My Dragon Desire

Chapter Three - Sneaking Around

✩Dawn✩

The last four days had been complete and utter hell. Josephine, who I had found out was actually my boss, was eager to use and abuse me. Day one had been in the kitchen, serving food and cleaning up. Day two had been worse, as I had to clean all the bathrooms in the castle. That was a total of sixteen bathrooms, excluding the twelve in the staff’s quarters. Day three had been washing. When Bailey had told me that we would be doing the washing, I had been relieved. However, I soon learned that washing meant that every single drape had to be taken down, washed, hung up, and then when it was dry it had to be rehung. Not only that but every tablecloth, doily, and table runners had to be collected and washed. Dried, ironed, and folded up neatly before being packed away. I went to bed that night with an aching back that kept me up half the night. Day four had been somewhat easier as Bailey and I had been assigned to the kitchen. We helped make bread dough and cleaned up. This morning as I sat up in bed, I prayed that today wouldn’t be too hard. So far, I hadn’t been able to do any spy work as I have been too tired to sneak around. While I had been cleaning Blake’s bathroom, I had snuck around his bedchamber for a bit but had found nothing useful.

“Rise and shine,” Bailey sang out and I groaned as I fell back against the pillow.

“How can you be so chirper in the mornings?” I asked curiously as I watched her head over to the small kitchenette area and put on the kettle.

“Starting the day in a good mood makes the work easier,” she admitted, and I giggled softly as I climbed out of bed. Not once had I bothered to make up my bed and I was thankful that Bailey hadn’t said anything about it.

“Any idea what we are doing today?” I asked.

“The west wing,” she said, and I frowned. She said it as if I should just know what that means. Bailey caught my confused look and hurried to explain. “The west wing is where the ballroom is, apparently there will be a party this weekend,”

“Oh, joy,” I spat out sarcastically. “And what do we have to do?”

“Wash and polish the floors,” she said as the kettle whistled. I didn’t bother to comment on that as I went into the bathroom. Wash and polish floors. Woah, this mission was a roaring success so far. I would’ve loved to take my time in the shower, but I knew Bailey still needed to get clean. I finished up as quickly as I could and when I opened the bathroom door, Bailey stood there with my cup of coffee ready. “Don’t take too long, Josephine will be expecting us soon,” she said as she handed me the cup and went into the steamy bathroom. I took a sip as I opened the closet. I hated wearing the stupid maid’s outfit. It was so ugly. The buttoned black dress with the gray collar and apron was so cliché it made me want to gag. I got dressed as quickly as I could and tied up my hair into a tight bun. Not only was Josephine a b***h but she hated untidiness in our appearances. Day two, I had simply put my hair up into a ponytail and she had freaked out. However, I had been thankful later when bending over the toilet. Bailey was a lot faster than me and she had to wait for me to finish up my coffee. We headed to the kitchen to have breakfast before meeting Josephine and the other staff members in the foyer.

“Bailey, Wilma, Dawn, and Linda, the ballroom floors need to be washed and polished. Felica and Rebecca, you two will be polishing the dinnerware,” I stopped paying attention as I stared at the big round black carpet. One day I was going to have to vacuum that thing. I shuddered at the thought as Bailey nudged my side.

“Let’s go,” she whispered. As per usual, I took great care of my surroundings as I followed my ballroom cleaning team. Tonight, I was going to do some detective work.

 ✩✩✩

I forced my eyes open as I strained to hear if Bailey was snoring yet. She was a light sleeper, so I had to wait for her to be snoring before I even attempted to get out of bed. I had a backup plan in mind when I heard her soft snores. I held my breath as I gently pushed back my blanket and climbed down the silly ladder. When my feet landed on the cold stone floor, I cringed. I tiptoed to the end of the bed and slipped on my ballet shoes. I had deliberately left them there for this very reason. I glanced over at Bailey and I made sure she was still asleep before I pulled open the door. It squeaked loudly in the dead of the night and I froze. When she didn’t move, I squeezed myself through the opening and closed it quickly behind me. I leaned back against the door, waiting for a moment before checking down the halls to make sure no one was around. The castle was an eerie place to be wandering around at night and I made sure to stick to the walls as much as possible. How many statues can one castle have? Apparently, a lot. I finally reached Blake’s office and I breathed out a massive sigh of relief when I found the doors already open. The office was dark, and I crept inside. Looking around the room, I made sure that I was alone. I held out my hand, palm facing up, and closed my eyes. I gently blew onto the palm of my hand and whispered the magic words: “Come to me, the light of the dark,” I opened my eyes to see a small ball of light hovering just above my hand. It wasn’t too light, and I was thankful the spell hadn’t failed me. I slowly made my way to the desk and I let go of the ball of light. It wavered for a second before it stabilized itself and I moved quickly around to the other side and sat down. I pulled open the drawers but all I could find was budgets and invoices. One draw was locked, and I groaned out softly. I didn’t want to use my magic too much, but I was desperate for something, anything. I placed my hand against the draw and whispered: “Don’t be closed, open to me,” when the draw didn’t open, and I shook my head and tried again. It didn’t work. I hated coming up with spells like this, in the spur of the moment. I took a deep breath and tried again. This time it popped open and I clapped my hands excitedly like an i***t. I paused as I glanced up as I realized I had made a noise. When nothing or no one came rushing in, I turned my attention to the contents in the drawer. A bunch of letters addressed to someone named Glycan and I pushed it aside. I had no idea who he was, and I didn’t have the time to sit and read through them all. Aside from the letters, all I found was a gold ring with a red ruby. Boring. I kept looking but there was nothing else inside. Maybe the letters where important after all. I took out the first one and was just about to start reading it when I heard a noise. I froze as I listened carefully. Footsteps.

