A Princess’s Knees Must Never Touch The Floor
The day passed by without a word or sight of Rafael. Elora had spent her day in the library, in the kitchen, and in the courtyard, performing her duties as the wife of the second prince’s household. Truthfully, she’d looked for him. Maybe once or twice while pretending to pass through his weaponry, the training ground, and the cellar. But there’d been no sight of him.And on the second day, to take her mind off things, she decided to garden.“My lady, where should we plant these?”She turned at the sound of Hula’s voice. In the servant’s hands were tons of silver stems which she intended to plant.“You can plant these there.” She pointed to a spot beside the tall silver tree.Since Elora could not find a single flower in Elyria, she decided to work with the available plants.“Your highness, you should rest. You’ve been planting since morning,” Lia rose from the floor and suggested. “Your body might give out.”“Just a few more.”She lifted the sides of her dress and settled to her knees. With gloved hands, she picked up a few stems and put them into the already wet small hole. After making sure that they were in a good position, she began to fill up the hole with the wet sand.“Princess Elora.”“Shhh. I think this is going to grow up into a large tree. You must not speak close to it else it…” She paused when her brain registered that the voice who’d sharply called her name a second ago belonged to none of her servants.“Is a princess like you not taught how to act gracefully?” The sharp female voice resounded again.“Your majesty,” she heard the servant greet,and in a second, she was up on her feet, her hands dusting off the dirt and afterward, she pulled off the glove and passed it to Lia behind her.“Your majesty,” she acknowledged with her head and knees lowered. She stiffened when she saw the piercing gaze that the empress of Elyria shot at her. The woman’s gaze followed from her dirt-stained blue dress up to her hands before finally settling on her“No one taught you the etiquette of Elyria’s princesses, did they? A princess’s knees must never touch the floor. A princess must not have dirt on her hands. A princess must carry herself with poise and elegance,” she stated, as if stating the rules of princesses for her. Staring at her scornfully, she continued. “I see why you’ve been in exile all this while. If I were your father, I would do the same, Princess Elora.”Elora’s breath hitched, the words of the queen instantly getting to her heart. She clutched her dress tighter and unable to fight it, she spoke. “Your majesty, it’s the wife’s duty to manage her household. I was doing just that.”“Not at the expense of your grace.”“My grace or elegance isn’t hurt by kneeling to plant, your majesty.” She avoided the red blazing eyes of the woman even as she spoke. Although she dared to use her words, she sure didn’t have the guts to look in the eyes of the woman who looked like she was about to pounce on her.“Servants are employed for a reason,” she argued. “How dare you lowlives watch the princess dig her knees on the floor. You shall all be punished with twenty silver strokes.”The servants quickly dropped to their knees and pleaded. “Please have mercy, your majesty.”Elora stood furious on the floor. Watching her maids and the terror on their faces, she knew that she had to do something. “Your majesty. They do as I order. If you’re going to punish anyone here, that should be me. Besides, how the wife manages her home should have no concern to outsiders.”“Did you just call me an outsider?”“Lady Elora, speaking back at the Royal mother is a punishable offence.”It was only then that she noticed the lady beside the queen who’d stepped forward after watching the interaction between the two. Cladded in a stunning red dress with its corset tight enough to make her barely breathe, the newcomer glanced at the dirt on the princess’s body and shook her head.“Goodness,” she muttered.“Enough. I’ll let this go only this once,” the queen waved it off. “Come Zireya. I’ll introduce you two.”The lady walked to stand beside her.“This is Zireya, the daughter of Elyria’s Prime Minister,” she introduced. “And she is going to be the second prince’s concubine.”Elora froze.“Once the ceremony is processed. She’ll live here and bear babies. I’ll wait for the Prince to arrive.”With that, the queen swiveled around and began to walk away, her servants instantly following behind her.All while, Elora stood frozen on the floor, her mind trying to process what she’d just heard. Was her husband taking a concubine so soon? She didn’t know why but the thought of him with another woman, sleeping beside her, and infact having babies sent a sting to her heart and her face immediately formed a frown. She looked like she was about to cry.When the Crown Prince had mentioned about Rafael taking a concubine, she’d thought that it might’ve just been his ploy to get her to his side.“Lady Elora.” Zireya’s voice pulled her from the trance.She brought her gaze to the woman and examined her. Like the other nobles she’d seen in Elyria, Zireya was a beauty, maybe the prettiest she’d seen. She had dull red eyes that sparkled, brunette straight hair, and smooth pale skin that commanded attention. She was tall and her eyelashes were long and straight, she doubted it was real. The corset of her dress clung to her tiny waist and the red dress made her skin shine even more. In simple terms, she looked like she’d just walked out of a painting.Elora averted her gaze to the tree above them.“Lady Elora. If you don’t mind, will you show me around the mansion?”