Chapter 3 Guest

I can feel their eyes on me as I walk through the hallways. The corridors were practically empty this morning when I was moving around, but now they are full of Beasts, each one looking at me in contempt.

There don't appear to be too many guests in the castle. I pass by the mother-daughter pair from this morning and one other young woman just moments later, but those are the only ones I see. I'm honestly pretty surprised. King Richard loved to keep a full castle, Beasts always stopping in on their travels. I assumed that that's how this Kingdom would operate as well.

Unlike the guests, guards are everywhere. They stand every twenty feet or so, and either stare or jeer at me as I pass. The staring isn't too bad, but the jeering makes my blood boil and my face heats up in embarrassment. I'm sure by the end of the day they will all know what the King's guard has done to me, and will probably be eager to have their turn.

I can't help but feel foolish for being so upset about this. It's no surprise that it's happening. Everybody in my life has warned me that it would happen and most of my peers have already experienced it firsthand.

The elder women told me when I was younger that I should have sex with human servants to prepare my body, and I'm regretting not taking their advice to heart. Maybe once the Beast has finished with me tonight I will ask John to have sex with me as well and help me adjust my body to the foreign entrance.

The Second said that we are not allowed to have children, and I wonder if that means we can't have any sort of relations with one another as well. Gwen is the only person I know here that I could ask, but there's no way she would give me a serious answer. Given her apparent dislike for me, she'd probably go right to the guards and tell them of my indiscretions.

Maybe I can have John ask around for me. I know he would have sex with me if I asked, but I want to make sure I'm not putting him at risk beforehand.

"Where are you going?" A guard suddenly asks, stepping in front of me and blocking my path.

"I'm on my way to the guard's quarters. I'm expected to meet somebody there." I answered him truthfully, knowing that he would be able to sense my lying. Besides, it's only hours until they all know anyway.

The guard looks me up and down, evaluating me, before nodding and stepping aside. It's probably not too common to see a servant walking around by themselves at this time of day. Most are either in the midst of a task or moving around in pairs.

The Beast moves back to his post against the wall, and I continue my way towards the guard's chambers. Assuming that I was correct in hearing that their sleeping quarters are one floor above us, then I am pretty close.

As much as I try to ignore it, I can't help the dread that seeps into every pore of my body. I'm sure that every Beast in a fifty-foot radius of me can smell my unease, and hope that the King's guard doesn't punish me for it.

As I round the final corner I'm surprised to be met with a crowd of Beasts all huddled around whispering amongst one another. None pay any attention to me, and I glance around looking for the guard from earlier.

He doesn't appear to be in the hallway with the others, and I look around to see if I can find somebody to give me directions. To be honest I expected him to be waiting for me in the hallway. Most Beasts love to announce and parade their conquests around, and I was anticipating that this man was no different.

I spot a Beast standing alone in the corner, and hesitantly approach.

"Excuse me?" I murmur, dropping my eyes to the ground and shuffling my feet along the floor.

He grunts. "What?"

"I'm looking for the Guard who's posted in front of the King's chambers in the morning." I answer, hoping that he will know who I'm referring to.

He doesn't immediately respond, and I continue to wait patiently. After a couple of seconds I glance up at him, noticing that he's staring at me with a confused expression on his face.

"Why?" He asks.

"He told me to meet me in his chambers after finishing my work." I answer, confused as to why he is asking. I thought it would be pretty obvious why I was looking for his bedroom.

The guard chuckles. "Well, today's your lucky day! He's-"

"He's right through that room there." A voice cuts in. I turn around and see a large man standing behind me, pointing towards a door further down the hallway, right next to where the crowd of chatting Beasts are.

I nod at the men, showing my respect, and begin heading towards the room he pointed to. Sliding up against the wall, I attempt to make myself as small as possible to prevent being noticed by the guards. Thankfully, my attempt works as they continue to talk amongst themselves, completely ignoring my presence. Under normal circumstances I would slyly eavesdrop on their conversation, curious as to what has gotten them all into such a tizzy, but I can't hear anything over the loud beating of my heart.

