2
Kaya’s POV.
The smell of their fresh blood in mud...the sound of their screams...the look of shock in their eyes...the unbearable pain of a dagger piercing their heart...the welcoming of death!
“No!” I recall my own scream of shock, and right before the guards take me away.
Wait, the guards took me!
My eyes snap open, and my eyes shift around the dark space that I’m in. I can sense I’m sitting on metal space, which gave me the hint that I’m in a cage of some sort and my hands are tied with a rope.
My heart is spiking heavily as I think of what is to happen to me. I’ve never been so sure in my life that I can’t die. I have to avenge the deaths of my father and brother.
Out of the blue, the noisy movement stopped, and one of the guards opened the back, sending in rays of heavy beams of light.
It hurts my eyes that I snapped it close for a minute.
I am inside a carriage, but before my brain can decipher the other things happening, the guards pick me up and throw me to the ground.
“Argh...” My throat released a grunt from scraping my knees. They don’t care, but they hold me back on my feet and begin to force me to move.
“No, where are you taking me? Tell me!” My voice is high-pitched, and their leader suddenly grabs me by my hair and pushes it downwards so that I can look into his eyes.
“You’re lucky that you aren’t dead like that wretched father of yours, and that’s because we’ve got orders. So, shut up, or that beautiful face of yours won’t save you anymore.” His eyes shift away from me to look at the two other guards behind us, and he adds. “There’s a festival held for Queen Mother Emilie in the kingdom. Take this cheap whore to the maids’ quarters. They’d find a job for her there.”
After nodding at their boss’s order, they manhandle me and take me away. My mind is reeling from different thoughts. I want to understand what that guard meant, but everything seems coarse to me.
The adrenaline pumping into my blood is even blocking any sense that comes in.
After a while of walking through rooms, the guards finally stop in front of one, and one of them opens it before they walk me inside and remove the rope used to pin my hands together.
“Hey, you.” They call a woman who looks to be in her forties, and from the way she’s dressed, I can tell she’s a maid.
“I have a name. It’s Melissa, and I am the head of all the maids in the kingdom. I deserve respect.” The woman fights as she crosses her arms over her chest, but the guards only find it sarcastic.
“Yeah. Yeah. Get a job for this new maid. She’s a slave now.” After the guards say, they walk away, leaving me alone in the room with the woman.
Her orbs keep gawking at me for a minute before she yells at the top of her lungs. “Well, go and get clean and dressed up. There’s a bathroom down the room, and you’d find the maids’ clothes in the dresser. I need a helping hand anyway. We’d know if you can do it.”
My forehead wrinkles at all the events that have unfolded right in front of me without my having a say. I am a being who has rights, not a toy.
“No, I must get back home. My father and brother were just killed by those monsters. I must find their bodies and bury them. I’m not a maid.” My voice is brisky as I glare at the maid, but her lips twitch to the side, and before I know it, her hand is in my throat, grasping tight.
“I don’t know who the hell you are, but you do, as told here. Everybody does so. The only people here who control us are Queen Mother Emilie, Lord Jared, and the Triplets. Go and get ready, or you’d be finding them in your afterlife.” The woman tells, leaving fear in me, and I hurry to do as told.
Melissa asks one of the maids to stay with me throughout the time I use to get dressed up. When I finish, I change into a gown that’s got an apron stripped to it and stroking down my body.
Afterwards, the maid and I move to the kitchen, where Melissa says she needs me, and just as I get there and she sees me, she asks that I place a tray of food and follow her.
“Where are we going?” I ask when we reach a hallway. At the end of it, my senses pick up the sound of the crowds, but I don’t pay attention to it.
“There’s much you must learn. But if you want to live longer here, don’t ask questions. Just...”
Before she can finish the sentences, I do. “do as told.” I complete, and she nods her head.
“Smart of you.”
And right after, the doormen let us inside a ballroom filled with...
My goodness.
My eyes widen at the sight before me. The enormous space of the ballroom is one that I have never seen but read about in books before. I am left stunned and with my jaw on the ground.
“This is beautiful.” I catch sight of the decor laced with sandalwood and striped with gold materials.
“Don’t gawk too much. Focus on your duty.” Informs Melissa, and that’s when it all died down inside me.
I’m in a room filled with werewolves, and they’re all chattering and laughing like they didn’t just cause the death of my family.
My jaw twitches, but not a second later, Melissa points to a distance and says, “There. That’s where you’re taking the food. Be at your best. Trust me, that’s an advice you want to hold dear.” And she leaves afterward.
My eyes scan each axis of the room, darting for any incoming danger as, wobbly, my legs take me further inside.
