Chapter 14: From pan to fire
An hour later, Anastasia was mopping the floor along with Theresa.
The excitement for Charlotte had disappeared from her eyes and was replaced by disappointment. In some corner of her heart, she wanted to give Charlotte the benefit of doubt, but the sight of charcoal powder on Charlotte's hands didn't hide the betrayal that had happened.
To go so far as to steal... Anastasia could only guess that Charlotte had used her sketches to get a close enough position to work under Princess Niyasa. She noticed Charlotte walking from one end of the corridor to where she and Theresa were working.
"Are you going to visit Princess Niyasa, Charlotte?" Theresa asked, not knowing what Charlotte had done.
Charlotte smiled, and replied, "I am. I am in a hurry now as Princess Niyasa doesn't like to be kept waiting." She turned to look at Anastasia, who made no attempt to speak to her. She pursed her lips and said, "Take care of yourself, Anna. If there's something to clean in the princess's room, I will be sure to ask for you." Saying those words, she left the corridor.
On noticing Anastasia's unfriendly behaviour towards Charlotte, Theresa said, "I thought you weren't upset with Charlotte's promotion..."
Anastasia replied, "It isn't her promotion that upsets me. It is the means by which she promoted herself."
Theresa frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"
"She stole something that was mine. Truthfully, it isn't that she used it as an opportunity that makes me sad, but that she broke my trust," Anastasia stopped mopping the floor, clutching the wooden stick with her hands. She said, "What she took... they were all very dear to me. But had she asked, I would have happily given them to her."