Hey, you there! Yes you. First, I want to thank you for clicking on my story. You won't regret it! Second, I want to tell you that you are great. Now, I won't keep you too long with my texts, you are obviously here to read.

Love you!

AZAZ

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In most cities you can hear cars honking and people shouting. And if you wanted to get to the other side, you would almost get run over at least a few times.

Havers was different. 

No cars, no stores and almost no people. All because of one person.

To empty a whole town would require an epidemic already. At least that would still be a logical reason.

Only there was no epidemic outbreak.

There was a sentence. A single sentence that brought tons of misery.

When that sentence was uttered, I was about six years old. I was sitting comfortably in front of the television when the king came up with his wife and 8-year-old son behind him. Full of pride, he bowed over the microphone.

"Welcome my dear citizens." It then became immediately clear that he had something on his record.

"To this day we have ten beloved cities that are all very social. And therefore I, Nicolas Everwood, can commend myself as the title: proud king. Nevertheless, I must bring you bad news. As you know, every city has a certain function. Laster helps us with roads and weapon production, Marres builds our houses and provides us with its delicious bread. I could list many things about all the other seven cities. Unfortunately, this does not apply to Havers. Despite being loved by many it, does not help us economically as well as politically and..."

My mother came storming in at that time and turned off the TV so I missed the end. She had a paper in her hands and was pacing around the room.

I remember being terribly frightened of her at the time. I had never seen her like that before. Her whole body was shaking with anger and her face showed red spots from the stress.

You should know that as a 6-year-old you couldn't even solve a good subtraction formula.

Let alone twenty subtractions, because that's what happened then.

My mother was losing tons of money. Her small business went bankrupt, and we were able to turn over every penny three times.

At first I was very sad, not understanding what I had done wrong. Why did Mom and I have to starve? My mother then told me that I was not getting any more new things and that we had to move. We moved in with another family so we could work together to keep our heads above water.

That's where we still live. After 12 years.

Meanwhile, the Jones family have become our most loyal friends.

"Lia!" My mother pulled open the door to my room and held a letter in her hand. Her brown hair was in a tight ponytail and, as always, her worn clothes were tight around her body. A habit she kept when we still had money.

When she sees me continue reading, she walks over to me and slides the piece of paper under my nose.

Annoyed, I look at her.

"Mom, can't you see I'm busy?" She ignores my grumbling and comes over to sit next to me on the bed.

"It's from that company in Gorgia."

I clap my book shut and sigh deeply. "Mom, how many times do I have to tell you, I don't want to work."

My mother snorted and stood up. "Don't be silly Eliana, by sitting here you won't achieve anything in your life."

I sat down in a cross-legged position and looked at my hands in my lap. "Mom, you know how I feel about Everwood. I can't just go over there and ask for work, can I?"

From the corner of my eye, I see my mother shake her head and walk toward the door. Before she disappears she turns to me one last time. "I know what Everwood did to us. But think of your family, think of Lucian and Amelia Jones."

She disappears and I let myself fall backwards.

Yes, for them I was willing to do it. They were everything to me. A girl couldn't imagine a better family. The Jones family had been through far too much already. With income dropping by a style red arrow, they didn't have enough food.

Amelia had lost so much weight that she had become infertile. She was in a deep depression because of the loss.

Until we came.

Amelia began to see me as her own daughter and wanted to spoil me as much as she could. If that involved an extra day of work, it didn't matter to her. Lucian had tried to persuade her to stop that effort, but she refused. She only stopped when I burst into tears when I saw how lousy she looked.

Maybe my mother was right.

I will have to go to work someday anyway, and since there is nothing here it must be in Everwood.

I stare at the letter.

"I hate you, you know that, don't you?" As expected, the envelope says nothing back.

Talking to lifeless objects Eliana, not a good sign.

Reluctantly I get up and walk downstairs where Amelia was drinking her tea. When she sees me she puts her mug down and slides the chair next to her back.

