14: Ashley!

Natasha’s POV

The sound of laughter echoed from the far end of the hallway. I stood still, just behind the tall glass doors that opened to the grand ballroom. It wasn’t fully dressed yet. The floors were being polished to a mirror shine, golden ribbons stretched across the arches, and the maids scurried in and out with arms full of flowers and trays. The room was filling with light and color, and... life. And it was all because of one thing.

Me.

I took another step forward, and my fingers brushed the carved wood of the doorway. I didn’t mean to linger, but I couldn’t move either. I just stood there, watching them hang more garlands, wheel in golden carts of wine, fix little crystals along the chandelier chains. My name was being whispered from one end to another. They called it a banquet. A welcome party. Something about formalities and honor and presenting me properly to the Kingdom.

I couldn’t believe it.

Was this all really for me?

Me?

I didn’t know how to feel. I wasn’t used to this. I didn’t know what to do when the attention came without anger, when people were told to dress a hall instead of drag me by the arm. When my name wasn’t followed by spit or shouts. I watched a servant bow slightly to one of the decorators, and I wondered if he had any idea who he was doing this for. If he even knew I was just the girl who used to wipe the corners of palace windows and scrub soot off fire pits.

And now I was the reason they were polishing gold.

I let out a shaky breath, hands curled around the edge of my shawl. I hadn’t even picked a dress for the night yet. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to. I didn’t know what was worse—walking into that room as nothing... or walking in as something I didn’t understand yet.

I turned from the doorway slowly and began walking down the corridor, just needing air. Space. Somewhere to breathe without choking on the weight of it all. I passed the kitchens, the storerooms, a few open chambers. The scent of roses trailed after me. I didn’t realize someone was following until I heard the sharp click of heels behind me.

"Hey! You there."

I paused.

The voice was high. Confident. The kind that never had to repeat itself.

I turned.

And there she was.

The red-haired woman from yesterday.

She stood tall, back straight, lips already curled in something sharp. Her arms were crossed and her eyes raked over me like she was flipping through worn pages in a book she didn’t like.

"You," she said again, stepping closer. "Can you go squeeze some orange juice for me? Fresh ones. I hate the bottled crap they bring out here."

I blinked. I wasn’t sure I heard her right.

"I...” I swallowed. “I haven’t done that since I got here. I don’t know where the—"

"Then ask your colleagues," she snapped, her voice already rising. "Do I have to teach you everything myself? Honestly, they let anything walk around here now."

I froze.

The realization hit like cold water to the face.

She thought I was a maid.

Something inside me recoiled. I looked down at myself. The dress wasn’t fancy, not compared to hers—just soft blue cotton, long sleeves, simple waist. No jewels, no embroidery. But I’d been given it by the maids themselves. Told it suited me. That it was one of the King's selections.

Still, to this red haired lady, I was nothing more than a girl in the wrong corridor.

"No, no, no," I said quietly, more to myself than to her. "I’m not... I’m not a maid."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really?" she scoffed. "Then what are you doing wandering around back halls? What are you supposed to be? A guest? A noble? You saying my eyes are deceiving me?"

I didn’t know what to say. My throat felt tight.

She took a step closer, her smile curving into something cruel. "What did he promise you? Room and board for a few tricks? Girls like you always think if you warm the right bed, you can wear the crown."

Her words burned. Each one falling with purpose, like she’d been waiting for this. For someone she could break with just a sentence.

"Ashley!"

The voice snapped through the corridor like thunder.