005
1088 Words
Tired of hitting the fabrics with a paddle, I wring them into a wooden bucket. What's the need to work tirelessly when Rain will still have me punished at the end of the day? Plus, I'm used to the beating, so I don't mind getting hit rather than wasting my time washing all these clothes.
“The Alpha seeks your presence,” a maid says to me as I walk towards my small chamber with sweat trickling down my face.
A wave of fear waters my bowels as I say, “Tell my king I'll be with him shortly.”
I don't need the rest of the details to know why he desires to see me so I go in search of Edith whom I find in the storehouse chatting with the friends she made over the years while serving Clotilda. Without saying a word, I hold her by the wrist, running as I drag her along to my chamber.
While she helps me bathe with the oils and soap she took out from Clotilda's chamber, I tell her about Alpha Draven's request. She helps me dress up in Clotilda's dresses. They used to be mine before I gave them to Clotilda.
Lacing the kirtle up my back, she asks, “Don't you think you're making him wait?”
“Shouldn't it be that way?” I ask softly, looking at the wall. Remembering Mother's story of how Father waited almost the whole night for her stings my eyes with tears.
The crowd of wolves clamoring on the ground floor piques my interest, and I ask Edith, who's escorting me to Alpha Draven's chamber. “Why are they gathering?”
She looks over the handrail, watching the crowd. “Baffles me, too.”
At the door to his chamber, she mouths, “Be careful.”
I nod and knock, watching her walk away. “I'm here, my king.”
No response.
After a few seconds, I open the door and let myself in. I look around the empty chamber. “My King?”
I pace slowly while waiting for him and wondering if I made him wait so much.
“That Zephyra maid needs to lose a hand to learn,” I hear Rain say outside the chamber. “I would have beaten her anyway without your order.”
The door opens, and our eyes meet. His eyes narrow as he pauses in the doorway.
“Speak of the brat.” Rain looks me up and down and scoffs. “How dare you take a dress from Clotilda's chamber?”
I bow my head in loyalty. “I apologize for keeping you waiting, my king. I was getting ready.”
He trudges to where I'm standing, circling me, his intent gaze fixed on me. Finally, he stops in front of me. “What are you to me?” His voice is cold.
“Your servant, my king,” I reply in a shaky voice.
“And how does a servant please their master?”
My eyes widen in realization, and I can't help but look at his masked face. Tears stream down my face at the knowledge that I've messed up.
“Answer me!” He yells, enraged.
I gasp, shuddering. More tears stream down my face. “By…serving wine, food…” I heave in the air, sobbing, and my voice gets thin with each word.”Making the beds…washing clothes, emptying the ports.”
He roughly cups my chin, forcing me to look at him. “What makes you think you will please me on my bed, dressed in my late wife's kirtle?”
I go on my knees. “I deserve to be punished, my king.”
“Rain!” He roars her name even though she's inches away.
“I'm here, Alpha.” She leaves the doorway and stands beside him.
“Strip her of that kirtle.”
He stomps out of the room and jams the door while Rain brutally undresses me, her claws, which she intentionally lets out, digging into my skin each time they get the chance.
The next moment, I'm in a maid's gown with Rain's strong grip on my arm as she drags me out of the room to the place I'd seen the crowd earlier. The crowd is still there, but it has increased a bit, and Alpha Draven is seated with Lockwood and a blond wolf whose hair is long like a she-wolf's. According to Edith, he's Alpha Draven's beta.
Lockwood regards me with pity, while the beta's gaze is unreadable, as Rain positions me on the podium where everyone will get a better view.
Hyperventilating, I look at their faces until my gaze falls on Edith, whose face is soaked with tears, and my stomach knots at the realization that something bad is about to happen.
Lockwood joins me on the podium but sits at a table that has ink and paper.
“We have gathered here to evaluate the services of this maid before me,” Lockwood says. “I will call the time stamp on which she was on duty, and her specific task, and you will give me feedback. Thank you for your cooperation.”
He looks at me, his voice a whisper. “You are aware of what will happen when you get many bad reviews.”
I look at Alpha Draven, who seems unbothered by my predicament, tears streaming down my face as I nod slowly.
The evaluation begins with Lockwood reading out the first stamp of my duty. The hall becomes noisy with wolves voicing their ratings with aggression. One soldier complains that his breastplate went missing. The other complains about the holes in his shirt. Many complaints about the smell in their boots.
It gets to a point where the crowd starts guessing the time stamp I'd worked without Lockwood mentioning it.
“She can't keep her head down for a second. Rain says, her voice overlapping with other angry wolves. “She's conceited."
The complaints keep piling up, with some suggesting my death, until Alpha Draven, without raising his deep voice, asks, “What's the conclusion?”
Suddenly, the hall goes silent.
“Not good at all,” Lockwood says, still writing. “It's abysmally poor.”
My breath hitches when Alpha Draven drops the antidote on the table, saying, “You failed in pleasing me by displeasing my subjects too.”
When he uncaps the phial, I inhale sharply and run to stop him from upending the antidote.
- Writer
