Gina's POV.
“My lady, you must keep your voice down,” chided Diane. But how could I? That was simply ridiculous. What did she expect me to do now? Weed the grass and milk the cow? Had she not taken her punishment far enough?
“And I am not to have my bath until at night?” this was the height of it really. I wanted to storm to her room in my anger but what right did I have to do so?
“You should get some shut-eye before Pete gets here, I will stall Pete when he gets here so you can have some time left for a quick bath and a proper breakfast,” said Diane. She was like the light at the end of my tunnel.
“Have you forgotten about me? Huh? I am the light at the end of your tunnel. Who knows? Diane could betray you but I never will,” said Raven and I wanted to laugh. She really couldn't be jealous of Diane now, could she?
“Of course, I'm jealous. You've been going around with Diane as though she is your best friend,” Raven’s tone was accusatory.
“There's nothing to be jealous about, you are a part of me whereas Diane is a friend,” was my response but I believed that hardly served to satisfy her.
I had some shut-eye and when Pete arrived at my door I was promptly awoken by Diane who hurried me to have my bath and eat my meal. I tried to stuff myself with as much food as possible but Diane had to stop me.
“My lady! You will throw up all you have eaten,” she said, alarmed at the speed at which I was rushing my meal.
“Please let me eat, who knows if I will be able to eat during the day?” I asked, putting on a pitiful face.
“That is why I have packed some biscuits for you,” she handed me a foil that contained fresh-smelling biscuits.
“Diane, you're the best,” I said, pulling her cheeks.
Minutes later Pete was leading the way to a field I had not known existed.
He was quiet and I know he stole occasional glances at me.
“If you have a question, just ask,” I said as his glances began to feel uncomfortable.
“I still think about Thunder. How did you do it?” he asked and I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
“What I want to ask is how you can face me after sending me to a sure death,” I scoffed at him and he sobered up.
“I was only following orders. Lady Nydia would have my head otherwise,” he said.
“What am I doing today?” I asked him.
“This,” he said and stopped walking.
I looked ahead of me and saw nothing but tall grasses. We were standing in front of an overgrown meadow.
“What?” I needed clarification. What was I to do here? Sit here all day and think about my life. Now I began to wish I had brought a book along with me.
“Lady Nydia has instructed that you cut the grass,” said Pete.
“I should cut the grass? You mean I am to weed this vast area of land?" This had to be a bad joke.
“My lady, you understand your duty perfectly,” he said with a smile.
“Alone?” I looked at the vast field. Even if I had a full moon season to do it there was no way I could complete the job.
“Yes, she says you are to complete the job before sundown,” Pete told me and I laughed. I laughed for a very long time such that Pete began to look at me as though I were a maniac.
“Well, I shall fetch you once the sun is down,” he said and bowed before leaving me alone.
I eyed the overgrown meadow; there seemed to be no beginning or end to the vast field. More so, I had not been given any tools to do the job. Lady Nydia did not really expect me to make use of my hands now, did she?
None of that mattered to me. I did not have super powers and even if I did I doubted I could still get the job done in such a short time. There was therefore no point wasting my breakfast over this. So I found a nice patch of grass to lay on and made myself a little bed.
“You do love to sleep, don't you?” It was Tyler's voice that woke me up several hours later. I eyed him, annoyed that my sleep had been disturbed, and then I remembered the note this morning. I blinked several times. How had he known where to find me? Had Diane told him? More importantly, I believed this was an extension of the palace. How was it that he was here?
“What are you doing here? You really want Alpha Dagen to kill you, don't you?” I still did not understand the feud between them but I knew Dagen hated Tyler very much.
“Aren’t you cute? You worry about my head now?” Tyler said, pinching my cheeks.
“Cute? Don't be weird,” I said, eyeing him in a dramatic fashion.
“I thought you would be happy to see me,” Tyler said, clutching his chest to prove that he was hurt by my response.
“Why would I be? All you ever do is bother me,” I replied.
“I know that you miss my company so I will pretend like I did not hear you,” he told me.
“How did you find me?” I asked him.
“As you know, I read a lot. A well-read man is knowledgeable in all things,” he gave me a wink as he said this.
“I do not have your time today, my Lord. If you will please let me be, I was enjoying a rather comfortable nap,” I replied laying back on the grass.
“Too bad. I'm something of a parasite.”
“What do you want?”