8: A Lesson
1202 Words
Hazel's POV
“You dare give your blood to the prince without passing through the right procedure?” Rosaline yelled at me. Her eyes were blazing with anger.
I shook my head as I covered my face with my hands in an attempt to soothe the burn from her slap.
“You will be punished severely when your master hears this,” she threatened and grabbed my hand.
“The prince asked for my blood. I couldn't say no,” I explained, pulling my arm from her grip.
She paused. Her face showed how surprising it was. It was unbelievable, I know. The prince doesn't take blood from just anyone.
“You lie! Keep speaking of the prince and you'll be digging your grave,” she refused my words.
I raised my hands to show her. Rosaline had to believe me. If reported to Caden, I don't know where I'll be taken to. While I didn't like the prince's quarters, I was safer here than outside where anyone could turn me into his next meal.
“This is the injury in my hands. You know for a fact that I am very scared of giving out my blood, Rosaline but the price gave me an order,” I told her.
She touched my hands for a moment and looked at my face. I nod my head. I wasn't lying. Just when I thought she believed me, her eyes narrowed and a sneer formed on her lips.
“Is this the plan, you pathetic human? You want to seduce the price because a general had called your blood unresistable right?” She grabbed the injured hand I had shown her and pressed on it.
I gasped in pain and tried to pull my hands away.
“What are you doing?” I grit my teeth in an effort not to scream. She pressed it with her thumb.
“Reminding you where you belong. You're nothing but a maid. Stay away from the prince or else I'll kill you,” she hissed before pushing my arm away.
My breaths were hard and heavy. My palm had started bleeding again and drenched the cloth I had wrapped around it. As a human, I was unable to heal fast but I could heal others. It was so painful.
“Go back to that room and make sure it is spotless before our guests arrive,” she ordered and walked away.
I stood there for a minute. I was tired. We were not allowed to take a break and my body felt sore from all the cleaning I had to do. I was also hungry. I turned back and went to the room when my stomach rumbled again.
There was no food for the servants who didn't finish their job for the day.
By the end of the day everyone had heard about my attempt to seduce the prince and I was getting death glare from the maids around me. As usual, I didn't defend myself.
I knew it was only a matter of time before they tried to kill me or send me out of the prince's residence.
I sat in my room, eating my dinner slowly. My back hurts badly and so do my knees. The irony of life. I no longer use my voice, my mental energy again. Now, I use my body, my physical strength to serve. I thought I would be taken advantage of after healing that slave on the first day, but they ignored me.
The voices of other maids could be heard. I hoped they walked past my room without coming inside but just as I thought about it, the door was opened with Cara smiling.
“Oh, she is eating,” she announced and the girls behind her snickered. I was almost done so I poured everything in my mouth before she got to me. I couldn't let any food go to waste as it was very important.
Cara grabbed my mouth and pressed hard. “Spit it out,” she hissed. Instead I pushed her away and swallowed.
“What are you doing?” I asked her.
She turned to her minions. “Grab her! We are going to teach you a lesson you will never forget,” she yelled.
The three girls rushed to grab me while I struggled with them. What were they going to do? Fear gripped my heart as the thought of them taking me to the laundry site.
“Let me go!” I hissed but none of them listened. They pulled me away from the room and into the hallway. Other maids saw us but none of them said anything.
“Cara, please, let me go. I beg of you,” I started pleading as we reached the door.
“Don't worry, we will let you go once we arrive. After all, you are trying to seduce the prince, aren't you?” she said.
“I'm not,” I denied frantically. They took me into the prince's bathing room.
I could already tell what they were trying to do.
“Strip her,” Cara ordered. Immediately the girls started tearing my clothes with their nails. They were wolves, I noticed.
Why were they torturing me when we all came to the palace together? I struggled, kicking and trying to run away yet nothing worked. They undressed me to my pants.
“No one is allowed in here aside from me and Rosaline but here you are, naked and alone. You want to seduce the prince. I'll make sure you regret your decision,” she vowed.
Cara pulled out her dagger and made a cut on my thighs, making me cry out.
“I didn't do anything wrong, why are you doing this?” I whispered, with tears in my eyes.
She ignored me, instead she brought out a rope and tied my hands and legs.
“Throw her into the steaming water,” she ordered. My eyes widened and every part of my body stilled.
They wanted to kill me. No one was allowed to enter the bath when it was filled with water as it was meant for the prince. Besides, I am human. The water is usually too hot for my skin and could burn my body.
“No, please,” I cried out but no one listened. They pulled me closer.
“Bye,” Cara waved before she pushed me into the water. I parted my lips to scream but when my body touched the water, I felt the burn all over me.
I couldn't die now. I struggled to swim out to no avail. Pain engulfed my senses and my throat. My body was on fire yet I couldn't do anything. Struggling only made me tired.
I saw myself drowning, with no hope of survival. Closing my eyes, I gave up.
A pair of hands grabbed my arm and pulled me up. The touch made my skin crawl and I started fighting, opening my eyes.
It was the Prince. He ignored my struggle and pulled me out of the water. I gasped for air one last time before I closed my eyes and succumbed to the unbearable pain.
- Writer