Tears begin to well up in my eyes as I stand in front of his door. I quickly blink them away, doing my best to compose myself. I can cry later, but now is neither the time nor place.

With one last deep exhale, I grab the knob, drop my face to the ground, and push open the door.

I carefully step forward, my body teetering in the doorway, and take a peek into the room. My blood runs cold and all thoughts leave my body as I take in the sight in front of me.

The guard's body is sprawled out on the floor, blood seeping out of the gaping hole in his chest and pulling out around his body. His eyes are still open, the pupils blown wide and colour frosted over.

I quickly back out of the room, terror penetrating every inch of my body. I hear laughter from the guards all around me, but am unable to focus on anything or form any coherent thoughts. Is this what all the guards were chatting about?

Quickly spinning on my heel, I beeline my way out of the guard's corridor. My heart is pounding in my chest, thoughts racing a million miles a minute. Will I be punished for this? Will they think that I'm involved in his death? It'll be easy to make the argument that he called me to his chambers and in anger I paid off a guard to get him killed.

All it takes is for one accusation to be let out for me to be killed. Even if the Royals know that I didn't do it, my life is expendable and my death will be a small price to pay to keep the guards happy.

The man who pointed me towards the room is hunched over in glee, openly laughing at me.

"Sorry lass." He yells between laughter. "Looks like the King got to him first."

I ignore his words and continue rushing out of the area. Getting back to the safety of the servant's quarters is all I can focus on.

I scurry through the hallways, doing my best not to draw any unwanted attention to myself. Turning, I run down the first pair of stairs I find, and once I get to the bottom floor I don't hesitate to shove the door open and head to the servant's area.

I hear the chatter before I see it, the noise growing exponentially as I round the corner that opens up to the bedrooms and kitchen area.

The whole hall is packed, servants all around with dirt on their faces and wooden bowls in their hands. I quickly spot John standing in the kitchen doorway, and make my way over to him.

"Addie!" He says when he notices me heading over. "I've been looking all over for you. You left so early this morning- I thought that we would head up to work together."

Before I can respond, he continues. "The King killed a guard this morning! Apparently he just walked into the guy's bedroom and ripped out his heart. Everybody's been talking about it."

Relief floods my body as John says this. Nobody thinks that this is related to me!

"I heard!" I answer, purposely leaving out the fact that I was meant to serve that particular guard and saw his body on the ground.

Wanting to change the subject, I walk past John into the kitchen to quickly grab something to eat. My eyes immediately lock in on the food covering the table. It looks to be potato soup and bread- one of my favourite meals.

Without hesitation I grab a bowl and fill it to the rim, before taking a piece of bread too for good measure. John watches the whole time, tapping his foot against the ground.

"Yes?" I tease his impatience, taking a large bite of bread as I walk back over to the doorway.

He frowns. "Why did you leave so early? I waited around for you to come out of the women's room only to find out you had already left!"

Hurt is clear in his voice, and I feel slightly guilty for not connecting with him last night on the plan for today.

"I thought that my shift started at the same time as everybody else's. I didn't leave until really late today." I admit, I'm a bit embarrassed.

"What?" John says, tilting his head slightly to the side. "We do start at the same time as everybody."

My confusion only lasts for a millisecond before I realise that Gwen must have lied to me this morning. I'm not surprised, but feel a bit silly for having fallen for it.

I huff in annoyance. "Gwen told me that I started earlier than everybody else."

"Oh, that's rude of her." He frowns. "We can walk together tomorrow. Other than that, how did your day go?"

I replay the day in my mind, not sure where to even start. When I think about the guard though I know that I need to ask John to sleep with me. My cheeks heat up at the thought, but as embarrassed as I am I know that it needs to happen.

It's only a matter of time before I am called again, and I would like to be prepared when it does.

"Actually John, I have a big favour to ask of you."

I narrow my eyes in concentration as I begin to scrub the stain harder. King Heloix must have had guests over last night as the entire suite was turned into a giant mess overnight.

The second I walked into his apartment this morning I knew that I had my work cut out for me, but I didn't expect to have to spend an hour on my hands and knees trying to get wine out of his mattress.

