Trina's POV
I listened closely, absorbing his words like a sponge so that I would not miss any detail.
The old man seemed to know exactly how to manipulate the situation to my advantage.
He left nothing behind.
By the time he was done, I was wowed by his evil nature.
"I mean," I laughed. "I have never thought of it this way. How do you even know all of this?"
"We elders have our moments when we help those in need. You, my dear, seemed like you needed my help."
He wasn't wrong. But then I got suspicious.
"Why are you helping me?" I asked. "You haven't spoken to me before apart from the regular hi's and hello's. So why now?"
"Well, you see, I've had my eye on a particular position in the throne room and if I can get that position I would be a very happy man. But I can't get it since some people also have their eye on it."
"So you want me to look into it for you and tell the prince about how good you've been to me?"
He laughed. "The way you put it was weird but I'll be glad if you do."
I nodded and watched him stand to his feet.
"You know where to find me if this works, or doesn't work. Either way, I'll be at the bar in town. Make sure to bring only good news."
I nodded and waved to him as we walked towards the gate and left me alone at the garden to think of all he had said.
He was right. I had to make sure she felt uncomfortable in this place.
I waited for the prince to be on a mission which would last two days by his father before ordering her to perform menial tasks, such as scrubbing floors and cleaning the most neglected corners of the palace even while blind.
I made sure her meals were lacking in quality, her bed uncomfortable and had my maids infest her bed with bugs.
With each passing day, I expected the maid's spirit to wither, her once bright eyes to dull with resignation, for her to become a mere shadow of her former self, but from what I could see it looked like she glowed even more which had me fuming in rage.
One evening, as I watched the maid toil away in the dimly lit corridor, her hands raw and bleeding from the constant scrubbing while her cane laid beside her, I couldn't help but feel a surge of satisfaction.
My plan had worked, and soon she would be nothing more than a distant memory.
But as I smiled in my victory, I noticed that she didn't care and throughout my victory time she had not even cried or given a whelp of pain.
She had done everything without acting like she was disturbed. I was beginning to think she even enjoyed my punishment.
Little by little, after the prince was back from his mission the servants spoke in hushed tones, their eyes filled with pity as they slowly took the woman's side.
I started to hush them from saying anything as I didn't want the prince to know.
***
One evening, as I prepared for dinner, I received a message from Prince Kirigan. He requested my presence in his study, an urgent matter that required my attention.
"Well, well," I smiled while my maids looked at me with pride in their eyes. "I guess the prince does need me after all."
Intrigued, I made my way through the hallways, my heart pounding in anticipation.
I started to think that he would ask for my hand in marriage or something of that sort.
After all, it wasn't uncommon for there to be an engagement in this kind of way.
As I entered the study, I found Prince Kirigan standing there, his face filled with concern. But what caught my attention was the figure standing beside him, the maid, her eyes were down to the ground as she couldn't see with them but if they had life they would be filled with fire I had not seen before.
I immediately gulped as I knew that she had said something terrible to the prince.
"Trina," the prince greeted me, his voice strained. "I have called you here to discuss a matter of utmost importance."
I glanced at the maid, my eyes narrowing in suspicion. "And what does she have to do with this?"
He sighed, his gaze shifting between the two of us. "It has come to my attention that the maid has been subjected to mistreatment and cruelty within these walls. I cannot simply ignore such blatant injustice."
My heart skipped a beat, panic coursing through my veins. How had he found out? How had he seen through my carefully woven web?
"You don't understand, Kirigan," I pleaded, my voice filled with desperation. "She is lying. No matter what she says, do not listen to her."
My heart sank as I realized that all my efforts had been in vain. The prince had chosen to believe the maid, to side with her against me. The room seemed to spin around me as I struggled to understand the magnitude of my defeat.
"Trina, I've heard what the maids have said when I returned from the other kingdom," he said. "And it doesn't speak highly of you to maltreat someone I had said was blind."
"I already told you that I didn't do it."
"And I'm trying to believe you but the entire maid squad can't all be lying against you."
"And what if they were?"
He held his hand up. "Look, I'm trying to be nice here Trina, but just know that one more terrible mistake, one slip up, and we are through. We will no longer be together and you will have to leave the palace."
That was a threat I knew the prince would keep if he ever found out that I was against the maid. I had to be careful.