August 5, 2011.

Bump!
"I'm sorry-" she said as she found her way down the hallway, trying to be as fast as she could. She couldn't miss it, it was the first time, the first time she was ever going to attend a royal reading. She only ever watched him read on television, being there with the rest of the children, it was going to mean a lot to her. She could feel the wind brushing past her skin through the holes on her little red dress , holes she kept on patching here and there, they didn't matter anyway, she'd probably have gotten a new dress if she could afford it, at least this one did it's job well, it covering all that it was supposed to.

She still had traces of soot here and there on her arms from cleaning the school's generator house after it had been powered on the entire day before since the power failure happened. She had barely even finished working and had to stop the moment she saw how the students and teachers were finding their way to the hall.

There was no one in the entire kingdom that wasn't excited to witness a royal reading. It was one of the only times when the young and handsome prince, Aiden, ever left the palace or played his ceremonial duties, and it only happened twice a month. This month, he was reading at Saint Gregory's elementary school, the same school she always worked part time as an assistant cleaner with Gloria, her neighbour who was the school's janitor. It was all she ever knew, schooling three times a week, and working four. It was the only way she could support her sick father who still struggled to make ends with his bricklaying job and her brother too.

The rule against child trafficking, labor and abuse in Breton was a grave one and so she only got to make a living by tagging along with Gloria when she could. That way, no one was ever going to suspect her. She let a warm smile appear on her face as she, just like everyone else, approached the large hall. She was excited as it was her first time to ever see him in person, but that wasn't the only thing, she also knew her place. She understood that unlike the other children at Saint Gregory's, she was not worthy to stand in his presence, there was no way they were ever going to let her into the hall, especially dressed the way she was so she hid behind one of the pillars where no one would find her and tried to find him at the front of the crowd.

It didn't take long, her view became better when everyone started to take their seats. There he was, Prince Aiden-Cree Ellington, the third prince of Breton, the only son of King Albert Ellington and hopefully, the future King of Breton. He looked so intelligent and bold, hard to miss even with all the tens of security that had surrounded him, the room, and the entire school.

He was the most glorious person she had ever seen, so much so that she left her mouth open for a long time when her gaze finally found him, sitting so graciously in front of the crowd with a book opened in his hands. He looked even more glorious than he did on television. It was like he had a halo over his head. She watched him speak and was like she could see the actual letters as they came out of his mouth. He read exceedingly well for a boy his age and with a lot of charm, charisma, and royalty. He was royalty.

She felt her cheeks redden, to say that her heart was racing was an understatement. She admired him more than she thought she did.

"Once upon a time, there lived a very powerful King, who reigned in all ten kingdoms. He was a wise King who always sought wisdom even in the advises of his royal court. Even as powerful, even as strong as he was, the king was lonely, he had no friends, he had no one he could trust in the big lonely palace except for fluffy, the royal dog. On the King's thirtieth birthday, he was visited by a fairy, who was going to grant him a wish, any wish of his choosing. 'Name a wish' she said, 'as big as you like, anything you want in all ten kingdoms, houses, servants, lands, kingdoms, as far as your eyes can see, name it and it shall be yours,' and the king said, in all the ten kingdoms, of all the houses, servants, lands and kingdoms, nothing would please me more than the gift of-"

"What on earth are you doing?" She shook the moment she felt a hand grab her arm before she could even hear the King's wish. She turned around to meet Gloria staring at her with concern. Gloria turned back to the room and then back to her, she let out a weak exhale. "You shouldn't be here," she told her. "You could get into a lot of trouble and we still have a lot of work to do before you leave. Remember that you still have to baby sit your brother before your father returns."

"B-but,"

"No excuses, you've heard enough."she cut her off. "Come on, let's go." Gloria pulled her gently. She didn't want to leave, she had only just got there and the story had only just started. She wanted to be like all the other children, listening to him, being a child, but that was never going to be her story. She was never going to be like other children, her life was hard as it was. She turned back to the room and watched how the story had continued, she let out a disappointed exhale and folded her arms in front of her. She followed Gloria down the hallway.

