11 Chapter Eleven: Stone Castle

Chapter Eleven: Stone Castle

When Jamie opened her eyes the next day, she was alone on the bed. She felt a little discomfort as she moved her body. She looked around the room. Someone had taken the initiative and placed the pain portion very close to the bed and she could just reach it if she stretched her hand.

Jamie did and few seconds later, she was good as new.

Her legs felt shaky as she stood up for the first time in days. She was wearing a purple loose dress, it was the same clothes she wore yesterday when she regained consciousness but she had no memory changing into them.

Alexander!

It occurred to her that he was the one that changed her clothes without permission…again. The devil of Aradale apparently has no regards for propriety and privacy. She was an unwed girl and yet he seemed to enjoy looking at her naked body shamelessly. Jamie felt the rage but it was useless, the subject of her anger was nowhere to be found.

Jamie was so close to the closed window when she felt faint and grabbed a chair before she fell completely to the ground. The door opened almost immediately and a young girl about her age rushed inside to help her.

"Milady!"

Jamie wished the room would stop spinning for a minute. She first saw the blurred version of the young girl's face and then her hand on her back to steady her.

"You are not supposed to get out of the bed without help, her majesty"

The young girl led Jamie back to the bed and gave her another portion she took from the table to drink. Soon, the nausea passed and she was able to see everything much clearly now.

The young girl was pretty and blonde with lower class dress and shoes. Her eye lashes were long and batted as she stared at Jamie with concern.

"I am alright. Thank you for your help"

The girl blushed. She seemed nervous and uncomfortable. She opened the drawer and took out white linen and tried to wipe Jamie's sweat but she took it from her.

"Thank you but I can do it myself" Jamie murmured. She hated being treated like an invalid not when she was quite capable of doing it herself. The girl panicked and tried to take the linen back from Jamie.

"Her Majesty, it is my job to take care of you. Allow me to wipe your face"

Jamie smiled at the young girl. She was so different from her lady's maid back in Namura. Ursla doesn't panic. She drags and she fights but panicking was never her thing.

"Thank you but no"

"You can't thank me, her majesty. Queens, don't thank their servants"

"Good thing, I am not a Queen. I am Princess Jamie of Namura. What is your name?"

"My name is Rachael, Milady. I am your lady's maid" Jamie saw that Rachael had something else to say and she urged her to continue "You are not just a princess of a small kingdom in Eastern Hemisphere. You are the most powerful female monarch in Derkal Nation. You are Queen over Western Hemisphere, your majesty"

Jamie wanted to correct the girl's misunderstanding. Her sister Arabella was Queen and she wasn't planning to stick around long enough to take the damned title. Jamie was hungry; she could hear her stomach growl. She needed food and she needed to escape.

"Rachael?"

The young maid turned around and bowed to Jamie which wasn't weird at all. Jamie took a deep breath but before she spoke, there was a loud knock on the door and Rachael looked her over before she covered her legs with a blanket.

"You may come inside with the food. Her majesty is decent"

The door opened and three maids came inside with trays of different foods. Jamie for a moment thought there was a feast about to happen but in her room? It didn't make any sense at all.

"Her majesty" the three maids bowed to her.

Jamie looked at them and smiled. In her mind, the first thought that popped into her head was that maids in Aradale loved bowing. Unlike Arabella that was surrounded by loyal subjects and was forced to observe and enjoy the privileges accorded to a princess and Royalty, Jamie did not. She spent years exiled from the kingdom and grew up in the forest.

"His highness asked for a pot of brown broth, chicken legs, carrots, fresh milk from a cow's udder and boiled brown potatoes to be served to her majesty" The oldest of the maids gestured to the food on the table.

Alexander remembered everything she asked for yesterday. Jamie was genuinely surprised.

"The Queen has no words for you anymore. You may leave now" Rachael ordered and they bowed and departed but not before one of them dropped something made of stone on the table.

Jamie stood up and walked to the table. She could see the look on Rachael's face and the way she moved closer in case she falls down. Jamie knew Rachael was planning to catch her before her body touches the ground. The girl was brave but petite; Jamie's body weight would probably break her into two.

Jamie sat on the chair Rachael pulled out for her. The first thing she touched on the table was chicken legs. She took one and devoured it almost immediately.

"Do you want some, Rachael?"

"No, Her majesty… Queens don't share their food with their lady's maid"

"You should tell that to Ursla. We arm wrestle for the biggest chicken legs and she is my lady's maid"

Rachael looked like she would hurl over if Jamie continued talking about the sacrilegious acts of her former lady's maid. Jamie simply smiled at her. It was then her eyes caught the object made of stone on the table and she picked it up. A note was attached to it.

ON A SECOND THOUGHT, I DECIDED TO GIVE YOU THE CASTLE AFTER ALL.

Jamie smiled. It was a miniature of King Alexander's castle made of stone. It was a reminder of what he told her yesterday night when she asked for food he couldn't possible provide and he asked whether he should add his castle to the ridiculous request.

"That stone castle belongs to King Alexander. It once belonged to the late Queen… King Alexander's mother and rumor has it; the stone castle was the last thing she gave to him before she passed away."