Maverick lays on the bed with a white cloth wrapped around his head. Hatia seats beside him on the bed with her legs placed on the floor. Aidan leans on the drawer, arms crossed with a nonchalant look.
The door opens with King Edward walking in, he walks towards the bed and stands.
"What just happened here today Maverick?" He asks in a collected manner.
Maverick tries to get up and ends up groaning, he finally succeeds in sitting with his head leaning on the headboard.
"Dad, the simple explanation to the incident earlier is that Aidan walked into my room, and assaulted me to stop me from spending time with my mistress Zelda."
I cringe at the way he addressed me, 'my mistress...'
Aidan chuckles and unfolds his arms, "call her that one more time, and I'll give the servants the pleasure of knowing what your tongues tastes like. You sure know I keep my promises." He says in a cold voice.
Hatia furiously stands, walks over to Aidan and rants, "You have no fear standing here and threatening your brother after hitting him to pulp because of this, 'she says and points at me'. Besides he sought my permission to have her as one of his mistresses which I consented to, so what's your problem?!"
Aidan chuckles, folds his arms again and slowly walks around Hatia. "Who should I be fearful of, you or… Maverick? Funnily enough. You gave him your consent, so? That doesn't mean he has the right to touch her because she was bought by the Royal family in my name."
Hatia's eyes bulges, "what?!" She swiftly turns to Edward, walks over to him and asks, "When did the Royal family started buying servants in Aidan's name? It's meant to be in our name!" She shouts with emphasis on the 'Our'.
"I decided to relieve the both of us of some duties in the Royal affairs and hand them over to Aidan as the crown prince. He's of age, Hatia." Edward says calmly with one hand placed on her shoulder.
"You decided to relieve us of some duties and you didn't deem it fit to consult me?! You were meant to talk to me for crying out loud Edward!" She says angrily and storms off.
Edward stands there for a while, clears his throat and walks to Maverick, "The girl belongs to Aidan now Maverick. Neither you nor your mother has any right over her or any other bought servant here." He says coldly and leaves the room.
Aidan looks at him all over and walks to me. My heart thumps fast in my chest with thoughts of my fate in his hands.
*****
I sit on the edge of the bed in Aidan's chamber feeling queasy. His chamber has more intricate designs, miniature statues and is larger in size more than Maverick's and Hatia's, maybe owing to the fact that he's the crown prince and the future king.
His king's size bed has some carvings and gold design's on the bedposts, and the giant headboard is covered with a plush white cloth with gold buttons glued all over in an orderly manner. There's a vast table and a seat few inches from the bed which is covered with unarranged papers and a few meters from the bed, a full size mirror stands next to two doors by the side, I can guess one is a bathroom but have no idea what the other is for, maybe a closet.
I look around and admire the tasteful decorations which screams affluence. Suddenly, the door opens and Aidan walks in with a little box.
He sits beside me on the bed and gestures to my leg, "let me see it."
I then remember about the glass piece stuck to my thigh, I had no time to think about it due to the series of event that happened.
I shake my head declining, "I'm putting on a dress that stops just above my knee, I can't just lift my leg."
Immediately I apologize for my swift response. I can't help but feel comfortable expressing myself around him.
He chuckles and in a swift motion, grab my thigh, I struggle to free his grip on me which causes my clothes to pull up leaving my thigh bare, revealing the stuck glass piece… my mouth form an 'O' shape as I struggle to pull down my clothes, instead he grabs my hands with one hand and hold my thighs firmly with the other.
"Stay calm, this won't be long, but it will if you keep struggling. This might as well end up in another way if your dress pulls up again." he says in a calm serious voice.
I hold my breath and stop my movement at his last sentence. He chuckles and holding my thigh pulls me closer. I hiss in pain.
He makes me lean on the headboard, and draws closer to me until his face is few inches apart from mine. He lightly blows air on my neck which causes me to shiver and he locks his gaze with mine leaning more closely.
Suddenly, I gasp as I feel a sharp intense pain in my thigh. He drops the glass piece on a folded piece of cloth on the bedside table, and gently dab the blood oozing from the spot the glass was removed.
He opens the box to bring out two small glass containers and a hollow metal plate. He opens the glass containers, one is colourless while the other is dark blue in color, he pours out a substantial amount of the colorless liquid in the hollow plate, then puts in a tiny drop of the blue liquid in it which immediately starts bubbling and produces some thick whitish smoke that smells like a strong chemical.
I cough as I unknowingly inhale a large amount of the smoke with my mouth. He pats my leg while muttering 'sorry'.
Slowly the smoke dissipates and the bubbling stops. I'm thrilled and surprised as I see the contents of the plate, it's smaller now and pitch black in color.
He takes a small white cotton cloth, a little bit smaller than a handkerchief, places it in the plate to absorb it's content and squeezes it over the wound, letting the liquid simmer in, I hold my breath in anticipation for the pain or stings but surprisingly it cools and reduces the pain. It almost feels like I have no wound on my thigh again with it's pleasant cooling sensation.
He soaks it again in the black liquid which due to evaporation is almost dried up, and dabs it gently on the wound. When he's through, he wraps my thigh with a white cloth which he careful holds in place with a large pin at the side.
He pats my thigh, gently places it on the bed and stands, picking the box contents and walking to the closet.
"How did you know that the incident earlier would occur, for you to be in Maverick's room?" I can't help but ask.
He halts in his movement and without sparing me a look asks, "what do you think?"
"If I'd come up with a thought I wouldn't be asking you, would I?" I reply.
He chuckles, "smart mouth" he says.
He walks over with a glass filled with colourless liquid and says briefly, "Drink." Thinking it's water, I gulp down the content at once to feel a burning sensation in my throat.
A knock is heard, he swiftly walks over to open the door, a maid walks in pulling a cart. She walks to the bedside table and places a covered tray there and leaves.
He walks closer and sits beside me, opens the covered tray which is filled with several fruits and a plate of porridge, he places the plate of warm porridge in my hands with a spoon in it.
I finish the contents and he takes away the empty plate and covers me with a thick soft blanket.
I keep thinking of what the future holds for me as his servant and unknowingly drift into sleep.