Emma

Prince Charles Marcus Amarogh Grenhalds rode horseback down the path flowed by an army of a thousand soldiers his father King Gerald Kershe Harold Grenhalds in the lead. Behind the rest of the royal family were General Hugh and Commander Lawrence. The thousand-man army was an escort to the land of Phelppe. On a small pony beside Prince Charles was a boy the age of 13 and he was a servant who was going to do what the prince told him to do on that journey.

The boy had dirty blonde hair and bright blue eyes. His name was Thomas Lawrence. He grew up in the palace, a servant. He worked with his mother in the kitchens drying the silverware and cleaning off the counters where the cooks would prepare the meals. He then continued to work in the kitchen doing "woman's work" until his mother died of fever. He would follow his father around doing his bidding he would chop wood in the forest to get enough for fires and he would tend the fires in the palace. On his two days after his thirteenth birthday he became one of the few to watch to help the prince and serve him.

By doing this job he met Emma, one of the girls who took care of the princess's clothing. Emma was carrying a particularly large basket of clothing and tripped. The clothes flew everywhere. As Emma scrambled to get the clothing all together the prince and princess came walking down the corridor, following them were the ladies in waiting and the prince's servants, including Thomas. Seeing Emma's distress the Prince Charles called to Thomas and had him help her while he went to the library with Princess Eleanor.

Thomas immediately rushed to her assistance the girl's red hair was in a bun and her clothes were slightly nicer than Thomas's. Her white dress was soiled with dirt, stains and sweat. Her hair needed washing, but she was still very pretty. When she stood up her eyes shone brilliant green. Around her neck was a necklace that looked very plain. "Thank you" she whispered and turned towards the washroom.

"It was my pleasure" Replied Thomas, trying to act mature beyond his years.

That day seemed like forever ago in Thomas's mind he still saw Emma as much as possible though, usually going out of his way to "accidentally-on purpose" run into her in the corridor. He had her schedule memorized. In the morning she would bring in the Princess Annabelle's clothes, then she would bring in princess Eleanor's clothes. Take her nightclothes and wash them in the washroom. Go outside hang them on the clothesline then dust the mantelpieces and tables. The she would retrieve the clothes from the line and take them back to the washroom. Then she would bring the Princess's Afternoon clothes to them and take their other clothes back to the washroom where the wash master would thoroughly scrub them. Then she would collect the rest of the royal family's clothing from the other washroom and bring them to the wash master who would scrub them thoroughly. Then she would bring the dinner clothes to the princesses and bring their afternoon clothes to the washroom and the wash mistress who will give them a scrub wash. After that she would go dust the furniture in the princess's rooms and sweep in the kitchens. After those duties are done she would bring their nightclothes to them and bring them to the washroom where they will be carefully cleaned and inspected for stains. Then she was free to go to bed.

Thomas hated to admit it but he was in love with her and everything about her. From her ragged white dress to her bright green eyes. He would stay up all night making her a gift of some sort. Once he made her a carving of a swan and another time he woke up early to make her a breakfast of biscuits. As he got to know her by their "acquaintances" he learned that her proper name was Emmaline Gabrielle Vince and that her parents worked directly with the Queen and King. Her mother was the first lady-in-waiting to the Queen, and her father was the one who did all the writing of documents for the King.