Slowly maturing because of a threat?

The maids arranged the dishes on the King's table and were instructed to leave the chamber when the guests were on their way.

From what Aunt Paloma had told Melina, whenever the maids were done serving the dishes, they would be dismissed and only let in when the elites were done dining, to clean up the spot.

Aunt Paloma had signified that it was immaculately because the servants were of the lowest status in the palace and knowing the arrogant elites, they would not want to feast where such low-born lives were, peeking at them like hawks.

'Silly Elites!" had been Melina's reaction in her head when Aunt Paloma enlightened her, hating how these people looked down on servants like animals that ate from their feet. But the first time, however, she was glad that those were the regulations because she was sure she would not be able to bear the humiliation of standing in this chamber any further after what had transpired a while ago between the prince and her.

The memories of it still imprinted in her senses as flashes of the guards almost drilling the sword into her eyes engulfed her, reminding her that she had almost lost her eyes. She had been mute the whole time they exited the royal chambers, her head downcast.

Memories of many things Aunt Paloma used to tell her resonated in her mind as she sauntered to the Kitchen with the others.

'Never cross an elite, especially a royal. A word from them and a lowly person's head would roll on the floor.' the statement was now vivid in her head because she had almost just experienced it.

She still wondered what she had done so wrong that made him suddenly cruel if it wasn't just the bump. Was it because of what happened earlier in the dungeon? Did he think she was the one who stole the knife? Or perhaps it was the uniform? Was she supposed to meet him to thank him for giving it back to her? Her hands turned cold trying to think of what she had done to this prince that pushed him to almost make her blind.

They reached the Kitchen where all the maids sat on the hard floor to eat breakfast. Meline noticed how, unlike the usual very little portions Ms Carlos let them eat, this one seemed...fair.

The woman was possibly not aware of what took place in the royal chamber else they would be starving again today.

All the maid's eyes brightened at the generous amount of food Ms Carlos gave them for today and it wasn't needed to be said that they presumably made her happy.

They bent down to eat, some happily tearing down the bits of meat and cold barley grains that were sprinkled on them as their bonus food for the day.

To the elites, this was dog food and unsettling to the eye but to the servants, it was a rare delicacy they only got to eat once in a full Blue Moon. Melina never liked to waste this opportunity but unfortunately for her, she had lost her appetite.

She forced herself to eat as much as she could, biting and gnawing like a thwarted puppy. There was no way she would allow this rare privilege to pass her by because of an event that was in the past, not to forget she had been a bit sick this morning.

If she was going to face Ms Carlos later, she could at least gather enough strength for the woman's degrading insults to her.

"You can calm down. The food isn't going to run," Cinna worried looking at her friend eat like that.

She finally calmed down and looked at Cinna before giving her a nod but in truth, the food was already finished. And so it was for other maids too. One would think they could just easily sneak some food from the ones they prepared for the elites, after all, they made it themselves. But they knew they couldn't.

The last time it happened and the servants were caught, the maid and her novice were beheaded by King Lucas himself. It put unnecessary fear in the hearts of the servants which was exactly what the King wanted. So they would not dare try to take what didn't belong to them. He was a no-nonsense person realistically.

Even after he was dead, the memory of his brutality to various servants was thoroughly remembered. People did say he was kind and loving which wasn't a lie but that was only to his family or fellow patricians. He gave no regard to those beneath his status or of low birth. Even his chieftains had a tedious time ruling with him but pulled through regardless...not like they had a choice not to.

The maids cleared the Kitchen and continued with their responsibilities till it was night when they were to round up for the day.

Even though Melina felt unwell, she didn't back down and diligently tried her best to keep up with her chores. It felt like it slowly began to register in her mind that she was to be careful in the palace, comprehending that no one cared anymore for her and no one would tolerate her bad behaviour any longer.

She now lay on the cold floor, ready to sleep with her light blanket used to cover her body, while Nikita and Leanna stayed on the bed like they usually did and she peacefully left it to them. It didn't matter anyway, she would only be breeding trouble if she fought with them again over it.

'I used to be like you when I was a novice. Very carefree and nonchalant until the day I hurt Queen Sonia,' she wandered back to the times when Aunt Paloma would lecture her about her troublesome habits.

'I poured hot tea mistakenly on her that got her hands burnt. I apologized but realized the King didn't listen to apologies from servants,'

'But it was just a mistake,' Melina exclaimed.

Paloma pulled down the top she was wearing, revealing the stripe marks on her back that made the young girl gasp before running her hands through it to know if it was real.

'Queen Sonia pleaded fervently on my behalf that day because the King was hellbent on severing my head. At the end of the day, he sent some of his guards to draw cut marks with daggers on my body.

I wished I had just been beheaded instead of passing through that pain but Queen Sonia was kind enough to send someone to attend to my bloodied injuries,'

The young girl looked very angry at the story 'I thought it was just another story to help me sleep,'

'Oh dear, you cannot always listen to sweet stories. You need to face reality. You were only lucky today because it was a mere novice you had hurt. If it was the princess, the King would never spare you,' but Melina just pouted at her words before falling asleep.

She never took any of the stories seriously but now that she was in Aunt Paloma's shoes, having to live like this, she realized the only way to stay alive in this palace was to avoid mistakes.

It was funny how a little threat Leon planned to use on her made reality slap her across the face this hard.