Lady Victoria's forehead kept on contouring as she continued to read the contents in the letter and once she was done, she lifted her face to look at the maid who had a concerned look on her face. "Where did you get it and why did you bring it to me instead of taking it to the king?"
"I got it from the maid and when I went to show it to the king I was told that he was in the courtroom madame." Helena replied and with the intense gaze from lady Victoria, she looked down since it was considered rude to look at the employer in the eye.
"Tell Javier to bring the girl and if I find out that you are lying.....it won't end well with you."
"Okay milady."
Turning around to leave the room, Helena's blank face formed a smile as she headed towards the attic.
***********. ********. **********
Rose who had been dragged by the guard to one of the rooms that belonged to the royal family members came to stand in front of the mother queen. She had seen her once at Dawson's mansion and it was a face that she could never forget. Not that the woman did something bad to her, but because of how nice she was to her and to other servants. The lady was one of the few people from high society to whom Rose could tell that she possessed a humane soul.
Rose was brought back to reality when she heard soft shoe clicks heading towards her and even though she had the urge to raise her head, she couldn't and when the woman came to stand in front of her, she dismissed the guard and once the guard was gone, the lady finally spoke to her in an authoritative tone.
"Raise your head." It took seconds for those words to be registered in Rose's head and when she did as told, lady Victoria's eyes widened. It was her!
This was something that the lady had dreaded. Once Lucas would find out about her, it would be bad.
Due to unexpected shock with how the events turned out to be, the lady was short of words. One thing that she tried to convince herself was that Lucas did not know about all this because if he did, she would not be working as a maid. Maybe her death would ease up the situation! The lady thought with a deep breath and not long after, there was a knock at the door and the guard came in.
"Milady, the head maid is here."
"Send her in."
Rose had not uttered a word and was waiting for the queen mother to speak to her but she never did. With every second that passed, Rose's anxiety kept on increasing. Maybe if the lady spoke, it would ease her nerves that were on the verge of dying but instead of talking to her, the lady turned to speak to the head maid who had got into the room.
"Don't tell anyone else about her." Those words alarmed Rose and she quickly raised her head to ask. "Milady, did I do something wrong?" Though her words were polite, they were coated with fear.
"Yes.Coming here." It was a reply that she could not decipher but when she parted her lips to speak, the lady bit her to it by ringing a bell and the guard named Javier came in. "Take her to the cooler."
The guard grabbed her by the arm and started to drag her out of the room. She was not aware of what she did wrong and neither did she try to free herself from the guard's tight grip as they continued to walk through the corridors and once they were far away from the royal members quarters, they took a turn to the left as if heading towards the servants' quarters.
She did not know how far they had walked until they came to stand in front of a small door that was made of metal and the guard roughly let go of her hand into which she staggered but she finally got her balance. Once the guard opened the door, a cold breeze hit her face. She did not know what the cooler meant but now that she saw it, all she could think of was to run.
It was a small room that had no windows but that was not what scared her. The floor was covered in ice and even though she was not supposed to be thinking about this, she wondered how there was too much ice in here while it was spring season. Her thoughts that had drifted far away were brought back to reality when she heard the guard speak. "You seem to be so naïve when it comes to this. Let me make your death easier."
"What are you sa..._" Her words were left unfinished because the guard hit her so hard at the back of her head which made her lose her consciousness and when she fell on the hard marble floor, Javier removed her shoes and dragged her into the ice filled dark room by her hands.
**********. *********. **********
Darkness had taken over the land of Sitian when the king showed up through the front gates on his midnight black horse. He had gone out for some business and it took him longer than expected. Upon reaching the stables, he dismounted from the horse. His black hair had been disheveled by the wind and so was his white shirt that was untucked and the top two buttons were unbuttoned. Folding the sleeves of his shirt up to the elbows, he ran his hand through his hair and headed towards the kitchen.
It was almost midnight and other than the butler who was dozing off on the chair in the kitchen, there was no one else there and when Lincoln heard footsteps approaching, he clumsily got up and straightened his clothes.
"Good evening milord." The butler greeted with a bow into which Lucas acknowledged his greetings with a nod. He had been attacked by rogues on his way back which made him thirsty and neither was he in the mood to speak. "Bring my drink to my room." Saying that, he disappeared through the door.