My stomach dropped, and Hooked at Abble, who seemed shocked to see me, but remained quiet. She
reached over and gripped my fingers with hers, The King stood at the front where I saw 13 fresh graves
dug, he stared off vacantly toward the path leading to the surrounding forest. I could only see the side of
him, but he must have sensed my stare because he turned his head and looked at me. His eyes met
mine, and my heart sputtered in my chest; he then turned his gaze away like I was merely another
servant or member of the public.
Time seemed to stop, and I sucked in a breath when I saw the open graves that had been freshly dug. I
peered around before seeing a succession of coffins being carried to the gravesites where the King
stood. I had no idea what had happened, but one thing was clear to me. Most of the coffins belonged to
children. They weren’t large enough to be adults, Four of them, I could tell, were adult sized coffins, but
the other nine were children’s coffins.
The guards carrying them stopped by a grave and set them down before music started playing from the
violinist I hadn’t noticed was at the side by the water. It was complete silence while I waited for the coffins
to be lowered into each grave. Nobody spoke. We merely watched, Something had happened; that much
was apparent. I wondered briefly if this was where the King had gone. If so, when did he return to
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtorganize all this?
When it finished and the coffin were laid to rest. A horn blared again, and after a few minutes, everyone
started climbing the hill and leaving, The place was packed, However, I noticed the King remained, Abbie
grabbed my arm and tugged me up the hill, back toward the castle, I could feel she was almost vibrating
beside me, squeezing my hand like she couldn;t believe I was holding it. We went back in through the
laundry, following Clarice. The moment I stepped inside, I was crushed between the two of them as they
smothered me in their warmth.
“You’re back?” Abbie gushed while squeezing me tight, Clarice cupped my face in her hands, her eyes
teary, and she let out a breath. I went to ask what happened when the King suddenly stepped into the
laundry. His scent hit me like a brick to the face and stunned me.
“Get back to work,” the King snapped at us before stalking past us without so much as a backward
glance, I swallowed and stared after him as he went through the kitchens, Gannon and Damian followed
after him as he left without acknowledging my existence. I bit the inside of my lip. The pain helped the
pang of hurt that coursed through my chest as the metallic taste of my blood washed over my tongue.
“He will come around,” Clarice tells me, gripping my shoulder, but I was sick of hearing it. Sick of losing
days to a bond he broke, I wasn’t going to wait around and hide in my room for him, Nope, I would keep
busy, and everything can go back to how it was. Just me and Abbie against the world, the way it used to
be. So with that, I grabbed some cleaning supplies, ignoring Clarice’s protests that I wasn’t a servant,
and followed Abbie to help her do her chores which she was excited about, Finally, l was doing
something other than wallowing and hiding away from everyone, Abbie told me the King returned
yesterday morning and spent the day hand digging the graves himself, refusing help when the guards
tried to step in and take over. He apparently spent the night destroying his room before Damian had
dragged him off to train with the guards.
The day passed by quickly as we busied ourselves, and it felt good to move around, using muscles !
barely used in days, However, Abbie became antsy and jittery towards the end of the day.
“Are you okay?” I asked her as she practically bounced on her feet. Gannon growled behind us. He had
been following us around for most of the day; I didn’t know if he chose to or if Gannon was ordered to
follow us by the King. I wasn’t sure, and I never asked. If the King was going to pretend I didn’t exist, that
was fine, but I wasn’t waiting around for him to change his mind any longer.
Clarice sighed and looked over at her, where we stood on the other side of the kitchen counter. Clarice
rolled her eyes before speaking. “Go on then,” she said with a dismissive wave. Abbie squealed before
grabbing me, pecking my cheek, and rushing off out of the kitchen.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm
‘Wait, where are you going?” I called after her, but she was already gone and out of earshot. I turned to
Clarice, and she clucked her tongue and shook her head.
“You should head up to your room, Ivy. I will send someone up with your dinner,” Clarice told me and my
brows furrowed, and I turned to look at Gannon. He was glaring at the wall above our heads. Clarice
cleared her throat, which appeared to snap him out of the homicidal stare off he was having.
“Right, I will escort her up,” Gannon says, but I wave him off. Only he insisted on following. When I
reached the top of the staircase, I noticed Damian coming out of the King’s room with a tray. He started
walking toward us, but I quickly rushed off to find my room before locking myself in with a sigh. Abbie and
I had fixed the room up and cleaned it earlier today, but I was met with silence as I sat on the sofa in
front of the fireplace. This room was too big to just sit in by yourself.
The silence surrounding me was deafening and after a few hours of absolute silence. I went in search of
Abbie’s small room, which I knew was in Beta Damian’s quarters. However, when I reached the lower
level and found her room, her bed was empty. Abbie’s small room was much like the one I was originally
in when I was still the King’s servant. Her scent perfumed the room and brought me comfort, so curling
up on her bed, I waited for her to return.