After an uneventful lunch with Henry, Kai, and Timothy, I found myself in the large, bustling, loud kitchen. Light streamed in through murky windows that line the tops of the walls into the dark room. The only other light source was the dull, yellow light fixtures that hung from the ceiling. The sound of metal meeting metal clanged through the air, ringing in my ears. Mouthwatering aromas assaulted my nose. I discretely had to wipe my chin to make sure I wasn't drooling as a tray of chocolate dessert was carried by.
Different areas could be distinguished from what the kitchen staff was doing. The back wall was lined with metal tables and sinks holding dirty dishes as a few younger boys franticly cleaned and dried them before stacking them on shelves. Another area consisted of boys who were washing and peeling ingredients before handing them off to men who sliced and diced them into piles. There were a few open fires with large pots hung over them against the wall beside me and stoves with chefs wearing their white hats cooking on the adjacent wall.
I stepped into the room and time seemed to still. The lively chatter and busy clatter stopped.
"What are you doing in my kitchen?" sneered an older man with a white hat by the stove.
I was momentarily taken aback by the venom in his voice. "I need to prepare the Lord's afternoon tea," I announced.
He scoffed and turned back to whatever he was cocking on the stove. "The tea supplies and snacks are over there," he said with his back to me, jerking his head towards a corner with a large metal door and a door labelled 'pantry.' Between the doors was a table that had selves above it holding boxes of teas, sugar cubes, and some fine china. "Get what you need and scram. We don't need no damned women in here."
I resisted the urge to correct his use of double negatives. "Thanks," I clipped out as I headed for what I needed.
I came to a stop in front of the shelves of tea boxes and began to panic. Shit. I don't know anything about tea or the men who were going to be drinking it. He always preferred coffee. How was I supposed to know what to serve them?
Sweat beaded on my forehead as I read the labels. Queen's red? Pixie blend? Fairy blossom? What the hell kind of teas were these. They sure as shit weren't earth ones.
Just as I was about to such up my pride and as the rude man for help again, my saviour came in the form of a skinny sixteen-year-old.
"Hey D, whatcha up to?" Kai asked as he appeared over my shoulder.
"Oh, thank God!" I felt the urge to hug him tight until he couldn't breathe, but I resisted because, well, I needed him alive and conscious to help save my ass. "Can you help me? I'm more than lost right now."
He grinned. "What's in it for me?"
I groaned. Of course he would want something in return. "What do you want?"
His smile widened, bearing his rocked teeth. "A little pixie told me that you managed to win yourself Timothy's toffee pudding from tonight's dinner."
Of course, he did. Timothy probably complained to him when I told him after lunch that he lost the bet.
"I want it."
"Deal."
"And yours."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "But don't you love tormenting Timothy?"
"Yeah..," he answered warily.
"So wouldn't you want him to be miserable during dinner?"
He nodded.
"What could be worse than having to watch everyone else enjoy their pudding while he has none? If I don't have any either, then he'll take comfort and joy in that fact."
My hopes raised as he considered my words. I did not want to give up my dessert. You never truly understand how much of a luxury something is until you've been deprived of it for years.
"The pudding, or I walk. I can find other ways to torture Timmy."
I dropped my head back in frustration. "Fine," I gritted out. "But just know," I said, narrowing my eyes at him. "I'm officially on Timothy's team now."
He smirked. "Bring it. I think I can more than handle you two."
The disappointment and anger at losing my toffee pudding soon faded as Kai walked me through everything I needed to serve afternoon tea. He explained what teas each of the lords preferred and how they liked them prepared along with what snacks I needed to serve. He showed me where everything was located, including a service cart to transport everything to the tea room.
With his help, the cart was soon filled with platters of cookies, cakes, and finger sandwiches. The different teas were prepared and seeped in pots and Kai had gone as far as to arrange them in the order he was sure they would be seated in so I wouldn't mess up and give the wrong tea to the wrong person. The second level of the cart held the match teacups and saucers.
With words of encouragement, Kai left me to my own devices.
