"Ariella! Ariella! Where is that blasted girl? Ari!"

Ari turned toward the sound and quickly got up and ran toward the voice. She held her breath as she came into view, the only evidence that she had been outside without permission was her skirts were a bit dirty at the end.

"Yes?" She smiled innocently but Ari knew she wouldn't fall for it.

"Young lady... you give me mini heart attacks. You do girl," the woman straighten out her apron and glared at Ari. Ari smiled and wrapped her arms around her in a small hug.

"Whatever Maya. You aren't that old."

"Fifty-one is old enough my dear. Try to be on time every once and a while," Maya picked up her basket and motioned her head toward Ari's basket.

"I always am."

"'On time' means to be early. That's beside the point, you know you need to take precaution...."

"Thank you. But how many times do I have to tell you that 'I'll be fine'. I always am," she smiled but her friend did not seemed convinced.

"Tell that to those men that have come after you ever since..."

"So what needs to be done next. I'm guessing I wasn't called in for no reason," Ari said gently, taking one of the baskets off the ground. She looked through and saw the royal red sheets, all cleaned and folded nicely.

"I guess it's prince duty huh?" Ari raised her brow, a smirk curling her lips. Smiling, Maya began to roll her eyes and gave Ari an amused look.

"Don't get in trouble."

"Sorry Maya, that's been my specialty of late," Ari meant it as a joke but the air seemed to have gotten thicker after that statement.

"Choose your battles wisely child," Maya gave her a look before picking up her basket and walking out as quietly as she came in.

Ari sighed and picked up her basket again, missing her alone time she had just before she was called in. Mornings were always the best time to go for her, nothing felt better than just being able to clear her head of all her troubles. Beside the fact mornings were beautiful, the trees whispered a silently breeze and the birds sang their songs of greeting.

It was always beautiful to her.

Walking down the familiar hall to the prince's room she knocked once and waited for a response.

"Enter."

She smiled and entered in. "Aww, how was your week so far?" She asked with a smile, changing the sheets on his bed smaller than the king and queen's but twice the size of her own.

"I missed you. Some other maid came in and she wouldn't talk to me," the prince stomped his foot and crossed his arms in show of his anger. She laughed softly and went over to him, a hand on his shoulder.

"How old are you, Prince Eric?" If anyone had walked by just then she would probably be put in jail but she was always there for the prince when she could and he knew that. She respected and cared for him.

"Eight years old," he mumbled sourly and she just smiled and tickled his side. His laughter filled the room, music to her ears and she couldn't hide her grin.

"And do eight year old princes cry?"

"No," he said, a small laugh still in his voice. She smiled and ruffled his hair, nodding her head in agreement. She finished her small task and gave the prince a small smile

"Bye Prince Eric."

"Bye Ari!"

She exited the room and was immediately met by another maid, sending her off to do cleaning. A maid's work is never done.

Setting off to do dishes, she cleaned till every plate was spotless and a person could see their reflection in it. Note to self: fix your hair.

Next was dusting the old and new library books. This was never her favorite, the dust always made her sneeze but she liked looking at the titles and wondering what that book could be like. Note to self: pride and prejudice by Jane Austen, sounds really good.

Moving on she began to clean what felt like the whole castle before she took her small lunch break.

All the maids crowd in their little lunch area, designated only for maids and guards if they wished to stay. Ari would rather eat outside than in the stuffy, small room but she knew she couldn't leave Maya by herself.

Ari grabbed her lunch, a simple broth they had almost everyday of every week but she didn't mind. Walking over to where Maya was, she ended up sitting next to a guard as well.

"Hey Ari. So how's the Prince?" Maya smiled as she asked.

Ari always felt a bit guilty taking Maya's place. Maya used to be the Prince's nurse when he was just a baby and then she was assigned to laundry instead. Though she has grown to love the little prince too, she couldn't help but feel like she took him away from Maya.

"Don't give me that look. You know it's not your fault and I asked a simple question," Maya pressed on firmly but her expression remain soft.

"He's fine. He's a ball of energy that boy," Ari chuckled softly and Maya joined in with a small shake of her head.

"He always was," Maya whispered but she remained smiling.

"Ari! You're so lucky," Ari looked up to see Tia racing toward her.

"Lucky for what?"

