Banished || An Original Story || By - TheLostWriters

Chapter 3 - "I didn't leave it, that's for sure!"

Louisa had walked McKayla all the way to the dining hall, passing by the maids milling through the castle wordlessly, the maids all ducking their heads as to not make eye contact. Mick had always felt a little bad for them—their poor necks!

At least they're being paid to do this.

When they arrived at the long, mahogany dining table, Louisa swiftly made her way to the kitchen, seemingly to direct the chefs. Mick, on the other hand, sat down in her designated chair, right next to where her father sat at the head of the table.Well, where he would usually sit. His kingly duties had been keeping him for much longer than it used to—much longer than it should, in McKayla's royal opinion.

Mick glanced around the room for a moment, before her eyes landed on a sheepish looking maid stood idly in the corner, evidently waiting for new orders.

"Where is my father?" Mick asked curiously. It seemed that that question was asked more and more lately.

"I-I'm not sure, your highness." She said, her hands folded clumsily together, not looking up from her shoes. Not in the practiced pose of an experienced maid, either, Mick noted.

She nodded thoughtfully, letting a comfortable silence fall over the two of them. Abruptly, she glanced back at the maid, catching her gaze. The maid swiftly ducked her head again, her face turning beet red.

"You know, you're allowed to look at me," Mick said blithely, "just not my father."

A small wave of relief seemed to wash over the girl, as her posture loosened an almost imperceptible amount.

"What's your name? I'm not sure I've seen you around the castle before. Are you new?" McKayla asked with a quizzical head-tilt.

"My name is Alison Reaves. And yes, I just started last week, Princess." The maid—now known as Alison responded, a smile creeping onto her face.

"Alison Reaves." Mick parroted under her breath, committing it to memory.

Suddenly, Louisa came back out with several maids behind her, all holding a tray filled with assorted pancake toppings. Louisa herself placed a plate stacked high with pancakes in front of McKayla

Mick had eaten slower than usual today in an attempt to save some pancakes for Retreo. Though she must not have been as slick as she thought she was being, because most of the maids and butlers around her wore troubled expressions, wondering if they had made her breakfast wrong this morning—what they didn't know was that she merely a strange guest to feed.

Mick stood up after quite some time, figuring now was a better time than ever to make her grand escape.

"I think I'd like to eat the rest of this in my room, thank you." She said while lifting her plate off the table, delicately holding it as to not drop it. McKayla had never been known as clumsy, but it's better safe than sorry, especially when someone is expecting something from you.

The maids nodded understandingly and started cleaning the dining hall.

As Mick walked down the hall uneventfully, she spotted a little fluffy animal.

McKayla had always had a soft spot for animals, especially cats, and was elated when she discovered that her father had gotten a cat to hunt the mice around the maid's quarters all those years ago. Unfortunately, the aforementioned cat usually skulked around the castle halls instead.

Kacela, the cat who always managed to stand with more elegance and grace than Mick could ever even hope for was currently preoccupied actually doing their job for once—stiffly sitting right outside a mouse hole. Suddenly, she sniffed the air and turned her head to Mick. 

"Mmm, pancakes.." she murmured wistfully.

"I'm sorry, Kacela, but you can't have any." McKayla said with an apologetic smile.

"I know..." Kacela said hanging her head solemnly

"But you can follow me, if you'd like."

"Yeah, no, I've got rats to destroy."

"Of course you'd say that."

Kacela gave her a strange, contemplating look. Even stranger only by the fact that it was a cat giving her this look. "Are you actually... talking-talking to me..?"

McKayla gave a kind smile and nodded, giggling at the awestruck expression on Kacela's face.

"Okay, maybe these dumb rats can wait. I know where they live anyway." Kacela said flippantly, getting up from her spot next to the rat burrow to meander over to Mick. Mick could hear squeaky cheers of triumph from deep inside the hole.

"So where are you going with those pancakes?"

"To my room."

"M'kaaaaay... Also, while this is out and in the open, the name's Tito. Not Kacela."

"Duly noted." Mick said with a small smile and a playful eyeroll.

The two walked silently to Mick's chambers, any passersby assumed that Kacela- I mean- Tito was just following her so she could beg for the pancakes, and that was partly true.

When they arrived at McKayla's room, both of their jaws dropped. Tito recovered faster and hissed at the raccoon she saw.

Dirt smeared on the floor, bedsheets strewn where they weren't supposed to be, and an entire shelf full of books that had every single book turned spines facing in, among other things.

Retreo admired his handiwork while giddily snatching the plate of pancakes out of Mick's hands, leaving her to flounder for words.

"What did you do.. to my room?!" Mick cried

"I didn't leave it, that's for sure!"

Written by Daisy
Word count: 911