Once upon a time...part 3

Maxim was at the huge hallway of the palace. He looked at his surroundings, trying to absorb the beauty of the palace in his eyes.  

“ Ahem!!  Ahem!! You must be the new help. I am Mariam, the head of royal servants.  Please follow me.” , a short fat lady said as she gave him the tour of the palace. She also explained his duties.  Fortunately his work was to serve the princess’s pet tiger.  This was great!  He had to get the princess out of the palace. This was going to piece of cake for him as he was going to feed her pet tiger.

Next day was perfect. He was early than expected and inside the premises of princess’s tiger. He had bought tons of meat in two huge buckets. They were quite heavy for lean guy like him to carry. All of sudden, the tiger pounced on him. Within few seconds,  he was beneath the tiger’s heavy body. The tiger glared at Maxim as if he would gobble up his (Maxim’s) body. 

“ Hey Tigger!  Leave that poor guy. You are frightening him.” , Princess Adele called her pet tiger. Tigger followed her instructions like a good kitty. He let go the poor lad.  Maxim got up on his feet and cleaned the dust off from his arms and legs. “ Thank you, Ma’am.” , he whispered and looked down with embarrassment.

“ Next time, don’t get the bucket  full of meat for Tigger. He would pounce on you as he did today due to excitement. He loves his meat. So always tie him before you feed him. He is a gentle creature but he gets more tempted by the smell of meat. Are you new here?”, she said while giggling in between.

He glanced up for a minute to answer her question. Alas! He couldn’t keep his eyes away from her. He had never seen such beauty up close. People were indeed right about the princess. She was an exquisite beauty.  He didn’t say anything as his eyes followed her every moment until she left the place.

He was head over heels for her. He couldn’t wait for the next morning to start. He left to his quarters with dreamy eyes. His night was filled with fantasies about her in his dream world. Next day was normal as usual. He fed Tigger and cleansed him. He waited for her. But there was no sign of her.

Few days passed. She still didn’t come. “ Doesn’t she love  you, Tigger. Why isn’t she coming?”, he said to his new found companion.

 (To be continued)