Astrid
It was as I slowly made my way up the stairs that I heard it, the faint, muted sound of a man's quivering voice. And it was coming from the direction of the only part of the house I hadn't yet explored. My heart leaped with joy but I tamped it down so as not to count my chicks yet.
Quickly, I turned around and rushed towards the dining hall, my hair billowing behind me with the speed with which I ran forward and past the living room.
The sounds of my feet hitting the ground was the only disruption in the eerily quiet house and for some reason that increased my fear.
My feet were beginning to prick from walking around barefooted over cold tiles, but I didn't really care.
The voice grew louder as I approached the door, the sound increasing my hopes.
I rushed into the room and my heart sank as I took in the scene before me.
All the maids, the servants, the stable hands including the man and his son stood aligned before Magnus, their eyes cast down in fear.
I wasn't sure whether to breathe out with relief that they were all alright or to scream and tear out my hair for the emotional and physical stress my assumptions had caused me.
Magnus raised his head and his gaze locked onto mine, his eyes blazing with silent judgement.
"I didn't think you'd be able to join me for breakfast, darling." he muttered coldly and I eyed him surly.
"Let them go, Magnus."
"Do not speak on our behalf!" The stable man snapped at me and when I turned to face him he looked away, but not before I saw the hint of a sneer on his face.
Magnus rose from his seat and purposefully strode towards the man, his movements fluid and menacing. "You!" he spat, his voice low but firm. "You dare to speak to my wife without my permission?"
"Magnus please?" I begged but he ignored me, his gaze focused on the older man.
The stable man trembled, his eyes wide with fear as he pushed his son behind him. "I-I meant no disrespect, milord…I apologize for my insolence."
Magnus's hand flashed out with the speed of lightning, the sharp 'tweak' sound of his palm striking the man across the face echoing through the room and making everyone gasp.
My mouth dropped open at the act, my eyes wide with shock and a shaky hand flying to my mouth as it dawned on me that I didn't really know who he was or what he was capable of.
"Never use that tone with my wife again," he growled in a deep voice. And I felt a surge of anger and fear course through me.
"Stop it Magnus, you are being barbaric!" I thundered and his hot gaze immediately swept to me, his eyes narrowing to slits even as his lips curled up in a smile.
"I do not know why you look so distressed," he began, slowly making his way towards me. "You wanted to be a servant and I am granting you your wish."
"Then let them go," I retorted coldly, tilting my head up in fake confidence. "Punish me instead, they did nothing wrong."
"Tsk. Tsk." he smacked his lips playfully as he shook his head. "You see that's the problem, Astrid." He reached out and tucked my hair behind each ear as he continued. "They also happen to think you too are blameless and they deserve the punishment for not reporting your rendezvous immediately to me."
I recognized the look in his eyes right then and the way his energy seemed to shrink the space around him, making everyone tremble and cast down their eyes in total submission.
"You are being ruthless," I gritted out, my heart pounding in my chest and my growing loathing for the man before me, churning my stomach and turning my mouth bitter.
"Milord, please," the stable man begged, his voice shaking. "Milady," he turned to me, with eyes filled with fear and remorse. "I am deeply sorry for the way I spoke to you."
I waved his apology off and forced out a warm smile. "It's okay, I should be the one apologizing even."
"No…please don't do that," the older man pleaded. And I gave him a nod before focusing my attention on Samantha. Her eyes were filled with tears as she tried to smile.
"What are you going to do to them?" I implored sharply, turning to face him again.
He was so gorgeous, a face like that did not belong to a man like him. A man with no feelings nor remorse. It was like covering a dirty chamber pot with the finest linen.
Magnus turned away from me, his gaze sweeping the room. "I will not tolerate any more disobedience or incompetence," he growled. "You all know the rules in this house, and you've known it way before she came into it."
He turned to face the stable man. "Don't ever speak to your lady with such impudence or you shall pay dearly for that."
The room fell silent, the only sound was the heavy breathing of the servants and me. The anticipation and unpredictability was slowly eating away at my patience and I didn't know what to do. I didn't even know what Magnus' plan was but I knew I had to act fast, to defuse the situation before things got even worse.
"To answer your earlier question," he began again, his lips tipped up in a small smile. "I haven't yet decided on how to punish you all for turning my wife into a servant."
"No one turned me into anything!" I snapped angrily, my already high temper exploding even more. "How many times do I have to say that this was all my fault!?"
"My lady?" Samantha started in a very shaky, scared voice. "May I speak?" She asked Magnus then waited for his barely perceptible nod of approval before speaking. "I know that you made the decision to lower yourself down to our level."
My heart squeezed painfully at her words because I never once imagined that they were beneath me. In my head, there were no levels and no lowering.
"....we should have tried harder to stop you," she continued, her voice breaking and sounding like she was almost at brink of tears. "We also should have reported this to the alpha, because what you were doing was dangerous."
The other servants all nodded their agreement and I casted a brief glance at Magnus, noting his blank expression before focusing on her again.
"All your life you were raised differently and that's okay, we are happy to serve you." She gave me a smile amidst the tears rushing down her face and I moved without thinking, throwing arms around her in a hug.
"It is true Milady," the stable man started. "I worried that you might hurt yourself while at the stables or even get kicked by a horse as you aren't used to dealing with them."
"So she did muck out the horses," Magnus mused aloud and pulled away from the hug to look at him.
"Is this really how you treat your workers?!" I thundered, stalking close to stand in front of him. "Is this how you treat the people who get things done in your home?! Like they are worth nothing?! Most of them didn't even know I was pretending to be a servant!" I yelled, jabbing a finger on his chest.
"Shame on you, Magnus!" His face remained impassive but I could swear I saw something flash in his eyes.