AGAINST ALL ODDS.

lets continue😂...actually i don't have a name for this chapter

The sound of distant bells echoed through the servants quarters as the sky outside turned pale grey.Liv stirred awake on the creaking bed,the stiffness in her back reminding her exactly where she was.She sat up,breath visibley in the cold morning air and folded the thin blanket neatly. a limbs ached from the hard surface beneath her but she didn't complain.

She washed quickly ,shivering as she poured water over herself from a cracked basin. Her uniform was stiff and slightly dump. it hadn't dried overnight but she wore it anyway. The moment she stepped into the corridor the castle felt like it was alive. Whispers in the shadows, a flickering torch light, a strange heaviness in the air.

By the time liv reached the Gathering Hall all the servants all assembled before the days work, the room was already full. dozens of servants sat on single benches arranged in rows. The air buzzed with hushed conversations and sideway glances.

Liv paused in the hall way,unsure whether to enter.

Not a single face turned welcoming. Not a single space left.

She stepped forward timidly."Is there ...a seat I can -,"

A loud scoff cut her off.

"seat on the floor peasent." a woman snerred her from the that row.Snikkers followed like a wave.

Liv's face flushed but she didn't argu.She lowered her self to the cold stone floor,folding her legs beneath her.

A tall man with a unique mouths tache and a black ledger stepped forward- clearly the supervisor.His presence demanded attention and the room felt quite.

"That's the new one huh?" he said,his voice mocking as he pointed at Liv.

"Names Baret,I keep things in order here.And you ...you are no better than the rats in the cellar.

More laughter.

Barets eye gleamed with cruelty."You don't belong here girl,and i don't know who brought you.You it last.Work first.Talk never."

Liv looked up at him her eyes still calm despite the sting of humiliation.

He grinned widely,"Lucky you , though you have been appointed the castle of JW."

A hush fell even the most talkative servants stiffened.

"Alone,"Baret added his tone sharp,"Thirty men couldn't keep that place spotless and ur going in solo.

Liv's breath caught for just a second.

"But maybe that's what ur good for, scrubbing blood of stones, or maybe," his voice lowered with a menance, "feeding the thing that sleeps under that roof.'

She didn't flinch. Instead she stood up brushing the dust off her uniform.

"I'll do it," Mockery turned to ,curiosity even silence.

She should have been scared-but there was something in her gaze that seemed determined.Something unshaken.

Behind the veil of insults and cold stares,no one knew that the king himself had issued a silent command.Break her,make her wish she never came.

JW had agreed to his words ,he had 2 ,his fathers threats were no silent words.

But even as the others obeyed,even as Liv dared to work in a palace nobody dared walk alone,a quite truth was taking root. She was not easy to break.