Melissa had pointed to the end of the room, where I saw a few young men chattering with heavy bags under their eyelids. I can tell they’re drunk and feeling at the top.
I arrive there and bend my head in a bow. Maybe that would save me.
“Um, your order, sirs.” My voice is like a whisper as I drop the tray and turn to leave when one of them grabs me by the elbow and pushes me back.
“You don’t know who I am, do you?” He asks as his eyes bore into mine.
Batting my lashes at him, I make a hm-mh sound and shrug my shoulders. Is he a royal?
“Wow. I never knew it’d be rejuvenating to know someone doesn’t fear me because they don’t know me. You’re a new maid, aren’t you? And I’m sure you haven’t gone through any training.” It feels more like he’s having fun.
Apart from my heart thumping at my throat, I find the man very handsome. He’s got the youngster face, his black hair gelled to the back, beautiful hazel eyes that sparkle like the sunlight, and his milky, lightly tanned skin, mesmerizing to my sight.
His presence causes a different emotion inside me that isn’t one of fear.
“Leave me alone!” My body suddenly feels threatened as I yank my elbow off of his clasping, and he chuckles.
Of course, he thinks I’m as weak as everybody else here thinks.
“There’s no way I can do that, beautiful. My eyes are now on you.” That is the last thing he tells me as I run away.
I have to get out of here.
Melissa isn’t around, so scanning the room, I see that everyone is busy, so I hurry to the door, and when that is successful, I make my way down the hallway till there is no one around anymore.
My legs speed up the pace when I see a garden ahead, but then, just as I get to the end, my shoulder hits a figure that entered the hallway from the outside out of the blue. The person doesn’t look back, so I couldn’t see his face.
And then, getting to the end of the hallway, another figure appears to my left. Now, my mind isn’t settled anymore. Something is off, but I can’t tell what it is.
Then, to my right, as my face shifted there, I saw the man from the table earlier.
“My eyes are now on you.”
His words hit me at the back of my head.
He gets closer. They all get closer. Are they going to kill me?
Ahead of me is the wall of the garden, where I could have escaped.
“Who are you?” I ask the question that’s been bothering my mind ever since I met this young, mysterious man. The others freak me out as well.
In a flash, the one coming from my left drafts me to the wall of the hallway, where he has me pinned with his hand on my neck.
“I can’t...breathe...stop!” His face is tainted with fury, and anger is boiling inside him.
“That’s not the question. The question is, who are you? A witch?”
Oh, no! These are the triplets. I see their faces now. And if they know that I’m a witch, this is my end.
33RD POV.The triplets and Kaya are in media.Kyle’s finger rakes through his hair as he releases a heavy breath.His face is positioned earthward with his shoulders slouching, before he picks himself up and walks over to the small bar inside the room where there’s alcohol.Just as he pours himself a glass of gin, his brothers enter the room, and he groans.“It’s been almost thirty minutes since I called for the both of you.” His voice is tight, showing that he is annoyed at their lateness.Kieran scoffs before he snatches the drink from Kyle and says, “Come on, bro. Say what you have to say. I don’t have much time. I’ve got to get back to mother’s ceremony.”Kyle smacks his own forehead and shifts his gaze to Kade, who, on the other hand, has his hands inside his own pocket, looking at the both of them.“All right. Fine. I know you guys would think that I’m crazy...”“Hm-mh.” Answers Kieran. He has never been the calming one.Kyle shakes his head but continues. “But there’s a witch
43rd POV.Kyle, Kieran, and Kade are in media.The brothers go to their study room, left stunned by the effect that a common girl, and a witch at that, had on them.From recollection, the way their hearts had taken a beat, something that hadn’t happened in a very very long time. One can say they’ve even forgotten what it means to have adrenaline or other anxiety hormones run through their veins. It is distressingly for them.A glass cup slams onto the table, raising Kieran’s and Kyle’s eyes at Kade. It is rather surprising that they’d ever see Kade in a non-collected way for the first time.He’s only had everything figured out, calculated, and his facial expression is blank, but tonight, the side of his eyes wrinkles as his frown deepens and his fingers are twirling around the top of the glass cup. His brows are deeply furrowed with a wrinkle at the sides of his eyes, his jaw twitching from sides to sides. He remains lost in thought.“Kade, are you okay?” Kyle asks and changes his po
5Kaya’s POV.I wake up to my senses informing my brain of a pain in my neck as I ruffle on a strange bed that I can’t remember when I climbed.It is indeed morning, and the sun has settled into the room, beaming in heat, causing me to yank off the duvet from my body.And just then, my brain reels back to what happened yesterday.I gasp as my face lights up in fear and my body involuntarily falls off the bed. It is as though time stopped for a second, ensuring that I remembered the horrors I’ve faced so far in this place.Grabbing myself with my palms to sit up, my eyes wander around the room, finding it all strange and simple.The interior decor isn’t anything too fancy, seeming like that of a dormitory for the royal college Werewolf kids.Standing in the middle of the room, accessing all that my eyes can scan, the hair at the back of my head stand at the sudden sound of the door opening.Snapping my head there, my breathing hitches as a figure walks in but when I see that it’s Melis
