What's in a name?

   Millicent was woken from strangely pleasant dreams by a knock on her door.  The interruption caused the memory of the dream to vanish, and Millicent pushed herself up groggily.  No one had  forced their entrance into the room yet so Millicent knew she was not dealing with the King or one of his messengers.  She squinted uncomfortably against the blinding sheen of the gold straw, and when the knocking persisted, she called for the knocker to come in.

 

   Carine pushed open the door and peeked hesitantly towards Millicent before her gaze fell upon the gold.  Her mouth fell open at the glorious sight - after all, it was enough gold to feed her family for hundreds of lifetimes, or so it seemed.  Unfortunately, none of it was meant for Carine, and like all the other servants, she needed to focus on her duties.  

 

   "I've brought some food to break your fast, miss," said Carine.  She had left the tray on the floor while she knocked at the door, and as she tried to bend down to pick it up, her pregnant belly interfered with her movements.  Dismayed at how much work the poor young girl had to do, Millicent leapt from her bed and picked up the tray herself, thanking Carine with a crooked grin.  Before she could even take a single bite, a servant stood at her open door, announcing the presence of the King.

 

   This time, the King managed to contain his pleasure at the sight of the gold though it was still evident that he was pleased.

 

   "You have done a sufficient job," the King said to Millicent, which was generally the highest praise the King could possibly offer.  "I shall have more straw brought to you in your new chambers upstairs."

 

   "I will need rest!" Millicent called out, remembering Rumpelstiltskin's efforts, "Please, your majesty."  The King only scowled in displeasure.

 

   "It will take time to fill the Queen's chambers so be assured that you shall have your rest.  Do not fail me."  With that, the King marched out of her rooms while behind him, servants came bustling in to take the golden straw away.  Millicent was stunned, only this time, not by the King's greed, but by his lack of cruelty towards her.  In fact, he was border line kind, if such a word could even be applied to the King.  What Millicent did not realize was that the King was all too aware of Millicent's usefulness towards him, so now, instead of seeing her as a woman, he saw her more like a work animal, such as a cow, horse or a dog.  Contrary to what many would expect, the King always treated animals with respect, and in fact he much preferred the company of animals to the company of man.  After all, animals were so much easier to train, and so much more useful.  Animals did not make excessive demands of him nor question his motives, and if one tired of an animal, one could eat them.  The King knew animals needed to be treated well to perform their function, and thus, Millicent needed to be treated well to perform hers.  She was like his war horse, or his prized hunting dog.

 

   Millicent sat on the bed while she thoughtfully ate her gruel.  Her mind wandered briefly towards the conversation she had with Rumpelstiltskin the night before, but it hurt her heart to think of giving up on her fey lover so she focused on what the King had said instead.  It seemed she was to reside in the Queen's chambers?  The notion sent a shiver up her spine.  No doubt, the room would make this current one seem small.  But wasn't the Queen's chambers supposed to be for a Queen?  Millicent's stomach began twisting in knots so she put her spoon down.  The King clearly was not married, so did it mean something for her to be residing in the Queen's chamber?  Or was it sheer coincidence that it was the only room large enough?  The King seemed so disdainful towards her that she could not imagine him making her his Queen.  The very idea was sickening and terrifying.  She would probably be forced to spin straw into gold forever.

 

   "You're finished, miss?" asked Carine, looking at the tray of food.  Millicent nodded.  She was much too sick to eat any more.  She lifted the tray towards Carine who proceeded to take it back to the kitchen, though unbeknownst of Millicent, she finished off the last of the gruel in the bowl.  Pregnancy left Carine ravenous with too little to eat, no thanks to the miserly King.

