Chapter Eighteen

‘BANG’ I shot up in fright. What the hell was that. “Oh good your up,” the lady from yesterday says. “Today you’ll start your chores. The head of the maids will instruct you on what your jobs are. A guard will be following you every day during chores for as long as they need to so don’t get any ideas.” She tells me.

“It’s time to get you ready. You have 5 minutes to take a shower and you have 5 minutes to get ready in uniform. Let’s go” she tells me.

A guard walks into my room and unchains my leg I stand up and stretch. “Come on slave we don’t have much time,” the guard tells me as he puts a chain on my arm. The lady walks out and the guard follows her which includes me. “It’ll be like this every day until we can trust you,” she tells me. We walk down some creepy halls.

You can tell this is an old castle. The bricks that cover the walls are cracking and some have pieces missing. The only light is from the torches that line the wall.

“This is the bathroom. There’s a cubby with your name on it. That’s where you’ll find your uniform. Once you are done find the head maid in her office. There’s a sign on the door you won’t be able to miss it. Make sure you are on time otherwise you’ll be punished.” She tells me.

“Oh and one more thing. Do not let anyone know you are the King’s mate. No one is supposed to know” she tells me then walks off.

The guard opens the bathroom door “I’ll be right here. If you aren’t out here within 15 minutes I will go in there and drag you out myself” he tells me. I nod my head and walk into the bathroom while closing the door. I notice other females in here rushing around to get ready. A few stop and stare at me while others look at me as they are moving around to do what they need to get done. “Come on girls hurry up” a female yells.

I look over to see where the yelling is to find an older female standing outside a door. She looks at me “you new girl hurry up and get ready when you are finished come to my office” she tells me. Before she walks back into what I’m assuming is her office and shuts the door.

I walk over to a dirty hamper so this is where I’ll lose this outfit that Leyla dressed me in. I take the clothes off but keep the necklace. Leyla said the necklace isn’t anything special but this might be the only thing I’ll ever have to remember her by. I don’t know if I’ll ever see her again so I’d like to keep something to remember her.

After I undress I walk over to an open shower. I notice there’s a damp towel already in there. I walk out and walk into every shower noticing damp towels in everyone some were soaking wet. I walk back to the shower I first was in and put the shower head on and let the freezing waterfall over me. I quickly wash my hair and body. While I was doing my last rinse of the shower turned off. So these showers are on a timer.

I grab the towel I dry my hair and then my body. After I wrap it around myself and walk out of the shower. “What are you doing?” a girl asks. I stop walking and turn around to find a redhead girl with green eyes and pale skin looking at me. “What do you mean?” I ask confused. “You are wearing a towel. Those towles must remain in the shower for the next person to use” she tells me. I nod my head and walk back into the shower and put the towel back.

I exit the shower and shiver from the cool breeze. I walk over to my cubby and open it. I grab my uniform which consists of a black long sleeve dress that looks like it would reach my mid-calf. The dress has long sleeves with white cuffs and a white turtle neck. The white apron that goes over the dress has large ruffle sleeves that only cover my shoulders.

It stops a couple of inches above the dress. The footwear is black tied-up boots that seem to go above the dress. I get dressed as quickly as possible. I take my necklace off and slip it into the pocket I’ll have to hide this so no one notices I have it. I also notice a brush in my cubby. I grab and brush my damp hair. Don’t want my hair to dry with knots that would be bad. “New girl” I hear the lady from before yell.

I stop brushing my hair and turn so I’m looking in her direction. “Put that brush down and come into my office. We have to talk about your chores” she tells me. I put the brush back into my cubby and walk towards her. She walks into her office when I get closer “close the door” she tells me when I enter her office. I shut the door and sit in the chair that’s in front of her desk.

