His Hidden Mate

Chapter One: His majesty's arrival > >> The smell of flower scented floor cleaners, the sound of dashing palace workers rushing to complete their duties on time for today's special event, and the noise of my own fast thumping heart that sounded in my ears were all driving me to insanity. I was very familiar with this feeling, this place was in a constant rush whenever there was an event, which was basically a couple days in every months, but I could never get used to it. Everyone was excited for this day.It was exactly a month ago when King David Hunter of the Agoa Forest pack had announced that he would be searching for a bride for his one and only heir, Prince Ethan in this pack. Since then, people had been anticipating the day, placing bets on which princess would be taken to be the queen of such a powerful kingdom. It was the talk of the palace, the talk of the entire kingdom wherever I went. Me on the other hand, it was a day I was dreading most. The Agoa Forest pack was the largest, most powerful and well known for having men of immensely mascular, strong and highly desirable physique. The thought of my sisters being married off to the prince should be excitning to me, but I dreaded the day Ona would leave my sight. I had four sisters.... Half sisters. Ona, Anna, Beth and Hailey. Ona was the youngest and the only one I was close to. I called her my sanity, only reason for not running away from this place, and it was true. It only made sense for my heart to be filled with such sadness as I carried the burgundy coloured gown that she would be wearing today to her room. Knocking twice, I slowly entered the room before closing the door. I managed my best smile as I held the gown above my head for her to see. "If that is what you are bringing to be on my nineteenth birthday, get out please!" the annoyance in her voice was hard to miss. "Ona, we already talked about this. Why are you still in your pyjamas with that unsightly coloured gunk on your face?" I sighed, watching in disbelief as she flipped a page from one of her novels, ignoring the dress in front of her. "First of all, this is a very beautiful colour, the turmeric and beetroot colour competed for dominance so beautifully on my face, and did you not see the zits I've been getting out of nowhere?" she huffed in annoyance before rolling her eyes. "Lock the door and join me. I am only a few days ago from giving you all the spoilers to your book." she smiled, crossing one leg over the other as she got even more comfortable on her bed. "The king of the Agoa Forest pack will be here in two hours. I am your lady in waiting, and I am therefore responsible for making sure you are well prepared when the time comes. Please, Ona. Don't make this harder than it already is." I pleaded, hoping she would budge this time. Slamming her book closed, a loud sigh escape her lips and I could see glistening in her eyes as a pool of tears formed in them. "You are not my lady in waiting! You are my sister, and who the hell is going to look after you when they take me away?" she sniffled, wiping her tears. They were sure contagious. "Ona..." I already did not have the words to complete that sentence so I was thankful for her cutting me off. "No!" she yelled sharply. "I am not going anywhere, I will be in my room, reading my novel and nobody will force me to go there." she cemented and I sighed. "But you do know what happens after that, right? I get into a lot of trouble with Queen Kate." I murmured the last part of that sentence. "Our mother! Say it. I am tired of everyone hiding you like you are some disfigured, evil, witchly daughter that would embarrass the entire nation if they found out!" she yelled and I dropped the dress on her bed, rushing to her side. "You can't say that out loud.. And I cannot call her my mother." I said to her with a heavy heart. It was true. Although the queen was my mother, I could never say it. I was the hidden daughter that she had with another man, years into her marriage. She has never found it in herself to tell me the full story of why she had me and who my father is, but I know what all my sisters know. For me to live, nobody must ever find out about me. The king made that offer in exchange for bit executing me minutes after my birth. Anna, Beth and Hailey always made sure to remind me of that story. I was raised by my grandmother, living under the disguise of some abandoned child she found one day. Those were the days I was more fond of. The days before my mother had to come get me because her mother died a very sudden death. Thinking about her always brought tears to my eyes. She always told me that one day I would be a princess as I should be, when my mother brought me to the palace. But being here had only been a nightmare. I was just another maid, living under great prejudice because of my origins. None of the other palace workers knew, but they sure got the gang of excluding me and mistreating me. Ona was truly my sanity. "I should be thankful for the zits on my face, the king won't choose the ugly daughter for his son. Let me to take this mask off." Ona rose from her bed, walking to the connected bathroom. The water ran for a minute or so before she walked out of the room with her face towel in hand. "Well, that made it worse!" she rolled her eyes, throwing the towel into the bathroom without checking where it will land. "Your face... It's so red. What are the ingredients in that mask?" I asked her, searching for the powdered sachets that she kept in her bedside drawer. "These aren't sealed. What if they got contaminated?" I asked her. "What does it matter? I am probably going through a late puberty pimple phase." I could tell that she was really frustrated. "I will mix up a few things for you that might help with the redness." I said to her before I headed down to the kitchen and made the mask how my grandmother taught me. After applying it to her face, the redness was gone, but her pimples had gotten worse from the last time I saw her. Getting her to dry the dress on was a hassle, but the look on her face said it all. "I am not going there. I am staying in my room till that king leaves!" she yelled and I sighed, reminding her how impossible that is going to be. "Come with me." she held onto my hand, dragging me out of her room and taking the stairs down to the third floor. I followed behind her, questioning her intentions but I only understood where she was taking me when the door flew open and Queen Kate's face was revealed to me. "oh my goodness, Ona! What happened to your face?" she asked, looking petrified. "Shut up about my face!"she yelled before dragging me into the room and shutting the doors. "I will not be in some arranged marriage. What happens when I find my mate?" she questioned and kate laughted hysterically. "Oh my poor baby! When will you learn? If you find your mate, you do what every high authority figure does when they are not fornunate enough like my