**********************************************

She slouched her shoulders as she tagged behind Gloria while a woman in a suit led them to a room. It had been about an hour since the royal reading ended and from what she heard, the prince had left the reading hall. She had done all she could to finish her tasks on time so she could join them but she couldn't. She didn't meet up and now, he was gone. She couldn't even hide how sad she was, she held on tighter to her cleaning bucket on one hand, and rags on the other, barely paying any mind to what the woman was saying to Gloria and by the time she raised her head to them, they were already inside another large room and the lady was done talking.

She raised her head in her direction and watched how the lady handed Gloria an envelope right before she lowered her gaze and smiled at her warmly, she walked away from the room next. She watched how Gloria lowered her gaze to the envelope in front of her and smiled warmly too. She could tell that it was their payment for the week, it was supposed to make her mood better but it didn't. She let out another weak exhale.

"Marie," Gloria turned to her quickly and she turned too, not impressed by anything. "Mrs Sammie wants us to clean this room and all the instruments before we leave. You can start from the drums and do what you can, I'd be back to join you once I drop this okay?"

She didn't even let her say anything before Gloria rushed out of the room as fast as she could in excitement. She slowly turned to take a look at the room she was in. For the first time in a long time, she noticed that she was actually in the music room. There were tons of musical instruments everywhere, from drums, to violins, to guitars, to harps, everything she could ever think of, all the things that ever made her happy. She found a smile slowly finding its way to her face the moment she found the piano. It was the biggest piano she had ever seen and there it stood, majestically in the middle of the room.

Pianos.

It was one of the only things that ever made her happy. Her biggest dream was to be like her mentor, Adam Bredsville, the greatest pianist in the whole of Breton. She watched all his plays, and loved how he inspired her greatly. Maybe it was because they shared a lot in common. Just like her, Adam never had the luxury of learning how to play like the other kids while he was growing up. His father was a poor farmer and his mother had died of a disease, the only time he ever got to play a piano was while he worked part time as a janitor in kilgaroo music school where he secretly watched the students play and practice during close hours, just like she did.

All she ever knew about playing the piano, she learned at the risk of getting caught, from sneaking into places she wasn't invited to, to buying play time at the local art garden, but she loved to play and there it was right in front of her, a piano in the middle of the room, in the empty hallway.

Maybe just a little bit. Just five minutes, all she needed was five minutes to play. Would Gloria mind? Would she get into trouble? She didn't really think it through. Like i said, Adam Bredsville was her inspiration and if he was sneaky to achieve his dreams, a little bit of sneakiness wouldn't hurt.

She didn't want to but she was tempted to, she found herself slowly walking to the piano and her tiny hands caressing the keys. For a ten year old, she sure knew her keys well. Before she knew it, she had found herself on the seat and was playing her favourite, Pachelbel's canon. The first song she ever learned to play, the song that brought her to the piano. She felt her smile widen as she pushed more keys. She loved the sound of it, the gush of wind that found it's way on her face, she loved the imagination of a crowd cheering her on, of the lights in her face, of herself in a beautiful white dress, the most beautiful she had ever seen, just like a princess. For the first time in her life, even if it was just in her imagination, she felt like the world actually looked at her, she felt relevant, she felt like her dreams mattered. Her excitement tripled and she played even harder. Her heart was racing, she was happy, she was proud at the amount of cheers she was getting from the crowd as she kept on playing.
This was it, the dream she had always hoped for, the moment she had ever dreamed of. She was proud, encouraged.

"Who are you?"

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes quickly as she left her hands on the keys still, narrowing her gaze on the figure in front of her and immediately the lights went out and the crowd disappeared. She gasped and her eyes widened as she pressed the most awkward key on the piano. That sounded awkward in abrupt shock. She jumped off from her seat the moment she recognized who it was and rushed from the piano so she stood beside it. Her hands trembled as she wrapped her fingers around each other, placing her hands in front of her and bowing slowly.