"Didn't you hear? I heard you were going to serve those good looking men dinner on the ship tonight! So lucky."

"Do you know what they look like?"

"Just know their hot, honey. Hot!" Tia sighed before moving on from their table, telling her news to another maid close by.

Ari and Maya turned toward each other at the same time before they looked away nervously.

"Do you think it's..."

"No it can't be. I haven't seen them for months now. It's probably the king and queen holding another party again," Ari moved her hand in a "no big deal" gesture but didn't lose that small amount of nerves.

"Maybe you shouldn't go. Better safe than sorry..."

"I'm going Maya. I'll be fine. Besides you know how much I love the sea, it will be nice to be out on a ship. I haven't been called to ship services for almost a year now," Ari hoped she was convincing but Maya was not having it.

"Ari I don't think this is good..."

"Ariella Steves? Are you here?" Ari looked up to see a guard by the door, one of the royals personal guard, and got up to meet him.

"This is me. Is something amiss?"

"You are to be serving on the king and queen's ship this evening."

Ari sighed a bit and smiled. "Does the king or queen need help with any preparation?"

He gave her a look before shaking his head. "It will not be the king or queen but rather a few guests of theirs borrowing the ship. We will have you report in at half past six o'clock. Don't be late," and with one last glance, he left.

Her smile fell almost immediately after but as she turned around and walked toward her friend Maya she smiled again.

"It's the king and queen's ship and they just want me to serve the food and drinks, probably clean up and voila I'm done," Ari reassured Maya and got a small smile in return.

"Thank goodness it's the king and queen. I always did like their ship parties. What about the 'good looking men?'"

"Must be friends of theirs," Ari responded almost right after. Well I'm not wrong if they are borrowing the king and queen's ship. They wouldn't let bad guys on their ship, everything will be fine.

"Hey I'm going to head out, I have my break before the ship service," Ari kissed her friend on the cheek and waved goodbye to everyone in their small area.

She left the servant dining hall, smiling at the guards she knew were nice and friendly, before she busted through the door. She smiled as the fresh air hit her, subconsciously she gravitated toward her favorite place she rarely had time for anymore.

Turning behind the castle she walked down a narrow pathway that lead to a beautiful ocean view. As far as she knew no one knew about this place and she wanted to keep it that way.

Finding her tree, she climbed up the branches till she was sitting down on the thickest branch. The ocean was transitioning to high tide, though it's waves were small they were coming in with more force.

Staring out into the sea she couldn't help but feel a little bit excited for the ship service, the water was always so beautiful at sunset. Staying up in her tree for about thirty minutes longer, she finally got down and started heading back.

Still cautious about getting caught she waited an extra five minutes waiting for the guards to pass by. Finally slipping through she said a small "hi" to a friend before heading toward the docks.

She report in and went about preparing the already made food on the table. The table was the center piece of the dining room and it was as smooth as marble, despite it being wood. Doing a few things with the utensils and plates, she headed out to greet the guest. She always liked ship services because unlike a dinner back on the land, on a ship the guest served food themselves. All she needed to worry about was refilling their drinks.

Keeping her head bent in show of respect she only looked up when she heard the clicking of boots. And it sounded oddly familiar. Oh no. No. No! No!!

"Oh look what we have here. I was so hoping it was going to be you tonight," she shuttered at the hard voice, the voice held their native accent with a hint of a pirate.

She continued to keep her head down as fear coursed through her. This could not be happening! Why me? Why now!?

"Hey look up when I'm talking to you," his hand roughly grabbed her chin and forced her to looked up, but she was ready. She met his glaze with a hard look of her own and she didn't turn away till he and his friends started laughing.

"I knew you still had a little fire in you. Would have thought we distinguished it all last time," his friends laughed at the joke but she just smiled.

"As guest of the king and queen you are welcomed to the food and drinks on board," she responded smoothly, her voice not giving a hint of emotion away.

He brushed past her with a wave of his hand. "Drop the formalities would you, Ariella. We have a lot to discuss tonight," his friends followed, one of them going so far as to push her shoulder. Unprepared she stumbled before she quickly caught herself. She would not let pigheaded fools get the better of her.

She looked up when she felt the ship moving. It was too late, there was no turning back. If only I could swim.