I slowly and carefully rolled the cart down the hallway in the direction Kai pointed me in. Reaching the correct door, I paused when I heard the low murmur of conversation through it. Taking a deep breath to stabilize myself, I leaned my back against the door and pushed in.
The tea room was large and bright. Light streamed in through the large French windows, gauzy curtains fluttered in the breeze that swept through the opened windows. The walls were a creamy beige colour with white trim. In the center of the room was the table they were seated at.
"You're late."
I swallowed past the limp in my throat. Cassius hadn't looked up from his tablet when he spoke. He sat at the head of the table, Axel sat to his left and Jaxon to his right. Beside Jaxon sat Zev.
I looked at the clock on the wall. It was 1:32.
"It's only two minutes past-"
"Late."
I could feel sweat trickle down my back. Cassius was a scary man. His presence was stifling and demanded obedience.
I shuffled on my feet. "Sor-"
"Just give me my tea," he interrupted. "And don't be late again."
I nodded my head but there was no point, he hadn't taken his eyes off his tablet since I entered.
I scrambled to prepare his tea with the correct amount of sugar. Placing it in front of him, I grabbed the 3 tier cake stand from the cart that was loaded with finger foods and desserts and placed it in the middle of the table, careful not to bump into anyone, before returning to prepare the others tea.
While I was retreating I caught Jaxon's eye and what I found sent a cold spike of fear through my stomach. I had enough experience to recognize if someone meant me harm. His golden eyes held an evil glint. The corner of his lips was tilted in a cruel, barely-there smirk.
Unease filled my stomach. I knew that he would be a problem thanks to Ezra, but that didn't lessen the dread I felt at seeing his menacing expressions.
I mix Axel's tea with his preference of milk and sugar before placing it in front of him.
"Thanks, little mouse," he said seductively. He trailed his finger over my hand as I pulled it back. Warmth and a tingling sensation remained after his touch was gone. "But," he said, suddenly grabbing onto my waist and pulling me onto his lap. his lips brushed against my ear. "I'm thirsty for something else."
I struggled against his hold, but he wasn't making it easy to escape. He nipped my ear and buried his nose into my hair before inhaling.
"Hmm, you smell good enough to devour," his husky voice spoke into my ear. With another nip, he finally let me go. I scrambled off his lap.
"Zev, I'm going to need your profit and expense report by the end of the week," Cassius said as I rushed back to the safety of the cart and began pouring tea for the terrible two with shaking hands.
I was starting to think that Axel was more dangerous than I was starting to think. He was starting to seem fairly harmless after our repeated encounters.
"I'm going to be going there later today to check on my boys. I'll grab them from Richie."
Cassius looked up from his tablet to Zev. "Make sure you keep an on him if he's managing your money."
Zev narrowed his cold eyes. "I trust him."
"You also trusted, Virk."
Zev's face darkened.
"Just be cautious."
At Zev's stiff nod, Cassius returned his focus to his tablet, missing the tick in his clenched jaw.
Once I had both cups of tea prepared, I placed one in front of Jaxon before moving to put the other in front of Zev. As I neared, Zev reached out towards me. It seemed like he was going to take the cup out of my hand, but instead, he simply struck it. Steaming hot tea spilt over my hand and wrist. I hissed in pain as the delicate cup fell to the ground and shattered.
"Oops," he said callously.
"You should really be more careful, princess. What if you spilt some on my brand new shoes? These babies were hard to find, not to mention expensive," Jaxon chastised.
Tears blinded my eyes from the searing pain that engulfed my hand. I hugged it to my chest tightly, hoping the pressure would help with the pain.
"Well? Are you going to just stand there and stare at it, or are you going to clean up your mess?" Zev asked. He leaned back in his chair, his elbow resting on the table and his fingers caressing his lips. His stony face was blank except for the slight curve of his lips and the dark glint in his eyes that was no doubt fueled further by his discussion with Cassius.
I wanted to protest, but I didn't know how he would respond.
I lowered my eyes and dropped to my knees beside the shattered cup, careful to avoid the shards. It should have been surprising how fast it took for me to revert into the 'yes, sir' slave that he had created. One mistake. one hostile action towards me and I'm falling at their feet doing what they wanted after thinking that I had changed these past two weeks, thinking that I was better, stronger. But then again, I didn't have to deal with these two during that time. If I did, I wouldn't have been so deluded.
