19 Early morning shock

The night ended and slowly, the sun started to rise spreading its warmth on the kingdom after the cold night. The birds were chirping already as dawn arrived waking up the people from their dreamland. The morning dew covered the green leaves giving it a mesmerizing feeling. It seemed it had rained the previous night with the way morning mist covered the village. But the mist soon disappeared as the sun rose higher and it was a sight to behold even to the people of village Soren, who had long accustomed to nature's beauty.

Samantha rolled on the soft bed as she tried to sleep for some more time, although her mind was screaming at her to wake up. Her body had been clocked to wake up at this time of the day every morning and on all other days, she would on her feet by now. But today, she was in no mood to leave the most comfortable bed she had ever slept on. It was cozy and warm and it lulled her to sleep the more she slept on it.

Samantha wondered why her bed felt different than usual. The one she usually slept on was hard and uncomfortable. Although it was still warm, she did not find it that soft which could make her snuggle all the more to sleep more. She opened her eyes slowly in her confusion and the next second she woke up with a start when she noticed the artistic murals on the ceiling. She was familiar with the painting, it was the one she had seen in Young Master Bradford's room. She conjectured why she was even seeing it in her room when her eyes ran around her. The scene she saw made her eyes go wide in shock.

Samantha's face paled in horror. The room she had assumed to be hers was in fact Young Master Bradford's chambers and she had been sleeping on his bed for the entire night. She racked her brain trying to find out how she ended up here, but could not get any answer. The only thing she last remembered was that Madam Lily had ordered her to fill the jug in the Young Master's room as the man was deemed to arrive anytime during midnight, and that was it. She could not remember anything after that how much ever she tried.

Her deep thoughts were broken she heard somebody groaning beside her making her shriek in fear. Samantha immediately jumped off the bed, her face paling thinking about all possible scenarios. She was imagining the worst possible situation when she heard a girl's voice from the person lying on the bed. Her eyebrows narrowed and she lifted the duvet only to find her best friend, Itri lying on the bed on her stomach, in an unruly manner.

Samantha had been scared out of her wits when she had noticed the person beside her. She had assumed herself to have slept with a man, possibly Young Master Bradford and just the thought of it made her shiver. Although the man was quite charming, it was his mother, Lady Jane she was scared of. The woman had a nasty temper and she loathed anybody who belonged to the lower class society. Samantha being a maid at her house had made it impossible for her to get together with her son, not that she intended to do it anyway. He was just a kind-hearted person and her employer, nothing more.

Samantha sighed in relief seeing that it was her friend, Itri. She patted her chest trying to calm down her poor heart that was thundering quite loudly. When she found herself to be a little composed, she lifted the duvet off her friend completely, making her grumble in annoyance. "Who hath taketh my duvet? Come forth and face my wrath." She ordered, her voice coming out sluggish due to the position she was sleeping in.

Samantha giggled at her friend's antics. Itri was never an early morning person. She hated to get up early and do all the chores assigned to her before the day even began. Given a choice, she would have slept until noon and woken up at her own leisure time, eat something to fill her stomach and go back to sleep once again. But this was not her place and she did not have the freedom to do so in her master's house. She was bound by rules and one among them was that all the servants had to be present at work exactly at six in the morning.

"Itri, get up. It's almost time for us to go down." Samantha had forgotten about the situation of them actually sleeping in the Young Master's bedroom and was focused on other issues at hand. She had to make sure that her friend was up before the grandfather clock in the mansion hall struck six. "Itri, get up. We need to go down." She tried again, but the woman only rolled to the other side and continued sleeping.

Samantha could only sigh helplessly at the lazy woman. How was she supposed to wake her up when Itri was not even listening to her? She thought about a plan and the next second, her eyes gleamed in mischief. She stood up, cleared her throat, and exclaimed loudly, "Young Master Bradford. Good morning, Young Master." She adjusted her tone making it seem as though she was panicked and made sure that Itri heard her loud and clear.

This caught her friend's attention and she lifted her head to peek at Samantha only to see that she was staring at the door, with her eyes wide open. Assuming the Young Master to be actually standing at the entrance, Itri tried to get up lest she should get reprimanded for being disrespectful. However, to her surprise, when she tried to get up, she slipped off the bed and fell flat on her face. In her hurry, she had not noticed that she was sleeping at the edge of the bed, and even moving a little to her right would only make her hug the floor.

She fell down with a thud and the loud sound startled Samantha. She turned to see what had happened and the next second, she burst out in chuckles seeing the state her friend was in. It was too hilarious for her to control her laughter. Her voice increased all the more when Itri stood up hurriedly, adjusted her skirt to look presentable and turned to greet the Young Master only to find the door to be still closed. She saw no one inside and it was then she realized what had happened. Her friend had tricked her.

"Samantha, you tricked me," Itri complained with an adorable pout on her face.

"Is it? I wonder how?"

"You lied to me."

"My dear Itri, I lied to you so that I could save you. We need to go down before the clock strikes six. I have no idea what the time is, but I am sure it is not six yet." As soon as Samantha spoke the words, Itri's eyes widened in realization. She now understood the situation and started to get anxious.

"Oh Lord, Sammie. We need to hurry up. I don't want to get scolded by Madam Lily. Let's go before she comes looking for us." She dragged Samantha with her by her hand and opened the door before they peeped out to see if anybody was outside in the vicinity.

"By the way, Itri. How did we end up sleeping in this room?" Samantha asked while Itri darted her eyes outside the room. There was nobody near the room and they opened the door wide to get a clear picture.

"I'll tell you everything later. We need to get out of here first." She shushed her with a few words. They did not have time for discussions now. They had to leave the room before anybody noticed them and kicked up a fuss for sleeping in the master's bedroom in his absence. When they sensed that the area was clear, they did not hesitate even a second to escape from the bedroom. They were so busy with the task at hand that they did not notice the person with light brown eyes who was watching their every move. His eyes were mainly focused on the blonde hair girl who had captivated him with just her beautiful green orbs.