Stubbornly, I sit down next to her and cross my arms. "Mom wants me to work in Everwood."

Amelia leans toward me a little more and rubs my back. "And what do you want?"

I want a carefree life, a life where people didn't have to steal or beg. 

I shrug and stare angrily ahead of me. "I want to choose for myself."

Giggling, she pulls me into a hug. "But honey anyway, you can choose for yourself." 

She speaks into my hair making it hard to understand. When she pushes me away a bit, I look at her. 

"Do you think I should do it? I mean, Everwood has brought us a lot of trouble, but on the other hand it's more convenient that I'm going to make money too."

Amelia bite her lower lip and picks her cup back up. "Little mouse, I don't care how much money you make. If you're not happy, money is like sand slipping through your fingers."

For the first time, I notice she was old. Okay, 45 is not really old, but looking at Amelia it was different.

She has crow's feet under her eyes and when she wants to pick something up, her hand shakes.

"Thanks for the wise words Amelia." I give her a kiss on her cheek and walk back to my room where I take the letter off the bed.

The letter was quite heavy.

I tear open the envelope and begin to read.

Dear Miss Bloom

Herewith we would like to send you confirmation of the application letter we received from you. However, we also accept it and invite you for the factory tour. For further explanations you can always contact the person in charge. We look forward to seeing you on Feb. 4 at Hamlet.

Kind regards

Jack Meckers

- Deputy Director

A factory! Does my mother expect me to work in a factory? She gets a lot out of me, but not that I'm going to work in a factory.

Angry, I rummage up the letter and throw it in the trash.

She is crazy! completely insane.

Below I hear the door open and walk to the hall where Lucian is just hanging up his coat.

"Luce!" I jump around his neck and surprised he steps back. "Hey, Eli."

Teasingly, I slap his hand. Smiling, he puts his arm around my shoulder and we walk into the living room where he settles down on the couch.

"So tell me? Anything interesting happen yet?" He reaches forward and picks up the television remote.

"Mom wants me to go to work. A letter arrived from some factory in Hamlet where I've been hired."

He raises his eyebrow. "Oh yeah?"

I roll my eyes and grab the remote from his hand. "Yes, and that proves again how crackpot she is."

I turn on the TV and slide a little deeper onto the couch. There is nothing on television, a cooking program, a soccer game and the news. I'm just about to turn the set back off when the castle comes into view.

A woman stands in front of it, holding her microphone in one hand and pushing the other hand against her earpiece.

"...the royal family is just coming up." And yes, there they come.

The king had his wife on his arm and the prince is a little behind. 

Completely uninterested.

The queen lets go of her husband and stays a little out of the picture next to her son. The king walks onto the stage and looks at the people in front of him.

"Hello loyal citizens. I have sent for you to come here for some very special news."

There is a murmur and I sit up a little straighter. I see from the corner of my eye that Lucian is also leaning closer to the screen. 

Raising a hand, the king signals for silence.

"In the royal palace, me and my wife and son are served by lovely maids. Unfortunately, we are short of them. For this reason, I have requested you all to come here. If you have a daughter, niece or sister who is between the ages of 16 and 21 they have a chance to work at the palace. 

Of course, I can hear you thinking. 

But the girls who are chosen do not have to work alone. In exchange for their service, they will receive a sum of 1,000 dollars each week, with lodging and clothing. Also, they will all get to interact with the princesses. You hear correctly, there will be princesses staying in the palace who will fight for the heart of my son, Prince Olivier."

I see that the prince lifts his head with a jolt and looks at his father in surprise. My mother enters and I point open-mouthed at the TV. 

She comes, sits next to me and rests her head in her hand.

"If you are interested, come to the castle on Feb. 4. 5 girls will be chosen and transformed into perfect maids. Thank you for your attention."

Just before the camera turns away I see the prince rushing to his father.

I turn off the television and walk straight to my room where I lie down on the bed.

I have an idea.

Not just any idea, but a brilliant idea.

And my idea starts with signing up as a maid in the castle.