 

   When Carine returned from the kitchen back to the upper chambers, Millicent had not moved from her spot on the bed.  Her hands were clenched into balls by her side, and her expression was far away, though her brows were furrowed as though deep in thought.  She had been thinking at first of the King and his odd behavior, but then her thoughts drifted so that for a fleeting moment, her mind rested on her lost fey lover.  Yet her mind did not stop there, and she began to contemplate the strange man who had helped her to spin straw into gold.  She no longer thought of him as ugly, though objectively, there was no denying his unfortunate countenance.  Instead, her mind was replaying his actions in her head, thinking of his kindness, and the odd whisper of familiarity in his behaviour.  What was it about the man that made her feel as though she knew him?  And why would she think such a thing, when she was absolutely certain that she had never met him prior to arriving at the castle?  After all, who could forget such a unique face and odd body?  Yet the feeling persisted.  He was familiar somehow, and on the deepest of levels, she trusted him.

 

   At that moment, her thoughts were interrupted as Carine uttered a hesitant, "miss?"  Millicent looked up at the pregnant maid in surprise, blinking rapidly as she was brought back to reality.

 

   "Would you like me to bring you up to your new chambers, miss?" Carine asked.

 

   "Did I not tell you to call me Millicent?" she replied, the edges of her mouth quirking into a smile.

 

   "At least one of us needs to behave properly around here," Carine retorted, but she could not hide the warmth in her voice.  

 

   Carine led the way as the pair of them headed up the stairs to the royal chambers.  Here on the uppermost floors of the castle, one could finally see a few traces of luxury.  Tapestries here actually depicted scenes instead of geometric patterns, and some of them even glittered with what looked like silver threads or gold threads.  The hallway was lined with a long rug, and though it was old and worn, Millicent could see faint traces of a floral pattern on the edges where the rug was less worn by constant traffic.  There were fewer doorways along the hall, and from that, Millicent surmised that the rooms on this floor were much larger than the rooms below.  Most of the doors were closed, and she could see that several of them were carved with rather lovely geometric designs.  Even the candles that lit the dark recesses of the hall were made of a fragrant wax, rather than tallow.

 

   As Carine and Millicent made a turn in the hall, Millicent noticed an open door up ahead.  She assumed that it was to be her room, but as she looked in, she was amazed to see that from floor to ceiling, the room was lined with bookshelves packed with scrolls and books.  The books were so plentiful that some even littered the floor in neat stacks.  At the center of the room was a large wooden desk, piled with more books and scrolls, and at the desk sat a young man, hunched over in concentration as he was reading the scrolls placed before him.  Just as Millicent's eyes hovered over him, he looked up at her and his eyes widened in surprise.  A deep blush coloured his cheeks and he looked back down at his scroll, his body noticeably tense, but he did not look back up.

 

   "Tis the King's nephew," Carine murmured in Millicent's ear when she noticed Millicent's curious gaze.  "He has a good heart, though few pay him any heed."  Millicent looked at Carine in surprise, for it was a strange comment to make, but Carine did not notice Millicent's gaze.  Instead, Carine was looking at the young man with a strangely dreamy expression.  Millicent glanced from the young man back to Carine, and a sly smile appeared on her face.

 

   "Perhaps you'll introduce me to him?" Millicent said innocently, causing Carine to tear her gaze from the young man in shock, as she flushed in surprise.

 

   "We musn't disturb Rousset at his work!" Carine hissed, not wanting to call the man's attention to her.

 

   "Rousset, is it?" Millicent replied teasingly, but upon seeing Carine's distressed expression, Millicent took pity on her.  "Alright, we can meet him later, after you show me to the rooms."

 

   Carine breathed a sigh of relief, and led Millicent around yet another turn in the hall towards the Queen's chambers.  Though Millicent was curious to see her new room which was just starting to be filled with straw, her eyes were drawn to a large set of black doors at the end of the hall, flanked by two serious looking guards.  The sight of the doors was ominous, and although the hallway was fairly well lit, the blackness of the doors seemed to suck away all the light.  Millicent knew without a doubt that she was looking at the King's chambers, and the notion made her want to curl up into a ball of fright.  Even Carine seemed affected, for her face was pale, and her shoulders were slumped.  Peeling her eyes away Millicent quickly entered the Queen's chambers.  

