Just as Elias had swindled Adeline, she did the same. When nightfall came, she ate her dinner in a hurry and without him. A new set of maids came in as bright-faced as Jenny, but with the same expertise as Jean. If they knew their Queen was human, they didn't show it.
As they bathed her, gingerly and careful, Adeline wondered if Elias had frightened them into respect for her. They lowered their eyes and never raised them, even when humans were inferior to their kind.
"Thank you," Adeline gratefully said after they had dressed her well and combed her hair.
The maids' hands had trembled in surprise, nearly dropping the brush from their hands. The King called them by their names, but no one in the palace offered them gratitude—except a human girl.
"Please Princess, you don't have to thank me," the maids had said to her.
