TO MY FAITHFUL READERS—

I am sorry it took me so long to post. To be honest I had given up on this story for good. Not because I had no good ideas but because I was no longer interested in writing. This week for some odd reason that changed and I have decided to try to continue this story. I hope you enjoy there is much more to come. Please review it's a great incentive.

"It happened when I was 12."Abby began. "Mama had died three years earlier birthing what would have been our first brother. My sister and I had no father, but we didn't ask any questions. She was a special lady though. Raised me and my sister to be proud of who we were no matter our station. To accept our lot in laugh with a smile on our faces. " Danielle noticed how not once did Abby did not look up to gauge Daniella's reaction. She seemed to be lost in a world of her own memories.

"When she died my sister, Carletta, took over her position both as a maid in the castle and as my guardian. By the time I turned 11 and Carletta was 14 I joined her in her duties as a servant in the castle. She sheltered me and cared for me. Reminded me often how much she loved me and how important it was for us to stick together. She was all I had in the world but that was ok because she was all I needed. " Danielle was beginning to understand for the first time why Abby was so different than everyone else she has met. Abby grew up feeling loved and appreciated, which is not something most servants can claim.

"I waited up for her one night but she didn't return. It was unusual for a servant to be asked to work a double shift day and night but not unheard of so I did not panic. Sure enough in the morning she did return but she was not the same sister whom I grew up with. She had bruises along her wrists, her face was blotchy clearly from crying for hours, her hair in total disarray which was in contrast to her usual very put together appearance. "Abby at this point had tears streaming out of her eyes as well, matching her sister's pain.

"She would not tell me what happened that night. We had told each other everything up until then. At first I felt betrayed only later did I realize that she, as usual, was protecting my innocence. Every night thereafter she did not return and rather was given the morning as break. There were no more tears though after the first morning."

"I got sick and tired of this new Carletta. I wanted to find out what was happening. I was under the impression that I could fix it. My naivety was as pervasive as ever." A deeply bitter tone that Danielle did not recognize was now making itself known. "So I decided to follow her one night. I ditched my night time duties, assuming any punishment would be worth finally knowing what was wrong with my sister. Little did I know any punishment would be a thousand times less painful than what I saw that night."

"I found her doing her normal nighttime duty as of this month serving to the Prince and his cronies." Danielle's stomach dropped. Before she was upset that Abby hadn't opened up to her but now that she was finally going to find out what it was that her fiancé had done, she didn't think she was ready. "There were a bunch of them sitting there laughing, drinking, being boys dropping things and ordering her to pick them up. Childish things like that. After most of the boys retired for the evening, only the prince and a boy named James stayed. James was boasting how he had done the deed with the servant already 6 times in the past week. I think his exact words were 'that lucky bitch didn't even have the decency to thank me afterwards. The nerve of the commonfolk.' Henry just laughed along at my sister's expense while James grabbed my sister and pressed her against the wall. 'You like it don't you?' he asked her with a smug smile on his face. 'Yes sire' she replied as the dutiful servant. He started to feel around her body out there flagrantly in the open in front of the Prince and all the other staff present. 'Henry you might want to try this one too' He offered. 'She starts out wild but she wasn't that hard to tame.' "

"At that moment I realized finally why Carletta came back so empty and cold. All the life had been sucked out of her by this leech, this parasite. The Prince declined the offer quite impassively and I quote "yes, I'm sure the royal court would have a field day with me fooling around with some cheap commoner. Some things are not worth the risk my friend. " Abby paused and gave Danielle a pointed stare. Every word she quoted of Henry's Danielle could not fit to the man she loved. The words were like daggers into her heart. This was no longer just about Abby's sister. But then again it never was.

After a moment Abby continued "'It's not like they will be much happier with you'. The prince reasoned 'You're father would have your head.' At this point I could no longer watch what James did to my sister as he manhandled her and took her into a closet to what I presume was a raping. For days it continued this way with my sister having no idea that I now knew her deepest secret. She got better at dealing with it during the day and if I hadn't known the truth she might have been able to fool me into thinking she was back to normal. But I did know and was most certainly not fooled. I started coming up with plans for how to extract her from the situation or maybe even to run away with her. But in the end all my plans were futile because one morning she never came back. " At this point Danielle couldn't hold it in anymore. She started to cry. Cry for Carletta, for Abby, for herself, and a part of her even cried for Henry, how awful it must be to live with such deeds. "I didn't know what happened to her and I panicked. Eventually I heard through the rumor mill what happened to her. Apparently James started to suspect that word was traveling past just the servant population of his relationship with my sister. He could not handle society's reaction and asked his dear old fried, your loverboy, to dispose of the evidence of his infraction. So he did what any master does when he wants to get rid of his servant. He sold her… to the Americas. By the time I learned the whole truth my sister must have been living in America for at least a month. I never saw her again and I have been alone ever since. I lost my best friend and mentor that day and I will never ever forget that."

Danielle snapped. She couldn't take listening anymore she was so furious. She ran out of the room to catch her baring. How could Henry ever have been so cruel? How could she have allowed herself to associate with such a monster?! This creature looked at those below his class as being useless pawns meant to be used for the amusement of the high and mighty. But as she thought these words (and many variations) in her mind and even murmured them softly to herself she realized that she was lying to herself. She knew that these words no longer fit the man that proclaimed his love for her. The man that repeatedly offered to give up his crown and country for a peasant whom he loved. This man was not the same as that boy, the beast.

Wouldn't she be just as bad as he to judge him for who he is no longer? Abby does not see the changes of course she still hates him, as she should. But Danielle who is living proof of the fact that Henry is no longer that boy had no right to feel such thoughts. And at that very moment Danielle pushed those thoughts away and walked back into the room.