husband who had no reason to be ashamed of his mate. Do you think it is easy to find a mate good enough for you? You will not go against the orders you received a month ago. You will be presented before the king, even if you look like red pineapple." she said, smirking. "A red pineapple? You sure have words for years if you have to be mean!" Ona shook her head. I was uncomfortable.. Highly uncomfortable. "what is she doing here?" she could not even look me in the eyes for more than a second as she questioned. "I am glad you asked." A sly smile formed on Ona's face. "she is here so you do not blame her for this!" Ona pulled scissors out from her chest and began cutting the dress. "Ona!" I tried to stop her, but she had immense strength, she kept shredding the material. "You ungrateful witch! What is wrong with you?" Kate yelled and I was in disbelief. A small part of me wanted to laugh with Ona, but the greater part of me knew that it would get me in trouble if I did. She had ruined the dress beyond repair, and it looked like she had fun doing it. "oh yeah... n****e holes would look good too." Ona joked before cutting two large holes on the bust of the dress, revealing her black bra underneath. "well then, there is no saying what I am willing to do to embarrass myself and the whole family in front of the king. So I am telling you this once, do not force me to go there!" The queen's mouth was still wide open from shock, but Ona did not care even slightly. The look of satisfaction grew on her face as she reached for my hand and pulled me away. We were laughing all the way to her room, ignoring the angry stares from the other palace staff, snarls and hushed comments that were clearly all bad. "You are unbelievable, you know?" I could not believe that she had that amount of guts, but she was a princess after all so she could do anything and still not get into trouble. "Grab your book and let's read!" she said excitedly. "Fine!" I rolled my eyes, pretending to be mad. "Don't give me that! You know you are happy I did that!" she said and I let the squeal I was containing out, and it was louder than I thought it would be. "Yes, you're right! You just made my day!" I skipped towards the bookshelf, ready to immerse myself into a world of fantasy, a world that always managed to put me under the delusion that perfect romances exists, at least for the two hours I had to read it if I was lucky. "Have you reached the part where he brings his-" Ona started but I quickly cut her off, screaming as I blocked my ears. "La la la la la ! Stop it with the spoilers! La la la la !" I went on until I heard her apologise. "So annoying! You take forever on one book!" she shook her head in disbelief while I found the book mark and began with that first sentence, a smile spreading across my face as I recalled the events from the last time I read. A knock suddenly ended my train of thoughts as I had to rise and attend to it. "Jade. Go help with setting up the throne room for his majesty's arrival. It's an order, and I am merely a messenger!" Lola smiled at me, a fake smile, as she delivered the message to me. "What? That is so unfair!" Ona protested and begged me not to leave but it was all in vain. If it was an order, I had to do it. I rushed to the throne room, thankful that the king was nowhere to be seen when I got there. This had to be his doing. There was not one person that despised me more than he did in this palace. When I was younger, I used to think it was only because he is evil. But as I grew older, I realised that I must be the worst reminder of his wife's infidelity. Most time he could not even look me in the eyes as he yelled at me and gave me all sorts of strange chores to do, disguising the fact that he just wishes to punish me, make me suffer like his pride did when I was conceived. "Hailey's limping, good job!" I heard whispering from a distance as footsteps approached. I backed myself into a corner as soon as the door opened. I was the only one left to finish the remaining set up for King David, and I was wishing I had finished and left sooner. "what about project pimple face? Is that going alright?" I recognised those voices, it dawned on me. Those were definitely Beth and Anna, the two best friends. They were the eldest out of my four sisters and they were twins, genetically and personality wise. "I just got back from her room. Poor Ona! She thinks she is having acne or something!" my eyes widened as the previous words from Anna replayed in my head. Project pimple face? "That is even better than making Hailey limp! Did you put it in all the sachets?" Anna asked yet again and they started giggling shortly after. That is how Ona got all those zits? They did it to her? I was enraged, very enraged but storming out of this corner and ripping out their jet black hair strands from both their heads was not an option. I should have figured it out a long time ago. Of course they would play dirty to make sure that they impressed the king the most. "This is where he will be sitting! We should cast a spell and make him have eyes for only me!" Beth said and I could not help but roll my eyes. "He will not be here, you dimwit! Only the king is making that choice. Be thankful, because I am the prettier twin!" Anna argued before I watched them leaving the room, throwing their hair back simultaneously like they surely practiced to. Those conniving little witched! I wanted to gorge their eyes out for what they did to Ona, but instead I was defenseless. I could not touch them or I would be in deep trouble. They had taken from their father in many ways. He was very scheming, well known for being so. And they looked like him most. They had inherited his black hair and green eyes, and even his height. They were the tallest out of the five of us while Ona and I were the same tiny 5 feet 2 inch built. Ona and I also had other similarities. We both had hip length, light brown hair that was naturally wavy and thick. A perk for Ona, but a nightmare for me that has to keep it in a bun for most of the day to do my chores. Ona and I had cut our hair into a bob three months after I moved into the palace as a symbol of our friendship. It had been nearly eight years since. My birthday, in a week will mark eight years since I have been living here, miserably for the most part. The odd one out was Hailey. She had blonde hair, striking blue eyes and plump limps. Ona had always said that people think she is the prettiest sister because they do not know of me. Her beauty was really striking, but her personality was just as rotten as her two twin sister's. "The king is here!" I heard yelling from outside the door and dashed out of the room. The last thing I wanted to do right now was be in the middle of the ceremony. The palace guards were rushing to organise themselves into two proper queues while I was running behind the maid rolling out the red carpet for the king. I had to find Ona and tell her what Beth and Anna did.