Valerie

Chapter Six

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"One day, I'll wake up, look in the mirror and there be no soul in my eyes. I fear that more than what you'll do to me."

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I should've known from the second I woke that there was something off about the morning. First, the wind was coming in from the East, nipping at the trees, slapping the palace curtains with great, sweeping gusts. The sky held heavy, held low. It would not only rain, but storm.

That day, I was set not to work in the library, but in a sitting room. A royal sitting room. The sprawling palace had designated spaces. An apartment suite for the Luna, another for the Alpha King, rooms for princes and princesses and suites for the favorites of the royals. Everyone else would only be given a room. Poor babies, only given a room and a bed worth more than my life.

I quite hated cleaning royal sitting rooms. They had more items to dust, more pillows to beat. And everything had to be treated with a delicate hand. Afterall, these couches and sofas had a higher station in life than I did.

I was dusting the mantle, with an eye on the door every one in awhile, waiting. But the King had not requested me. He would not know I was there. Maybe. I couldn't be sure. And I couldn't be comfortable therefore.

Comfortable. The word made my chest hurt. Because it made me miss Hilla. The other girls, the older girls, like me are nothing like Hilla. Hilla still had a spark, a fire, after three long years. And three years of Weres, their rites, their moon, their pit-fights--it could suck the life right out of you.

A memory drifted through my head, one so blurry it hardly made sense. Was I new to the orphanage? Or was it shortly after my parents' funeral? I only remembered the flickering fire in my face and the hazy figure of a woman telling ghost tales. Werewolf tales.

"They don't drink blood. But they dabble in rituals. They have the one goddess--the moon god. But they do have such a large collection of heroes and demigods. Alphas a hair's breadth from divinity. Have fear. Always have fear."

I was so engrossed in the memory, I didn't hear the door click open.

Or maybe it was because he was fast. He'd always been too fast for me.

Fingers landed on my shoulders and arms came around my chest. "I have a surprise for you."

Dread. I became gray-washed in dread.

"Good morning, Your Majesty."

"I said I have a surprise for you."

"Thank you."

"You haven't even seen what it is yet."

"It's not matter. Anything is enough." I wanted to go back to cleaning. I wanted to peel his fingers off my skin. He spun me around, his eyes carving into my skin.

"You're quite bony, Valerie. Were you born this way?"

"Yes, sir."

His eyes narrowed and I counted the seconds in my head. One, two, three--he was still staring at me. Four, five, six--the Were Madame would beat me if I was late. Seven, eight, nine--but the bruises wouldn't show so badly on my dark skin. Ten, eleven, twelve--no one would care if I walked around with bruises, anyway, would they?

"You're distracted," he murmured. "This can wait. It'll only be a few minutes"

A light flickered to life in my head. Really. "Yes, thank you. I must finish. And soon."