The King's Lover -
Chapter 38: Stolen
Chapter 38: Stolen
Mister ’Enry lost all the color in his face. "I can’t, I’m sorry," he said, lowering his head. "If His Highness calls on you, you will have to respond."
Rose nodded and wiped her face. "I figured," she said with a dejected look on her face and turned toward the door.
"Get enough rest. You don’t have to do any duties for the rest of the day," Mister Henry said.
Rose slowly nodded as she walked into the room. She knew she would scrub as many floors as possible if it meant she didn’t have to deal with the prince tonight, but that was clearly not going to happen.
The bed was exactly as she had left it, but her bag was in a different position. Rose wondered if she was imagining things. The guards had forcefully dragged her out of the room—it might have moved then. Besides, she didn’t have time to think about it, as all she wanted to do was lie down.
Rose dropped onto the bed with a loud thud and groaned in pain. She had landed a little too hard on her side, the one that had been kicked. She immediately rolled onto her front. Though it was a little uncomfortable to lie on her chest, it was currently the only position she could lie in that didn’t hurt so much.
"Are you in pain?" Edna asked.
Rose merely grunted in reply.
"I’ll get you some water to clean the wounds and some balm to help with the pain."
Rose nodded and started to cry again. "I want to go ’ome, Edna. I don’t care about anythin’ else. I just want to see mi mother, mi father, and Ander again. I want to get married and live wit’ him. What did I do wrong?"
"I know. You did nothing wrong. It was just a series of unfortunate circumstances."
"Why did it ’ave to ’appen to me?"
"I’ll get you something to eat," Edna said, unsure of how to console her. She didn’t know if Rose would ever be able to do any of those things, and she didn’t want to lie to her.
Rose smiled tightly and faced the wall.
"I’m sorry, Rose. I really wish I could help."
"Tis not yer fault," she simply said.
"After eating, get some sleep. I’m sure it will make you feel better."
Rose didn’t reply to this, and she heard Edna stand up from the ground and head for the door. She was sure nothing could make her feel better—not even sleeping for hours. Getting out of here was the only thing that could.
After she had eaten and cleaned up, Rose fell into a deep sleep she couldn’t help. She was mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted. When she eventually woke up, it was dark, and there was just a little candle in the room. There was no sign of Martha, but that was unimportant. What was more important was, that it was clearly past the time she would wait in the crown prince’s room.
Rose’s eyes opened wide, and she felt relief flood her body. Did something happen? She didn’t care. Didn’t want to know. If he had someone else to do that with, Rose couldn’t be happier. As long as it didn’t involve her.
She lifted herself to a sitting position and pulled her bag closer to herself. The prince’s coat hadn’t been returned to her after the guards took it. She didn’t know what had happened to it and hoped it wouldn’t cause more trouble later on. Rose could hear sounds outside the room. Servants were clearly moving up and down the hall, but she didn’t step outside to find out what was happening. If they would let her sleep, Rose intended to sleep for however long she could. She wouldn’t leave her room unless she was called upon, and she wasn’t hungry. Edna had been quite generous when she gave her some food before she slept.
Rose frowned as she realized something was missing. She wanted to rearrange her bag, as she wasn’t able to do that after she returned because she was so tired. However, as soon as she poured out the contents of her bag, she knew some things were missing.
At first, she thought it was just her wedding present, but even her flute was gone. Rose’s gaze darkened. She had had enough. There was no other person who would take such obvious things from her.
She stood to her feet, and Rose almost fell on her butt as the world spun. She managed to grab the wall to save herself, but she needed a few moments for the spinning to stop and her vision to clear. She picked up the light and marched to Martha’s section. She wasn’t even going to ask her. She knew Martha would lie about it. The only way she could get her things back was if she found them herself.
Rose felt her heart squeeze. Martha was cruel. She could do something as evil as breaking them or burning them—or, yet again, she could accuse Rose of stealing them. Rose walked to the dresser and pulled out the drawers. She saw a few trinkets and some makeup, but nothing that looked like the flute or the swallows.
Rose pulled out the second drawer and also came up empty. She checked under the dresser, and yet again, nothing. Then she moved to Martha’s bag. It was more than five times bigger than hers, and it would take her a while to check it.
Rose didn’t hesitate as the idea came to her head. She just flipped the bag over, pouring the contents onto the floor. As soon as the bag overturned, the door opened, and Martha walked in. She had a neutral look on her face until she saw the mess in the room.
"You riffraff! How dare you search my things?" she yelled as she rushed toward Rose, ready to hit her and push her away from her belongings.
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