Groaning loudly, I crawl off the side of his bed to rinse my rag in the bucket on the floor. I dip it in a couple of times to dilute the wine, before ringing out all the soapy water and climbing back onto the bed. This time I try to tackle the stain at a different angle, turning my body so my back is to the front door.

"This is ridiculous." I complain out loud, glad that the King is gone and I can talk to myself. He was around for the first couple of days, always working in his office, but lately has been absent. I'm not sure where, but he's gone before I arrive and doesn't come back after I'm gone. I don't mind though; it's made my time here much less stressful.

I begin scrubbing the mattress once more, excited to see the colour beginning to fade. The stain won't completely disappear, but my goal is to get enough of the wine out that the King won't smell it when he goes to bed at night.

King Richard used to spill in his bed all the time, and would always complain about the smell. I'd never say this out loud, but it's what he deserved for spilling it in the first place. A small part of me enjoyed seeing his enhanced senses come back to bite him in the butt too.

Tossing the washcloth into the bucket, I push my face into the stain and take a deep breath, trying to see if I can smell any wine. My nose picks up the light scent of soap and laundry detergent, but no wine. Deeming that good enough, I crawl backward a couple of inches until I'm at the edge of the bed and climb down.

"It's not perfect, but it'll do." I mumble to myself.

The buzzer on the dryer goes off, making me smile at the perfect timing. The once clear water inside the bucket is now tinted purple, and I dump it in the kitchen sink before getting to work on the laundry.

Glancing quickly at the clock on the oven, I sigh as I take in the time. It's getting pretty late, and I'll be lucky if there's any dinner left for me when I get back. I made the mistake of cleaning the entire place before taking a look at the bed. Foolishly, I assumed that it would be fine and all I needed to do was make it, not realising that the sheets needed to be washed and the mattress cleaned.

The dryer's buzzer goes off again, yelling at me to hurry up and take out the sheets. They are nice and warm as I pull them from the machine, and I can't resist squeezing them against me, enjoying the heat that emanates from them.

I grab the last bits from the dryer and stand up, closing the door with my hip. Slowly I waddle back over to the bed, careful not to drop anything onto the ground. I'm for the most part successful, but just as I reach the bed one of the pillowcases slips from the pile and falls to my feet.

"Shit!" I curse, bending over to pick it up. Another item falls from the top of my bundle just as my hand closes around the fabric. "You've got to be kidding me." I groan.

The sound of a chuckle has me frozen in place.

I snap my head towards the sound, immediately spotting the King sitting on the couch. Papers are all sprawled out along the coffee table in front of him, and he leans back casually as he watches me, bringing a hand up to push his messy curls out of his face.

"This is entertaining." He says, referring to me hunched over trying to pick up the escaped laundry.

I straighten up immediately, embarrassed at having been caught in such a position.

"Sorry, sir. I just need to make the bed and I'll be gone." I apologise, knowing that I'm in here far later than expected.

He nods and I get back to the task at hand, urgency clear in my movements. The King has never worked outside his office before, and his presence is distracting.

I drop the sheets on the ground next to the bed and quickly pick through them until I find the fitted sheet. I make haste to get it on the mattress, internally cursing as my fumbling hands slow me down. With much struggle I manage to get it on, and begin working on the top ones.

The King's movements are loud as he works from his couch, and I listen carefully to make sure that he doesn't approach me or anything of the sort. Typically Beasts move quietly, and often to such a degree that the human ear has trouble detecting it unless they are actively listening. It's silly to even think, but I wonder if he is being loud on purpose.

It's general knowledge that Beasts can smell our heightened emotions, and unpleasant ones are typically accompanied by unpleasant scents. He probably doesn't appreciate the scent of my fear, and is attempting to alleviate some of it for himself.

"There will be no dinner for you when you get back." The King curtly comments.

I tuck in the final corners of the sheet as I nod in confirmation.

King Heloix doesn't respond, but I hear him stand and walk over to the kitchen area. I strain my ears to listen to what he is doing, but can't hear anything beyond an occasional clatter or bang.

My heart rate picks up slightly in fear that he is going to sneak up on me, but despite it I keep my head down and continue working on the bed. All that's left is the pillowcases, and I make quick work of them.

