"You will do as you are told to do." She commands and pushes her forward to leave. Normally, she should have told Zoe to apologize to the king but knowing how rebellious she is, it would only start another outburst and she knew just how important the lady was to the king, she couldn't let him end her life in a moment of anger.
Zoe didn't have a choice and angrily threw the napkin to the floor right in front of Maximus shining designer shoes. She gave him one last glare before stomping away from his sight. Maximus couldn't believe what she had just done and turned around to watch the lady angrily stomp away from him. The gray image he was seeing in his vision was swifty moving away before it turned the corner. He reminded himself that he would punish Zoe for this. Nothing could stop him.
Angrily, Zoe stomped to the East kitchen disregarding the surprised and amazed looks she got from workers as she maneuvered her way to the kitchen. What makes Maximus powerful? What does the man rely on that made him so confident that no one would try to go against him?
Exactly what sort of powers does he possess to have such arrogant and unkind nature ?
Entering the kitchen, she had barely gotten a word out when one of the kitchen workers Mary, whom she was friends with had praised. "Zoe Zoe...darling daring Zoe. Gotten into trouble again?" Mary wipes a plate and passes it to Dan. Another worker she was friends with.
"I never look for trouble. '' She rolled her sleeves and attempted to help but Mary quickly raised a hand in protest.
"Thank you very much but no. I can't believe you called the king a dog!" She lowered her voice and playfully nudged Zoe in the stomach.
Surprised, she moved closer to the lady who was wiping the wet dishes. "How did you know? It just happened."
Mary chuckles. "News travels fast in OO1." She let out a sigh and advised. "If I am to be honest with you, you are pushing your luck with his highness too much. I get that you two like to bicker like an old married couple..." Zoe gave her a look of disgust and Mary playfully smiled. "The King is not that patient of a man. You haven't been here for long so you don't know, but you will soon run out of luck and when you do, you will be killed."
"In a gruesome manner." Dan added.
Zoe did not think Maximus would go that far so she waved it off. She might not have her family supporting her but he wouldn't dare take the life of a member of a family he had signed a truce with, would he? "I doubt it. He wouldn't call trouble for himself." She was confident in that area.
Mary left the dishes and turned to face her. "It is tragic that you are in this position because of the help you have offered to the king. I understand that you are supposed to be ruling your own people and you still find it unbelievable that you, who is to be a ruler, is being ruled by someone."
"Dictated." She corrects. Maximus isn't a ruler, the man is more of a dictator. A tyrannical, sadistic dictator.
"His highness doesnt give the slightest fuck about who you are or where you come from. You need to start accepting your new life now. If the owner of 001 were to one day get fed up and kill you, your family wouldn't be able to do a thing. Whatever truce the Lupus and the Athena family had in the past was broken the minute his highness brought you in. They want you dead anyway, so it wouldn't matter to them. The only reason you are alive and breathing is thanks to the king. Don't bite more than you can chew girl. There is a fine line between getting punished and getting killed now."
Zoe who has been bombarded with these words didn't know how to respond and watched Mary go back to wiping the dishes. There was no evident evidence that Maximus broke the truce except that she knew she had helped him in OO1. And that OO1 in Greece was the only place Maximus was allowed power. To be more precise, they didn't consider it part of Greece at all. Now, to everyone, it appears as if the King had broken the truce to save her from getting killed. Something that earned him enough points to be in their good books. Except hers.
"Mary is right, you know." Dan chips in. "It would be a tragedy if a beauty like you were to die so soon. Miss those freckles." Mary nudged him in the stomach and gave him a look to be serious. "Ya lucky ya know. People who seek refuge in OO1 have two fates. And both lead to becoming workers or head workers. You are either thrown in to be a servant immediately, or you sleep with the King if lucky enough and become a head worker later once his highness is done toying with you."
Zoe scrunched her nose at the thought of anyone sleeping with Maximus. Disgusting. She thought.
"But then, here you are, with a huge comfortable bed and room in the East Palace. The East Palace of all places. Only the king stays in the East palace." Which was true. Even at her family mansion, the East was always for the head priestess and where her aunt and the other three priestess stayed. It was when she started to live here that she found out that only Maximus lives in the East palace.
Lady Luminita and Madam Cardboard stayed in the South palace. The North was for affairs of the state, country and important guests. The West was where the concubines and the head workers were.
"I just can't help but talk back. I have never met someone that evil, imposing and dictating."
"Now you have. Learn to live with it. The King is going against the whole court to save you from the hands of your own family. At least consider this fact and quit being so stubborn all the time." Mary adds getting frustrated. She didn't like the path Zoe was threading in. It would get her killed in a matter of a few days.
She knew the King that well.