Witch

It had been four days since Dahlia started working at the palace and just like she expected, it didn't take long for everyone to know she was from Kayer. Within that time, no one bothered to know her name, they just referred to her as the witch and only added some respect whenever Analice was walking by.

The fact that Analice took an unexpected liking to Dahlia and favored her more than the other servants didn't help matters. She even gave Dahlia her own room, albeit small, and although Dahlia was glad to have her personal space, she knew the others weren't so thrilled about it, especially since most of them were cramped into small rooms with six other people.

"The rest of us will be heading out now so make sure the stables are clean, witch." One of the girls told Dahlia.

"Okay." Dahlia gave a short response without complaints.

Since no one was supervising them most of the time, the other girls would dump all their responsibilities on Dahlia while they gossiped in the corner.

Reporting the situation to Analice would only make them hate her more so Dahlia simply kept quiet and bore all the hardship alone. The only thing that made it worthwhile were the the horses she got to spend time with.

"Hello there Darcy." Dahlia greeted one of her favorite horses while combing through her mane.

The horse gave her a short neigh in response as she closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of the comb running through her.

Whenever Dahlia was at the stables, an inexplicable urge to grab one of the horses and head out for a ride into the inviting woods always came over her. She missed the feeling of freedom as the wind ran through her hair whenever she was out in the fields with her horses. 

It had been a while since she went for a ride and by the looks of things she wasn't sure if she'd ever get the opportunity to experience such a luxury again.

"My head will surely roll off my neck if I dare ride on one of the royal horses." She said to herself while shaking her head to remove the graphic image of her head rolling off.

Dahlia finished tending to Darcy and cleaning her shed before tending to each of the other horses.

There was no break for her considering she was the only one tending to all the horses but that didn't suck the joy she got out of the experience. The only thing she didn't like was the fact that after a long day of work her back was always sore and her feet were swollen.

By the time Dahlia was done, the sun was starting to set and it was time for dinner. She quickly closed up and said goodbye to the horses before heading back in.

On her way back inside, she passed the King's stable where all his horses were kept. Out of all the horses in the castle, she wasn't allowed to go near any of the king's horses or their stable. Only a select few were permitted to do so.

When she got in, most of the servants were already gathered in the common room with a bowl of soup and slices of bread in their hands. They all paused what they were doing and the whispers increased as she made her way to grab a bowl for herself.

It was clear that she was the one everyone was talking about- the witch from Kayer.

Ignoring the murmurs, Dahlia got her food and walked over to the empty table at the end of the hall where she was sure no one would go near. She had already skipped lunch and was too hungry to deal with the gossiping lot of the land.

It took a lot of mental strength for Dahlia to push out the dark stares and hurtful words they were all spouting at her. Despite them all being slaves, they looked down on her as if she were trash just because of where she came from, and yet none of them had the decent to get to know her before making assumptions.

The issue of other kingdoms calling the people of Kayer witches started long before Dahlia or even her parents were born. It was during the great war that led to the separation of most packs, desperate to survive, her ancestors resorted to the forbidden dark magic as a last resort to strengthen their wolf form and that led to the other packs looking down on the people of Kayer hence where the nickname 'witch' came from.

She and the others from her kingdom were getting punished for the sins of their ancestors and what angered the others more was the fact that Kayer is one of the strongest kingdoms only because they thrived on forbidden magic and as a result, they led to the extinction of one of the most beloved packs.

All the other slaves were treating her badly because she was from Kayer, if they were ever to know that she was a royal, a direct descendant of the wolves who used dark magic, Dahlia was sure they would put her on a stake and burn her alive. A punishment deserving of a witch after all.

Dinner was quick and tey all cleaned up after themselves and retreated to their rooms while the night shift servants took over.

"Look at her, heading to her personal room as if she owns the place." One of the girls sneered at Dahlia as she was about to get in to her room.

"I wonder how she managed to get such a favor form the ruthless Analice." Another chimmed in.

"Isn't it obvious, she cast a spell on her, she is a witch after all."

Their voices were loud as they spoke, it was clear that they wanted a reaction out of Dahlia and that was the one thing she wouldn't let them have freely.

Dahlia walked past the girls and headed straight into her room without uttering a word to defend herself or clap back at the hateful girls. She saw no point in stooping low to their level.

Despie ignoring them, the girls lingered around her door and continued throwing insults at her for some more minutes before leaving angrily. They tried to provoke her but in the end they were the ones who got provoked by making fools out of themselves.

"Today was tiring." Dahlia quickly changed into her nightwear and lay on the bed but sleep was the last thing on her mind.

She kept going back to the majestic black stallion she saw while peeping through the King's stable and now that she was alone, the urge to go check out the stallion and the other horses the king had kept increasing by the second.

"If I sneak out now, no one will notice me."

"But if I get caught them I'm in big trouble."

Dahlia kept having a battle in her head on whether or not she should break the rules and check out the horse or lay in bed and save her head. In the end she decided to do something she wanted for once even if it was incredibly foolish.

She wrapped a cloak around her body and sneakily made her way out of the servants quarters, only managing to catch her breath once she was safely outside.

"I hope no one saw me." 

Within a few unbearable minutes, she was standing outside the kings stable where she carefully looked left and right before sneaking in once she was sure no one was around.

The night she spent at the other stable made her realsie the stables were the only place where servants didn't do night shifts and that discovery gave her the confidence to do what she did.