"Come here." The King says from the kitchen as I set the last pillow in place.

I take a deep breath, holding it in for a second before letting it out through my nose. It's a calming technique I learned from John's mother when I was young, but doesn't seem to do the trick this time.

I try not to let my fear show as I turn away from the bed to face the King.

He's standing behind the kitchen counter with a bowl of food placed in front of him. Hesitantly, I walk forward, stopping once I am a couple of feet from the counter.

"Yes?" I ask.

He nods to the food. "Eat this before you go. I will be working from my office tomorrow and don't enjoy hearing your stomach groan all day long."

I frown, looking at the bowl in question. Inside are leftovers from the dinner the King was served last night. Farfalle pasta covered with spinach, mushrooms, garlic, and Parmesan. A dish I've dreamed of tasting thousands of times.

Is this some sort of trick? Humans are never given food like this. Kitchen maids have been killed for taking even a bite of a Royal's food.

"Eat." The King pushes the bowl towards me. "Don't make me repeat myself."

Hesitantly, I step forward and grab the fork sitting in the bowl. I move slowly, keeping a watchful eye on the King. He takes a sudden step backward and I flinch in response, the action causing the fork to loudly clank against the edge of the bowl.

I pause for a brief second, giving my nerves a chance to settle down, before stabbing a couple pieces of pasta and bringing it to my mouth.

The second the food touches my tongue I'm in heaven. Flavours I've never experienced before fill my mouth, and I immediately understand why humans aren't allowed to eat anything beyond bread, potatoes, and basic fruits and veggies.

If I had access to this type of food I would spend all day eating in lieu of working.

King Heloix watches as I eat, but I can't bring myself to mind, completely enraptured by the taste of the food. I shovel forkful after forkful into my mouth, hardly even chewing between bites. The bowl empties in record time, and the King steps forward once I set down the fork inside of it. I jerk away from the counter as he approaches, snapping my hand back to my body.

He ignores my flinching and grabs the bowl, moving and dropping it in the sink.

"You can clean that up tomorrow." He says, before turning and walking out from behind the counter.

I back up with his movements, careful to maintain distance between us.

"Thank you, sir." I say, genuinely meaning it. It was incredibly kind of him to let me eat his food, and is an experience that I won't forget.

He hums in response before heading back over to the couch. I watch as he plops down on it and grabs a couple of papers off the table. Taking this as my cue to leave, I scurry over to the door and heave it open.

The hinges made the door easier to use, but it's still hard enough that I really need to put some muscle in it. A quiet grunt leaves my throat at the effort, and I pretend not to hear the laughter coming from behind me as I slip out into the hallway.

The door slams behind me, and I spot John standing next to the trash chute.

"What took you so long? I've been waiting for hours!" He asks, coming up and taking the trash out of my hands

I watch as he throws it down the chute for me, my stomach already beginning to ache from all the food I ate.

"Sorry- there was a lot that needed to be done today." I answer, feeling guilty but thankful that he chose to wait around.

Ever since I admitted to John what happened with the King's guard, he has made sure to always be with me in the hallways. We both know that should a guard choose to take me that there realistically isn't anything he can do about it, but it makes us both feel better.

"Do you have any information?" I whisper to him, looking around to make sure nobody is in hearing distance.

He's been asking around to figure out where and when the servants have sex with one another. They are obviously being pretty hush-hush about it, not wanting to admit that they know about any indiscretions happening, let alone that they partake in it.

I'm thankful that John agreed to help me out, and even more so that he has taken the initiative to ask around about it to make sure that we don't get in any trouble.

John glances around before responding. "Yes! It's pretty great too. There's an entire wing on this floor that's completely empty. Apparently it's where the King will move to once he finds his mate and starts a family, but for now it's vacant. The servants will sneak in there late at night while the guards are on rotation."

"Oh wow!" I answer, pleasantly surprised. "I was expecting you to tell me about a dirty broom closet or something."

This is great news. The sooner I can prepare myself the better off I will be. The knowledge that we will have an entire room to ourselves is ideal too. Now we just have to find a safe time to meet there and begin working on my problem.

