I left Liam in his room and went downstairs to the kitchen. He was acting a little weird but I wasn't going to put much weight on it. I didn't think he liked the fact that I prayed for him but I didn't care. It didn't mean I was going to stop.
I stepped inside the state-of-the-art kitchen, a little hesitant to meet everyone. The staff turned to look at me as I entered, instantly making me self conscious.
"Hey!" Lisette stepped forward and tucked me next to her side.
"Hi," I responded sheepishly.
"Okay, real quick, you already know Richard and Donny. That's Sean, their boss. Adrian, Kyle, Frank, and Daniel work in the gardens. Jesse is the head of maintenance and Jordan helps him out. Me and Crystal are the maids. This is Anna, you guys."
I awkwardly waved and prayed the attention would end soon. Thankfully, everyone went back to their conversations except Lisette and Crystal.
"So you're the new girl," Crystal said.
"Yeah, I guess."
"Hm."
"You're Crystal, right?"
"Yeah."
"Bridget told me so much about you," I tried. I wanted to be nice even though she was making it difficult.
"Did she now," she said sarcastically.
"Yeah she said you were her nanny."
"Yeah, until you came along."
I wasn't exactly sure how to respond but I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of being rude back. My mother always taught me to kill them with kindness and it had worked for me this far.
"Oh. I'm sure the king wouldn't mind if you wanted to spend some time with Bridget," I said with a smile.
"You would be the one to know, wouldn't you?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lisette stepped in.
"She was in his room all day with the door locked. You do the math."
"I was just keeping him company," I said honestly.
"Right," Crystal nodded. I could tell she was being a bitch but I wasn't going to give in.
"Believe what you want but I'm not that kind of girl."
"For your sake, I hope that's true. He wouldn't want you anyway."
"Don't be such a bitch, Crystal." Lisette said.
Crystal rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying. I wouldn't want her to get my sloppy seconds."
I didn't know why but the fact that she referred to Liam in such a derogatory way had my blood boiling. He wasn't like that and I didn't want someone to talk badly about him. He wasn't even here to defend himself and she was running her mouth.
"I'm sorry you're so unhappy with your life," I said apologetically. I turned away from her, sufficiently ending the conversation.
Crystal gripped my hair down to my scalp and pulled back. I gasped in pain and tried to grab her hand to make her stop but she only tightened her grip.
"What the fuck," Lisette yelled at her. She tried to get Crystal to let go but before she would release me, she slammed my forehead on the thick marble island.
It hurt like hell and I could feel blood trickle down my forehead. I had never been attacked over something I allegedly did. Hell, I had never been attacked for anything. I had never been in a fight and it seemed like I was about to get my ass handed to me.
Richard grabbed Crystal and started to take her out of the kitchen when Liam stepped inside. He was clearly furious but didn't say a word as he made his way over to me. He put his hands on either side of my face and examined the cut.
"Who did it?" he asked.
I bit my lip, hesitant to sell her out. He was angry and I wasn't sure how he would react. I didn't want to be the cause of something awful.
"It was an accident."
"An accident, Anna? Really?"
I shrugged.
He looked over his shoulder at Richard and Crystal. "I'll deal with you later."
He led me out of the kitchen and back upstairs to his room. I didn't say anything because I hadn't seen him this angry yet. I didn't know if I should fear his wrath but something in me told me I should never fear him.
He took me in the bathroom and grabbed a washcloth. I watched as he wet it with warm water and turned to look at me.
"So are you going to tell me what happened or am I going to have to search your memories for it?"
I sighed. "Can't you just leave it alone?"
"She could have seriously hurt you, Anna."
"But she didn't. I'm fine."
"No you're not."
"Why do you care?" I shot back. I took the cloth from him and leaned closer to the mirror so I could see.
"I shouldn't care that you nearly had your head bashed in by a jealous servant?"
"Bashed in? That's a little extreme, don't you think?"
"You shouldn't have to deal with that."
"And you shouldn't be putting me on a pedestal."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"I mean, this. Would you have done this for any other servant? That's all I am so maybe you should start treating me as such."
"You want to be treated like a servant?"
"No, I don't but if you had just treated me like everyone else, I wouldn't be in this situation."
"So now this is my fault? I've tried to make your transition as smooth as possible."
"That's my point. For some reason, we click and that's blurring your judgement. If we had met under any other circumstances, we could probably be great friends but here, your friendship is only hurting me."
"Fine. I'll leave you alone."
"Fine."
"Even though it's stupid."
I groaned. "Seriously? You really can't see that they all assume you're using me?"
"So what if they think that? It's not true."
"I don't think you get it. I don't want people to see me that way."
"People are going to see you whatever way they want, Anna. They're just servants."
"I'm just a servant."
"You're different."
"No I'm not. I was probably bought at the same place, went through the same kidnapping, had the same loss of life."
"You belong to me. That automatically makes you higher than the rest."
"But not high enough to be considered anything except a servant."
"Why do you have to complicate things?"
"Me?" I exclaimed. "You're making this complicated."
"There's nothing to make complicated but you're somehow doing it."
I scoffed. "Why did you even bother to go down there if you were going to do this?"
"I wasn't going to do anything. You started this."
"No I didn't."
"You're concerned with how a bunch of servants view our relationship."
"Exactly."
"That doesn't make any sense. I'm king. Who the hell cares what everyone else thinks?"
"I care. I have to get along with them, not to mention I'm on the same level as them."
"God, you're impossible."
"I'm realistic."
"Pessimistic."
"Details," I brushed him off.
He scoffed. "See, impossible. Let me see your forehead."
"I'm fine."
"Humor me."
I rolled my eyes but turned from the mirror to face him. He moved my hair away and looked at the gash.
"You're healing quickly. Good."
"Told you I'm fine."
"Yeah."
He paused and simply looked at me for a moment. The way he looked at me would have caused my heart to beat faster, if I had one.
For a moment, I thought he might kiss me and in that moment, I realized I wanted him to. I wasn't sure what came over me but I never wanted it to happen again. Being with Liam was out of the question. It was stupid to even think that I had a chance.
I broke eye contact and fidgeted with a curl. He stepped away from me but kept his eyes trained on me.
"Well, um, I'm going to go to bed," I said quietly.
He nodded in response and let me leave the room without further protest.
Once outside, I took a deep breath. That was too close and I couldn't let it happen again. I liked the guy but it would be stupid to think anything could ever come of it. I was being stupid and let Mariah's words affect me. He was supposed to marry her and that's exactly what I wanted to happen. I wanted him to fall in love with her and be happy with her.