 

   As with the room below, servants were taking down the tapestries, and moving the furniture out of the way, but the luxury of the chambers was undeniable.  She could see that the Queen's chambers included at least three rooms, and she had entered the sitting room.  The chairs that the servants were shoving into the corner, were cushioned with a lovely fabric that looked like velvet in shades of purple and yellow.  The tapestries that were being taken down displayed lovely floral scenes that matched the carpet which a pair of servants were rolling up to stack in the corner.  Adjoining the sitting room was the bed chamber, and other door lead to the garderobe.

 

   Curious to see her bed chambers, Millicent entered though the door and gasped at the sight of the enormous four poster bed.  The columns of the bed were carved with spiraling vines and flowers, and the bed coverings were a rich shade of purple and yellow, matching the furniture in the sitting room.  It was a glorious sight.  Servants were attempting to push the bed into the corner to make more room for straw, but it was evident that their efforts were futile and the bed was simply too heavy.  The servants faces were red with exertion, and she felt a twinge of pity for them, knowing the King would not be pleased with their failure.  Still, her level of pity did not exceed just a twinge for she could not forget the cruelty of the servants towards her when she had first arrived.  Millicent's thoughts were disrupted by Carine who was urging Millicent towards the garderobe.

 

   "I've been told that you are to avail yourself to some new gowns, miss" Carine told her.  "I've looked through some of the chests that belonged to the old queen, and I'm sure we'll find something that fits."

 

   "New gowns?" Millicent echoed hesitantly.  What could it mean that the King would want her to wear new gowns?  She looked down at her brown scratchy dress, and a chill ran down her spine.  Yet Millicent knew that there was no way she could refuse the King.  She followed Carine who was bent over the old chests, examining dress after dress.

 

   "This one will do, miss," Carine said as she held up a lovely pale blue dress that looked more expensive and fine than anything Millicent could imagine.  Millicent was not usually drawn to expensive things, but the colour and texture of the gown was so unique and lovely that Millicent simply had to touch it.  That material was amazingly soft, but as Millicent held the weight of the dress in her hands, she could not help but feel like it was worse than being in chains.  At least when one was in chains, one knew what that meant.  What did this gown mean?

 

   Millicent was silent as Carine helped her to put on the gown in the privacy of the garderobe.  As Carine tightened the silver laces of the gown, Millicent felt as though she was being tied to her terrible fate, and she squeezed her eyes shut, willing the tears not to fall.  Finally Carine stepped away to examine her work.

 

   "You're beautiful, miss," Carine whispered in awe, "like a fairy princess.  Wait here."  Carine dashed off and then returned with a silver looking glass.  Millicent had never seen a looking glass before, for only the richest people in the kingdom could afford one, and as she gazed at her slightly distorted image on the smooth metal surface, her eyes widened in surprise.  She had seen her own image before reflected in pools of water, but the sight of her own face in the looking glass just seemed strange and unfamiliar, like looking at a stranger.  She could not bear the sorrow she saw in her own eyes, so she returned the looking glass to Carine, who put it away with care.

 

   When Millicent exited the garderobe in her new gown, she was met with the wide eyed stares of the servants bustling around the chambers.  There was an expression of awe and perhaps just a hint of terror in their eyes.  After all, when she first arrived at the castle, she ranked below even the lowliest of lows.  Her rank had been so low that the spit boys seemed like lords compared to her.  Now, here she stood, dressed in a queen's gown, looking regal and untouchable.  The servants had to fight the urge to bow to her.

 

   It was at that moment that a new servant entered the room announcing the presence of the King.  Everyone in the room immediately stopped what they were doing, and bowed their heads reverently.  Unsure of what to do, Millicent mimicked their actions.  She could hear the heavy footsteps of the King as he entered the room, and her stomach twisted in painful knots.

 

   "You may stand," the King boomed at Millicent.  She did so, slowly and hesitantly, keeping her gaze downwards.  Despite staring at her feet, she was all too aware of the King's scrutiny of her body.

 

   "I suppose you'll do, so long as you do not fail me," the King said gruffly, before exiting the room.  Millicent exhaled, unaware that she had been holding her breath the entire time.  What could the King have possibly meant by his ambiguous statement?