Slave to Destiny

“You two will be helping me clean the young King’s chambers,” Mary told us. Only one of the girls that had been broken the night prior and I were left. Tina had long sense been given a task of laundry. “There are strict rules in dealing with your Majesty. Rule number one, you may not talk to him unless he talks to you. Rule number two, you must do everything he tells you. Rule number three, you must always refer to him as your majesty or your highness. Rule number four, you may not touch him in anyway. If you fail to follow these rules the punishment could very well be your death.”

Mary said it so easily. A smile remained spread across her face as she opened the door to the King’s wing. Basically the King had a bedroom, bathroom, living room, private study, and personal library in his wing. It was rather useless considering the fact the King was five. So most of the cleaning involved us ridding the rooms of dust.

“Okay let’s split up. I’ll get the study and library. You two can get the bedroom, bathroom, and living room. Won’t this be fun?” Mary told us with an earnest smile playing on her lips. To be perfectly honest Mary is really starting to creep me out.

The girl beside me was a nervous wreck as she watched Mary leave. Her body was practically convulsing as she stood inside the fairly neat living room. Just one glance at her, and I was beginning to realize she was going to absolutely useless. Sighing I muttered to her, “Just clean the living room, I’ll take care of the rest.” The girl nodded. Her mouth twitched slightly as if she were trying to smile, but she couldn’t quite do it. Tears slid down her face.

I couldn’t stand the sight of her anymore. In a way she disgusted me. She had been broken so easily. She wasn’t wild. The wolf inside of me clawed. My skin ached at the mere thought of declaring dominance over her. One problem with me being in tune with my wolf is I have urges to declare my Alpha position. That’s something the werewolf population had been trying to move past. In the past we used to have small scattered packs each headed by the Alpha, but werewolves feared that if someone were to try to declare Alpha over the entire population it wouldn’t work correctly. So instead they used a monarchy.

Without another word I sauntered towards what Mary had pointed out as being the King’s room. Should I knock on the door? Considering he was merely five I walked right in.

The room was extraordinary. It was elegant with deep scarlet colors mixed in with golds and blacks. Everything looked simply lovely. Well everything except for the smashed antique vase, and the five year old bawling his eyes out in the middle of the room. I wanted to reach out to the child and comfort him, but subconsciously I thought of the rules Mary had mentioned. Why was the child even alone? Who leaves their King unguarded?

It was an odd thing indeed. When I was a child I had been surrounded by guards and playmates at all times. Maddie had been especially good to me. Her mother had worked in the kitchen so it worked out great. Here the great King Edmund was left totally alone. Did the Stewards really think they had this that under control? Did they really think they could leave their power lying around. If I felt inclined I could snap his neck in a heartbeat. In fact if I thought I could escape the castle alive I would consider it, but no I had to be patient in planning.

Silently I glided over to vase and began picking up the pieces. The child stopped crying instantly and glanced me over with interest. “Who are you?” he asked curiously. He was sort of absolutely adorable. He had a mop full of messy brown hair, bright blue eyes indicating he’d been well fed, and rosy cheeks.

“My name is Gabby,” I told him casually already forgetting my place.

The five year old freaking walked over and smacked me across the face. I glared at him. The wolf inside of me growled. Who the fuck did he think he was? My arm wanted to lash out, but I felt the numbing and painful sensation of being shocked because of the stupid collar around my neck. You see the whole collar concept is simple. Vampires invented them centuries upon centuries ago with the help of a couple dark witches. Basically when you wear the collar it shocks you every time you try to release the inner wolf.

“What the hell?” I growled at him in anger.

The boy raised up his hand to hit me again, but I grabbed his wrist. This child had officially been far too spoiled if he thinks he can go around smacking people he just met. Surprise was evident on his face as he stared at me. “No one ever touches me,” he whispered staring at me with wonder. Once again, what is wrong with this place?

A smile shown bright as day on the child’s face revealing his sharp jagged teeth to the world. “Will you play with me?” he requested. I was torn. I’d already broken the rules enough, but something told me playing with him or not playing with him would be a no win situation for me. My lack of response caused the boy’s eyes to begin to well up with fresh salty tears. Oh come on you have got to be kidding me.

“Fine,” I grumbled. The boy bounced up and down once, before grabbing my wrist. He then promptly dragged me across the room over towards his massive pile of toys. It was evident that my earlier assumption that the child had been spoiled was right on the money. He was grinning as he sorted through his toys trying to find something to amuse him for the afternoon. The thought of afternoon made me glance out the window. It was pitch black as one would expect. Something about the Otherworld was different from the world humans live in. There is a mere two hours of sunlight a day, and everybody is asleep during it. It’s quite convenient for the bloodsuckers who live in it.

“We should play trains,” King Edmund giggled. Dearest Night Mother please save me.