The Maid They Called Your Highness

Chapter 1: Your Highness

The young waiter nearly dropped her tray when he saw her face.

Across the golden banquet hall, champagne glasses clinked, violins played, and nobles laughed beneath the enormous crystal chandeliers. No one paid attention to the servant girl moving between the tables in a black uniform with a white collar.

No one except Adrian Valmont.

He had been raising his glass when she turned slightly toward the light.

His breath stopped.

The tray trembled in her hands.

She saw him recognize her and quickly lowered her head.

Adrian pushed back his chair so hard the nearby guests turned. He crossed the space between them with a look of disbelief, almost fear.

The girl stepped back.

"Don't," she whispered.

But Adrian was already in front of her.

He bent slightly, his voice breaking.

"Your Highness..."

The words cut through the room.

The girl turned pale.

Her eyes filled with panic, then tears. She glanced behind her as if someone might already be watching.

"Stop," she breathed. "Don't do this here."

Adrian stared at her. "Princess Alina?"

Her lips trembled, but she did not deny it.

Before he could say more, another man stepped between them. He was dressed in black, his face sharp with anger.

"What did you just call her?" he demanded.

Adrian did not move.

The man turned to the room and shouted, "She is Princess Alina!"

The music stopped.

A glass shattered somewhere.

The nobles rose from their seats, whispering in horror.

"Princess?" someone gasped. "Impossible."

Alina stood alone in the center of the hall, surrounded by people who had spent five years believing she was dead.

Adrian looked at the man in black.

"Who are you?"

The man placed himself in front of Alina.

"The man who kept her alive."