The royal moon witch

Chapter 12 - Permission to leave the palace

Elvira Pov

The days had gone by slowly, everyday I got a task to do and often it was a task that would take the whole day. The tasks often were made more hard because of a ‘broken’ washing-machine or because I was only allowed to use a small broom or other quite old tools. I was used to working around the house and doing chores but I found out really quick that keeping a palace clean was a very hard job. I already had respect for all the maids, butlers and other servants but now even more. Every night I was happy when my head touched my pillow and I often had not even time to do the routine I had taught myself because I was so tired.

I didn’t see much of Valentino now that I was a maid and I was not very sorry for that. This meant he had not the chance to hurt me like he did with the boiling water or when he threw me against the table. I had felt that bruise for the whole week before it stopped. Riella was busy so she couldn’t help me put something on it that would help heal it. When I saw Valentino, I would rather strangle him than be nice for him because he was always messing with something I was doing or something I was about to do. Sometimes he took tools away that I had to use or when I was cleaning something he came only by to make a mess again from what I just had finished. I understood that he tried to make my life more miserable with those actions, and I was not always happy about it but the fact that he came by also kind of made me smile. He enjoyed making more mess and I enjoyed showing that it didn’t matter how much mess he made, I would get my task done before the day was over.

Where others would have given up or maybe would get angry, I just let out a sigh and looked at him. Sometimes I played along with his game and gave him the satisfaction of being able to make me chase the tools I needed, even when he had placed them somewhere high that I couldn’t reach. Sometimes the teasing or trying to bother me moments also turned into moments that we were very close.

Like yesterday, I was polishing the marble floor on the first floor and had to do this by hand. That hall is over fifty meters long, maybe even longer than a hundred meters. While I was walking with my bucket of polish and the cloth laid on my shoulder, he walked by and took the cloth away. I turned around and had asked to get it back friendly, but he had ignored me and placed the cloth on the his shoulder. I asked him again but had to follow him because he was continuing his walk and he had a quick phase. When he was almost down the main stairs, I ran down because if I stayed behind him, he would be too fast. As I stood in front of him, I held up my hand. I stood five steps higher than the ground. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow and said nothing. He didn’t move or anything. Because he didn’t do anything himself, I jumped up to grab the cloth from his shoulder but when I landed, I had placed one foot wrong and slipped away.

Valentino had grabbed me by my wrist, probably in a reflex but because I was already slipping, the gravity was pulling harder than he could and we tumbled down. When we hit the floor, I fell on top of him and when we looked at each other I could feel my heart beat go faster. Of course that was partly because of the fact I had just fell down a stairs but I could feel it was also because I was close to this good looking guy. He had looked at me for a moment and I had not been able to read the emotions in his eyes because they had gone so fast. He had pushed me of him and had gotten up, and with a warning that next time I would do something like that, I should think more, he walked away. I had rolled my eyes and picked up my cloth and then went back to do what was asked for me.

Right now I had my first day off since I got this job pushed in my hands, that was two weeks ago already and I couldn’t believe it. I looked at the few plants Riella had tried to safe, almost all had reached a point where they had withered away without a chance to get them back to life even if I gave them enough care. Only one plant still had a small chance and even if it was only small, I was still gonna hope for the fact that I could get it back to life. Plants kept me happy and working with or taking care of them helped me a lot. It reminded me of home, which had never felt so far away than right now. The short time I had spend in the other room, had given me a view of the forest which helped me not miss my family that much because they seemed so close.

A knock on my door made me look up.

‘’Who is it?’’ I asked but it was not answered. I walked over and opened the door, Riella looked at me with a smile, though her eyes did not smile at all.

‘’What is wrong?’’ I asked.

‘’I got a message from my mother.. Turns out that your family has tried to contact you..’’ She said and I looked confused.

‘’How? Why?’’ I asked and the held her hands up.

‘’How was by letter.. And why is because of the funeral of your coven’’ Riella said and I felt a sting go through my heart. The funeral. It has been a while now and they probably had to do this soon or else they would be too late.

‘’Okay but how is it possible that the letters never arrived?’’ I asked and Riella raised an eyebrow. I nodded and knew what she wanted to say: Valentino.

He really went far with all this, especially when he was keeping my mail away from me. I took a deep breath before I would rush towards him again and do stupid things like last time.

‘’But what was the message from your mother?’’ I asked.

‘’The funeral will be today’’ She said and I nodded. I was happy today was my free day, now at least I could go instead of having to ask permission.

