Chapter 1 The Beast

My eyes were red and heavy, my breath cold as ice. I sat there on my small wooden bed, legs up, cuddling tightly to my body as I struggled to stop the tears from falling from my eyes.

I should be used to this.

This wasn't the first time; I should have expected this to happen.

You would think someone who grew up hand in hand with death won't be this affected anymore when a friend or family member dies.

But who wouldn't bawl their eyes out after losing the only member of their family they had left?

Everyone I ever loved is all gone from this cruel world. I had no parents, no siblings, and now no Tatiana.

When I found Tatiana's dead body, I was numb for a moment. Doing nothing, feeling nothing. I couldn't say anything; I just stood there, staring at her cold, naked body lying on the floor after being raped countless times and left to die with no remorse.

That had been six days ago. No matter how many times I wanted to scream my lungs out, I couldn't.

We were told to carry on with our work like nothing had happened, like a young girl no less than eighteen wasn't brutally raped by their kind and left bleeding out with no care.

The guards had taken her body and dumped it in one of their old cells, not caring to give her a befitting burial.

After four days of her body rotting in the cold, dirty cell alone, it was given back to us to do as we saw fit. So, the younger maids gathered around, giving her a small, simple burial. That was the day before today.

Yet, I still wasn't able to cry.

Even when they laid her in the ground, there were no tears. Even when the sand was used to cover up her body, no tears. When the maids gathered around to sing a final farewell like they did for every human that has passed away, helping them into the promised land, still no tears.

So, when I woke up in the early hours of the morning, shaken within my wilts, with tears falling from my eyes in a hasty manner, I knew it had finally hit me.

I was all alone in this world.

Yes, there were other humans like me, but none of us were that close, and we had to learn from a young age to be wary of them as well. As they won't think twice about putting you under the bus if it means getting a tiny bit of privilege from the beast or escaping any form of punishment.

Drying my tears, I knew it was time for me to get up from the bed before the head maid got to the kitchen.

Madam Perrine was like them, a beast.

You might be wondering if she was a beast; then why work as a maid with the humans?

It's simple. The beasts are divided into five different ranks.

Firstly, the low ranks, born from both families without a hint of nobility in their blood. They work alongside the humans but with much better privileges than we humans could ever have.

The average beast: They are, like the commoners, born with at least blood from one noble parent.

Then there are the upper class. Unlike the commoners, both parents are from a noble bloodline, giving them an upper hand in politics and the like.

Fourthly, the chosen ones. They are specially selected by whom they call the moon goddess, making them leader of their pack. They were also called alphas of a pack, having one of the highest positions in the bestiary.

But they were nothing compared to the Royals. They had said to each possess a unique gift, making them more special than the rest.

And there was him.

The stories of his infamous accomplishment spread across the world, even to the maid, and it was anything but pleasant.

He was a monster. The devil beast, like his people called him.

I was fortunate not to have crossed the pass with him and pray it remained so. It's true that I work as a maid in the palace, but the palace was divided into two separate buildings.

One was for the king, while the other was where some royals stayed, and fortunately that was where I worked.

I wasn't saying they weren't brutal, but they were a better fit than that of the king. I walked over to the small bowl of water beside my bed, washing the dried tears off my face.

I changed into an old, ruined maid dress. Tying my hair up into a bun before putting on my worn-out slippers.

Walking out of the room, I walked through the castle corridor to the back door, leading to the kitchen, where the rest of the maids stood. puffing out a breath when I realised I had gotten there in a matter of time before Madam Perrine.

I stood in line with the other maids, as we all waited for the head maid to make her way into the kitchen. No one said a word, our breath heretic, our body too weak to even utter a word.

We heard a heavy footstep, stomping the ground like always. We all stood rooted in our spot, heads bowed down, as the head maid, Madam Perrine, made her way into the kitchen.

It was part of the law given to us humans; we were not allowed to look into their kind's eyes without being given permission, no matter their rank.

"Heads up," the head maid ordered coldly, and we all obeyed, raising our heads like we were being controlled. No one uttered a word; it was dead silence in the kitchen, like a graveyard.

I laughed inwardly at the irony of it; after all, this was no different.

"There will be a routine change starting from tomorrow. I expect you all to be here thirty minutes earlier than usual, or there will be repercussions," she said sternly, with no hint of emotion on her face.

Her eyes held nothing but hate for my kind; her height towered over ours, gazing down at us like we were nothing but dirt on her shoe.

To think, in the same situation, she would have a little compassion for us, but it was all wishful thinking.

"Have I made myself clear?" The head maid barked, purging me of my thoughts.

"Yes, Madam Perrine," we all yelled out as loudly as we could, our gazes anywhere but hers.

" Good." She said after some time. " Now scram off your mices. Have breakfast and get to work." She concluded, stomping off, mumbling to herself. " I don't know why the king won't just finish them off; they are nothing but pieces of rats." Were her words before she left the kitchen.

When we were sure she was a safe distance away from the kitchen, I could hear the maid around release a breath of relief as they gathered in twos and threes, talking about the routine change and how they dreaded it.

Once a year, there was a routine change done on both sides of the palaces. Those who were lucky remained here, at this side of the palace, but those who weren't fortunate enough were sent to the other side of the palace.

I heaved out a sigh, looking around the familiar but lonely kitchen.

