Maid In Oxthorn
1181 Words
Eloise’s POV
Six years later.
This city has never been kind to me my whole life. Six years ago, I was supposed to die in chains, just another forgotten slave girl.
Instead, someone freed me from that clubhouse and left me with just enough money to survive. To date, I wonder who that person could ever be.
But surviving was a different thing from living in my world.
I pulled my dress tighter, trying to prevent the cold from biting my skin.
The streets were always busy as usual, shop owners closing up their shops, drunk men laughing, and shadows moving where they were not supposed to.
I kept my head down, keeping eye contact with anybody meant trouble, that is what I couldn’t afford at that moment.
Humans meant nothing in this world.
Halflings?
Even more worthless.
Most of them were killed at birth, unwanted reminders of what happened in a world dominated by Lycans using humans as their slaves.
My five-year-old daughter was a halfling.
Like, my whole world.
A painful reminder of the night that happened between Axel and me. But Lily was…dying.
If anyone knew what she was, her death would be sure.
Lily had a fever that I couldn't understand.
It lasted for two straight nights. Her fragile little body is growing weaker with every passing hour. The cheap medicine I bought for her did nothing at all.
I needed help, but human doctors would never dare to touch a halfling. If they ever found out what Lily was, they would have her killed.
But that didn’t stop me from trying to find a solution for Lily. I had heard some whispers about a healer in a town very far from here.
Someone who would be willing to help people like us. But I didn’t have the kind of money to make that journey.
I had to do something fast before my Lily would die.
***
A week later, I found myself standing in front of the Oxthon Villa. The most powerful Lucan family in Bleeding Rose owned this place.
The last place I wanted to be.
But what choice did fate offer me?
I spent my whole life avoiding them, but I had no other choice but to do this. They were always looking for servants and I needed the money.
They needed human slave servants. After all, they were not only powerful but also known for their cruelty towards humans like us.
If I could get a job here, I know that I would surely earn enough to save Lily. Taking a shaky breath I walked into the grand mansion.
The huge iron gates stood tall before me. Two guards stood in front, their faces carrying no emotions. I could smell the Lucan in them.
“State your business.” One of them yelled.
“I….I heard there was work here”, I said, trying to keep my voice calm.
“Work…. work of a maid.”
The second guard smirked slyly. “You want to work as a human maid?”
“You’re a bold person to take this step, I’ll give you that.”
I held my ground, trying to not act weak before them. I had heard long ago that acting weak made things worse for humans.
But fighting back?
That was the greatest danger I couldn’t afford to enter. I had to find a balance between the two.
“Go in. Speak to the head of the housekeepers.” The first guard shot back. Immediately opening the gates for me to enter, revealing the massive mansion that dwelt inside.
Oxthorn Villa wasn’t just a mansion. It was a huge fortress. Where dark stone walls rose high, their windows shining with golden lights.
My nose was filled with the scent of roses in the air, mixed with faint smoke that came from far distant fires. It was beautiful, but at the same time, it also felt terrifying.
I stepped inside the mansion door, I was immediately met by an old woman with grey hair that was pulled together perfectly into a tight bun.
She scanned me from head to toe, looking at me as if she was trying to decide if I was going to be worth the trouble.
“Are you sure a human like you could ever take the risk of doing this job?”
She asked. Looking at me like I was some weak fragile thing that couldn’t survive here.
“Yes ma, I can do this job. Please….please I really need this job.”
“Okay then, if you insist that you can do the job.”
“You’ll start by cleaning the east wing.” She said, handing me the apron.
“Don’t waste time for any reason”.
“Do not say a word unless when you are told to speak.”
“If you see something that you don’t understand, forget it, act as if it means nothing.”
“Do you understand?!” She yelled.
“Yes….yes I understand,” I responded to her, tightly holding the apron with my trembling hands.
I spent the next few hours in the mansion, scrubbing the polished marble floors of the study room until my hands started to ache in pain.
Dusting the grand showcase of books that I dared not touch or read. I never belonged here.
But I had no choice. This was something I needed to do to save the only good thing that was left in my life.
I had just finished cleaning when a harsh voice drifted me away from the thoughts. Cutting through the eerie silence like a blade.
“Who are you?”
My pulse pounded, a creeping chill sweeping through my limbs which was already feeling heavy and unresponsive.
I… I had heard that voice before in my life. I was no person to ever forget voices.
Especially…. a voice as familiar as this.
It immediately dawned on me as I turned to look at him. Shocked by the sight standing before me.
Axel Oxthorn.
The man whose encounter with him years ago changed my life forever. I could never forget that night.
He took a step closer to me, slow and deliberate as he took his time, his eyes sweeping over me as the shock on his face was clearly visible.
“What the f**k are you doing here after all these years, slave?”
“I asked you a question…” He hissed. His voice edged with something sharp and dangerous underneath it.
My mouth went dry. I tried to say something, to speak but no words came out.
After all these years, I thought I would never have to see this monster again.
What was he doing here?
How… How could I meet him here, of all places in the world?
But at that moment, I realized something that came rushing through me like a wave.
I have just stepped into the most dangerous place of my life.
Far mo
re dangerous than I could ever imagine.
Was this risk really worth it?
- Writer
