The Consort

Chapter 5: Surprises

He doesn't immediately respond, and I continue to wait patiently. After a couple of seconds I glance up at him, noticing that he's staring at me with a confused expression on his face.

"Why?" He asks.

"He told me to meet me in his chambers after finishing my work." I answer, confused as to why he is asking. I thought it would be pretty obvious why I was looking for his bedroom.

The guard chuckles. "Well, today's your lucky day! He's-"

"He's right through that room there." A voice cuts in. I turn around and see a large man standing behind me, pointing towards a door further down the hallway, right next to where the crowd of chatting Beasts are.

I nod at the men, showing my respect, and begin heading towards the room he pointed to. Sliding up against the wall, I attempt to make myself as small as possible to prevent being noticed by the guards. Thankfully, my attempt works as they continue to talk amongst themselves, completely ignoring my presence. Under normal circumstances I would slyly eavesdrop on their conversation, curious as to what has gotten them all into such a tizzy, but I can't hear anything over the loud beating of my heart.

Tears begin to well up in my eyes as I stand in front of his door. I quickly blink them away, doing my best to compose myself. I can cry later, but now is neither the time nor place.

With one last deep exhale, I grab the knob, drop my face to the ground, and push open the door.

I carefully step forward, my body teetering in the doorway, and take a peek into the room. My blood runs cold and all thoughts leave my body as I take in the sight in front of me.

The guard's body is sprawled out on the floor, blood seeping out of the gaping hole in his chest and pooling out around his body. His eyes are still open, the pupils blown wide and color frosted over.

I quickly back out of the room, terror penetrating every inch of my body. I hear laughter from the guards all around me, but am unable to focus on anything or form any coherent thoughts. Is this what all the guards were chatting about?

Quickly spinning on my heel, I beeline my way out of the guard's corridor. My heart is pounding in my chest, thoughts racing a million miles a minute. Will I be punished for this? Will they think that I'm involved in his death? It'll be easy to make the argument that he called me to his chambers and in anger I paid off a guard to get him killed.

All it takes is for one accusation to be let out for me to be killed. Even if the Royals know that I didn't do it, my life is expendable and my death will be a small price to pay to keep the guards happy.

The man who pointed me towards the room is hunched over in glee, openly laughing at me.

"Sorry lass." He yells between laughter. "Looks like the King got to him first."

I ignore his words and continue rushing out of the area. Getting back to the safety of the servant's quarters is all I can focus on.

I scurry through the hallways, doing my best not to draw any unwanted attention to myself. Turning, I run down the first pair of stairs I find, and once I get to the bottom floor I don't hesitate to shove the door open and head to the servant's area.

I hear the chatter before I see it, the noise growing exponentially as I round the corner that opens up to the bedrooms and kitchen area.

The whole hall is packed, servants all around with dirt on their faces and wooden bowls in their hands. I quickly spot John standing in the kitchen doorway, and make my way over to him.

"Addie!" He says when he notices me heading over. "I've been looking all over for you. You left so early this morning- I thought that we would head up to work together."

Before I can respond, he continues. "The King killed a guard this morning! Apparently he just walked into the guy's bedroom and ripped out his heart. Everybody's been talking about it."

Relief floods my body as John says this. Nobody thinks that this is related to me!

"I heard!" I answer, purposely leaving out the fact that I was meant to serve that particular guard and saw his body on the ground.

Wanting to change the subject, I walk past John into the kitchen to quickly grab something to eat. My eyes immediately lock in on the food covering the table. It looks to be potato soup and bread- one of my favorite meals.

Without hesitation I grab a bowl and fill it to the rim, before taking a piece of bread too for good measure. John watches the whole time, tapping his foot against the ground.

"Yes?" I tease his impatience, taking a large bite of bread as I walk back over to the doorway.

He frowns. "Why did you leave so early? I waited around for you to come out of the woman's room only to find out you had already left!"

Hurt is clear in his voice, and I feel slightly guilty for not connecting with him last night on the plan for today.

"I thought that my shift started at the same time as everybody else's. I didn't leave until really late today." I admit, a bit embarrassed.

"What?" John says, tilting his head slightly to the side. "We do start at the same time as everybody."

My confusion only lasts for a millisecond before I realize that Gwen must have lied to me this morning. I'm not surprised, but feel a bit silly for having fallen for it.

I huff in annoyance. "Gwen told me that I started earlier than everybody else."

"Oh, that's rude of her." He frowns. "We can walk together tomorrow. Other than that, how did your day go?"

I replay the day in my mind, not sure where to even start. When I think about the guard though I know that I need to ask John to sleep with me. My cheeks heat up at the thought, but as embarrassed as I am I know that it needs to happen.

It's only a matter of time before I am called again, and I would like to be prepared when it does.

"Actually John, I have a big favor to ask of you."