“Is someone there?” a voice called out. Panic started creeping in and I quickly called the ball of light to me and put it out. I slipped off the chair and hid under the desk. The footsteps got closer and closer. I held my breath as someone put on the light. The once dark office was now bright with light. “Hmm, I could’ve sworn I saw a light in here,” the voice said, and I tried to think who it belonged too. Male. That’s all I knew. Footsteps came closer towards the desk. The chair was pulled out and I prayed that whoever it was wouldn’t look down. I moved my feet closer to my body and tried to make myself as small as possible. I should’ve made myself invisible. The man sat down, and I stared at the pair of legs in front of me. Luckily, the desk was big, so I didn’t have to worry about him touching me by accident. Unless of course, he decided to stretch out his legs. “What’s this?” I heard him mutter and it was then that I realized I had placed the letters on the desk, and I had forgotten to close the drawer. Damn it! I could hear the sound of the papers and I wondered how long I would be stuck here for.

“What are you doing?” another male voice asked and this time I knew it was Blake.

“Nothing, I thought I saw a light on in here and I came to see if you were still up,” the male said. Blake came into the office and stopped on the other side of the desk.

“Where did you find those?” he asked, and I didn’t have to see him to know that he was angry.

“It was laying here,”

“What?” Blake moved around and the man pushed back his chair. He was now in a clear view and I recognized him as the male who ate with Blake. I stared at him, praying that he didn’t look my way because now he would see me easily. I saw Blake’s legs as he pulled open the drawer and shoved the letters back inside. “I don’t know how you opened that drawer but don’t do it again,” Blake warned him. The male nodded and then he did the one thing I had been hoping he wouldn’t. He looked my way and he spotted me. I shook my head and placed my finger over my lips. Please, please! He gave me a quick nod and looked away.

“I apologize,” he said as he stood up. “I won’t go through your personal things again,”

“Good,” Blake said. “Go on then,” the male walked around him and left the office. Blake pulled the chair closer and now I had to pray that he wouldn’t spot me. However, instead of sitting down like I had thought he would, he pushed the chair in. I could hear his footsteps and then the light went off and I heard the doors being closed. I stayed put as I listened closely. I relaxed a bit and slowly pushed the chair out. Finally, I was able to come out from my hiding spot and I moved as quietly as I could to the doors. I pressed my ear up against it and waited. When I didn’t hear anything on the other side, I slowly opened the door and stuck my head out. When I didn’t see anyone, I made a mad dash out of there. My heart was racing and my whole body was shaking by the time I was back in the room I shared with Bailey. She was fast asleep as I kicked off my shoes and climbed up the ladder. I had been seen. Would he tell Blake? Would he confront me? I hoped not. I covered myself with the blanket and tried my best to fall asleep.

 ✩✩✩

“Where did you go last night?” Bailey asked me as she came out of the bathroom. I was sitting up in bed, but I felt as if I hadn’t slept at all. I was exhausted and worse, Bailey had noticed.

“Oh, um…” I was too tired to think of a lie and I shook my head as I said: “I went for a walk because I couldn’t fall asleep,”

“You shouldn’t do that,” she warned.

“No, s**t,” I mumbled out as I got out of bed.

“I mean it, Dawn, you don’t know anything,” she said seriously, and I stared at her, completely and utterly confused.

“What don’t I know?” I asked.

“These people…they…never mind, you wouldn’t believe me,” she said as she started preparing our morning coffee.

“No, tell me,” I pushed. I had a feeling she was going to tell me something interesting. After all, she had been working here for eight months already. Maybe I didn’t have to sneak around to get information.

“Well, these people aren’t human,” she whispered, and my mouth fell open as I realized that she thought she was telling me a big secret. “I mean, they transform into these big ass dragons,” she continued.

“Um…” I had no idea what to say but as I watched her stand up straight, I knew that she was expecting a different kind of reaction. I quickly gasped and grabbed onto her arm. “Have you seen it?” I asked in a disbelieving tone. Bailey brightened up and nodded eagerly. “Dragons! Woah, are you sure?”

“Yeah, the first time I saw it, I was so scared,” she admitted. “But then Josephine explained it to me,”

“What, what, tell me,” I pushed.

“She said that they are dragon shifters and that this is their den,” Bailey said with excitement. “I mean, it’s unreal,”

“For sure,” I took a step closer. “But are they all dragons?” I asked, putting some fear into my voice.

“No, not all of them. Blake and Kayne are dragons,” she informed me, and I nodded. “Josephine isn’t but her husband is,”

“Her husband?”

“Yeah, he was the second in command to the previous Lord,” she said, and I was thanking my lucky stars. Bailey had been here before Blake. She knew so much, and I had missed that. I wasn’t going to mess this up.

“Right, you were here, what was the previous Lord like?” I asked carefully.

“Rude, and disgusting. When I first started here, things were a lot different. Josephine was in charge of everything and she acted like the Queen. Anyway, I’m not sure what happened but then one day there was a whole bunch of old dudes and they took the Lord and his second in command away. Josephine told us not to worry and about a week later, Blake and Kayne showed up. That’s when I saw them shift into dragons. I freaked out, of course,”

“You must’ve been so scared,” I said softly, playing into my role.

“I was and that’s why you can’t go walking around here at night, you don’t know what you may see,” she said as she turned away and finished making our coffee. Without realizing it, Bailey had given me a bit of information that was somewhat useful. Now all I had to do was find out what the previous Lord had done, who the old dudes were, and what Josephine was hiding. Easy peasy. Right? I quickly turned away from Bailey to send an update to Cora. I needed more information but for now, this had to be enough.