“I have to make this quick we only have 5 minutes so keep up,” she tells me. I’m curious about this 5 minutes thing. Why is it always 5 minutes for everything? “Today the council will be coming to visit the King. I’ve been instructed that you are kept out of sight. I don’t know why I don’t ask questions. So today you’ll be cleaning the kitchen. The cooks are very busy preparing food and won’t be able to have time to clean. When they are done with a station you will go and clean it up. You are not allowed to leave the kitchen for any reason unless a guard gives you the clear. Tomorrow I’ll have your normal chores. You may go” she tells me. I stand up and leave her office.

I walk out of the bathroom to find the guard from earlier standing there. He grabs the chain from my wrist and leads me to the kitchen where I’ll be stuck for the day. If the council is coming today then that must mean they know I’m missing and are trying to find me. Wait does that also mean Sawyer will be with them? Because if he is then he would be able to feel me and smell my scent. A bit of hope stricks my heart in hope that I might be saved.

We walk down long confusing hallways. If you don’t know where you’re going you could easily get lost. If I’ll be working here I should know where to go. Yes, I’m hoping Sawyer will save me but at the same time I know deep down it won’t work that way… or as fast so I should.

I’ll do what I’m told to do without a second thought. The faster they trust me the more freedom I’ll get and with the freedom, I’ll be able to form a soundproof escape route. We reach the stairs and walk-up. These aren’t stairs I’ve ever been on. I don’t understand how someone can go up these spiral stairs without getting dizzy.

We reach the floor we’re needed on and walk out of the stairway. Wait they go up more? What if someone from the very top and to go down to the very bottom. Oh hell no. I put my hand on the wall needing some support in case I fall. “Come on slave we don’t have all day,” the guard tells me. I let go of the wall and follow him but slowly as black and white spots cover my eyesight.

I know he’s going to report back on how I was so I blink my eyes a couple of times and My eyesight starts to clear up. Once I can clearly see I rush to catch up with him. We walk through doors into small hallways until we reached the last door. Instead of opening it, he turns to me. My heart speeds up. What’s going on? Why did he stop?

“The King does not want any maids to be seen by guests. There are secrete doors and hallways that bring you to different areas of the castle without being seen. You will never come in contact with anyone but a guard and slave in the castle unless you are instructed otherwise. This door leads to the kitchen. This is where I will leave you. I’ll come to get you at the end of your shift” he tells me and leaves.

I take a deep breath and walk through the door. To my new life. When I was into the kitchen I see five females running around the kitchen going to different stations that are set up for different things. One female turns around and spots me. “Are you the new girl?” She asks me.

I nod my head. “Perfect. Grab an apron and start cleaning. If you are unsure if someone is finished with something please ask. We don’t have time to remake anything. This is a big day for the castle. Never have the council and the Alpha King been here all together… well the Alpha King has never been here either” she explains.

So Sawyer is here! But there’s nothing I can do. He won’t detect my scent since everywhere I’ve been won’t be anywhere near him. I walked over to an empty but dirty station. “This station is no longer in need so you don’t have it set it back up,” a female next to me tells me.

What does she mean by I don’t have to set it back up? I guess I’ll figure that out when I clean a station that is still in use. I grab the bowls and bring them over to the sink. I turn the water till it’s a hot temperature. I plug the sink and put the bowls into the sink. I go back to the station and grab everything that’ll need to be washed and put away. I carry everything over to the sink and begin to wash the bowls and utensils.

After I had washed and dried everything I was shown where to put the now clean bowls and utensils. All I have to do is remember where they are. I don’t want to make a fool out of myself in front of them. I don’t know if these are the nice ones or not. Who knows if I mess one thing up they could spread it around and make my life hell. Sadly that happened to a girl at the auction house.

I went back to the station and picked up the lettuce, tomatoes, onion, and cucumbers. Whoever made this salad isn’t a clean cooker. After I throw away the chunks of food I spray down the spot and wipe it down until it looks like no one has even touched the area.

“I like that you want to make sure the area is clean new girl but we are on a tight schedule and you need to pick up the pace. There are 5 other stations that need to be cleaned as we go” a 3rd girl tells me.

