Chapter 3

"Sorry," she said, "I got distracted by the view."

"No worries," the girl said, "we have plenty to do." She smiled brightly at Annuetta and went back to humming as she worked.

Soapy water on the glass, scrape it off again, mop the edges with a drier cloth. What's outside of this window?

The deer were gone, but the horses were still there. Next window, the same thing. Annuetta looked at the long, long hallway and sighed, but she'd promised.

The girl was humming again while she worked.

"Why do you hum?" Annuetta asked to distract herself from how boring washing windows was.

"It helps me to pass the time," the girl said. "It is such a dull job, but humming helps."

The princess tried it. They sounded like a pair of bees buzzing. She laughed and kept humming along. The windows went by one by one. Every once in a while, she stopped and looked at what they had left to do; then she'd sigh. The girl never looked down the hall.

Part 3