"Are you okay, miss?" Telma asked Melina, looking genuinely concerned.
"Telma..." She called him, remembering his name from that night at the infirmary when the guards had shouted it.
"Telma, is it not?" She asked just to be sure and she saw him nod.
Melina's face contorted in horror when she looked down at the ground again and didn't see her shadow.
She was still cloaked with the spell. How could he see her?
However, Telma, oblivious to the situation simply gave her a curt smile, "Are you lost?" He questioned.
Melina withdrew the torch in her hand since this part of the corridor she stood in was very illuminated.
"I-I... no! I'm..." She searched for the words but couldn't find them.
Looking around this alley, she realized she had barely been to this place before except when she was shown around the palace as a maidservant.
"I just missed my way..." She told him, forcing a smile, "I think this is the east wing. I was looking for the west wing." She explained, gesturing her hand to the corridor she had just passed.
That was the only reasonable thing she could think of and both the west and east wing were quite similar if one didn't know it well.
"Oh... the west wing..." Telma mused, blinking at her quite unusually.
"Yes," she replied, "I...would be on my way now," her sheepish voice came out as she immediately turned around but Telma grabbed hold of her arm, halting her.
"Um...sorry, may I ask, miss, what is your name?" He raised a brow at her with urgency, seeing how she was ready to sprint away from here.
Melina could feel her heart beating. If this man could see her and was infested by dark magic, even ended up waking up from the dead... Was he perhaps asking her name to report her?
Did he know...
She cleared her throat, feeling her heart thumping loudly in her chest, "My name is Nikita. I'm just a servant, similar to you." Her voice came out rugged because of her anxiety.
"Nikita...I see...Nice to meet you..." He stretched his hand forward but Melina refused to take it and she gave him a subtle smile instead.
"Sorry, I need to go," she said and just like that, she vanished to the other corridor.
When she was out of sight, Telma gaped at his outstretched hand which was still in it's earlier position before bringing it back to his sides.
"Nikita..." He called slyly and rubbed his hand on his chin, his expression grim.
Meanwhile, Melina didn't look back as she continued in her race, this time though, back to her room.
She didn't dare go to the dragoness again after the little confrontation she just had. What if Telma had been following her?
Was he really human or was he something else?
She didn't know what it was about him but she knew he was not acting right and that was why she didn't give him her real name.
Nikita has been a thorn in her flesh for long now. There was no harm in seeing how impersonating her would turn out.
She reached a corner where no one could see her and like before, she dropped the cloaking spell again, seeing her shadow come back to life again as well as the torch in her hand.
It was still unbelievable to her how she could use her powers even though she's used it now repeatedly.
The only problem was she barely had time for herself, talkless of practising to perfect her magic. That would be unrealistic considering the dangers surrounding it.
It was better to contain her curiousity than find out what it could do to her I stead.
Dropping the torch, she entered her quarters and straight to her room, silently praying those two brats were not yet inside.
To her dismay, however, she was graced with their presence the moment she opened the door and her heart sank immediately.
Nikita and Leanna sat facing each other, both appeared to be knitting something and their expression turned sour as they saw her.
She didn't say a word to them. Instead, she went peacefully to her side of the room.
Raising her hand to her ponytail, she pulled the ribbon and dropped her red hair loose then repacked it for it to stay put while she would sleep.
Though, she attempted to ignore it, the death stares she was getting from the two in the room made her uncomfortable.
"Ahem!" One of them cleared their throats, drawing Melina's attention.
It was Nikita, "Did you see the ugly redhead alone in the garden with the king this morning?" She asked Leanna who seemed to follow along with the theme.
Petite with her curly blonde hair, Leanna snickered. "Of course, I did. Because she works as a personal maid to His Highness now, she thinks she's worthy of his attention and can seduce him!" She set the fabric in her hand as she continued her needlework.
Melina could not hide her distaste at their statement.
She was aware they were talking about her encounter with the king this morning while she bad been pruning.
"I know, right?" Nikita continued the banter. "She's nothing but a lowly maid. She seems to have forgotten her place." She gave Melina the dirty look but Melina avoided her gaze.
"Perhaps she thinks warming the King's bed would make her any better than us and improve her station." Leanna's eyes sparkled with cruelty and Nikita laughed mockingly.
The redhead finally looked their way hearing that statement and for a second, she fought the urge to glare at them menacingly.
So now, serving the king meant that he was bedding her? She scoffed.
These two only wanted a reaction from her. She wouldn't give them that satisfaction.
"I'd love to see how the king thwarts her away when he's done and satisfied with her. She'd be thrown back to her horrible status!" Nikita chimed, also throwing Melina the dirty look.
Melina noticed how these days, they only attacked her verbally. It was like they knew she now possessed super powers because she was certain she wouldn't mind provoking that side of her when things turned physical.
They ranted endlessly, saying untrue things about her just to reel her up but she made sure to control herself, not giving in to the allure of attacking them.
Finally, when they didn't receive any reaction from Melina, the two brats kept their mouth shut and let the room go quiet.
Melina prepared herself for bed and carefully lay on the floor, resting her head painfully on the cold ground. It was thoroughly uncomfortable.
She looked up at the mattress where the two girls lay comfortably and her face churned, her eyes stinging for a second.
If only she could just switch their sleeping positions for tonight... just tonight.
She closed her eyes, unable to sleep.
With the pressing matter of Kilgharrah still on her mind and her newfound work as personal maid to the king who seemed to find it unprovoking, revealing his 'manhood' like that, her mind was very active until no longer could her body keep up and she drifted to sleep.
___
Dawn came quite quickly for servants and they had no choice but to listen to its call.
Melina opened her eyes to be greeted by the soft gentle light creeping over the horizon. It was still dark but there was calm and peace...something she always wished.
However, that wasn't the only thing that caught her attention. She felt the comfort of a soft pillow below her head and a comfortable mattress beneath her body.
Her eyes fluttered as she raised her head slightly from the pillow, connecting her surroundings slowly.
She found herself on the warm bed...where she had not fallen asleep. This was Nikita's and Leanna's space.
How was she on it?
She furrowed her brows in confusion as she raised her upper body well enough to see the floor beneath her mattress, curious to what had happened... and there she saw a sleeping Nikita and Leanna on the same cold ground she had slept last night.
It appears they were not even aware... just sleeping soundly in discomfort.