Shadow wolves: The Prince's Servant (Book 4) - Complete

Emily I was born here and learned at a young age how things worked. Dad was hit by a runaway wagon while selling his goods on the market. He was a carpenter before his accident. Ironic, right? Since then, he hasn’t been able to work. My mother didn’t have many skills either, except for cleaning homes. One day, one of the rich men grabbed her and when he had finished with her, he threw money at her, as if she was one of the town w****s. She came home crying, so ashamed at the fact that she had let it happen. Many women in town sold their “services” freely for money. Why did he have to use my mother?! That night, I heard mother and father whisper about the money and how much it would help us. I couldn’t believe that they were even thinking about doing such a thing and cried myself to sleep. Things got better after that. We could buy better food, better clothes and my mother could even buy dresses if she wanted. Father encouraged her! Late one night, I heard them whisper again, as she explained that the “gentleman” who paid her, preferred her in her rags and fighting. The bigger the fight she put up and the dirtier she looked, the more he paid her. My parents were earning money and got greedy. They couldn’t get enough and wanted more, until that day my mother demanded more from a man. Telling him that she had been giving her body to him for so long, she started enjoying it and looked forward to feeling him inside her. The housekeeper came running to our house later that day. “Thomas! Thomas! He killed her!” She shouted, crying. I was playing outside at the back of the house, but I still heard what was going on inside the house. “Thomas!” She cried out of breath, as she reached my father. “She demanded so much, telling him she liked it. He got so angry. He slapped her across the face, saying no common street rat had the right to ever enjoy him, and then demanded p*****t. When she fell to the floor, he kicked her.” She cried, falling on the floor in front of my father’s feet. I had to put my hand in front of my mouth to stop myself from screaming, crying for my mother. “He kept on kicking her until she made no more sounds, Thomas. He left her there saying that we should remove the trash from his house.” She cried with her head on my father’s lap. “The others have loaded her body onto a cart, they will bring her to you.” My father didn’t say a word. He just sat there. I silently cried for my mother, for what she had to do for us to eat, for what she had become in the process, for my father having to live through it all, and now he had to live with the knowledge that their greed had killed his wife. For some years, money arrived every week on the same day. It wasn’t much, but it was enough. Who sent it we never knew, I suspected, but the day I turned sixteen, a letter arrived with the last p*****t? “My debt is paid.” After that, I had to find work to support us. I was not going to work cleaning houses. I had a natural talent for cooking and many of the town’s people loved what I was able to cook out of almost nothing. The news travelled to the castle, and it wasn’t long before the head Cook wanted me to work there. It was hard work, but I was paid. I would rush to the market early in the mornings to buy my father something to eat for the day and be at the castle on time for work and the kitchen was cleaned before Cook arrived. She grew fond of me, and she became like a second mother to me. I was busy peeling potatoes for a big ball one morning, when I heard a commotion in the main kitchen. I stood up, wiping my hands on my apron, looked around the corner and Cook was talking very fast, blabbering actually. With her, was a lady dressed in a very expensive dress with her nose in the air, as if she had smelled something terrible. There was a young man with her, who was grabbing a piece of pie behind her back, earning himself an angry look from Cook. How could someone live in such splendour when their people were suffering? I thought to myself, looking at what I could only guess, to be the Queen. “I need everything to be perfect, Cook. Nothing can go wrong. It’s the King’s birthday soon. If anything goes wrong, it will be your head. Got that!” She said, returning to the stairs, rubbing her fingers together as if she had touched something awful. The young man turned back, winked at Cook, which made her grin. His gaze turned to me as if knowing I was there hiding behind the wall. His beautiful blue pools of eyes captured me. I was cemented in the spot, not able to move. He looked away and followed his mother. The second their footsteps could be heard on the tile floor walking away from the kitchen, Cook spoke up. “Don’t get your hopes up girlie, that one is betrothed to some princess, I hear.” She rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t, I was just wondering what was happening.” I shrugged. My bubble was popped by Cook and I returned to peeling potatoes. For a week I waited, but no sign of him. I was hoping that he would at least come to the kitchen once, but I guess Cook was right. About a month later, I was walking through the market, looking for fresh fruit for my father. He was old and ill and could “only eat fresh fruit”. We weren’t very rich and fruit was hard to come by in our kingdom. “If only you would do what your