Chapter 12: +Chapter 12+

Mari woke up to a knock on her door, shooting upright in a panic to find herself on the bed. There was no time to think about who might have moved her from the carpet to the plush bed while there was someone knocking at the door.

She scrambled off the bed and unsteadily rose to her feet, realizing that she had slept off while still wearing heels. “Come in?” She called out uncertainly, unsure of who it could be.

The maid that had first attended to her when she was brought to the palace pushed open the door and peeked her head in with a bright smile. “Hello, Miss Mari, I hope I didn’t interrupt your nap.”

Mari pushed her hair out of her face and let out a sigh, slowly letting herself sit at the edge of the bed. “You didn’t.”

A glance at the window let her know that the sun was setting, the sliver of sky she could see through the curtains dyed red. It reminded her of the fire dancing out the window of her apartment; it wasn’t a happy memory.

“Good, because I was sent to prepare you for dinner.” The maid cheerily said, demurely stepping in.

Mari frowned, she had eaten lunch in a bathrobe, what was so special about dinner that a maid had to prepare her for… her eyes widened in realization.

“I’m not having dinner in my room?” She asked fearfully, rising to her feet.

The maid didn’t pick up on her tone, “You’re not, His Highness has requested that you join him for dinner,” She said giddily.

Mari’s frown deepened, she would rather not eat at all than have to eat with King Lucien or worse still both Kings, but she feared that she wasn’t being given a choice. She made an effort anyway, “I don’t really feel up to that, could you send my apologies to King Lucien?”

The maid looked flabbergasted like Mari was crazy not to jump on this offer, which was a very fair thought because King Lucien never ate his meals with anyone so to be invited to eat with him was a big deal.

“Do you feel under the weather, Miss Mari?” She asked, fishing for a way to explain such behavior.

She hadn’t batted an eye at King Lucien bringing a random werewolf because the King was quite the player who was well known for his sexual trysts but to have one of his women turn down such an important offer made her look at Miss Mari askance.

Mari jumped on this excuse, “Yes! Yes… I do,” She said in a rush, a little too enthusiastic.

“Ah, I see, what a shame.” The maid said, truly sounding disappointed, “Do you need my help changing? There is some change of clothes in the wardrobe, I’ll have more brought tomorrow.”

Mari ignored the blatant disappointment in the maid’s voice, as well as her promise to get more prison clothes for her, she just wanted to be alone, and maybe go back to sleep. “I can handle it myself, thank you.” She smiled, waiting for the maid to leave.

She let out another sigh when the door clicked shut and it was just her in the room again, slowly dropping to the edge of the bed. She immediately reached for the straps of her heels to undo it. Her feet hurt from sleeping in them so she wanted to be rid of them quickly.

Mari decided to get out of the uncomfortable dress as well, if she was going to sleep again, she wanted to be comfortable this time. Just as the zipper went down, the straps of the dress falling down her shoulder, her door slammed open.

Mari whipped in the direction of the door with horror on her face, her desperate hands the only thing keeping her dress up. Dread sank its claws into her nape at the sight of the unwanted visitor, it was none other than King Lucien.

He was quick to step in and shut the door behind him, the room suddenly feeling five times smaller to Mari. “Your-Your Highness,” She mumbled, bowing her head slightly out of reflex.

Lucien studied the witch silently while leaning against the door, his emotions perfectly hidden behind an icy mask. He told himself he had rushed here after getting a report that the witch was sick because she was beneficial to his Kingdom, no other reason.

He noted with relief that she looked perfectly fine, unable to work up the effort to be upset at her that she had turned down his offer to have dinner. “You may have dinner in your room but you will have breakfast with me tomorrow.” He ordered, straightening up.

Mari silently watched King Lucien leave, tongue-tied. She knew she must have upset him if he had to come in person to address her, and although Mari knew that it probably wasn’t wise to offend her King when he could order her death at any time, she was just relieved that she wouldn’t be eating dinner with him.

She had been ordered to eat breakfast with King Lucien tomorrow and as he had come in person, she couldn’t turn him down but that a was problem for a future Mari.

She absent-mindedly drifted to the door to lock the door, uninterested in having another visitor. She took off her dress and put on the pale pink bathrobe before going to stand in front of the window.

It was a two-story drop to the ground and then there was the fence and the heavily guarded gate. She had to figure out a way to escape, she couldn’t stay here any longer.

Sleep fled her eyes as she watched the sun set completely, an urgency burning under her skin. A maid would have to bring dinner for her before she could implement any plans so that she could dismiss them for the night and buy enough time to escape.