WITCH - The Revolt

Chapter 15

Marko

It had started to rain. Marko sat inside the kitchen and looked out of the window. Sophie had asked him to cut garlic into small pieces. But he hadn't started yet. Too much was going through his head.

Across from him sat Finn peeling potatoes. Finn sat cross-legged on the kitchen chair and seemed deep in thought as he peeled one potato after another and then placed it in a bowl of water. Sophie cut onions into small pieces. Every now and then she wiped a tear from her face with a kitchen towel and scolded the onions that made her cry unintentionally. He didn't know where Leopold was. Cleaning something somewhere?

Sophie cleared her throat. "Marko? Where are you with your thoughts?"

"Nowhere and everywhere."

"Then please come back here with your thoughts. The food doesn't cook itself."

"Unfortunately." Marko devoted himself to the garlic and began to cut it into small pieces. "When is the princess coming back?" The princess had shorter lessons on some days than on others and Marko was not sure whether today was a long or a short day.

"In about an hour." Sophie smiled. "By then, we should have the food ready. I'm sure she's hungry."

Marko was also hungry. Very hungery. But he still had to wait. As servants, they always ate after the princess. Sophie insisted.

The days flew by. He has been here for over a week now. On the night of the full moon, he had laid on his bed as a wolf and looked longingly out of the window. He missed the freedom of the mountains. He had not dared to ask if he was allowed to roam the grounds at night. The answer would surely have been 'no', wouldn't it? Sophie would never have allowed him to do that and he did not dare to ask the princess directly. She was kind, but his life depended on her being well-disposed toward him. He didn't want to ask for the wrong thing.

On the night of the full moon, Finn had also looked out of the window. He had sat down with his blanket on the wide windowsill of their room... And so Marko had not only looked at the moon but also at the weak wolf. In the moonlight, his light hair looked silver just like the moon.

Leopold had slept the night on the sofa in the princess's living room... Obviously, Marko had scared him a bit...

The work at the academy was exhausting. Not necessarily because of the tasks assigned to him mainly by Sophie, no: the employees were a problem. Especially the gardeners.

Every afternoon Sophie would go over to the office of the caretaker of the academy and discuss with him what work had to be done after he and Leopold had finished their work for the princess and every afternoon Marko hoped that he did not have to help the gardeners.

The verbal attacks of the gardeners made him angry... And sad. Should he tell the princess about it? Would that change anything?

So far he had kept silent about it and Leopold had not said a word either.

The gardeners gave them terrible names and cursed them when there were no students within earshot. In front of the students, they held back a little more. Presumably to look professional.

As far as he had noticed, the tone in the laundry was rough too, even if no one was insulted there. Yesterday Sophie had let him and Leopold help out there, as some employees were ill and help was needed. He had met a werewolf named Theo, who complained of tiredness and back pain and envied Marko and Leopold for their lunch break.

Every day at twelve o'clock he ate together with Finn, Leopold, and Sophie. After that, they rested a bit. The other servants had less than half an hour to themselves after lunch. He had learned from Theo that they had about twenty minutes to eat, after which work continued.