Alia lay on the bed, tossing and turning. Even though she was alone on the bed and she could see Luca laying on the couch, she didn't have her music, so there was no way she was going to sleep. For the past 12 years, short of her falling asleep from exhaustion, Alia's brain would never stop racing long enough for her to get tired. So, she used music as the distraction her brain needed to slow down on all the other racing thoughts.
Over the past two days since she had been kidnapped, she slept when her injured body demanded it, but she was nowhere near exhaustion right now. Without her music, she resorted to counting the stars and had some mild success, before a light noise would distract her and start her racing thoughts again. She cursed to herself about not asking Luca for her phone back before she went to bed, but at the same time, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of asking him.
Time passed and after what seemed like hours of staring at the ceiling, Alia caved. She was getting hungry and restless lying in bed and all of her training screamed at her to get out of the room. Looking over at a snoring Luca, she quietly slipped out from under the covers. Tiptoeing about the room, she made her way to the front door and slowly opened it, hoping to avoid any creaking sounds. As expected, the door was well oiled and was seamless in opening, providing Alia the perfect slit to make her way through.
As she exited the room, she made sure to gently close the door behind her so that Luca wouldn't wake from it. He would not be a fan of her wandering about so late, but she was bored. Alia whipped around and was met with a group of 6, kneeling on the floor with their heads bowed down. Three of the men were dressed like guards, and the other man and two women were dressed similar to the maids she had met earlier. Not really sure of what to say, Alia quietly began walking down the hall. She knew that soon they would stop her, but right now, she wasn't interested in running away, right now, she was bored.
"My Queen? How may we serve you?" One of the women spoke behind her. They all had stood and began to walk behind the Queen as she walked from the door, but no one had the guts to directly confront her from leaving the King's room without the King's permission, again.
"I'm just going for a walk. I can't sleep." Alia softly explained. She hoped that explaining this time would keep them all from freaking out about her trying to escape.
"You cannot sleep, My Queen? Is the bed not sufficient? Are you not comfortable? Are you hungry? thirsty? Have we done something that is not to your liking, your Majesty?" The group rushed to her attention, questions flying from all of them. Alia felt a little overwhelmed and honestly didn't know how to answer.
"Nope, just not sleepy." With that, she began walking down the hall again.
"My Queen, if you tell us what you wish, we can arrange for it here. The King will be very upset if he wakes up and you aren't there."
Alia rolled her eyes, she was bored and daring enough to give this adventure a try. "I'll figure it out and I'll be back soon," Alia shrugged.
"Your Majesty, we insist that you allow us to accompany you. He will stay here to notify the King." One of the guards stepped up, pointing to the timid man who wasn't a guard.
Alia shrugged her shoulders and and continued walking. She could initially hear the pit patter of the feet behind her, but she felt the noises disappear as she was entranced by the castle. Even though Luca had shown her so many beautiful things already, Alia's eyes were wide as if she were drinking it in for the first time. Electric candles lined the hallways with tapestries delicately painted on the walls. Each tapestry told a story of a battle or celebration, and Alia wanted to know of it all. The pillars with intricate designs and ornate decor stood guard in between the tapestries with their heights looming over to the detailed crown molding barely visible to Alia in the night sky.
With the windows open, Alia could hear and see the night wind, creating a little shiver in her body as she passed an open window. Almost instantly, she felt the wind lost as a shadow stepped up to next to her. Moments later, she felt a shawl being draped over her by invisible hands. She whispered a thanks to the ghost like woman and kept on walking.
After what seemed like 20 minutes of walking in circles, Alia felt her stomach rumble and she wondered if they had any chocolate milk. Or better yet, ice cream! Turning to the side where she felt the wind blocked, she whispered, "Is anyone there?"
Wordlessly, a guard stepped out of the shadows she whispered to, soon followed after 2 other men. "My Queen?"
"Can we go to the kitchen?" Alia looked almost ashamed that she wanted to eat something so late at night.
The men looked at one another and one of them finally sputtered, "M-m-my Queen? Apologies, your Highness, I don't mean to question you, but what need do you have of going there? If you tell us what it is you wish to eat, we will have it arranged for immediately!" The other men quickly nodded in agreement, their eyes still trained to the floor. By then, the two women joined the men in their pose.
"I'd like to go figure it out myself. Besides, it's 2 in the morning- no one should be working right now, not even you guys!" Alia threw her hands up in the air.
"But, my Queen, the King has ordered there to be slaves everywhere in the castle, including the kitchen, available for your use 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We are here to serve you, no matter what the time and where." One of the women explained. She hoped that the Queen would understand and relent.