‘’Alright.. I’ll get dressed and then go’’ I said and Riella nodded. She walked out and I got dressed in a dark grey and white outfit. In our coven they were the colors to honor the death, dark grey because of the place they leave in our heart, the pain for the lost feeling and white to show there is a bright future for us but also for them in heaven or the afterlife. Some witches believed that heaven was for humans and we would go to the afterlife where we could still get in contact with our loved ones if they really needed us.

I walked outside while tying my braid and looked at Riella.

‘’Ready to go’’ I said and she nodded.

‘’Alright then’’ she said and we walked out of the hall way. Just as we walked past the corner, we bumped into Madam Oberman who looked at us with narrowed eyes.

‘’And where do you two think you are going?’’ she asked with her stern voice.

‘’I have a day off Madam Oberman.. I am going to the funeral of my coven’’ I explained and she nodded.

‘’You will have to ask Valentino for permission to leave’’ She said and Riella frowned. I could see that she wanted to go against this but I quickly grabbed her wrist and squeezed it. I did not want her to get in trouble for me.

‘’And where can I find our prince?’’ I asked.

‘’He is in the library, knock three times before you enter the room’’ She said and I nodded.

‘’Of course I’ll do that’’ I said. Not I thought right after what I said out loud. I turned to Riella and she raised a eyebrow.

‘’Let me handle this’’ I said and she nodded. I went to the library which was a ten minutes walk and Riella followed me.

‘’Ha, you did not even walk the wrong way’’ Riella said with a chuckle and I grinned.

‘’I have been practicing my routes’’ I said and it was not a lie. If I managed to finish my task early, I would walk around and find the quickest ways to walk to the places that a maid normally had to clean or where they had to be. I walked towards the big doors of the library and took a deep breath.

Last time I saw Valentino was yesterday, while I was about to polish the marble. I decided to open the door without knocking and saw Valentino sit in one of the large chairs. They were super comfortable, this I knew because I had sit in one of them before.

‘’Valentino?’’ I asked with the door still open.

‘’You didn’t knock and for you it is prince Valentino’’ he responded and I couldn’t help but roll with my eyes.

‘’Well, I didn’t knock because I am officially still a guest here and not a employee’’ I said. I heard him chuckle and he got up from the chair, before he turned around he put down the book he was holding and then looked at me.

‘’You never were a guest in my eyes’’ Valentino said and I nodded slowly.

"I can understand you never saw me as a guest but I am.. And I'm willing to play along with your game because I believe that what you are giving now, will eventually come back to you" I said and I saw a fire in his eyes appear. Maybe that wasn’t such a good thing to say especially because I have to ask permission to leave but on the other hand I didn't care, I was not going to stand down and just let him do as he pleases.

"But I'm not here to bicker with you.. I am here to ask if it's okay if I leave the palace for today" I said. He raised a eyebrow.

"Why?" He asked, I could hear a hint of surprise in his voice.

"Remember those witches and wizards you killed on your last 'hunt'?" I asked and he nodded.

"Well they have to be buried so I am attending the funeral of my loved ones" I said and then to my surprise he shook his head.

"If you leave, you will leave for ever.." he said and I shook my head.

"Don't you see that I am here to ask you permission even though I should be free to go where ever I want to go" I said. He looked at me and shrugged.

"That might be true in your opinion but I am still not willing to follow your opinion. I just really would love to get rid of you so.. if you leave, you will stay gone" he said and I narrowed my eyes. He was annoying me a bit too much now.

"Okay Mister Marino, I am done with your games right now. I only want my free day of work to spend on the funeral.. I am free anyways so I could also just follow you around and bother you all day. But instead of that, I will be gone and you can do as you please. Not that you would hold back if I still was here but why be bothered by the fact that I am here, following your every move, if I can be gone for a whole day?" I asked and he slowly nodded. I hoped this would help and saw how he walked from one side of the room to the other, looked at some books on the shelf and then looked at me.

‘’I am still not allowing you’’ he said and I narrowed my eyes.

‘’You are such a.. a..’’ I said but when I saw how he was almost waiting eagerly to what I was gonna spit out, I swallowed it and shook my head.

‘’Nothing..’’ I said and he smiled, probably thinking I was to scared to say something.

‘’Leave now’’ he said and I turned around, walking out of the library. Riella looked at me when I walked out and put a arm around me, I smiled a bit and then walked back to my room.

‘’But you have to go.. You deserve to say goodbye to your family’’ Riella said and I nodded slowly.

‘’Well it is the way it is.. I know that the moment I leave, I’ll not be welcome anymore and he will go back to hunting my kind..’’ I said and Riella sighed.

‘’I’ll get you some tea okay?’’ Riella asked and I nodded.

‘’Be right in your room’’ she said and I walked towards my room.

