By Kismet

Hale Daugherty: I've never been in a situation before when both sides had a downfall. Usually it was a win-lose situation and I had no problem going for the win. I've had a lot of win-win situations too which I only had to ponder over what profited me more. But this was nothing like I had experienced before.



"I-I can explain." he heard the girl stammer, her eyes fearing the expression on his face. He was never at the receiving end of his face and he avoided shiny surfaces. It could've been a phobia but as to not deflate his ego, he referred to it more as a disliking. He barely knew what he looked like. If he were to describe himself, he'd only be able to recall the curly brown locks that sometimes liked to get in his eye and his creamy white skin tone. He knew his irises were green but if they had changed since the last time he'd really taken a look at them, he wouldn't be any wiser.

"I'm waiting." Hale demanded, his tone indicating his impatience. She was scrutinizing him in a way he didn't think he liked. Was she admiring him? Was she secretly repulsed by his outer appearance? Could she see the black soul inside of him?

He folded his arms across his chest and put all his weight on his left foot, now impatient with himself and the never ending questions in his head. Why did he care what she thought? He shrugged off the feeling.

He didn't. He didn't care at all.

"I'm…a maid." she whispered, keeping her eyes downcast. She had a curtain of black hair veil her pale face at her head's every command. When it turned to the left, the right side of her face was obscured and when it went the other way, the left covered almost the whole thing. If her eyes weren't a crystal clear ocean blue, he would've had trouble seeing them.

"I'm sorry," he scorned, the words tumbling out of his mouth just as the realization of what he was doing hit him. Why was he acknowledging her appearance? It didn't matter when he didn't care who the hell she was. So why was he still gazing at her?

"I didn't catch what you just whispered to me. Come again?" He could tell his words had some kind of effect on her from the way she stiffened which only served to make him go at it some more. He felt that it was her fault he was mentally assaulting himself and believed she should get punished for it.

"I'm a maid." she said more firmly, surprising him with how strong her voice sounded. She didn't bother taking the curtain of hair that masked half her face out of her eyes and she kept her pale, parched hands intertwined, resting them just below her belly.

"Oh. Thanks. Now that we've cleared what you are, I suppose it is time to speak of the who?" he retorted in a voice that made his jab at her that much more effective. In reaction she stood straighter with her chest out, her eyes staring straight into his, which had lowered considerably to the area right below her neck. He damned his hormones and forced his emerald eyes to look up and catch the subtle smirk on the lady's face.

"Oh. Sorry." she said in a tone much like his. "I didn't know you were incapable of interpreting a simple statement." she remarked, raising a smug eyebrow that Hale all but saw through and responded with a sneer of his own.

"Enlighten me then." he simply ordered, his face expressionless. The girl gulped visibly, her initial rush of adrenaline (that some called hotheadedness or stupidity) simmering down considerably. He knew he had won this unspoken battle and just waited for her to confirm it for him.

"Well," she cleared her throat with a forced cough, curling her hand into a fist for motivation. His face scrunched up in frustration as he watched the slightest movement she made but she took it as him mocking her and that was all it took for her to unscrew the bolt on her mouth.

"I'll dumb it down for you, just a notch." she said before she could change her mind. "I'm a maid and I cleaned this place. I think you can put two and two together." It was honestly too amusing for him to not crack a smile. He chewed on his bottom lip but otherwise stayed in the same position. Who was she? he thought, trying to hold back a laugh. No one had ever talked to him like that before. Aside from Thames’ slightly impolite outburst, no one dared to ever speak to a prince like that. And he, rather than getting offended, thought it humorous for some reason.

"Well." he said, taken aback by her fierceness. He pondered quietly to himself about the pros and cons of letting her stay. He knew he needed a maid but he didn't want to give her the satisfaction of knowing he caved. He was aware of what he was doing by employing her but for once being royal or rich wouldn't make him get what he wanted. He had to choose and make the choice himself, something he'd never quite done before.

"You'd better know how to make pot roast." he said reluctantly, walking out of the room like he had no time for her at all. He caught her expression before he turned and it was the purest of shock. He didn't know what she was expecting exactly but what he just did there was obviously not it.

At least I get the last laugh. he reassured himself, smiling for the first time that day. Right as he was turning out the door his eyes caught the shimmer of something right below the maid's boot and his head snapped to the broken vase he had disregarded due to his anger and confusion. He barely ever overlooked things, just ignored them depending on what he thought of it. But this was a first and he was more puzzled over that fact than the sight of his father's vase on the floor.

"Explain to me why there's a broken vase in my room." he said breathlessly as he tried to control his emotions. The girl was in the middle of checking her wounds, which were small cuts that he had gathered were the cause of the vase fragments, and she looked up with her piercing eyes when he talked.

"I accidentally…broke it." she said, the bold, fierce fire in her eyes suddenly absent. She was sad, her bottom lip curled over itself as though she was holding back a cry. It was so depressed looking that Hale almost believed it was her dead father's vase and that he had clumsily broken it.

"Just," he started to say and she winced, ready for the onslaught of his words. "Just get it cleaned up." he said exasperatedly and this time he was ready for the surprised face she would look up with. Her eyes were brimming with unshed tears but she did nothing to stop it.

"Try not to drip, will you?" he added to savage whatever upper hand he had in this situation and left the room, all the while battling with his inner self. He was in mere shock and he had to sit down before the world started spinning.

Why had he behaved so…civilly? Well, as civil as he could ever get, Hale thought to himself, laughing at the irony. How had that maid brought so many suppressed emotions out of him, he then wondered, resting his head on the arm of the chair he was sitting on. Who was this girl? was the last thing he thought before sleep hovered over his eyes and put him under.



And I wasn't sure if I liked it or not.