Head Maiden of Castle Dimitrescu

10

"What the hell am I doing here?" I asked myself as I watched stared out into the woods in the late evening. I gulped as the most recent events ran through my mind. The whole day was a day from hell itself from the moment I woke up till now. The maidens and I were all so busy today. One task after another ran rapid fire out at us from Alcina. There was not a moment where I finished a chore and did not immediately get pulled into another one. That would explain my current situation. Amber had been tasked to grab a few girls and patrol through the woods to make sure there were no wolves around the castle. They grabbed me while I was helping out in the infirmary. Now here I was about to stare death in the face if I found a wolf. At least they gave me a sickle just in case I did find one.

"Find anything yet?" Rita yelled my way.

"No!" I yelled back. I took hesitant steps forward. I turned toward Amber. Her bright red hair glowed against the evening skyline. She was easy to spot against the dying forest.

"Nothing yet!" She yelled back at me. We all took our time as we combed about a hundred meters out from the castle. We circled around. Throughout the patrol, no one found anything. The sky turned into a starry night by the time we got back to the castle steps. We each trailed in with sweat on our brows and aching feet. God, that was one hell of a hike throughout the large hills and cliff sides. When the door shut quietly behind us, flurries of flies fell into our view. The other girls fought them off while I just sat there and contemplated if death was worth slapping the girls away from me because of the bad day I had. When I realized that it was not worth it, I took my sickle off and continued into the castle.

"Elena!" Bela's hand clamped onto my shoulder which stopped me mid-step. I gritted my teeth. My feet hurt. I tried so hard not to complain no matter what was thrown at me, but consistently being pulled and dragged all day was a breaking point. Especially when there was no food in my system. I turned back around after I took a deep breath. Bela's elated smile graced my eyes. "Would you like to get some food with us? We were waiting for you to have dinner!" My brows furrowed.

"W-What? Why did you all wait?" The confusion was evident in the tone of my voice. Daniela and Cassandra ran up on either side of Bela and smiled.

"You're family silly! Of course, we always eat as a family!" Daniela sang with enthusiasm. Cassandra nodded ecstatically in agreement. I gulped slightly. My stomach growled before I could protest. Before I could think of a rebuttal, I was dragged by three starving girls. My eyes flashed back to the dumbstruck maidens that stood at the door. I was taken to the dining room soon after and sat in a seat. The girls sat around me. They each had blood covered dishes while I sat with a, thankfully, plain version of chicken and vegetables. I glanced around. Alcina was not here.

"Where is your mother then?" I asked as the girls devoured their food with a hunger that rivaled gods.

"She was waiting at the door! You didn't see her?" Cassandra asked.

"Yeah! We were all waiting for you! Buuuut she was also super upset that you were taken out for patrol," Daniela exclaimed. My eyes widened as I ran away from the table.

"Elena?" Bela called out. My feet carried me as fast as they could to the door. Terrified shrieks caught my ears as I turned the corner and found Alcina with her claws pierced through Amber's left leg. The two other girls stood terrified with Amber's blood across their faces.

"Amber!" Alcina's head turned toward me, and her claws retracted. The redhead fell to the floor. I gulped back the vomit that wanted to escape me as I knelt down beside the poor girl. My hands grazed her leg, and the white flash was enough to heal her at the very least. My eyes glared up at Alcina and the woman looked pissed. Her golden eyes stared through me. I tapped at Amber's leg. "Go Amber," I said softly. She shook underneath me, but did so. The other maidens took her in their arms and hobbled away. When they were down the next hallway, that was when Alcina felt comfortable enough to speak.