Though her body backed the men, Melina heard the remark Sir Julian gave and cautiously attempted to turn around to see who he was referring to as the 'prey'.
Her subtle action didn't go unnoticed by Sir Julian and he smiled mischievously, his eyes scanning her entire body in intrigue. This one was really pretty. How come he didn't take note of her at the ceremony?
I mean he did take note of her but he was distracted by Alice and later on the commotion. She would have been the perfect one for last night but there was nothing to worry about, believed Julian. There was still time and he had two more nights to spend on the palace grounds. He still had time to make his moves.
Catching Julian and Ethan still running their eyes through the girl, Maxwell cleared his throat to catch their attention.
"We should leave now. Prince Leon has ordered a court meeting to be held this evening before nightfall." The first son of Lord Zuko informed them.
"Of course, you can still stroll alone in the garden if you wish. But Ethan and I have to go," Maxwell added to Julian when he saw the hesitant look on the man's face and Julian returned his statement with a glare.
He was aware of what Maxwell was trying to say, considering how only he and Ethan were chieftains among them and Leon had only chosen his brother Vitale to serve him at the court.
"It is a matter of luck, Maxwell. Do not feel too important because you were one of the chosen. We all have a reputation in our family and it is not because he felt one to be better than the other. He simply chose Vitale to be a chieftain." Sir Julian needlessly ranted, thinking his word would have an impact on the cool-headed man in front of him who merely smiled at him.
"True. I should be lucky," Maxwell nodded his head in sarcasm, inducing Ethan to giggle.
"Oh, the day you both would ever get along," Lord Ethan said in a wistful tone as he looked up, shaking his head.
Yes, it may have been immaculately out of random picks that they were given their position but even Ethan knew Julian was too frivolous to serve as a chieftain. He was already aware Leon would never choose him to be part of his league. So it only made Julian's behaviour presently more embarrassing.
They all left in silence after the petty controversy but that did not take Julian's mind away from the young girl he had seen earlier.
He had set his eyes on her and he would make sure he at least, got a taste of her, he noted down with a smug smile plastered on his face. Even if it was for one night.
Melina, on the other hand, looked around her, endeavouring to know who Julian had been talking about, wondering if it was her.
'Oh, it couldn't be' her head kept telling her. Why would anyone take an interest in her? She had hidden her presence well enough by minding her business right? She looked around again but noticed very few maidens on this side of the garden as it was mostly male servants, watering the plants or levelling the grass.
After a long while of pruning, Melina had to admit there was nothing like an easy task in the palace. Everything was done to the core only making the servants frustrated. She noticed her slightly discoloured hand that held dirt in it, rubbing her other hand on the muddy area to clean it off.
Hadn't she been the one earlier wishing she would get this type of task in the palace because it seemed fun and unstressful? Well now, she had come to realize that all that glitter wasn't gold. No task was easy and it had been ascertained by her.
She only discovered it was already evening when she was through as she had been too focused on finishing the job so she could eventually leave the garden. She dropped the tool she used with the gardener before disappearing from there and going to the washroom to clean her hands and other parts of her body where debris of dirt was shown.
She checked the scarf she had washed earlier and when she was sure it was dry, she slipped it into her dress pocket so she could give it to Tynan anytime she came across him. Seemingly, it resembled he wasn't back from the camp or whatever he had gone for, she presumed.
On her way out of the sundeck, she mistakenly collided with Ms. Carlos who wore her glasses, which were knocked off from the forceful collision.
She gasped, "I'm sorry, Ms. Carlos! I didn't see you coming, please forgive me!" She ran to pick up the eyeglasses with cylindrical lenses that fortunately didn't break, giving it back to her.
Her apology was so quick that even Ms. Carlos did not have time to process what happened and when she did, Melina saw the look of annoyance on the woman's face. She was sure she would have gotten some lashes if the woman had been with her whip.
However, she saw how the woman's annoyed expression turned into something passive as her hardened look cooled down. It was probably because Melina had apologized with urgency.
"What are doing here by now? Aren't you supposed to be working in the garden?" the woman asked with her usual sternness, eyeing Melina suspiciously.
"I...err...c-came to wash my hands. I'm done with my task in the garden," Melina answered with composure as she held on tightly to her dress with her sweaty palms, nervous about what the mean woman would do next.
"I see," Carlos muttered as she gripped the front frame of her glasses, wearing it back and pushing it up the bridge of her nose. "You finished earlier than the others"
"Yes, I did," Melina said, lowering her gaze as if knowing what the woman would say next. Tension filled her as she wished it wasn't what she was thinking.
"The library hasn't been cleaned for a while. There are some dusty stacks of books there and the Prince would not be using the place for now, so go clean them. I do not want you idle," she ordered the girl who always caused trouble for her and Melina knew her dread had come to pass.
"Yes, Ms. Carlos," she bowed in agreement before leaving the woman's sight. Though her expression stoic, her insides were boiling at the thought of another task. Not to mention, it would likely take all night before she would clean that place properly.
'Just kill me...' she murmured under her breath. She was better off dead than in this condition.
Carlos observed the retreating figure before her until it was out of sight. A crease formed in between her brows, a bit surprised that the girl seemed much more behaved unlike before when she grumbled or showed no sign of remorse for colliding against someone.
'At least, my discipline is doing something,' she remarked in her head as she left the scenery, walking to the other corridor and the next when someone ambushed her.
"What is wrong!-" She was about to complete her sentence when she gazed at the person who stood in front of her with an aloof expression.
"Oh..." her voice automatically lowered on seeing the elite.
"Nice to see you, Sir Julian. What brings you to the servant's quarters?" she bowed her head as she asked the man in front of her, wondering what he was looking for here.