I reached out with my uninjured hand to gather the pieces. Just as my fingers touched a shard, a foot slammed down on my hand. Glass sliced and stabbed into my skin. I sunk my teeth into my lip. Blood filled my mouth as I suppressed a scream at the pain tearing through my hand. Through tear-filled eyes, I looked up at the owner of the black, leather shoe.
"You might have missed Jax's shoes, but you didn't miss mine." Zev ground my hand further into the glass.
I clenched my eyes shut against the pain. The tears filling my eyes fell down my cheeks, but I didn't let any more follow or make a sound.
"Clean it," he demanded dismissively.
The spill he demanded I clean was a small drop that glistened on the dark leather in the light. he didn't lift his foot or ease up on the pressure he was applying.
In desperation, looked over the table towards Axel. I didn't know why, I only trusted him as far as I could throw him. Maybe it was in hope of finding help from a familiar face? But all I found was him calmly sipping his tea as he nonchalantly played with a lighter.
Embarrassment filled me as I realized how stupid I was to try to seek help from one of my kidnappers.
Jaxon grabbed a cookie and took a bite. "You aren't going to get it clean by ogling Axel."
The sound of porcelain cracking resonated through the room. After a deep breath, Cassius stood, a small growl escaped his lips. For one moment I thought he was about to help me, but I was wrong. Without a word or a glance, he strode out of the room with his eyes glued to his tablet and his hands gripping it tightly.
"Awe, did you think he was going to help you?" Jaxon mockingly asked before throwing his head back and laughing. "Princess, don't waste your time trying to find sympathy from any of us. The only one stupid enough to fall under your spell is Ezra and he's not here right now."
Realizing his words were true, I reached up onto the table and grabbed one of the white, cloth napkins. I dabbed at the drop of spilled tea that soiled Zev's shoe. Once he was satisfied that it was clean, he pressed his foot down harder, almost drawing a cry out of my mouth.
"This is where you belong, doll, " he said, leaning forward. "On your knees."
I could hear Axel chuckle from the other side of the table. "I can think of a few things for her to do on her knees."
My throat burned as the reality of how wrong I was about him set in. My desperation for things to be better here had made me a fool.
Zev removed his foot and stood. Without the pressure, the pain seemed to intensify and pulsate. "I'm going to check on things at the brothel," he announced to the other two. "I suggest you come with me, Axel. You seem a bit pale."
Axel agreed. He finished the rest of his tea in a single shot and got to his feet.
Both of them suddenly froze, Jaxon too. They inhaled deeply, before cutting their eyes towards my bloodied hand, bodies tense. I didn't dare look into their eyes.
"Clean this mess up," Zev ordered through clenched teeth before heading out the door with Axel in tow.
Jaxon shoved the rest of his cookie into his mouth before grabbing a few more. "Hey, wait for me!" he called tensely and followed.
I let out a shaky exhale as my shoulders slumped. I fell back onto my rear and inspected my damaged hands. The left one was bright red. I could see a small blister forming where it was hit the worst. The other hand had sharp pieces of white porcelain embedded in it. Blood pooled in my palm where the largest piece was deeply lodged and dripped down my arm. I used the napkin to stop any blood from dripping onto the carpet. I didn't want to risk staining it with blood any more than it already was. It would be far more noticeable on the cream carpet than the tea.
I hissed as I removed the large piece first, quickly pressing the napkin to the open wound as more blood flowed from it. I clenched my teeth as the other pieces got pushed further into my skin. I grabbed the next piece to pull out when Ezra strolled into the room.
"Hey, Nea. I thought I could spare a few minutes to-" his smile dropped as he caught sight of my hand. "What the fuck happened?"
He knelt on his knee and snatched my bloodied hand. Turning it this way and that, he examined the full extent of the damage.
"I dropped a cup," I lied. I didn't want to make things worse.
He eyed me skeptically. "And then what? Did you decide to start doing push-ups on the broken glass?"