I could preform a little ritual with some incense sticks and candles I thought when I entered my room. I went to my closet and opened a little box in which I had a few candles, I took those out and went to search through the box for some incense sticks but I couldn’t find them. I was still searching when someone knocked on my door.

‘’Come in’’ I said without looking up. I didn’t have to because I knew it would be Riella with the tea. When the door opened, to my surprise it wasn’t Riella’s small shadow but a much larger one. I looked up and was surprised.

‘’Sam?’’ I asked and he nodded.

‘’I heard that you have to be somewhere.. So I am here to help you’’ he said and I was very surprised.

‘’I can’t.. Valentino gave no permission and I have a feeling that he is very strict in those things’’ I said.

‘’I don’t care, I can handle him’’ Sam said, he sounded quite determined but I wasn't sure yet.

‘’He is wrong by keeping you from your family.. That has a reason and maybe one day I’ll tell you but not yet..’’ he said and I slowly nodded.

‘’Alright.. But you are willing to lose your job?’’ I asked.

‘’I won’t lose my job, I officially was hired by the king and queen’’ Sam said and I nodded.

‘’But it seems like Valentino doesn’t care about that and I do not want you to lose your job’’ I said and he gave me a little smile.

‘’I will be just fine, don’t worry’’ he said and I sighed. I had a weird feeling about this but also really wanted to see my family.

‘’Fine’’ I said and grabbed my bag.

‘’Lead the way’’ I said and Sam nodded.

Sam and I walked through the hallways and he swiftly leaded me across the palace without being noticed by the others. He send Valentino a message by text and now he held a door open for me. I walked outside and smiled feeling the fresh air. Not that I was not allowed outside, I had hung the laundry outside several times. It’s just different when you are outside to work or because you have a day off.

We quickly went to Sam’s house and there he opened the door of his car for me. I got in and put on my seat belt while he closed the door and walked around and got in himself.

‘’So, you will need to give me some directions’’ he said and I nodded.

‘’Oh and stay low while we drive off the palace ground’’ he said and I lowered myself as much as I could. ‘’Good’’ he nodded and then started the car. He drove away and in silent he passed by some of the guards. He nodded to them a hello but didn’t do much else. The time we spend driving on the palace ground, I was half lying down in the car and it made my back hurt a bit but it was worth it. Doing something that I was not supposed to do was also a bit exciting and my heart was beating a bit faster than normal.

‘’Can you calm down? We are almost of the palace ground but it is hard to concentrate when you have such a fast beating heart’’ Sam suddenly said and I frowned , a little confused by his comment.

‘’How can you hear my heart?’’ I asked, I did have a feeling that he was not fully human but there were not much supernatural creatures that could hear a heartbeat.

‘’Like you don’t know’’ Sam said and kept looking forward until we drove around a corner and I saw the fancy high gates pass by. I sat up normal again and looked at him.

‘’Well, I know you do normally not come close to me.. So that you let me sit in the front seat is quite strange.. And you do not enter rooms when you are not invited but I have not much experience with supernatural creatures’’ I explained and Sam smiled.

‘’I noticed that’’ he said with a slight chuckle.

‘’So.. what are you?’’ I asked and he looked at me from the corner of his eye before turning them back on the road.

‘’I am not going to tell you, because it is more fun if you guess it’’ he said and I thought about it. Okay what were the traits he showed? He never entered a room without permission, he seemed to have a certain higher rank among the guard but then again he was the personal guard of Valentino. I tried to keep thinking and remembering the few creatures my grandmother and I had tackled because honestly she had only just started with the other supernatural creatures that lived in the world before the big attack.

We headed down a corner, into the woods, when I looked at Sam again. He looked from the corner of his eyes and I sighed.

‘’Okay, are you a werewolf?’’ I asked.

‘’No, I’m far more dangerous than a werewolf’’ he said.

‘’Vampire?’’ I guessed. ‘’I will pretend to not hear that insult’’ Sam said but the grin on his face told me he was joking.

‘’Okay guess those are not what you are’’ I said and sighed.

‘’You probably won’t be guessing it but that is alright, if you don’t I’ll tell you later’’ Sam said and I nodded. I really wanted to guess what he was because it kept my mind away from the thought that told me ‘what if Valentino finds out’. I looked around and pointed to the left when I saw a fork in the road.

‘’Here left, we are almost there’’ I said.

‘’Thanks’’ Sam said and I smiled. I looked at the sky and guessed it was now late in the morning, almost afternoon. I saw a few trees and knew it was only a ten minutes ride left before I would see the first cabins of my coven. I felt weird in my stomach but also very happy to be home again. I just wished it was for a better reason than a funeral.