Chapter 95 The plan
The next morning, Lila reported for her servant duties despite having slept very little. Her mind kept cycling through fragments of dreams and the strange encounter with Adrian. The way her body had moved with combat skill she didn't remember learning. The way his touch on her scar had made her feel things she couldn't name.
She joined the other servants in the great hall for morning assignments. Aria stood at the front as always, her expression cold and assessing as her gaze landed on Lila.
"You." Aria's voice carried across the room. "I expected you to be still bedridden from yesterday's punishment. Yet here you stand looking perfectly healthy."
Lila kept her eyes down respectfully. "I heal quickly, ma'am."
Murmurs rippled through the assembled servants. Everyone knew Lila was supposed to be weak. Her wolf was cursed, abnormal, unable to grant even basic healing abilities. Yet she'd taken ten brutal lashes yesterday and showed no sign of injury today.
Aria's eyes narrowed with suspicion and poorly concealed anger. She'd expected that punishment to break Lila completely. To see her crawling and suffering. The fact that the girl stood straight and apparently pain-free was infuriating.
"We'll see about that." Aria's voice turned sweet in a way that made Lila's instincts scream danger. "Come help me with the storage room. We need to reorganize the high shelves."
Lila followed Aria down a corridor to a small storage room packed with supplies. The shelves reached nearly to the ceiling, stacked with heavy items.
"Climb up and hand down those crates." Aria pointed to the topmost shelf. "Be careful. They're quite heavy."
Lila recognized the setup but saw no way to refuse. She climbed the ladder carefully, keeping her balance despite the awkward angle. As she reached for the first crate, Aria's foot shot out and kicked the ladder's base.
Lila fell backward with a startled cry. She twisted mid-air instinctively, trying to protect her injured back from impact. She hit the floor hard on her side, and Aria's body immediately pressed down on her back with deliberate force.
"Oh my, how clumsy of you!" Aria's voice dripped false concern as she ground her knee into exactly where the worst lash wounds should be.
But Lila didn't scream. Didn't writhe in agony. She just grunted from the impact and the weight, pushing herself up despite Aria's attempts to pin her down.
Aria scrambled back in shock. There was no blood seeping through Lila's dress. No torn bandages. No signs of the extensive injuries that should still be raw and bleeding.
Lila stood up, brushing dust from her clothes. "I'm fine, ma'am. Should I continue with the crates?"
"No." Aria's voice was tight. "Get out. Report to the kitchens for your next assignment."
Lila bowed and left quickly, missing the calculating look that crossed Aria's face.
Margot emerged from a shadowed corner where she'd been watching the entire exchange. "She's healed completely. That's impossible."
"I know." Aria's hands clenched into fists. "Either she's far more powerful than anyone realized, or something else is protecting her. Either way, she's more dangerous than we thought."
Margot's gaze turned predatory. "Then we escalate. Today's council meeting. Make sure she serves. I'll arrange something special."
Aria nodded, understanding passing between them without words. If Lila was somehow protected from physical harm, they'd need to attack her through different means.
Social destruction. Public humiliation. Forcing her to commit unforgivable offenses that even the King couldn't overlook.
\---
That afternoon, Lila was summoned to serve at a high council meeting. Her hands shook as she carried the tray of refreshments into the council chamber.
The room was filled with powerful men. Adrian sat at the head of the table, his expression cold and unreadable. Marcus stood at attention near the door. Thorne occupied his usual seat of prominence. Keal leaned against the far wall, arms crossed, watching everything with sharp brown eyes.
And Garrett. The man who'd supposedly been exiled for his affair with Celeste. He sat bold as you please at the table, smiling with easy confidence.
Lila's stomach churned at the sight of him, though she couldn't explain why. Some instinct screamed that he was dangerous.
Adrian's voice cut through her thoughts. "Garrett has petitioned to return to his position despite his exile. We're here to determine if that's acceptable."
"My exile was temporary, Your Majesty." Garrett's voice was smooth. "A cooling-off period. I've served this kingdom faithfully for years. One mistake shouldn't erase that service."
"One mistake?" Adrian's tone was deceptively mild. "You had an affair with my wife. The Queen. That's not a small error in judgment."
"For which I was appropriately punished." Garrett bowed his head in false contrition. "I've spent months in reflection. I'm ready to serve again with full dedication."
Lila approached the table with her tray, trying to remember the instructions Aria had drilled into her. Serve from the left. Never make eye contact. Keep your head down at all times. Never speak unless directly addressed.
But Aria's instructions had been deliberately wrong.
In royal protocol, servants approached from the right and served with the right hand, keeping the left side clear for guards to have access to protect their charges. Approaching from the left positioned the servant between the noble and their protection, which was considered an aggressive positioning that suggested potential attack.
Lila, having no memory of proper protocols and following Aria's false teaching, approached Adrian from the left. She kept her head down as instructed, relying on peripheral vision to guide the cup toward his hand.
The moment she positioned herself on Adrian's left side, every warrior in the room tensed. Marcus's hand moved to his weapon. Keal straightened from the wall. Even Thorne's eyes narrowed.
But before anyone could correct her, Garrett was speaking again, his voice carrying deliberately across the room to distract from Lila's error.
"Your Majesty, I understand your hesitation. Allow me to prove my value. Give me a task, any task, to demonstrate my capabilities."
Adrian's eyes never left Garrett, though Lila could feel the tension radiating from him. "Very well. I have a specific challenge for you."
Keal's attention sharpened. He'd been watching Lila's approach with growing concern, noticing the incorrect positioning and the way Adrian's jaw had tightened with barely suppressed rage. The anger seemed disproportionate to a simple serving error, which confirmed Keal's growing suspicion about a spell affecting the King's reactions to Lila.
He needed to divert that rising fury before Adrian exploded at her.
"Your Majesty." Keal's voice cut smoothly through the tension. "Before we discuss Garrett's reinstatement, I have border reports that require your immediate attention. There have been unusual animal kills near the northern boundary."
The distraction worked perfectly. Adrian's attention snapped to Keal, his expression shifting from barely contained rage to sharp interest. "What kind of kills?"
"Violent. Systematic. Possibly related to the recent plague." Keal kept his voice level and professional. "I thought you'd want to know immediately."