mother did, bless her heart, we would be better off.” He would complain. Nothing wanted to grow in our entire kingdom and merchants abused this fact, by charging whatever they pleased. Most days I went hungry, so my father could eat. I felt a pair of eyes on me, but decided not to pay attention. If it was one of the merchants and I paid any attention, he would think that I was interested and take it as an invitation. I have seen many girls in our little town go down that road. Not many of them survived, unfortunately. The merchants were merciless. If you didn’t pay their rate, or refused to buy from them and had a daughter, they would take whatever they wanted from her, making sure, next time, you would buy from them. You had to keep your wits about you if you wanted to keep living here. Some girls were even sold into s*****y by their parents, to buy food to survive. Whomever he was, he kept following me. I could feel his gaze burning into my back. I couldn’t return home to take father his food. I would have to go straight to the castle. I didn’t want him to realize that I knew he was following me and simply kept my normal pace, joining a group of girls who were cleaners in the castle. They normally didn’t mix with us kitchen staff thinking themselves better, but when I whispered to one of them what was happening, she immediately moved me to the centre of their group, and we walked to the castle, giving me a chance to get to know them. All the young girls in town were scared of the merchants. I was just lucky that this group took pity on me and did not leave me behind to distract him from them. They were not nearly as bad as Cook made them sound. They couldn’t believe that a pretty girl like me was working in the kitchen and not with them. I told them my story and they were horrified. I just shrugged, thinking it must have been the way things worked in life. We were talking so much I didn’t even realize that whoever was following me had disappeared. He must have thought it to be too much trouble. We said goodbye when we reached the castle and went our different ways. I felt bad for not taking father his food, but what was I going to do? Take it to him and die? Then who would take care of him? “Hi, madam? Do you think yourself proper like those little girlies, that you can get here late??” Cook looked angrily at me. “I am sorry Cook. A merchant was following me into town. My only option to get here safely, was to walk with them. I will take any punishment you see fit.” I bowed my head to her, knowing full well I was in the wrong. “Yes, well then that is all right, those merchants are getting out of hand. If that is the case, you did the right thing, my girl. I would rather you be a couple of minutes late than dead.” She sounded relieved, surprising me a little. “If only the King and Queen would do something about it!” She mumbled as she normally did when she wanted to complain, but was scared they might be around a corner listening. “Mumbling about father and mother again, Cook?” The Prince came around the bend down the stairs. “And then you allow our staff to be late? I will have to dock your pay, or speak to mother about these atrocities!” He looked very serious. Cook just ignored him, carrying on with the dough for that day’s bread. She started making a little extra for me to take home, so I could make myself a small piece of bread before I died of hunger. He did this funny dance around the table and I just looked down. I was in enough trouble as it was. If I got my pay docked or let go, I would be back to begging, or maybe something worse, should that merchant get hold of me. I closed my eyes, prayed the prince would forget what he heard and saw and leave. “Now Cook, exactly why were you so lenient with this little girl?” He lifted my hair, frightening me, and I nearly jumped onto the table. My reaction made him angry. I pulled back even more, moving towards the little corner in the back, behind the wall where I worked. “Your highness, I am sorry for her reaction. She had a frightful thing happen to her this morning and the nerves must have taken hold of her. That is why I am lenient this morning, but she knows not to do it again, right girlie?” She said, in her, I’m pretending to be angry, so just nod your head tone of voice, so I nodded my head keeping my eyes down. “Well, I would like to hear more about this frightful thing. I don’t like my subjects being terrorized.” He did not look happy at all. “Julius, Julius, Julius!” I heard the Queen’s voice and when he turned his attention to the stairs, I used the opportunity to disappear into my safe little corner, before his blue eyes captured me again. “Here mother!” He shouted back, sighing. “Damn, woman always finds me.” He winked at Cook, making her smile slightly, swallowing her smile as soon as her highness appeared. “Here you are! I have been looking everywhere for you and nobody seemed to know where you are. You need to get your guard together immediately. Your father … Come, we will not talk here. We shall talk in his rooms. He is resting. He had a busy morning and would like to talk to you.” She quickly changed her tone of voice and conversation … Too quickly to something that made absolutely no sense. When they were gone, I checked the stairs to make sure they were truly gone, before asking Cook what she thought was going on.