“Lucy is an obedient child. If she isn’t, my wife has already told me what works,” King Laurence offered the governess a smile and waved his hand for everyone to start eating.
With the King in the dining room, everyone behaved as if they got along well with each other, when in truth, everyone had issues with at least more than one person. Lucy, who was eating her supper, had barely touched her food, and she was idly swirling the soup with her spoon until she decided to ask,
“Father?” Lucy called the King to get his attention, “I was wondering if I could keep my maids with me, the old ones, as I am more accustomed to them than the new ones.”
King Laurence didn’t respond to her right away as he was chewing his food, but then he said, “Your mother informed me that you have been spending more time gossiping with them. She fears that you will turn out just like them.”
Hearing this, Lucy frowned, and she didn’t understand what was wrong if she were to turn like Ruby and Amice. “There’s nothing wrong with them.”
“I am well informed about it, Lucy,” replied her father, “If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be working here in the castle anymore. “You are not a little girl anymore, and it is only right that you have maids who are much more well versed with what you might need.”
She had heard this since she was little! Thought Lucy to herself. She had always been treated like a big girl, someone who had to understand things, even though her parents didn’t bother to help her apply that knowledge.
“Ruby has been assigned to work for mama. I am sure she is more than capable of continuing her work with-“
“My my,” Morganna cut in, a displeased look in her eyes, “I told you, you should have changed the maids years ago, but both of you don’t listen to me,” said the woman looking at the King and his wife.
Lucy dropped the spoon that clattered against the side of the bowl, and she asked, “If I am going to stay here for only a little time, shouldn’t I spend my time to the fullest? I have grown up with-” she stopped her words right there because she saw her mother widen her eyes.
Lady Samara knew exactly where Lucy’s sentence was going, and she glared at her daughter, “Have you forgotten your position and theirs? Or has spending time with them filled your head with empty air? You are a princess, Lucy. You will listen to what has been decided and follow your governess’ words.”
Lucy frowned before looking back at her soup, and she didn’t speak to anyone. That night, though Lucy saw Ruby in one of the corridors, walking, she didn’t dare to follow her, and she was glad that Ruby was still here in the castle. The last thing she wanted was her grandmother or her father getting rid of Ruby or Amice.
The same night, Morganna called one of her men to her personnel quarters to discuss something important.
“My Queen,” the man bowed his head deeply. “I heard you wanted to see me?”
“Yes, Jesoph,” replied the Queen. She raised her hand forward that carried a red velvet bag, and the man walked forward to take it from her. “I have an important task for you. It might be simple, considering how you have excelled with the tasks given so far.”
When the man took the bag, he could hear the jingle sound that came from the coins inside, and he asked, “Tell me what I can do for you, milady. Consider it to be done.”
Morganna walked towards her window, staring at the starless sky while holding her hands behind her back.
“My son seems to have lost his thinking, but considering how I see things clearly, I need you to frame the two young men who Laurence recently brought to the castle,” said Morganna. She was going to remove the venom before it would spread through her castle, and for that, Calhoun had to leave.
“Not kill them?” questioned the man named Jesoph.
“My son has his eyes wide open. I heard there’s a new society forming in the name of justice, and it would be best not to have the suspicion fall on me. I don’t want to tarnish my name, Jesoph. I am the mother Queen, who is kind and merciful, and I would prefer people to continue to view me like this. Also, the boy is acting too smug, and I would like to see him on the ground, bowing his head in defeat,” her red eyes reflected from the windowpane.
“If you say so, my Queen. I will have the trap prepared,” he bowed his head, and Morganna nodded her head.
Before the man could step out of the room, Morganna said, “Also, it seems like since yesterday my two maids have gone missing, and they are nowhere to be found.”
“Did they escape from the castle?” questioned Jesoph, and Morganna chuckled.
“That would be highly not possible. It is quite a coincidence that my two maids go missing around the same time the two new young vampires enter the castle,” her eyes slowly shifted to look at the man before waving her hand to dismiss him.
Back in Lucy’s room, she sat on her bed, unable to sleep. Her mother had warned her not to waste her time, and use it on important things like grooming herself. But what her mother didn’t understand was that she was lonely without the company of her favourite maids whom she had grown fond of.
Unable to sit still in her room, Lucy stepped out of her room.
With the servants who had gone to their quarters to sleep, Lucy found it easier to walk in the castle corridors. Her family members had retired to their rooms for the day, and it felt like she was the only one who lived here. With her bare feet, she tiptoed from one corridor to another. The breeze in the atmosphere felt good, and with no moonlight and just the dim light coming from the torches on the wall, Lucy raised her hands.
And though Lucy believed she was alone and the only one to be awake, it wasn’t entirely true.