"When can we go?" I ask, eager to get started.

John and I turn and head into the stairwell, immediately dropping our conversation when we are inside. The stairwells echo, and it is too risky to talk about such things inside of them. We hurry down the steps, exiting once we reach the first floor.

"That's the only problem." John says the second we are back in the hallways.

He looks around, making sure the coast is clear before continuing.

"There's a visiting Beast family right now. The mother and daughter- I'm sure you've seen them around. Well, they are staying in the rooms right outside the wing, so nobody can go in until they leave."

"What are your plans after work?" Emma questions, glancing up at me from her seat on the floor.

Her thick brown hair is thrown up into a tight bun, the edges gelled into small waves. She's sitting on the floor cross-legged, eating some oats for breakfast. We haven't spoken to one another too much, but I've seen her in the servant's kitchen after work quite a few times.

"After I'm finished with the King's quarters I need to clean all the furniture in the courtyard." I answer, rolling my eyes as I speak.

Gwen was displeased by the whole three hours of spare time I have at night, and as a form of punishment has been assigning me extra tasks to do each day. They take me hours to complete, and for the past couple of days I've been lucky to get even four hours of sleep at night. I've developed some dark bags under my eyes, and when paired with my bony frame makes me look sickly.

Emma sighs, standing up and dusting off her dress. "Sorry about that! Gwen's a real hardass on you. I think it's because she wanted to be the one tasked with cleaning the King's chambers."

"I didn't realise that." I reply, happy to finally understand where some of her dislike is coming from. Generally speaking, cleaning the King or Second's chambers is a pretty easy job, and as such is typically favoured among the humans. You get to spend most of the day alone and there isn't any crazy hard manual labour involved.

"Yeah, but don't tell anybody I told you." Emma points a finger at me, pursing her lips before transforming them into an exaggerated frown.

Laughing, I put my hand over my heart. "I promise!"

Emma laughs back, shaking her head as she sets her bowl in the sink and heads to the doorway.

"I should get going. Don't want to be late." She says, giving me a short wave before leaving the room.

Sighing, I push off of the wall and follow her out of the room. It's time for me to get to work as well. Thankfully the King hasn't spoken to me since he gave me his food, and I'm starting to feel a bit more at ease around him.

I'm still careful to keep quiet and be respectful while in his presence, but I don't worry that he's going to rip out my throat at any minute anymore.

John's already waiting near the end of the servant's hallway, and I give him a smile as I approach.

"Morning!" I greet him. "I need to head to the courtyard after work, so you don't need to wait around for me today."

John frowns at my statement, clearly unhappy with it, but doesn't immediately respond. I can practically see the cogs turning in his head as he takes in the information and thinks over his response.

"I'll still wait and walk you down to the courtyard." He answers, finality in his tone.

I shrug. "Suit yourself. Just know that I won't be offended if you go down early."

Without another word, I walk past John and out into the main hallways. I can hear him following behind, and seconds later I can feel his body heat to my right. We both keep our heads tilted downwards as we walk throughout the halls, trying to stay out of trouble.

The guards have a pretty regular schedule, and John and I have been taking different routes every morning to find the best one. If we get heckled or grabbed at we will attempt a different route the next day. The goal is to find the safest way to work in the mornings, and so far our plan has been successful.

It's a slightly longer walk, but we've found that if we go around the main hall instead of cutting through we will avoid the man who always grabs and lifts my skirts as I pass. And after the main hall, if we go up the staircase further down the hallway, we will avoid the guard who loudly jokes about taking John and me to his chambers. We do have to leave about 5 minutes earlier in the morning to get to work on time, but it's well worth it.

"You know." John speaks up just as we reach the staircase. "I'm so jealous that the King had those new hinges put on his door. I'm always struggling to get the Second's open"

I laugh.

"Yeah, but at least the Second is mated to a woman who keeps the suite clean." I argue, secretly wishing the King would stop leaving his place such a mess.

Every day, without fail, there is clothing strewn about on the floor, documents left on practically every flat surface, and a giant pile of dishes in the sink. If I have to touch one more piece of soggy leftovers I'm going to go insane.

