Right to the Night

Chapter One

"Please, he would not punish you. You are his personal servant. He chose you because he took a liking to you out of all the maids here. Everyone knows it." Iona explained with a scoff.

"That is not true." Elisabete laughed.

"Yes, it is! We always work overtime whenever we do something wrong, but you never get punished." Iona told her.

"That's because I do what I'm supposed to do. I do the right things." Elisabete huffed.

"So now you're calling us terrible maids?" Iona laughed.

Elisabete and Iona began to laugh together and Iona took out a brush and combed through Elisabete's hair to get it into a bun.

"There. At least your face is presentable." Iona sighed.

"Do you happen to have any spare dresses? Anything at all?" Elisabete asked.

"No. You're on your now." Iona replied.

"Thank you anyway, Iona. Oh, I don't know what's going to happen." Elisabete sighed.

"Don't worry about it too much, Elisabete. I'm sure everything will be alright. And even if he does punish you, it won't be severe." Iona smiled.

Elisabete took a deep breath as she made her way to the throne room. The long walk down the hallway did not make anything better with all the servants and maids staring at her and quietly whispering to themselves about her tardiness. She smiled at the guards who opened the throne room doors for her and she kept her eyes on the ground as she walked inside. The doors slamming behind her made her jump as she walked closer to the throne. Elisabete heard the rhythmic tapping of Loki's fingers on the armrest of the throne and she immediately picked her head up when he banged his staff onto the floor. Loki sat with his legs spread and his back against the throne with a thin smirk on his face.

"So? Do you have nothing to say for your tardiness, girl?" Loki inquired.

Elisabete stuttered to reply and bit her lip as Loki chuckled and stood from the throne. He stalked his way towards her and Elisabete swallowed the lump in her throat as she looked him dead in the eyes.

"Please, do not fear me. I am your king and you can trust me. You are very late for your duties. Do you have a reason for this?" Loki asked Elisabete.

"I overslept, my king. I am terribly sorry." Elisabete replied.

"And you still have the decency to come here, to my palace, looking like this. Dirty clothes and leaving mud prints all over the freshly cleaned floors? Are you not aware of what I expect out of you and the others?" Loki explained to her harshly.

"I am, my king. When I realized I was late, I had no time to dress properly. I pulled out anything I could find. I-"

Loki cut her off as he raised his hand into the air.

"Enough of your excuses. I will not tolerate this behavior. The next time you are late and unprepared for your post, severe consequences will have to come into play. Take this warning and remember it each day before you come here." Loki explained to her.

"Yes, my king." Elisabete whispered.

"What? I didn't quite catch that." Loki smirked.

"I said, yes, my king." Elisabete spoke louder.

"Good. Now, I have my written out list of things for you to do. I would have just told you them but, someone was absent during role call." Loki told her, raising his brow at her.