The Queen's Dirty Secrets

3. A bad first impression

YAWWWWN!

“What a bright morning this is.” Merucia stretched and rolled out of bed. “So, this is what it feels like sleeping on a bed, huh? For once, my back doesn’t hurt.”

She started gently pressing her neck, “What’s this? My neck doesn’t hurt? Soft life…”

Merucia started striding around the room. She did not have the chance to marvel at her new life the previous day. A lot had happened in one day. This morning, this quiet morning, she could finally marvel and “take-in” her new life. A smile flickered across her face. It was more of a mischievous smile—she must have been thinking about all the things she would start doing as she was of royalty now.

Suddenly, an intrusive thought popped into her head, “Gosh, why did he look at me like that?” She went to the giant mirror at one corner of the room. She started touching her face and staring at herself carefully, “Am I that scary? I consider myself more of a baby-face. Innocent and harmless—that’s just how I am. How dare he be scared at such beauty?... Wait a minute…”

She looked as though she was rummaging through her brain, “He only knows me as the Queen Gravier. I don’t know much about Gravier but I have heard once, that she was not one to be messed with. Maybe, he knows how allegedly terrifying Gravier is.”

“UH!” she gasped. Shock in her eyes, “Maybe, he recognized me. Maybe, he saw that I was not Gravier and therefore, he became terrified!”

KNOCK, KNOCK!

The door shortly opened. Gertrude and Bertha matched in. They had to do their routine duties as the personal maids of the Queen. They had come to make her bed and prepare her for a bath.

Seeing the two of them, immediately, shuttered Merucia’s glee. Seeing them, felt like welcoming trouble. She knew they only bore bad news. In seeing them, she instantly remembered the missing body of the real Queen—Queen Gravier.

“We went around the palace with our ears out. There is no talk of the body,” said Bertha. “It’s like no-one knows anything. There are no suspicions, people are going about their day as usual.”

When finally, Merucia was all cleaned up, she sat at the dinning table. The table was matted with so much food. Different kinds of food. She had never had a single colourful plate to herself but now, she actually sat at an entire table mounted with so many delicious colours.

A tear fell from her eye, she quickly reached out her hand to wipe off the tear, “I’m not crying. I’m only moisturizing my eyes—they need to see all this clearly.” She whispered only to herself. “If the days of darkness come for me again, I will picture this table as comfort.”

She started digging in, without much care. She wouldn’t bother with the cutlery set before her, the woman dug with her bare hands. The Grand Princess walked in, she was shocked to see such unruly demeanour. “Why, you must have quite a healthy appetite, Your Majesty.”

Now, Merucia jumped to her feet. She curtsied a little to welcome the Grand Princess. “I don’t know how you do in your previous Kingdom, but here, you wait until the royal family has joined the table.”

The Grand Princess was an aunt to the King. Merucia knew she had to show the greatest respect when addressing that woman, “I apologize, Your Royal highness. I was not made aware that you would be joining me.”

“You still have to wait.” The Grand Princess started looking around the table. She had a look of disdain on her face, almost as though she was disgusted, “I have lost my appetite.” She turned to the maid who was following her around, “You girl, take me back to my court.”

The girl curtsied and took hold of the Grand Princess’ elbow to support her matured body. They were out.

Now, Merucia was down. She could feel her appetite vanishing. Her heart was pounding. She had made a bad first impression on the Grand Princess. She instantly, lost the woman’s respect. It would be hard gaining it back—more often, once respect was lost, it would never be gained back. Merucia believed that it was over for her with the Grand Princess. The grand Princess would now, probably walk all over her and grimace at the sight of her.

Merucia tried staring at the food with enthusiasm again but she could not get herself back. Now, she got up and was heading out. She saw her friends standing by, they both looked pitiful, staring at the food on the table. “You can eat it,” she said to them.

“Are you crazy!” sternly whispered Gertrude. “You know, we are not allowed to eat such fancy food. This food is only good to be thrown out.”

There was a rule in that palace that the royal’s left overs should be thrown out. The servants could never eat such pleasantries. If found eating from the left overs, a hefty punishment would be dished.

“I am telling you to, as the new Queen of this Kingdom. If anyone questions you, you tell them I am a Queen accustomed to the traditions of my Kingdom and as we do in my land and I have given you this wasted food to eat. Take this food to the kitchen and eat with the others.”

Bertha and Gertrude were starting to see the benefit of having one of their own as the royal member of the palace. They had cleared the table in no time. They gathered in the kitchen with the other ladies and gentlemen to eat. Each of them knew to be quick enough before they got caught. They knew that they would put the blame on the ‘foreign’ Queen, but still they wanted to be careful not be caught.

The interaction with the Grand Princess had Merucia thinking, “I need to get some lessons on royal etiquettes, so that today’s incident doesn’t happen again.” She was walking about the palace, purposelessly. Normally, she would never be allowed to walk in certain passages or into certain rooms, but that was when she was a simple cleaner. Merucia was the Queen now, she planned on exploring even beyond all of her boundaries.

“I still have another chance with another member of the royal family. I am yet to meet the former King, my husband’s father. I must bring him to my side. I must make him approve of me as the new Queen. His decision will override that of the cranky Grand Princess. Yes.”

Merucia had been walking for a while now, she had not realised that she had entered the male servant’s courtside. This was where the male workers of the palace stayed during their working period in the palace.

SPLASH! SPLASHH!

That noise pulled her from her thoughts. For a moment, she was confused as to where she was. She started tossing and looking around to locate herself. Instantly, she was interrupted by a man with a body of a god in the shower stall. She only saw a glimpse of his face when he twisted to throw the water on his back. It was the handsome butler.