*Isla*
Sitting in the chair in my room next to the window, I read the not again, ‘Had to go on a quick business trip. Be back soon. Stay safe, M.’
I had found it on my pillow this morning—in Maddox’s room. I wish it said more. I wish I knew where he had gone and exactly when he’d be back.
But I wasn’t in any position to ask those sorts of questions. I was just his breeder after all, and even though I felt a connection to the king, that didn’t mean that I was nearly as important to him as I wished I could be.
“You’re not planning on sitting there all day moping, are you?” Poppy asks as she comes back into the room after delivering my breakfast tray back to the kitchen. “You have to live your life, girl!”
I can’t help but grin at her and shake my head. She has such a unique way of putting things. “No, but, I miss him, that’s all.”
She shook her head slightly at me. “How lucky are you to be in a position to know what to miss!” she exclaims.
“Did you see Beta Seth?” I decide that changing the subject is better than replying to her comment.
“No, I didn’t see him. He is very busy handling all of the duties King Maddox usually takes care of, so I couldn’t ask him where the king has gone to. Sorry, dear.” She makes a frowny face at me.
“It’s okay,” I assure her. I had been hoping she’d be able to get some answers to my questions from Beta Seth, but I’m really not too surprised that he hasn’t answered her.
“Now, I did see Mrs. Dixon, the new head of the staff, and while she’s not quite as awful as Mrs. Worsthingshorethinshire was, they were good friends before Mrs. W. got tossed out on her ear, thanks to you. So… she shouted at me to get back to work, and I did.”
“I’m sorry she yelled at you,” I tell her. I can’t imagine anyone being as awful as Mrs. Werthingtonhamshire, or whatever her name was, but it seems like people in that position let power go to their heads.
“It’s all right,” she says with a wave of her hand. She opens the armoire across the room, turning the key that’s always just left in the lock, and pulling the door open. “She was second in command before, so it’s not the first time she’s gotten on to me, but she’s usually a little nicer.”
She takes out a pink floral patterned day dress and swirls it around, showing it to me.
“That looks fine,” I say with a shrug. I have no thoughts about what I should wear today.
“I was thinking we should go to the village,” Poppy suggests. “It’ll give you something to do to take your mind off things.”
“The village?” I ask. “Oh, Poppy, I don’t know.”
“Why not?” she asks. “We can pretend to be little girls and go to all of the best shops—the dress shop, the toy shop… the candy shop!” She twirls around, like she’s a little girl who’s had too much candy, and I can’t help but laugh. She bumps into the armoire, and I hear the key fall out of the door.
Ignoring it, Poppy brings my dress over and lays it on the bed. “I can’t wear this, though. Do you mind if I go change?”
“Have I agreed to go?” I ask her.
She laughs. “Of course you have. I’ll be back in a few minutes. I’d just borrow something of yours, but I think we know my waist is a few inches wider than yours.”
“Poppy?” I call, but she’s gone, and I realize that means I’m going to the village.
I get up to go put my dress on and bend over to pick up the key while I’m at it. As I’m standing back up, I hit my head on the open door.
“Ouch!” It smarts, and for a moment, I feel dizzy. I rest my hand on the shelf, laying the key down so that I can steady myself by holding onto the shelf.
I press my other hand to the top of my head, hoping it’s not bleeding. When I pull my hand away, it’s not bloody, thank goodness, but it does hurt.
Perhaps I can’t get away with dressing myself after all.
Irritated, I move away from the armoire and take my time getting dressed because of the pain in my skull.
By the time I have the dress on, I feel better. I go into the bathroom to put on a little makeup.
“Are you about ready?” Poppy calls as she comes back into the room.
“Yeah, just a minute,” I say, finishing up my lip gloss. I know if I tell her I hit my head, she’ll be concerned, so I decide to keep it to myself.
“Here are your shoes.” She hands me a pair of brown sandals from the armoire. I take them just as she closes the door.
“Wait!” I tell her, realizing the key is inside. “The key!”
“What about it?” she asks, turning to look at the furniture. “Where is it?”
“It fell on the floor before,” I tell her, and she immediately starts searching the ground with her eyes. “No, it’s not there anymore.”
“What?” she asks, her forehead crinkled. “Where is it?”
“It’s in the armoire!” I exclaim. “I picked it up, but then I hit my head, and I set it down.”
