6. NEW FRIENDS AND ENEMIES

NIKOLAS POV

The next day, I woke up with a start as the loud alarm pierced the air. opening my eyes to find that the room was still dimly lit the only light coming from a small candle on the bedside table. I rubbed my eyes to shake off the sleep.

"What's going on?" I muttered to myself, disoriented.

Then I remembered where I was "the personal servants' wing of the castle. And the alarm was a signal for us to wake up and prepare for breakfast.

I threw the covers off and got out of bed, the sound of my feet hits softly on the cold marble floor. I made my way to the small washbasin in the corner of the room and splashed some water on my face, trying to wake myself up.

I dressed in the simple black trousers and white dress shirt that was provided for me,

taking a deep breath I opened my door and I was greeted by an empty hallway. I glanced around, realizing I was late. The alarm had sounded earlier than I expected, and now I was rushing to catch up , quickening my pace to the dinner quarters.

Walking there , my mind began to wander. What would the other personal servants be like? Would they be friendly or cold? I had skipped dinner last night , exhausted from all the drama so I had not met anyone yet.

The only person I had interacted with was Xaiter, the vampire who had shown me to my room.

I turned a corner , the sound of chatter and clinking of plates grew louder. My stomach growled in anticipation. I had not eaten since...well, I can not remember when.

The king's words came back to me: "You will be well taken care of here." well, I hoped that included food.

Entering the dinner quarters, I scanned the room. There were about twenty people, all dressed in simple but clean clothes like mine. They sat at long tables, eating and talking.

I spotted an empty seat at the end of a table and made my way towards it.

No one seemed to notice me as they are too caught up in their own conversations. I took a plate of food from the serving tray and began to eat, everyone seemed to know each other, laughing and chatting like old friends. I felt loneliness as I was the only new one here. I pushed it aside focusing on my own food.

I noticed that many of the other servants were beautiful, and mostly girls. They laughed and chatted with each other, their eyes sparkling in the morning light.

Just as I was starting to feel like an outsider, a guy and girl approached my table. The guy had messy red hair and brown eyes while the girl had long, curly black hair and sliver eyes.

"Hey, mind if we join you?" the guy asked, nodding towards the empty seats across from me.

" umm, Not at all." I awkwardly said .

The girl smiled, taking a seat beside me. "I am Elara," she said, her voice sweet .

" and am Finn," the guy added, sitting down across from me.

"I am Nikolas," I replied.

Elara leaned in as she curiously asked "So, Nikolas, what brings you here?"

I am unsure on how much to reveal. But something about Elara's friendly demeanor put me at ease. "I was brought here by the king,"

Finn's eyes widened in surprise. "The king? What did you do to catch his attention?"

Feeling a little uncomfortable , o shrugged. "I don't really know. I was just taken from my home and brought here."

Elara's expression softened. " That must have been scary, I am sorry Nikolas."

I smiled grateful for their sympathy. Maybe this place wouldn't be so bad after all.

we ate in a comfortable silence before, Elara leaned in closer, her voice barely above a whisper. "Nikolas, can I tell you something?"

Curious I nodded "You're the only human in this room," she said glancing around the servants' quarters.

"What do you mean?"

Elara smiled, revealing razor sharp fangs. "I mean, I'm a vampire, and Finn here is a werewolf."

I stared at her in shock

Finn chuckled as he added "Yeah, we are a pretty diverse bunch here."

I turned to him, my eyes wide. "You are a werewolf?"

Finn nodded, his smile growing wider. "Yeah, I am. But don't worry, I don't bite...hard."

Elara playfully rolled her eyes. "Finn, stop teasing him. Nikolas, we are not going to hurt you."

I took a deep breath, trying to process this new information.It was a lot to take in.

"But why me?" i thought because clearly no one is human in this room.

The door to the servants' quarters swings open and a stunning girl and boy walked in. The girl had long, curly silver hair with blue eyes, while the boy had jet black hair that fell to his shoulders with green eyes.

They radiated an aura of confidence and superiority, and I couldn't help but notice the way the other servants looked at them with a mix of awe and hatred.

Elara rolled her eyes and leaned in closer to me. "Great, just what we need. Sophia and Jace, the king's personal servants...apart from you, of course."

I raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "What's the deal with them?"

Elara's voice dropped , "They are rude, full of themselves, and think they are above everyone else just because they serve the king directly."

Finn snorted. "That's an understatement."

Elara continued, her eyes fixed on Sophia and Jace. "And there are rumors about Sophia and the king. Let's just say they fucked ."

Feeling surprised I asked . "What do you mean?"

. " Just be cautious around them, Nikolas. They are not people to be around with. Especially Sophia. She's got a reputation for getting what she wants, no matter who she has to step on."

I nod taking Elara's warning to heart. I did not want to get on the wrong side of these two, especially if they had the king's ear.

As Sophia and Jace made their way to the table, the room fell silent. They seemed to suck the air out of the space, leaving an uncomfortable silence in their wake.

"Well, well, well," Sophia said, as she approach my table . "Look what we have here. The new plaything."

Jace smirked, his eyes roving over me like I was a piece of meat.

I bit back my retort and focused on my food, trying to ignore the tension that had settled over the room.