The Rivalry

Chapter 17

"What a day…" Maya sighed as she finally made up her mind to get up from Charles's bed. She just couldn't get enough of him.

The day had been a mixture of highs and lows, but then, the 'high' she had just had with Charles made her to momentarily forget about the lows.

As she thought about all of it, the remembrance of the prophecy seemed to steal all the positivity that her time with Charles had afforded her.

Immediately, she got up from where she lay, and slipped into the sable coat, and looked normal again, like nothing had happened. She wondered who the guest was, that had made Lucas continually disturb their privacy.

Beyond that, she wondered what Lucas had been doing in his room uninvited. Why was he always acting awkward every single time he came around Charles?

His behavior never failed to disgust her every single time he put it on display. If she had her way, she would tell Charles not to have him as beta.

"Well, whatever…" she sighed again. Lucas would be a problem for another day. The prophecy was the bigger concern at the moment. There would have to be a solution to it, as her child couldn't be the only one that would be born on the night of the dark moon.

She took one last look at herself in the mirror, before she made her way to the door. She stopped dead in her tracks as she was met by the last people she expected to see. In a way, it felt like they had been waiting for her to come out.

"Queen Elizabeth, Queen Amelia," she did slight obeisance to the both of them, and took notice of the suspicious looks she got from the both of them.

It was more glaring on Elizabeth's face, as she seemed to lack the quality of concealing her emotions. Amelia had an obviously fake smile that would intermittently invade her neutral facial expression.

Maya wanted to get going as soon as she could, as she hadn't been emotionally prepared for the sudden appearance of the two queens. Besides that, she had to head back to her chamber to put on some real clothes, as she wore nothing underneath the sable coat.

"It seems you've been in the alpha's company for quite long," Amelia finally spoke up, breaking through the ice which was beginning to settle over their impromptu meeting.

"It seems so," Maya replied, wondering how exactly Amelia wanted her to respond to that. She wanted out of the conversation as she could. "He's much better now," she said with a fake smile.

"Oh, that's great to hear," Amelia responded with yet another smile. She seemed to be the mouthpiece of the duo. "For a moment, we were frightened by how weak he was, to the point that you had to help him up."

"I was frightened too. It's such a relief to know that he's alright," Maya said. Before Amelia could give another one of her half-hearted responses, she went on to say, "I really have to get going now. Maybe we could catch up later."

"Oh, alright then," Amelia's smile stayed on her face as they both watched Maya walk past them to the other end of the corridor where her room was.

"Just who does she think she is?" Elizabeth said in a low tone, with a scowl on her face, as she observed all the dynamics of Maya's walking step.

It had seemed like Elizabeth had lost her speaking abilities, when they had run into Maya, but quickly recovered them when she was a good distance away.

"Only heaven knows what she'd been up to behind those doors," Amelia remarked, looking at Maya as she walked away. "Makes me wonder when last I was with Charles."

"She just happens to the one hindering all of us from having our go at the Alpha," Elizabeth said, voicing out her thoughts in a tone laced with undeniable jealousy. "Everything was rosy for me within these walls, until she showed up here. I thought he would change towards her like he did to me when he brought you and Charlotte in, but she seems to hold his attention on her with a spell."

"I think the same," Amelia replied, nodding in concurrence like she always did.

***

Maya was barely in her room when a knock came on her door. She let out a slight grunt of displeasure, as she made for the door. She was ready to ask what she was being bothered for, as she opened the door to see Freda standing with a tray. Her anger was suddenly pacified.

"Good day, my queen. I brought you lunch," she said with a warm, welcoming smile. "You must be famished from all the activities you have been up to today."

Just as Freda said those words, Maya could feel her stomach grumbling in concurrence with Freda's words. She had forgotten that she hadn't had anything to eat all the while she had been with the alpha.

"Alright, come on in, Freda," Maya said, stepping aside for her maid to pass.

In a flash, she recalled how rude she had been to Freda earlier, and suddenly felt bad to see that she was still smiling and serving her without complaints, in spite of her hurtful words. She watched her as she slowly set the tray on her table.

"I'm deeply sorry about earlier, Freda," Maya noticed how Freda almost froze after she said those words. The poor maid hadn't seen that coming, but then she went ahead to swallow her pride and apologize properly. "I just lost it because…"

Maya felt bad about all of it, and felt the urgent need to explain herself to her. She would rather not be like the other queens, who treated the omegas and maids like they were trash.

Freda couldn't believe her eyes and her ears, as she witnessed a sight that was almost impossible. A Luna apologizing to a lowly omega was simply unthinkable. She suddenly realized how wrong she had been about Maya, and was filled with a weakening feeling of guilt.

But then, what was she going to do there and then to avert the impending danger, and undo what she had done?