“You set the key to the armoire… inside of the locked armoire?” she asks me.
“It wasn’t locked then!” I tell her.
“Well, technically, it was locked. It just wasn’t closed.” Poppy rattles the doors—they are locked.
“Dang it!” I declare, sitting down on my bed. “Now what?”
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” she says, waving her hand. “Mrs. Dixon is a pro at picking locks. We’ll get her to come and open it later.”
I stare at her for a moment. “Mrs. Dixon? The new head of staff who is awfully mean to everyone now?”
She shrugs. “She’s not as mean as Mrs. Worsthingshorethinshire. Besides, she’ll have an excuse to come in here and see your room. She’s so nosy. She always wants to see everyone’s room. Also, she’s easy to bribe. We can get her some sweets at the candy store, and that’ll be enough for her to want to help you. The woman is portly and will do anything for a good bar of chocolate or a handful of sour candies.” She giggles, and I feel a little better.
Except I have no money. “What are we going to buy these gifts with?” I ask her.
Poppy narrows her eyes at me and shakes her head. “Really, Isla… it’s as if you’ve never even opened your own belongings.” She walks over to a handbag that is on the dresser. It’s been there since I moved into the room.
Opening it up, she pulls out a wallet, and from one of the slots, she pulls out a credit card. It’s black with the crest of the royal family on it. “You belong to the king now, so you have access to some of his money, silly girl.”
My mouth drops open. I had no idea that was in there.
She puts it away, and I finish putting on my shoes. It’s then I finally get a chance to say, “By the way, Poppy, you look really cute in that dress. Green is a good color on you.”
She spins around again, the exact motion that got us into this predicament to begin with, and I laugh. She looks so different out of her maid’s uniform. She’s adorable.
“Are you ready?” she asks me.
My head still stings a little bit, but I am ready. At least now I have a reason to go to the village—to get Mrs. Dixon a gift.
I wonder if I might be able to get Maddox something while I’m there. But doesn’t it seem strange to buy him something with what’s technically his own money?
“I’m ready,” I tell her, carefully standing up. She smiles and takes my arm, and we walk out of the room like two friends going out on the town—not like a breeder and her assigned chambermaid.
In the hall, I see the two guards who have been standing outside of my room most of the time since the death of the other maid. I smile at them intending to just go on by, but one of them steps in front of me.
“Excuse me, Miss Isla,” he says. “Where are you going?”
“Oh, we’re just going to the village,” I say.
“It’s fine, Private Wylie” Poppy chimes in. “She can go if she wants to. She’s not a prisoner here!”
“No, of course, she’s not,” he says with a little laugh. “But I think it would be safer if Private Parker and I went with you. We were instructed to keep an eye on you will King Maddox is gone.”
“We don’t need you two hanging around, ruining our girls’ day!” Poppy declares, her tone a little rude.
“King Maddox personally asked me to keep an eye on you when he left this morning,” Private Wylie insists, looking at me. “If something were to happen to you, well, I would never forgive myself. I’d be letting you down, the king down, everyone.”
He had a point, and I didn’t see the harm in letting them come along. “Can you just sort of hang back, so we at least think we’re alone?” I ask him.
A smirk pulls up the corner of his mouth, and I realize he’s actually good-looking, though not nearly as striking as Maddox. “Of course, my lady. Whatever you wish.”
Poppy groans, but we start walking again, and our two uniformed guards come along with us, staying about ten feet behind us, at least for now.
As we pass down the hallway, I see Zabrina coming toward us, along with some of her friends from her pack that came along with her. I avert my eyes. The last conversation the two of us had was ugly, and the last time I saw her, she was covered in blood.
“Look, it’s the king’s whore and the girl who cleans her toilet!” Zabrina jokes.
I feel my face flushing, but I say nothing. I yank on Poppy’s arm to remind her to be quiet.
So I’m shocked when I hear a male voice say, “Leave Miss Isla be, Miss Zabrina.”
I turn to see Private Wylie glaring at Zabrina. She makes a wide-eyed face, as if she is shocked but says nothing more and heads on down the hall.
I am impressed. “Thank you, Private Wylie,” I say.
“Of course, my lady,” he says. “I would do anything for you.”
I smile at him and turn around, feeling my cheeks turning pink again.
Who was this guy, anyway?