She was shaking vividly. She looked into his eyes, which were not his usual cold and emotionless eyes.

"Please, let me go!" it was when he heard her scared and pleading voice that he came to his senses.

He let go of her hand after a few long seconds. She could see his cold eyes returned and his expression got hard. "What the hell are you doing here?" he was angry now.

"I was just taking a bath." She was trying to hold the sheets tighter.

"This is not the maids' bath." His voice void of any emotions.

When he saw the shock on her face he said "This is not a maid's bath, you knew that."

Osman continued "Are you up to something?" he looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"This is the only bath I know." She replied looking into his eyes, gradually regaining her confidence.

Osman turned and looked around. From the steams coming out of the water he realized the water in the pool has warmed up. Arta was about to leave the hall when Osman stopped her.

"How did you warm up the water?" Osman asked.

Arta smirked. "It's so simple. Don't tell me you were taking baths in the cold water this whole time." She laughed.

"Don't test my patience woman." Osman said clenching his teeth. Regretting why he had asked her in the first place.

"You need to light the fire beneath the pool." she pointed to the hole where she put her torch inside to light the fire when she came in.

Osman went to check the hole on the ground and Arta quickly left the hall. He turned around when he heard the door closed after Arta.

He ran toward the door to stop her again, but he stopped halfway. No need to go after her "You arrogant creature, I know what to do with you!" a devilish smile shaped on his face.

***

The next morning Arta woke up feeling better than before. Now she had a purpose; reaching the tunnel and flee. She needs to convince people that she has accepted her fate of being a maid.

Everyone was already gathered in the kitchen waiting for the head maid to come and assign them their daily duties. The kitchen was filled with murmurs that could be heard from outside. Arta pushed the door and entered the kitchen. All heads turned toward her and looked at her silently. Some with hatred some with pity and some with indifference.

A slim and tall girl with black eyes and a hook-shaped nose walked closer toward Arta. "Well hello princess, we are so honored to have you among us." She said sarcastically.

Arta turned her head trying to suppress her anger, but Amal was determined to make a scene by grabbing Arta's chin so hard with her long and rough fingers and forcing her to look at her.

Arta freed her chin from her grab and raised her hand to slap her, but Amal was quicker and hold her wrist before it reaches her face. She was taller and stronger than Arta. She pressed her wrist so tight that tears filled Arta's eyes. She was in pain, but she didn't want to give Amal the satisfaction of screaming or crying out of pain.

"Enough!" Khadijeh shouted coming inside the kitchen. Amal released Arta's hand.

Khadijeh came closer "I don't want to see such scenes again, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Amal said.

Arta nodded as well.

Khadijeh assigned everyone's duties of the day and turned to look at Arta "You are going to serve the prince."

It took a moment for Arta to understand what she really was saying "No! Please let me work in the kitchen or anywhere else." Arta protest. The mere thought of serving the enemy's prince shattered her heart into thousands of pieces. She preferred to clean the shit holes than to serve the enemy's prince. It was just unbearable. She was the princess of this place for God's sake, how could she now serve her enemy's prince?

"I can serve the prince." Amal came forward.

Khadijeh sighed in frustration and threw an angry glare toward Amal "I have already assigned you your tasks Amal."

"But I can serve the price, I'm more reliable than her, besides I don't think that our prince wants her anywhere close to him." She smirked.

"Amal!" Khadijeh almost shouted. "This is the prince's order. She wants her and no one else to be his personal maid."

Arta's eyes widened with shock. "Why did he want me? He hasn't even met me."

Khadijeh shook her head. "Stop wasting time. Go and prepare the bath for the prince. He wanted to take a bath."

She clapped her hands "Hurry hurry, off to your works."

Everyone moved to go to attend to their tasks while glaring at Arta and whispering into each other's ears. "They already hate me. What a wonderful life I gonna have her. Hopefully, it won't last long!" Arta thought to herself.

"Why are you hesitating?" Khadijeh asked Arta. "Are you waiting for an invitation or something?" She said coldly. "Remember you are a maid now. Behave yourself in front of the prince. I don't want any trouble, you understand me?"

Arta nodded and headed toward the bath pool hall.

She hasn't seen the prince yet. He must be a villain. She already hated him so much. She wished she had some kind of poison to pour it into the bathwater and kill him.

As she was thinking of 1000 ways to kill the prince she entered the bath hall. She smiled mischievously as she remembered last night when that general asked her how to warm up the pool. "hahaha, the prince does not know the pool can be warmed up. It will be a torcher bathing with cold water." She thought to herself joyfully.

She suddenly felt better about her task and started to prepare the sheets and filling the path with aromatic flowers. "Everything should be perfect for the prince" she whispered with a smile. She was eagerly waiting for the prince to come and take a bath. She wanted to see his face in the cold water.

She heard someone coming down the stairs. She stood by the pool with a straight head and a serious expression on her face. She was looking on the wall at the back of the hall.

