Because the king was still not present, he continued to go about his business as usual prior to my arrival on the scene. If I'm being completely honest, I thought I'd get to spend more time with him now that I was married, but I couldn't complain about the additional freedom I'd gained. I was still having some issues with not being able to leave my wing once the sun had set, but I couldn't express my dissatisfaction too much for fear of being perceived as a stingy person by others.
I wasn't sure if the rest of the staff was aware that I was from another timeline, but at the very least they were aware that I was a handmaiden, and that I was a brand new one, having joined them just before I was married to their King, and that I was from another timeline. Although I was never one to be concerned about what other people thought of me, I did so this time. Instead of being perceived as someone who had changed once they married into wealth, I wanted to be perceived as someone who h
I clear my throat, everyone turns their attention to me. “We should all just share with our partners,” I say in a professional tone “We’re still opponents.” “That’s a reasonable argument,” Tyler nods at me “So it’s settled,” Luke says. Did I imagine the hint of triumph in his voice? “Where’s our room?” “There are two rooms on the second floor.” Ethan says “One of them has our luggage, you can take the other.” Luke nods and grabs our bags from the floor, Joseph turns to me with a smirk on his face. “If you’re scared, Elise dear,” he says like a true gentleass “My room is just in front of the stairs.” “And if you see his face and get scared,” Adrian says “My room is just besides it.” “I doubt she’s afraid of the night,” Luke says “She’s been sleeping under the open sky for almost two weeks.” “All the more
What I did know about the gift was that I had to walk to it because it was too large to be given to me in my bedroom, that the king had done a lot of research by asking around to figure out what I liked, and that he was extremely excited about it. I didn't know what else I needed to know about the gift until I got there. Everything else about the present was something I was completely unaware of at the time. As the first of my handmaidens, I walked behind them both, which was a good thing because I would be the one who would be walking in front of them virtually exclusively. However, I requested them to lead the way since I had heard that they had been working with the King on the present and I wanted to make sure they got it. After we had just begun to leave my wing, they came to a complete halt in front of the doors of one of the rooms. In my wings, there were a couple of extra rooms for me to use, but being me, I had no idea what I should do with them, so I had le
I tried my best to not pay attention to my surroundings because I knew I would be afraid of even the smallest sound of the leave falling down off of the tree but I couldn't help myself but to hyper-focus because of how scared I was. Just as I was about to turn left to the hall that my room decided then, I heard a dog’s roar. I wasn't sure where it was coming from, as we did not have any dogs on the premises as far as I knew so I assumed I must have heard wrong because I was very sleep-deprived. I kept on walking upon till I was startled by 2 wolves jumping in front of me, growling, with spit drooling all over them. “Hi doggies,” I said softly as I backed up a little, “I didn’t know we had you.” The dogs responded with a louder growl. I could swear that I saw one of them licking through its teeth as if I was a really big bone or a ginormous stake. Just think of it, I was technically both of those things, just combined. Intimidated by their attitude towards me I talked mor
Some sort of an instrument was playing as I enter the forbidden wing. The fear I felt seemed to melt away once my mind plugged into the beautiful tune. I stood there mesmerized, and then the sound propelled me forward. There was a big guy sitting in the shadows. He was playing a flute, low and melodic. I did not say anything, looking to prolong the spell. My eyes grew moist because I felt homesick. The music reminded me of long summer days in Louisiana. It felt like I was a lone survivor in the huge city. It was liberating and frightening. Sensing my presence, he stopped playing the flute and turned, pinning me with his intense gaze. The time stood still before I took a step back in horror. It was the same creature who attacked wolves and saved me last night. I wished I were dreaming. This felt like a nightmare. I forgot to breathe as I took in his ugliness in one glance. Hair covered his arms, legs, and his face. He was shirtless. There was a bandage over hi
I wanted, needed to be alone. “Please, do not do anything drastic, your majesty,” Lady Josephine said. Both women had identical worried lines on their faces. “It will get easier, I promise.” I wandered with no direction in mind. What to do? I asked myself. Her brother could go to college. Her father could get a state-of-the-art hearing aid. Money made the life so much easier. But at what personal cost? I wished I did not stop and help an old lady to cross the road. As someone said, every good deed was punished. In her world, there were many surrogate mothers. That was different. Those women were inseminated artificially. There were no beasts. No trick marriages. No golden cages. I was standing in the middle of an orchard, surrounded with trees bent by the weight of the fruit. There were so many beautiful birds, fluttering and singing. At that moment, it did not feel like a prison. I picked a fallen apple and sniffed. It smelled like heaven on
I waited for the Beast King, my nerves on edge. The forbidden wing where he lived was nothing like I imagined. In my previous visit, I was too overwhelmed to notice little details. It was neat, tidy. It made me sound like a bad person, but I assumed he slept on a mattress made of straws. Instead of a washroom, there would be a giant litter box or something. I could not tear my eyes away from the big king-sized bed. Disturbing images played in my mind. Until now, I'd been under the assumption that the ladies were not in charge of his area of the castle. I was apprehensive about peering into anyone's room, because I didn't want to find out anything about his personal routines from doing so. The Beast King, on the other hand, appeared to be a religious figure. I nodded as I looked at the titles of the books on the table in front of me. My only complaint was that they were a touch too literary for my tastes. Reading trashy, fast-paced thrillers and romanc
"Can you tell me what happened to you, Queen Nia?" Lady Alana inquired after noticing me with my head bowed. "I'm not sure why, but I'm suffering from a severe headache," I said, a slight moan in my voice. "Please take a seat, my queen." "All right, I'm open to anything." "This is such a nagging discomfort." It made me feel uneasy whenever the ladies attended to me. No matter how many times I protested, they always won. Lady Josephine presented me with a liquid that had an amber hue to it. Lady Alana untangled my hair from a tight bun and began massaging my scalp with a fragrant oil she had rubbed in. Was I in some kind of special spa? "Can you tell me what it is?" I took a tentative sip of my drink. It helped to relieve the discomfort in my stomach. "It derives from a particular root." All digestive problems can be resolved with this remedy." "However, it is my head that is hurting. That is not what I require at this time."
"I noticed that the light was turned on. "I had a thought..." He took several deep breaths and cleared his throat. "You're aware of what happened the last time. I don't want to go through this again. I'll be there to escort you back. Don't be concerned, Queen Nia. "I'm not going to be seen," he added in a hurry. "I promise that I will remain out of your sight the entire time. The ghost wolves will not bother you while you are in my company.""No way, Beastie King," says the narrator. I shook my head, as if he could see what I was doing."All right, stay safe," he said in a hushed voice, his voice breaking. I was startled by the sound of slow retreating footsteps. "Wait, you dope," I yelled, my voice rising in frustration. "That is not what I am referring to. "You are under no obligation to remain in the dark at my expense." "But why?" you might wonder. "Everyone keeps their distance from me." His voice was tinged with disbelief. "There is nothing you ca