I pulled my hand back. "Don't worry, I can clean it up," I said, ignoring his sarcastic question.
Anger burned in his eyes. "Come on," He said, grabbing my elbow and helping me to my feet. "I'll take care of it."
He led me back towards his workshop. I stopped when we reached the door, but he tugged me further down the hallway. I gave him a questioning look.
He continued down a few doors and stopped at a door with a metal plaque that said 'Infirmary.'
"You have an infirmary?" I asked surprised.
He hummed a yes. "I would take care of your hand in my workshop, but I don't have the proper equipment to remove the glass and stitch you up."
I sat on the bed closest to where he was rifling through drawers and cupboards looking for what he needed. The infirmary was a large, white, sterile room. Empty beds lined the walls made with military precision. If I hadn't walked in from the hallway I would have thought that I was in a hospital.
Finding what he needed, Ezra washed his hand and put on a pair of gloves before rolling up to me on one of those circular chairs with wheels that are in doctor offices. He places a metal tray holding gauze, tweezers, scissors, disinfectant, and a suture kit onto the bed beside me and grabs my hand.
"Normally I'd just clean you up and it would heal on its own in a few hours, but judging by the rate you heal, you're going to need a few stitches for this one," he said indicating towards the deep cut that I already removed the glass from. "The rest look shallow. I'm going to have to remove the fragments then disinfect and bandage you up."
He cleaned up the blood and disinfected the area before plucking the glass shards from my hand with the tweezers. If I did it on my own I would have missed the tiny particles I never even noticed until he dropped them onto the metal tray. Once he got them all, he disinfected once more and started applying a cream from a tube.
"Can you hand me the gauze?"
I grabbed it, withholding a grimace when my burned skin pulled painfully as I curled my fingers. I handed him the gauze and went to pull my arm back. Ezra grabbed it under my wrist and pulled it towards him.
"Gods, is there an inch of you that hasn't been injured?" he asked shaking his head. "You're just like my sister."
He wrapped my right hand in a bandage before getting up and grabbing another tube from one of the glass shelves. The medicine here looked like it was mass-produced and packaged in a factory as opposed to the homemade remedies in jars on the shelves of his workshop.
"You're sister?" I inquired.
He started applying cream to my burns. "Yeah," a small smile crossed his lips. "One of my two older sisters was always getting hurt. She'd leave the house perfectly fine then come home covered in dirt and bruises."
"Why?"
He started wrapping the hand. I was starting to feel like a mummy again.
"She always had to play the hero," he fondly reminisced. "She was mine, along with many others, hero. She couldn't help herself when she saw someone being mistreated, always had to step in and teach them a lesson. She and our oldest sister were the reason why I didn't turn out bitter and cynical towards women like most men. Sadly, my friends didn't have the experience of a good female role model in their lives. There, you're all set," he said taping the bandage in place.
"Your sisters sound like good people."
"They are. It's rare to find women like them in this world." He looked into my eyes. "Hey, I just want to warn you. Don't take it personally if a man's first instinct is to expect the worst from you. It's not personal. They do it to protect themselves because unfortunately, that first instinct is correct most of the time. Too many have had to suffer at the hands of a woman."
I frowned. "Why don't they fight back? Can't they overpower them?"
"Physically? Probably. Magically? No. Women are born with innately stronger magic. Physical strength is nothing when you can be choked unconscious or set on fire from across the room. Not to mention that most men have been conditioned to fear women from a young age. That fear is then passed on to the next generation in warnings and reinforced with examples. It's an endless cycle that just gives power to those who create that fear."
He cleaned up the supplies and waste while I sat there with my bandaged hands. I understood how this world worked, but in the context where the roles were reversed and there was no magic. My personal experiences made it hard to deal into the idea that women could be just as abusive as men on such a large scale. I wasn't blind and stupid enough to think that men on earth weren't abused by women, just as I wasn't naive enough to believe that there weren't still women in this world that were abused by men. There were probably countless men out there like Ezra's friends who treated women like they had just treated me. But from a cultural standpoint, it was a shock. I had to wrap my head around it and accept my new reality.
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