Chapter 29: Swallows
"Rose," a voice called, and she lifted her head from the floor she was scrubbing. She was dressed in maid’s clothes and an apron, she wore a scarf around her head to hold her hair in place and keep it from covering her eyes.
Rose frowned, but her expression brightened a little when she saw who it was. She scrambled to her feet and curtsied. "Mister ’enry," Rose called.
He stood in the doorway and gestured for her to step out of the room. Rose glanced at the floor, hesitant. She had only just begun cleaning this room, and it was still mostly a mess.
"Don’t worry, someone else will take care of it," Henry said when he noticed her reaction.
"Okay," Rose replied, wiping her hands on the back of her clothes. She stepped over the bucket and walked out of the room, partially closing the door behind her. "Is somet’ing wrong?" she asked.
"No, some things arrived for you."
Rose frowned and noticed he held a bag. However, she didn’t say anything and just waited for Henry to give her more information.
"Here," he said, handing the bag to her. "You can take a break for now while you check it. His royal highness insisted that I make sure you go through the items as soon as I give them to you."
Rose accepted it and nodded, her breath catching in her throat. She didn’t know what she would find inside, and she was almost scared to check. "Thank ye," she replied.
Henry shrugged and walked away without another word. He didn’t have to bring it himself; he could have sent a servant to hand it to her but the crown prince’s order made him deliver it himself. Rose tore her gaze from his retreating back and turned her attention to the bag. It was a little heavy, but not too much.
She held back her curiosity and slowly made her way to the room she shared with Martha. She unrolled the hay bed and sat on it. It was either that or she would have to sit on the bare floor. Rose undid the bag and frowned. It was a bit of a mess, and she wondered if it had been ransacked before Henry gave it to her. It slightly upset her, but she figured things that came into the castle tended to be checked.