Chapter 144

Chapter 144 Library of possibilities.

The library looked the same as it ever did-and it was just as empty. The large wooden doors closed loudly behind her, the first few weeks she worked here it used to make her flinch. Now, it made her want to sink right back into her daily routine and start her chores. No, she wasn’t here to be a maid. She was here because a prince had asked to see her – for whatever reason.

Prince Martin sat in the chair he favored near the tall windows. Her feet carried her there automatically and a strange sense of familiarity entered her bones. Did she actually miss this? Of course she did. The smell of old books and the peace she felt from this place it was unreal. It was the only job she ever wanted in the palace, even when it payed lower than the ones offered to her over the years. It was better to keep her sanity rather than have more money.

There with his blond head bent over a book, was Prince Martin. His posture was tense as if he knew she was watching him. She remembered the first day he had come in on her shift and headed straight for this chair without saying a word to her. So much had changed over the years.

Doris cleared her throat and bowed. “Prince Matin, you called for me?”

Prince Martin looked up and his grin covered his face. He looked so happy to see her-it almost left her breathless. She didn’t know why she thought no one would care when she was gone, but here was one person that seemed to.

“Doris,” Prince Martin stood and placed his book down before he went to kiss her hand. Her cheeks flamed instantly at the contact. He never really touched her before, and she didn’t expect him to start.

“I’m so happy to finally see you, I feel as if it’s been ages.”

“Oh yes, it has felt like ages.” Doris smiled and pulled her hand back to her side. “How have you been, Prince Martin?”

Prince Martin waved away her question as if it was a bug in the air. “The same.”.

“The same? That can’t be true! I heard you had gotten married when I was gone!” Doris bounced on her toes with a wide smile on her face. He watched her with a grin. “How exciting! I’m sorry to have missed it, I bet it was truly beautiful.”

Prince Martin’s face fell just slightly when she mentioned the wedding. He cleared his throat and tried to replace the smile. “Thank you, Doris. But I didn’t call you in here to talk to me about weddings- I wanted to see you.”

“Oh?” Doris laughed nervously. “About what?”

“1- I just hadn’t seen you in so long. I thought we could catch up a bit.” Prince Martin quickly gestured to the seat beside him. On the small table were plates of sweet cookies and tea.“ Please, join me. I hope you don’t mind that I brought sweets in here, I know that you like to keep this place tidy.”

“Oh, of course not.” Doris nervously seated herself beside him. Her stomach was too confused to try and eat any of what was offered. “Very well, thank you for inviting me. I’m sorry I didn’t have much time to change -”

“Nonsense, you look beautiful.” Prince Martin said. His green eyes sparkled when he looked at her.

Quickly, he cleared his throat and kept on before she had time to process what he said to her. “How was your trip? If I had known William planned on bringing a maid, I would have made him take someone else.

I’m sorry he put you through that. I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye. When I heard you were gone the next day, I wanted to send more guards up there to bring you back.”

His admission shocked her. Why would he care so much whether she went or not? “Oh, it’s quite alright.

It was… intense, but I think a lot of good came of it too. I never really had a chance to travel out of the palace like that.” Doris admitted and brushed her messy hair behind her ear.

Prince Martin looked at her with raised brows. “You didn’t run into any trouble in the north? | heard it’s very dangerous there, though I haven’t been myself. I don’t think I’ve slept much while you’ve been gone.”

She swallowed, “Well, there was plenty of danger.” Doris gave a half hearted laugh. She didn’t want to admit that she had a wolf inside her yet-that was something she had to discuss with William first. “William protected me, though. I’m grateful for him. And not all of the rogues are as awful as people have made them out to be.”

“Did he?” Prince Martin shifted a little beside her. “That’s surprising. I didn’t take him for the heroic type.

And did you say the rogues aren’t so bad?” Prince Martin laughed as if she was pulling his leg, but she didn’t even crack a smile.

Doris wasn’t sure why that bothered her, but it did. William was a lot of things and clearly his family didn’t see any of the good parts. She tried for another subject. “Do you know how your father is? I heard he was sick when we got here.”

“Ah, yes. He isn’t doing very well. I’m glad William made it back before anything else happened,” Prince Martin leaned back in his chair. Doris’s eyes flickered to the gold ring on his finger. Why didn’t he want to talk about getting married? Doris would be so excited to share the news with everyone.

“Does anyone know what he has?” Doris asked cautiously. It wasn’t right for a maid to question a prince, but she had been doing that since she left the palace.

Prince Martin didn’t seem to mind. He shook his head. “No, we can’t seem to find what it is yet. One day he just couldn’t get out of bed and all the doctors have been clueless.”

“I’m so sorry, Prince Martin. This must be so awful for you.” Doris gripped his hand to squeeze. Hs eyes lingered on her mouth for a moment.

“Did you read the book I had gotten you?” He asked suddenly. Heat crawled up her neck and heated her cheeks.

“1-1 didn’t have a chance to get very far. We were ambushed at one point in the beginning of the trip and it must have fallen out of my bag.”

Prince Martin looked as if he was ready to deflate from his pure disappointment. “Oh. What a shame, I had written a lot of letters for you near the end.”

Doris raised her brows in surprise. “You did? What were they about?”

This time, his cheeks turned red, “Nothing of importance, I assure you. I had just hoped you would have gotten an opportunity to read them.” He stood suddenly and walked to the window to peer out. “Would you like to join me for a stroll?” 1 “A stroll?” Doris stood and smoothed out her pants. “I um, I’ve had quite the long journey, your majesty-”

1 “Of course, it was foolish of me to even ask.” Prince Martin laughed a little and brushed his fingers through his hair. “Perhaps another time?”

“Yes, of course.” Doris bowed. Prince Martin’s eyes lingered on her for a moment more before he headed for the door.

“It’s good to have you here again, Doris. I missed your company.”

The moment the door closed behind Prince Martin, Doris released all of the air inside her. That was…

strange. Prince Martin had always been kind to her, but she never thought he would actually think about her when she was gone.

She was only a maid, and he was married to a beautiful bride that probably was somewhere in the palace wondering where her new husband was.

Doris straightened the cushions on the chairs as a habit. It didn’t seem like anyone had held this place up while she was gone. Several stacks of books were dying to be put away and all of the shelves basically shouted at her to be dusted off and cleaned. She would have done it if she wasn’t so tired, Never had she felt her energy leave her so quickly. It was as if the journey was finally catching up on her and making her desperate to sit down again and sleep the last few months of her life off. Her body recognized where she was and now it only wanted her to rest.

Doris decided to leave the dust and books for another day. She ventured out of the library and followed her steps back to the room. Just as she rounded a corner, she bumped into a firm chest that reached out to steady her.

“Well, I’ll be damned. It’s Doris!”