"Y-your highness." She said in a whisper he couldn't even hear. She heard footsteps and could see how his feet had started to move towards her. She cringed as he took a step to her, and then another. She was terrified.

She knew that it was her life's wish to see the prince but not like that, not one on one and definitely not him being an audience to her putting herself in trouble. If the school ever found out, Gloria could lose her job.

"Don't be scared." He finally said the moment he noticed how scared she was and how her hands were trembling. She wasn't sure but she slowly found herself raising her head to meet his. She was terrified to look him in his eyes. Aiden looked around the room, wondering what it was and how he could assure her that it was okay. He exhaled and walked to the piano. She filled her mouth with her lower lip and bit on it as hard as her teeth could, shutting her eyes so she didn't scream from fright and embarrassment.

Aiden sat slowly on the chair and examined the piano for a second. He drew a deep breath.

"That song that you played," he started. She turned to him quickly. "I've never heard anyone play it like that. Is that a remix to the song? Why is it so different from the original? Who is your tutor? Who wrote your script?"

"N-no one." She said in a whisper.

Aiden scoffed.

"No one? Or you just won't tell?" He asked her. "That's impossible, there has to be someone, who? Adam Bredsville? Louis D' Carton, Xavier Murphy, it can't be royal instructor James Baldwin, he is under oath to only render his services to the royal family. Or is it a she? Victoria Hamlock, Janet Kumasi, Elizabeth Taylor, Ada Richards? Don't tell me that you're one of those that hate sharing their tutors with everyone else."

"That's not true your highness." She spoke a bit too soon. "I do not have a tutor on my own, I can barely afford to get a new pair of shoes, how can I possible afford a tutor, especially those of such calibre."

Aiden paused for a while and then nodded, examining her from head to toe. He could see how old her dress was and even though she didn't mean for them to be visible, the holes on it weren't being exactly modest. The soot on her fingers still lingered even though she didn't exactly wash her hands well before Gloria pulled her to the room. She felt so uncomfortable with the way he examined her, she was nervous. She slowly took her hands behind her back to hide them, She was embarrassed. Aiden nodded

"You're right. There is no way you could ever afford the services of the names I just mentioned, you do not look like you can."

She pursed her lips in shame and lowered her gaze to her little toe that stuck out of her old socks.

Oh no.

She struggled to push them back in, hoping the prince had not seen them yet. Could her day get any worse?

"Can you teach me?" He asked her. She slowly raised her head to meet his. "Please."

Did she just get a request from the prince of Breton to teach her how to play her version of the song on the piano? She wasn't sure, she wasn't sure it was okay to even be in his presence let alone, sit on the same chair with him, or share the same piano. She swallowed hard.

But then again, he was the prince of Breton and she couldn't exactly say no to him even if she wanted to. She exhaled and slowly walked to the chair. She made sure to keep space between her and him. Her hands still trembled uncontrollably. Aiden pulled himself closer a little bit, there was no need for her to sit so far away anyway. She watched him stretch his hand towards the piano, humming somethings to himself.

"Now how did it go again."

He pushed a key on the piano and then another, he started to play Pachelbel's canon the way he knew how. It was one of his favourites too. She watched him play, and she had never seen anyone play so gracefully. It was like everything he did was perfect, she thought he was perfect at the reading hall, but seeing him sit right next to her, was perfection itself. He looked like a literal angel, he was beautiful and smelt so good too, like roses. She took her time to admire every hem of his black tuxedo. She could see how perfect the embroidery of the pentagon on his shoulder was. She lowered her gaze to his fingers and the keys on the piano. He played really good too, but it was almost as if something was missing.

"It's too plain." He stopped playing. "Yours sounded way better." He didn't even bother to look at her but she could see how sad his eyes suddenly were. Maybe she could help, if he liked the way she played maybe she could just teach him.

