At the time of dunner, every person of the royal family was seated at the dining room. The king had taken the head seat while his mother and sister sat next to him, each on the opposite side and his younger brother who seemed to be thirteen had taken a seat next to his mother. Lady Andrea sat next lady Clara and once the food was served, the young prince broke the silence.
"Lucas, is it true that there were rogue were wolves at the border? I thought that those creatures were extinct."
The boy did not receive the answer from his older brother but from his mother who had just placed her fork back on an empty plate. "They are not extinct. It's just that they are banned from this kingdom jack."
With his mother's reply, the boy continued eating his food but his mother did not stop at that.
"Lucas, lady Andrea will be with us until tomorrow afternoon. Why don't you show her around before she leaves." Lucas who was drinking blood from the glass continued gulping it down until the last drop placed the glass back on the table so that he could comment on his mother's words whereby Andrea straightened her back a little while eager to hear his answer.
"I don't think that the king's job is to show women around when there are so many people to do that." Turning to look at Andrea he asked.
"Isn't that right milady?" Andrea had hoped that the king would spend time with her during the visit but the only time they had talked was in the afternoon at the drawing room and that could not be counted as a proper conversation. Now that he had turned down her indirect request, her mood turned dump but she managed to fake a smile which did not reach her eyes. She would not give up on him just because he refused to show her around. Besides, he was the king which meant he had a lot to do. Andrea tried to encourage herself.
She had had her eyes on the man ever since she was sixteen when they had visited an event at her mother's close friend. Though she tried much to speak to him alone, it was totally impossible because he was surrounded by women and men who tried to gain favours from him. Now that he had known her by name she would make sure that she would have what she had always desired for.
Once the dinner ended, the first people to leave the table were lady Victoria who took her son along with her followed by Clara who left the king in the company of Andrea and the two didn't speak until the lady decided to initiate a conversation. "Did those attacks leave much damage."
Wanting to show her concern on the matters of the kingdom, she asked. After all she would be the queen one day.
"No." Came the king's curt reply as he took a bite from the last piece of meat he had on his plate. He knew what the girl was trying to do but he was not in a mood to flatter or play games with anyone.
He did not wait for her to utter any other word as he got up from his seat leaving Andrea alone.
At the other side of the palace where the servants used to take their meals, the servants sat on the carpet while eating their meal merrily just as they usually did. Rose did not contribute in the conversation but she was sure to laugh every time something funny was said. Once they were done with their meal, two female servants and a boy who seemed to be around seventeen collected all the plates while the others started to head to their rooms and Rose being new, she decided to wait for Stella so that they would go together but before they could leave the butler showed up and the people who were still speaking turned quiet immediately they saw him.
"Rose, come with me." Saying that, he walked out of the room and Rose quickly followed him behind. "It seemed that she would keep on following people behind." She thought with pursed lips.
Once they got into the kitchen, the butler opened a cabinet that was slightly above the kitchen counter where he removed a small black container. "Get me a glass of warm water."
Walking to the other side of the kitchen where there was a clay pot filled with hot water, she fetched half a glass and added cold water to cool it and walked back to where the butler was holding a small purple pill on a spoon. Handing over the glass to the butler, she saw him put the pill into the water which now started to change from it's colourless state and turned to deep red making it look like wine. "Take it to the king's room." Rose who seemed to be a little in daze took the glass into her hand and walked out of the kitchen.
Rose who had not forgotten the way to the king's room walked through the corridors until she came to stand in front of the king's room. Knocking twice without any response, she wanted to go back to the kitchen but on a second thought, she pushed the doors open and walked into the dark room in which the only source of light was a lone candle that was placed on the night stand beside the large bed.
With careful steps, she walked near the window where their was a couch and a table and placed the glass on the table. Not wanting to be found in the room by the king, she quickly walked out of the room. Once she was out, she turned around with quick steps until she reached her room where she found Stella braiding her hair while waiting for her.
"Does the butler like you that much? When I was new here the man never spared a glance on me." Stella asked teasingly.
"What! No!" Rose replied while closing the door.