pietá

Irrefutable

The next afternoon...

(Y/n) was outside in the open grass field behind her home. A bird sang in the distant trees, another bird from somewhere else would occasionally respond with the same call.

The young woman looked off into the distance with a dreamlike look in her eyes. Her head clouded with all kinds of thoughts. This caused her hearing to be muffled, as if her body was here but her mind was a million miles away.

"...(Y/n)." The voice was inaudible at first.

"...(Y/n)!"

That did it.

The shout of her name sucked her out of her thoughts and she turned her head to look towards the body who called her.

Her mother stood a couple yards away. One hand on her hip the other being used to shield her eyes from the sun while she looked at her daughter.

"What on Earth are you doing all the way over there?" She called with a befuddled tone.

The (h/c) haired girl hadn't even realized she'd wandered so far from the clothes line. Basket in hand, (Y/n) jogged back over to her mother.

"Sorry mom." The girl breathed upon approaching the older woman. Slowing to a stop right beside her mother.

Her mother gave her a skeptical look. "Are you feeling well?" She questioned, lifting the back of her hand to her daughter's forehead. "You're never this distracted."

(Y/n) sighed and diverted her head to the left as the statement reminded her of what was truly bothering her...

She didn't tell her mom that she'd been fired. She was too scared of what the consequences might be. Would she be disappointed? Would she be angry? The young woman didn't even want to find out.

"I'm just..." For a moment, she paused. And for the briefest of seconds, her mind flicked back to the conversation from the night before with Prince William. "Thinking." She finished.

"Thinking?" Her mom said as if she didn't believe her daughter. And she didn't. But she wasn't going to pressure her daughter into telling whatever was troubling her. She just wasn't that type of person, and neither was (Y/n). She was positive that her daughter would tell her eventually.

So she only shrugged and reached her hand into the basket to hang another piece of damp laundry.

(Y/n)'s family consisted of her, her mother, father, and younger sister Leía. They lived in the rural part of Harlem, like most people who were poverty stricken. But unlike their neighbors, they didn't own farm animals or grow crops. (Y/n) and her family all worked jobs in the town. Leía works as a tailor's apprentice, her mom is a waitress at a local pub, her father is an eyeglasses repairman, and (Y/n) is a castle maid... Or, she was a castle maid.

The female couldn't help but mentally cringe. How could she get fired? And over the stupidest of reasons!...

The back door to their small shack creaked open, and both (Y/n) and her mom turned their attention to it.

In the doorway was Leía, peeking from behind the door in her pajamas looking as if she just woke up, her eyes as wide as saucers.

"Leía?" Her mother inquired. "Is something the matter?"

The younger girl looked uncomfortable as she opened her mouth.

"(Y-Y/n)..." She stuttered out slowly. "There's... There's someone here to see you."

The female near the clothes line narrowed her eyebrows in confusion. (Y/n) looked to her mom, who looked about as clueless as she was.

She handed the clothes basket off and hurried to the back door. There were only a few select people who could be at the door. Martha, Emille, the young man who works with her father, or...