The prince approached her. She stood still without looking at him and without bowing her hear. "I'm not going to bow my head. If he doesn't like it, he can ask Amal to bath him." She stubbornly thought to herself.

The prince came and stand in front of her. Arta's gaze still focusing on the wall.

"You should bow to your prince." Prince said.

His familiar voice made Arta turning her head and look at the prince. Her eyes were pumping out in shock.

"Didn't expect me to be the prince, ha?"

Arta opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came to her mind.

"Now show me some respect woman." Osman said coldly.

Arta's blood was boiling in her veins. "Is this some kind of a joke to you? You are enjoying this too much, aren't you?" she said before the painful knot in her throat prevented her from more talking.

A few seconds passed. Arta was waiting for him to make her bow her head or pushed her on the ground to bow forcefully.

"Warm up the pool like last night." Osman said and went to sit down on the bench on the other side of the pool.

Arta stood there for a second not sure why he had backed down. "Hurry up now!" Osman said watching her from the bench.

Arta first uncovered the floor windows then lit the fire beneath the pool with a torch and then went and sat on the bench on the opposite side of where Osman had sat. Arta could feel Osman's gaze on herself and she tried so hard to look anywhere but at him. A few minutes passed and the hall filled with a pleasant warmth.

"Isn't the pool ready yet?" Osman asked breaking the silence.

Arta went and put her hand in the water to check the temperature. "It's warm enough." She said.

Osman walked toward Arta. Standing in front of her he looked her in the eyes. And started to untie his robe. Arta didn't know what to do. Finally, he took off his robe and Arta turned her face in order not to see his naked body.

"Take this." He handed his robe to her and went into the pool.

"This is so inappropriate, this is so inappropriate, don't look, don't look, you pervert!" Arta was repeating in her mind. She took his robe and threw all the aromatic flowers into the pool to cover the water surface without looking at him.

Osman laughed "Oh you want me to smell good, ha?"

Arta hissed and was heading to sit on her bench away from him "Where are you going?" She didn't reply.

"Don't you know how to bath someone?"

"What?"

"Come and massage my shoulders." He was enjoying teasing her and make her angry. Very satisfying.

"I'm not touching you, pervert!"

"Now I'm the pervert? May I remind you who was bathing in this pool last night? In the prince's pool, naked?"

"I didn't know this is your pool. I needed to take a bath, and this is the only bath pool I know in this palace. I don't know where the maids take a bath. Besides this is my bath pool originally and you took it forcefully." Arta said, her heart was beating so fast and the warmth and the excessive aroma that she threw in the pool had made her dizzy. The dizziness reminded her that she hadn't eaten anything since...she couldn't remember when.

"no no no. you have forgotten something. Here WAS your bath pool. Not anymore!" He said turning his head to look at her. He saw she was losing her balance and her eyes were half-closed. He managed to come out of the pool just in time and grab her before her head hit the floor.

He sat on the ground holding her in his arms "Arta, Arta wake up! Stupid girl!" He shook her and gently slapped her a few times. When he got no response, he gently put her on the floor and put on his robe. He went out to look for a maid to help her. No one was there to his surprise. He shouted several times "Khadijeh, Khadijeh!" no replies. He looked at Arta lying on the cold floor looking so pale.

He went back inside and easily lifted her into his arms. Her body was cold against his chest. The fear of losing her was filling his mind. He quickly ran toward the stairs taking two steps at once he took her to his room. he placed her on his bed and covered her with blankets. He ran out of his room.

"Guards! Guards!" two soldiers ran toward the stairs and they met Osman in his bathrobe halfway through the stairs. "quickly call a doctor, hurry!"

The guards bowed and ran to bring a doctor.

Khadijeh and a few other maids came out of the audience hall holding buckets of water and cleaning cloth looking surprised.

"What is going on my prince, are you hurt? Do you need anything?" Khadijeh asked when she saw a concerned look on his face.

"Leave whatever you are doing and come to my room." Osman told Khadijeh.

Khadijeh turned to instruct the maids "I told you she is not reliable to be the prince's maid." Amal said looking satisfied.

Khadijeh rushed toward Osman's room. When she entered the room, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Arta was lying on the bed and Osman had knelt by his side patting her hair looking concerned. It was the first time Khadijeh was witnessing the prince showing any affection toward someone.

Khadijeh cleared her throat and Osman quickly withdrew his hand from Arta's hair and he put his cold emotionless mask back. But Khadijeh was wiser to realized that this indifference look was just a mask hiding his true feelings.

"She fainted in the bath hall. I think she needs a doctor."

Khadijeh bowed and moved closer to examine Arta. "She will be alright my prince, don't worry!"

"I'm not worried!" He snapped back.

"Should we take her to her room?"

"Of course!"

"I'll call guards to take her back to her room."

"No!" He said too harshly. "I mean... I can take her, no need to call the guards." He said trying to look indifference.