A blush of embarrassment covers my cheeks as I walk over to another station and quickly clean. After cleaning a couple of stations the same girl who told me to pick up the pace told me that I’m truly natural and the best they’ve had for a while. The last best cleaner they had was an old lady who’s was working here when she was 18 till the day she died at 90 a couple of years ago. Ever since they’ve gone through cleaners almost every week. The higher ranks would get sick of meals coming to a slow so they would find them a new job and give us someone new.

But if you keep this up you’ll be sticking here for a while and out of all the jobs, this one is the best. Mostly because in between meals we get to mess with new recipes and also eat whenever we’re hungry. The Vampire King doesn’t keep inventory that’s our job. As long as they don’t go through something too fast they don’t care.” She explains.

After a small snack and drink break, I went back to work. As I was cleaning I hear familiar voices getting closer to the kitchen. “And why can’t we come to the kitchen? You’re showing us the rest of the castle so why not here?” I hear Sawyer asks.

“Oh my God! Is that the Alpha King?” a redhead squeals “And how do you know what his voice sounds like?” The girl who explained to me how to clean asked. I’ll call her blue eyes since besides me she’s the only one with blue eyes. “I was cleaning Miss. Vanessa’s room since the maid who normally cleans her room was out sick. She was watching an interview he was on talking about his mate and how she’s human and a slave” redhead says.

Wait he told people on tv that he has a human mate and she’s a slave? I thought he wasn’t allowed to do that. Unless he really did believe that he and I were going to end up together. But sadly we aren’t anymore. He’s never going to know I’m here and I know King Dante will make sure of that.

“Wait his mate is a slave? So there could be a bright side to this miserable life” blondie says while leaning agents the counter with a faraway look in her eyes. “The salves are hard at work. We shouldn’t disturb them” King Dante tells Sawyer. Don’t listen to him, Sawyer. Walk-in please I’m begging you to walk in.

“That King and him not wanting anyone to meet the ones who cook the food” Blue eyes sigh. I look at her confused. “When we cook for guests a lot of them wants to meet the ones who cooked the meal to thank us slaves or not. But he never allowed it. I love to cook but because of him I don’t have the passion anymore” she tells me.

“Alpha King we don’t have time to fight with King Dante. We’re here to figure out who took Miss. Amber.” I hear the voice that belongs to Zeno. So he is looking for me. I knew it! “We don’t have to look any further. I know she’s here. I can sense my mate in that room” I hear him. I freeze. My heart rate starts to pick up.

“What do you think he’s talking about?” Blondie asks. Redhead rolls her eyes. “The missing Princess is here and the Alpha King is here to find her. Oh, how romantic. She must be a server.” Redhead says. A server? I’m the new girl in this room and Sawyer is coming in here because he can sense his mate in this room and they think it’s a server. Ouch for them not thinking I’m good enough to be his mate.

“I don’t think it’s a server. If it was he’d be following her scent. But instead, he can scene her presence in this room” an older woman with graying hair speaks up. Huh, that’s the first time I’ve heard her talk since I got here. “So it’s one of us then,” Blondie says excitedly “He already knows who she is blondie. The only one who it could possibly be is the new girl” green eyes spoke.

All the girls look at me with shocked yet curious eyes except for Blondie she glares at me. A blush forms on my cheeks from their stairs. “So are you the missing Princess?” Blondie asks annoyed. “I wouldn’t say Princess but” before I could go on the girls squeal and hug me except for blondie again.

“Shh, we can’t let them hear us” Green eyes hushes us. “But we want them too so the Alpha King can take his mate back,” the redhead tells Green eyes. “Yes, but we’d also get punished for not working,” Green eyes says. “Everyone shut the hell up,” the older lady says. Everyone quiets and quickly goes back to work acting as nothing has happened.

The secret door opens the guard from earlier walks in. He unties “You’re done for the day,” he tells me. I look at the girls he grabs my arm and drags me out. They all give me sad eyes except for Blondie who only smirks at me as I disappear.