After my family died ten years ago, my dad was in charge of the stable. When the king's favourite horse had gone missing, my dad was instantly blamed for it, even though he wasn't on shift at that time.

He was, after all, a mere human and an easy enough scapegoat. He was immediately taken to the dungeon, where he was tortured for being careless with the King's property.

They released him weeks later, but his weak body wasn't able to recover from the injury, and he died from it.

My mother couldn't handle the pain of losing the one she loved, even though she had me and my brother Alystair. She ended up killing herself.

It hadn't been weeks since our parents were both laid to rest when my brother Alystair was deployed to the east side of the world. Only for me to receive news about him being dead months later.

That had been a dreadful year for me, knowing I was the only one of my family left alive.

I admit, I had thought of many ways to end my life. To put an end to whatever misery is in this world, then I would be reunited with my family.

Tatiana was the one who helped me, saved me and did everything possible to make me not feel alone.

We became the best of friends, keeping each other company, and she was gone too, leaving me alone, all over again.

I walked over to the trays of hardened bread and cold tea, taking bread from it as I scooped it down as fast as I could.

Holding back the vomit that threatened to come out, I drank the cold, disgusting tea, washed out my cup, and set out to work.

I hurried down the steps and scurried through the crowded hall that was getting filled with other servants doing their daily work. I walked over to the cleaning room, taking out my cleaning tools before making my way back to the steps of the castle, walking to the fifth floor where some kitchen maids and I had been assigned to work.

I huffed, walking towards the first room for the day. I knocked on the door, resting the side of my face on it to hear if anyone was in there. I opened the door slowly, my eyes cast down. After being certain that no one was in the room with me, I lifted my head up.

A weak sigh left my mouth when I saw how messy the room was. A frown formed on my face, and I began picking up the clothes on the floor and bed, placing them on the couch to be sorted later. I carried on picking up the trash on the floor, putting it into the trash can I had brought in with me.

I dusted the bed, fixing it before walking back to the clothes, selecting the ones that needed to be washed, then putting the rest back where they were supposed to be. I swept the floor, putting the rest of the things thrown on the floor in their rightful places before walking into the bathroom.

Holding back a gag, I reached for the lavatory, ceasing my breath as I unclogged it, flushing it off. I moved to the sink, washing my hands off. A look of pure disgust danced around my face.

"I should be used to this." I whispered to myself again. I finished up with the first room; I hurried along to the remaining six rooms I had to clean up. Knowing I needed to be fast before the royal came back, it would be disastrous if any of us were found still in the room.

I stopped by the maid's small room where the maids usually gathered to see who I was to assist since it was already dark outside.

My head ached, and I felt my legs begging to give out, to rest. But I didn't; I couldn't. I need to get my work done before nine pm, unless I won't be getting any food for the night.

I took my brush, along with five other maids, and we started sweeping the ballroom. I took in a few deep breaths, placing a hand at the back of my neck to ease the stiffness I felt.

Taking in another deep breath, I inhaled and exhaled, relaxing a little while carrying on working.

By the time we were finally done cleaning the ballroom, it was already 8:30 pm. We hurried out of the hall back to the kitchen, where our dinner was laid.

Like breakfast in the morning, we were served cold, tasteless porridge. We all gathered around, taking an old, rusted bowl given to us as we lined up to have the head maid serve us our dinner. We walked out of the kitchen to a small lounge room where we had the maids gathered to eat.

Taking a seat on the ground at the far end of the room, away from the others, I slowly drank my soup. "Who do you think will be taken to the King's Palace tomorrow?" A soft voice whispered a few seats from me to her friend beside her.

I instantly recognised the two, Roselani and Saoirse. They weren't the kind of people any of the maids would want to associate with or trust, as they wouldn't think twice to betray you.

"I, personally, wouldn't mind being sent to the King's Palace," Saoirse said, a smirk on her face as if she had everything all planned out.

"Are you crazy? Why would you want to do that?" Roselani whispered, looking at her friend like she had lost her mind.

I sat in the dim room, pretending not to be listening to their conversation while taking another bite of the horrible porridge.

"I intend to get the attention of the king," Saoirse said again in a cocky tone filled with confidence. "With the king by my side, no one would ever look down on me."

"I don't know if that's going to work, Saoirse. This could go so wrong in numerous ways. You know what the rumour says about him, Saoirse. He shows no mercy." Roselani's voice quivered at the end of her words.

Even I knew Saoirse's plan was downright idiotic. Who in their right mind throws themselves at a psychotic, crazy bastard? It was like asking for a death wish on a silver platter.

I stopped listening to their conversation, drinking the soup in time before the head maid came to dismiss us for the night. I dropped the bowl as the door swung open, and Madam Perrine stood there with her usual scorn on her face.

"Don't forget to do your dishes and be in your room before ten. Is that clear?" She asked in an authoritative voice.

"Yes, Madam Perrine." She scorned at us one last time, walking out of the room as I stood up with the rest of the maids.

We walked back to the kitchen, doing our dishes and putting the bowls back in the worn-out rack, and made our way to our respective rooms. I looked around the room that always managed to give me warmth, getting rid of my clothes until I was completely naked.

We were given few clothes, and most of them were maid uniforms. This was one of the reasons why I started sleeping naked. Making sure to bolt the door locked, as I didn't want anyone coming in, I walked over to the bowl of water and washed my face.

Puffing out a breath, I climbed into the hard rock bed and drifted off to sleep.