Alia shrugged. If they weren't going to tell her, she was going to find it. "Ok, then." She continued walking with the guards and maids silently following. Every so often, she would hear a plea to tell them what she wanted from the kitchen. But in that moment, all she wanted was to be in the kitchen, so she kept on walking.
After about another 10 minutes, she caught a new scent of fresh bread. Food! She thought excitedly. Ignoring everyone and everything around her, Alia started following her nose to the kitchen. On the way, she was met by many who tried to stop her and address her needs, but she just wanted her fresh bread.
Taking one last whiff in, Alia stepped into the kitchen, the aroma hitting her even stronger than it had 4 feet outside the room. She looked around her and saw nothing but shiny pots and pans with 3 people working on stocking ingredients, 2 on cleaning, and 2 more standing silently by the entrance. She began slowly making her way to the rather large fridge that was pushed against a built in cabinet on the left. She had taken no more than two steps before one of the people near the door called out, "What brings you here, girl? You know better than to enter the kitchen at night." She whipped around and froze, unsure of how to react.
As she opened her mouth to apologize, one of the men who accompanied her from the room, stepped up and began choking the throat of the man standing by the door.
"You dare speak to the Queen in this way?" He growled. Turning to Alia, he bowed, "My Queen, how would you like me to punish this slave for his disrespect?" His other hand ever so slightly twitched towards his holstered gun. The King had forbade them from mentioning death in front of the Queen, but in the guard's eyes, his actions were punishable by death.
"Wait, what, no!" Alia was frightened but she knew she had to be firm for them to listen. "Put him down," she commanded. Almost instantly, the guard dropped him, muttering an apology. The man, now gasping for air, fell to his knees, bowing over and over, begging for her forgiveness. The others in the kitchen, who were frozen with shock, soon followed suit. Multiple repetitive pleas filled the kitchen.
Overwhelmed, Alia began hyperventilating. Her change in breathing was noticed by the guard who yelled out for water, gesturing to the Queen to take a seat on the chair that was placed for her moments before. The people around Alia began running amok, bringing her water and yelling to each other to prepare the Queen food and fetch the doctor and the King. With the attention shifted from her, Alia began to take deep breaths and felt her heart settle.
After a few minutes, Alia felt more stable. By then, some had already begun bringing her different foods that she had squeezed yes for. But Alia knew why she wanted, she wanted the bread that smelled so good and chocolate milk! And vanilla ice cream! She silently got up and walked over to the fridge, her initial goal. Opening it up, she frowned when she saw that they only had regular milk. Determined to not let it keep her down, she opened the freezer. Fortunately, she saw what she was looking for head on- Vanilla and chocolate ice cream! She wasted no time in pulling out.
By then, a number of women had gathered behind her and started begging her to let them find whatever she was looking for while the rest prayed that the King wouldn't walk in soon. One of the men had already been sent to wake him when she was hyperventilating and then knew it was only a matter of moments before he arrived.
Alia smiled in triumph. She found her ice cream, now it was time to find something to eat in. Wasting no time, she began opening all the cabinets and drawers, determined to not get help from anyone. After the first few tries were unsuccessful, she managed to locate two bowls and spoons. Grabbing a slice of the fresh bread from the counter and a bowl of ice cream, she stood against the counter, savoring them bit by bit.
Finishing her food with a large smile, Alia gathered up her dishes and moved to walk up the sink. She was instantly blocked by a woman who stuck her hands out. But Alia had been raised in a home where you were responsible for cleaning up after yourself. Sidestepping the woman, Alia walked towards the sink and began washing the bowls, humming to herself to be able to ignore the pleas behind her. By now, the slaves were petrified. The King was sure to kill them if he saw her doing the dishes. They prayed he wouldn't walk in just then.
But as if it was divine intervention, they heard a pounding of steps, no doubt from the King briskly walking or running to the kitchen. The pounding got louder as the King burst into the kitchen, his face dark but frantic as he scanned the entire kitchen. It was massive, almost as large as a two bedroom house with the intention that a feast could be cooked all at once.
His eyes narrowed as he focused in on the figure that continued to obliviously wash dishes. Only being able to see her back, his eyes lightened as he took stock of his love. She was walking and seemed to be busy doing something- he hoped it was fun. Frowning at the still slaves around him, he walked over to where Alia was standing, her back still turned to him. His eyes began to darken again as he saw what she was doing.
Washing dishes.
His Queen was washing dishes.
In the presence of all of these slaves.
SHE. WAS. WASHING. DISHES.
Luca's face spread across into an evil grin as he began to plot the slaves' doom. The people around him knew of his cruelty and froze in absolute fear. Even though the King had been lenient so far, there was no way they would be forgiven for this folly.
Oh, they would pay, they all would pay dearly... for their disrespect