The King's Lover

Rose was still cleaning even after the sun went down and the sky grew dark. Opening the windows wide didn’t provide enough light, and she had to squint her eyes as she cleaned, relying only on a few candles that couldn’t even light the corner of the room.

Dinner for the maids had started a while ago, but she wanted to finish this room. She had already cleaned the shelves, and the tables, made the bed, and scrubbed the floors. All that remained was to bring in the new rugs and curtains. After this room, she could move to the next section.

Rose wiped some sweat from her forehead. She was exhausted. All she wanted to do was lay her head down and sleep. To think she would have to do all of this again tomorrow—Rose shook her head, trying not to think about it.

She gave the room one last look, making sure nothing was amiss before she walked out. Edna had already told her where she could get the clean curtains from, and even if she couldn’t replace them right away, she could at least bring them to the rooms to make it easier for the next day.

Rose tried to wipe herself down as she got to her room. It wasn’t enough to get the dust out, but at least she would be able to get dinner before cleaning up. As she made her way to the kitchen once again, Rose couldn’t help but notice things seemed a little more rowdy than usual. Most of the servants ignored her and went about their duties.

It was dinnertime, so it was no surprise to Rose that everyone seemed up and about. She got to the kitchen to see it was almost empty, but at least they were still serving. She got her share of dinner and sat at the table to eat.

Rose was halfway through her meal when a frantic Edna rushed into the space with Martha behind her. There were two other maids with her, and Rose recognized the girl from earlier. She smiled at Edna, but the maid didn’t return her smile, instead rushed toward her.

"I’ve been looking all over for you," Edna said as she stopped in front of the table where Rose sat.

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"Ye said to make sure to eat dinner," Rose grinned at her.

"I did say that," Edna smiled back. "Are you almost done?"

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Rose nodded. "Just a few moments."

"Are you really going to wait until she finishes her food even though the crown prince has requested her? Doesn’t she just have one job in the castle?" Martha suddenly blurted.

Edna glared at her but didn’t say anything. Instead, she turned to Rose and said, "You can finish your food. We’ll manage with the rest of the time."