"It's because you're putting too much thoughts into it." She finally said, placing her fingers on the piano. "You don't need to follow someone else's manual when you play," she started to play the keys again. "Just play it how you think and feel it."

Aiden slowly turned to the piano, he was watching her play, he could feel how his checks started to redden just by the sound of it. It was amazing, he felt a smile find its way to his cheeks. He was amazed, it was perfection and before anyone knew it, he joined her and they sounded even more amazing together. She turned to him and gave an even bigger smile. She could feel how her belly danced from excitement and left her gaze on him. Watching how happy he was as he played, watching him be so excited, made her extremely happy too. Maybe they could even be friends right after and she could ask him to help her father as a reward for teaching him. This was the perfect opportunity.

Freeze!

She froze the moment Aiden stopped playing too. She could see how his eyes were wide open and fixated on the empty room space in front of them. Why? What happened? They were having so much fun together, why did he suddenly stop playing? He slowly lowered his gaze to his fingers, she followed his gaze and gasped when she saw it. Her fingers were right on top of his and she didn't even realize it. Her eyes widened in surprise. They both turned to the door immediately they heard footsteps walking briskly towards it with faint noises. Aiden jumped up from his seat immediately.

"Hide me!" He told her in a loud whisper. She got up too and turned to face him, not really sure why he just asked that of her. She was confused. She watched how he scanned through the room like he was trying to find a spot himself. He turned to her, she could see the fear in his eyes. "Well, don't  just stand there,"

She snapped out of it immediately and scanned around the room till her eyes settled on the drum set. She pointed at it.

"Behind the drums!" She told him immediately. Aiden followed her gaze and rushed as fast as he could to the drums. He hurriedly went behind the huge set and bent himself over till he was almost invincible. She scanned her eyes around the room trying to find some sort of covering to help him out, whatever or whoever it was he was running from, it was obvious that he had his reasons and they were worth it. She quickly struggled to push the Piano on her own, maybe if she pushed it to the drums, she could set it there and sit there to block him but she was afraid she didn't have much time, they voices were getting really close. She grabbed her bucket immediately and her rags and rushed to the drums right before she heard footsteps rush into the room.

Her heart was racing but she tried to keep herself together. She tried to stop her hands from trembling so much as she nervously cleaned the drums with the wet rag. Her heart was beating fast.

"You."
She froze. Did someone just refer to her? She looked at the drum set, she could see the tip of Aiden's fingers showing themselves from one of the space holes. She stepped on it quickly and turned to face a man in a black suit, examining him carefully. Aiden held his breath, stopping himself from screaming so loudly from the hurt his fingers had gone through. She didn't look as heavy as she actually was. She examined the men one after the other. Just like each other, they had the pentagon symbol on the breast area of their suits. Royal guards, they had to be. Why was Aiden hiding if they were royal guards? They probably just wanted to take him back home.

She watched how one of the men examined her carefully, then pulled his eyes to the drum set behind her, glaring at it carefully too. It was almost unnoticeable especially with the way Aiden was being covered by the curtains, thanks to her final instincts. He returned his gaze back to her and she left her gaze on him, making sure she stepped even harder on his fingers so they didn't notice. She held on to the wet rag on her hands and bowed slightly. She took a deep breath and made a slow turn to her side so she could continue with her cleaning, making sure that she still covered his fingers with her feet.

"There's nothing here."

She held her breath when she heard that.

"Cover the rest of the area." And before she could register anything else, the men stormed out of the room.

*************************************************
She wheeled the Janitorial cart slowly, being as discrete as she could. The instruction was clear, to walk right out of the gate, and walk straight down to the end of the road, right beside the school and that was what she was going to do.

Luckily for her, there was no security in sight, she wondered how that happened. Anyway, she took the corner she was instructed to over the phone after Aiden handed it to her, she loved the gush of wind that blew her pony tail from side to side and she loved the fact that she was entrusted with such an important role of getting Aiden out of the school's premises, without the knowledge of the royal guards. She knew she was going to get into trouble if she got caught so she was a bit scared and had to be extra careful.