"That's true." John agrees, joining me in laughter.

Our chatter quickly dies as we reach the stairs, both of us pretending that the exertion of walking up six flights of stairs isn't the reason why. We are audibly out of breath by the time we reach the top, but I still try my best not to let it show.

The King and Second's chambers are on opposite ends of the hallway, and I give John a quick wave goodbye before heading towards King Heloix's.

He's still inside when I arrive, and I give him a quick nod before getting started with my day. The place isn't too bad today, and hopefully I can get done a bit early so I can finish the courtyard furniture at a reasonable time.

I head over to the King's bed, having made a habit of starting there after the wine incident, and discretely check them for bodily fluids. The past couple of days there has been semen in his sheets, so I've been giving them daily washes. It's not great for the fabric to be cleaned so frequently, but once I notice the quality starting to fade I'll put in an order for some new ones.

I don't see anything in the sheets so I go ahead and make the bed. I can see the King watching me out of the corner of my eye but I ignore it and continue with what I'm doing.

He's still here by the time I'm done making the bed, so I head over to the kitchen to clean the dishes. I usually like to clean up the living room area before the kitchen, but I'll wait until the King has left.

I try not to pay any attention to him as he gets ready, knowing that it's considered disrespectful, but it's hard not to. It's fascinating to see how the Beasts live and move around when they are in their own private space.

He suddenly pulls off his shirt, putting his back on full display. Thick muscles are prominent under his smooth skin, not a freckle or scar visible. He leans forward to grab a shirt out of the closet, his muscles shifting at the movement.

A loud clamour echoes throughout the room as the pan in my hand smashes against a plate. The King spins around quickly, our eyes meeting for a split second before I look down and fumble with the dishes in my hand.

"Enjoying the view?" He teases, causing my cheeks to redden.

I don't acknowledge his statement, instead focusing on getting the dishes washed. I'm beyond mortified that he caught me watching him, and even more so at the emotions that seeing his body invoked in me. It's no secret that the King is handsome, but as a servant I know better than to look.

The King continues getting ready before leaving a couple of minutes later, slamming the front door shut behind him. Relieved that he's finally left, I continue on with my cleaning.

Hours pass in easy silence, and before I know it I'm finishing up my last tasks. I've been good about keeping up on the deep cleaning, so all that really needed to be done today was general tidying and a couple loads of laundry.

The sound of the front door opening has me straightening up and spinning around. To my surprise though it isn't the King that has entered, but the young woman who's been staying at the castle with her mother.

She gasps when she spots me, a wide smile spreading across her face.

"Oh good, I'm glad there's a slave here. I'm going to need you to stay throughout the night to wait on the Heloix and I. '' She says, pulling off her jacket and tossing it in my direction.

I scramble to catch the coat, scared of what she'll do if I drop it.

"You can start by bringing me a glass of wine." She says.

I nod. "Yes ma'am."

I walk over to the closet and hang the coat, careful not to crinkle it against anything. King Heloix has a wine fridge in his kitchen, and I head over to it to see if there's anything inside.

To my luck, the fridge is pretty full. I open the door and peek inside, hoping to spot a wine with a twist top. The only servants who are allowed to even come in contact with alcohol are those that work in the kitchen, so I've never had to open a bottle of wine before. Thankfully there's one in the back that has a twist top, and I immediately reach in to grab it.

"What's taking you so long?" The woman questions, clearly desperate to get her drink.

Picking up my pace, I quickly grab a glass down from the cabinet and fill it up. I'm careful not to spill anything as I carry it over to the woman.

"Here you are." I say, holding out the glass to her.

She snatches it out of my hand, and I quickly walk over to stand against the wall, ready for her subsequent request. She begins walking around the room, fingers gliding over every surface as she passes. I'm shocked as she opens up his bedside drawer and starts looking through all the King's personal belongings.

I don't know the King very well, but I doubt he will appreciate her going through his things like this. My mind races as I debate on whether or not I should say anything. If I do, she will undoubtedly punish me, but if I don't, I worry that the King will. Maybe she will change her mind and excuse me before he returns, letting me off the hook.