6 Kaya’s POV. The Triplets in media. My face is devoid of any emotion by the time Melissa and I arrive in the dining room. On the table, my sight catch the many fancy foods spread from one end to the other. The eclectic choices make me crave food, and I am now realizing how hungry I am. I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday, and considering all that has happened to me, there’s no way I could have gone hungry. I wish there was a way that I could get out of here. I don’t want to do these things, but instead, I want to be in my own house, reading a book while picking on the bad cookies that my brother made and watching as my father destroys the house while he claims that he is inventing something new. And only Williams and I would be the ones to applaud him when he finishes creating them. My lips almost tug up in a smile at the distant memory, which does make me feel like I wasn’t here anyone until I hear Kyle’s voice. “Kaya, you’re here. And you’re so beautiful.” He gasps at
7 Kaya’s POV. Kieran is boring his eyes into mine, which are widened out of fear. He’s acting like a monster with the way his jaw is twitching and his fingers are taking off some buttons on his shirt. Then he comes close to me and wraps off all the content on the table with his hands, his impatience obviously running thin. My breathing heightens with each barbaric action of his, my chest roving up and down right before he grabs each side of the chair that I’m sitting on and he speaks, his face inches away from mine. “You’re a toy here, an item, meaningless and disposable. You must understand that the hard way. My brother has attempted to go easy on you; has he not?” His voice is filled with malice, and in his eyes, I see no remorse. It’s like all he sees me as is a machine that he owns, and when it doesn’t do exactly what he wants, he punishes it. Grabbing me by my waist all of a sudden, he drops me onto the table. His hand has wiped off a frost from one of the cakes, and he li
8 Kaya’s POV. The silence treatment that comes from Melissa is beginning to feel more of a punishment now, and I don’t think I can bear it anymore. I don’t see any sympathy in her eyes towards how much I have suffered tonight, as she just moved swiftly around the room, preparing me for the night based on the triplets orders. Oh, goodness, mentioning their names even now is scary. A chill runs down my spine at the thought of it. Melissa clears her throat to call me back to life. As I blink up at her, she spews. “Your bath is waiting.” “No, I can’t take that bath. Who knows what will happen? Those guys are psychopaths. We really need to find a way out of here.” I want to say more, but when Melissa grabs me around the cleavage of the tattered gown, pulling me up to my feet so that my eyes pop out in fear of what she’s about to do, she shakes her head in disapproval. Before my brain can think of what she’s about to do, she sweeps me to the wall, making my back hit against it. Then,
9 Kade walks into the room with Kyle and Kieran behind him. On landing on his brothers, a squint forms at the side of his eyes, and instantly he gives entrance to his mind so his brothers can connect with him internally. With a smile on his face, when their uncle Jared sees them, he speaks inwardly. “Let me do most of the talking. There’s something fishy with Uncle.” Kieran takes a seat on one of the leather chairs, bringing his legs up to his uncle’s desk before he crosses his arms over his chest and stares ahead into nothingness. He looks like he isn’t in the mood for any of the conversation. Kade, on the other hand, has assumed every reason why their uncle has called them for a conversation, and he is assured that it’s related to Kaya. As their uncle clears his throat, Kyle makes his way to a small bar inside the room and opens a bottle of whiskey, which he gulps down into his throat. “Now, tell me guys, what was that nonsense I saw earlier in the dining room?” There’s a dar
10 Kaya’s POV. There was a time in my life when the rise of sunlight was a joy I could not fathom. It felt like a part of me that I always cherished. I would have woken up early, mesmerized by my thoughts, which were beautiful then. I’d run up the ladder to the roof of the cottage and watch as that yellow vibrance landed on my skin. Having watched as my skin glows, I’d smile and appreciate nature for creating such beauty in the midst of the darkness that lurks in this world. But now, here I am, lying on the bed with my eyes closed as I feel the rays of the sunlight beaming onto my skin. Yet, I do not stand up. I cannot bring myself to be happy about anything because my life is no longer mine. I am crush and doom from the moment that the people left in my love life were murdered by the ones who captured me. They’ve left me to be nothing. Suddenly, I reverse from the depths of my thoughts when I hear someone clear their throat. My eyes snap open, and my body bolts up from the bed.