She could see the black car that had parked itself beside the tall building. There was a a boy standing outside it, he looked like he was about fourteen or fifteen years old, a bit older than her and Aiden. Somehow, he was able to recognize them both when he saw her with her cart, he gave her a signal quickly to hurry to them. She pulled the cart even faster until she got to where the car was. She opened the box  immediately and helped the older boy in a suit help get Aiden out of it. She stepped back the moment Aiden was out of the box and bowed her head a bit to pay her respects.

"Prince Aiden." The older boy bowed quickly too just as Aiden tried to brush off his jacket.

"Does my mother know you are here?"

He shook his head.

"Not at all, I did exactly what you wanted, no one knows I'm here, I was discrete." Aiden raised his hand to his head, he had to make sure his hair was still in place.

Ouch!

He winced in pain when he strained his finger a bit. He had totally forgotten how they still hurt from how she stepped on him back at the music room. She slowly raised her head to meet his.

"Are you okay Prince Aiden?" The older boy asked with worry on his face just as Aiden turned to her, he eyed her for a second and then took a deep breath. He turned back to the older boy.

"How far is it to Niyagra?" He asked him.

"About three hours your highness." Aiden nodded in confirmation.

"Good, we'd be able to make it before the military gets there. I'm sure we can be able to warn everyone and save everyone before that happens."

She furrowed her brows. Just what were they talking about? Why did they want to go to Niyagra? From what she remembered, the king had closed the gates of Niyagra and placed them under a state of emergency since news about how they were hiding Breton's famous terrorist Caleb circulated around the state.

Aiden quickly turned to her. She raised her eyes to look into his, they were so shiny and beautiful, hers were too. Aiden cleared his throat.

"I can't thank you enough for what you did today, but I promise you as future king, that one day, when I'm king, or even before then, I would return the favor." He stopped for a while as she kept on staring at him. She didn't say anything, what did she want? Maybe a confirmation of his promise? Aiden swallowed hard and raised one of his hands, he slowly pulled out one of his gold cufflinks and stretched it towards her.

"There is only one of it in this world." He went on to tell her. "It should be more than enough to help you get any music tutor you want in Breton and the most expensive piano to add." He let out a smile as he watched how she slowly took it from him and examined it.

It was too shiny, it sparkled in the sunlight and it amazed her so much. It amused Aiden watching her like that.

"Your highness," the older boy called for his attention. "Why don't you invite her to the palace this Friday for your coronation?"

Aiden thought for a while before he slowly turned to her while she still examined the cufflinks he had given her. She had never seen anything like it.

"I would be coronated this Friday as the crowned prince-the King Of Breton. I would like to bestow upon you, the honour of attending, then you can tell me whatever it is that you wish of me." She slowly lowered her gaze from the cufflinks and turned to him. She wasn't sure if she could.

"We should leave your highness or we'd be late." The older boy had to remind him. He wasn't wrong. Aiden knew that he didn't have much time left on him. He knew he had to hurry as fast as possible, he nodded. The older boy opened the door immediately for him and he hesitated for a bit but he got in eventually and the boy got in through the other door. She kept staring at him through the window even as it slowly wound up till she couldn't see him through the tinted glass anymore. Aiden turned to the window, he could see her though. He didn't stop looking at her even when the car started. She watched how it drove off immediately and for some reason, she felt a sadness inside of her.

"Marie!" She didn't hear her name at first. "Marie!" Then it became louder. She turned and found Gloria running as fast as she could towards her. She squinted her eyes, why was she doing that?

"Marie!" She got closer to her. She could see how the look on her face was not as exciting as it was when she got the envelope. She looked worried, scared.

"Something just happened," she leaned closer to her so she could listen even better "it's your father Anne-Marie, he was in an accident at the site."

"F-f-ather?"

"It doesn't look good. We have to hurry to your house immediately." She grabbed Anne-Marie's arm and pulled her, running as fast as she could with Anne-Marie running right behind her.