful woman in the kingdom.
So I learned to make myself invisible.
Then, not long after the wedding, the king died.
And with him died the last protection we had.
Queen Seraphine took control of Elaria.
Under her reign, everything began to fall apart.
People went hungry.
Merchants lost their businesses.
Aristocratic families began declaring bankruptcy.
Crime spread through villages and cities that had once been peaceful.
The queen seemed to care about none of it.
She refused to govern while the kingdom slowly collapsed around her.
And one by one, the nations that had once called us allies turned their backs on us.
There was no help coming.
No army.
No rescue.
No hope.
Elaria was dying.
And I was only a maid.
I had no family of influence.
No wealth.
No title.
No power.
All I had ever known was how to serve.
So when the palace doors opened one cold winter morning and a stranger walked into my life, I had no idea that he would change everything.
Nor did I know that before this story was over, I would have to choose between the life I had always known...and the kingdom I had never believed I could save
