Midnight secret

Persephone stared at the man with her heart beating rapidly. She gripped the fabric of her skirt, wishing that whatever came out of his mouth wasn't real. "Y-Your Higness, I-"

"Your Grace!" A chipper voice echoed through the room along with the sound of clashing jewelry. A woman draped in see-through garments entered the room with a big smile on her fox-like face. Her long black hair encentuated her chest, drawing attention towards it.

The King's daunting eyes were still on Persephone, as if she was his prey. However, his attention soon diverted to the woman who moved towards him in a sultry manner. "Maeve," He greeted, slipping his arm around her waist.

"Were you going to abandon me tonight?" She pouted, talking in a childish manner which made Persephone nauseous.

"I do not need to explain myself to a mere wench." He snarked, briefly glaring at Persephone as if he meant that towards her. The insulted young woman wanted to grab one of the shards from the ground and teach the man a lesson but she simply scoffed and turned away.

"Of course, darling." Maeve replied, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Wishing not to spend anymore time around the irritable man, Persephone walked around them in an attempt to leave, if she had to spend anymore time around him she would start screaming. However, there was a cold grip on her wrist the yanked her back forcefully.

"And where do you think you're going?" Bastille snarled at her, releasing the other woman previously in his grasp. "I never allowed you to leave." the death-grip he had on the poor maid almost made her curse him out.

"I only wanted to give you privacy, M'lord." She replied, trying to pull her arm away from him.

"You will leave," He jerked her towards him, her face now couple inches away from his, "when I tell you to."

"Darling, I do not wish to have an audience tonight." Maeve whined, pulled his hand away from Persephone who was grateful for her interference. Bastille loosened his grip in response and gave his attention back to the needy woman.

"Very well, you're dismissed." he waved Persephone off, not looking at her.

Wasting no time, Persephone immediately fled the room along with Ella. "What an infuriating man!" She scoffed to herself, her face hot with embarrassment. "Had his mother not taught him to respect women?" The annoyed young maid huffed, clenching her dress in anger.

"It appears at way." Ella sighed as she shrugged.

"Did he personally assign me to his chambers to torture me?" Persephone glanced behind her in the direction of his room, scoffing. "It's only been a day and I simply cannot stand the man."

"I will forever be grateful to you for all your help, Persi." Ella intertwined her fingers together, holding it to her chest as a gesture of her gratitude.

"Its not a problem," the other smiled, patting her cheek lightly. "That evil man is just getting on my nerves."

"You have quite the mouth on you, you know that?" A voice spoke out, but the two women couldn't locate the owner of the voice. Tristan presented himself from behind one of the pillars with his sword and a stone in hand, he was dragging the stone along the blade to sharpen it.

"You going to behead me for it? You know that I'm just saying what everyones thinking." Persephone stepped towards him, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Well there's a reason why everyone's only thinking it." He cocked his eyebrow at her, a slight smile tugging at his lips.

"Well I say things as it is." Persephone shrugged, her nonchalant look entertaining the man.

"Keep that up and you're going to get yourself killed." He nodded in her direction, sheathing his sword.

"My father taught me to never fear under any circumstances, even when staring into the eyes of death." She lifted her head, her nose in the air. "Rather, have death fear you."

"Those are mighty words. But the King despises women, so even that won't save you." Tristan shook his head as he began walking away. "He is feared even by death himself."

Persephone scoffed in disbelief, watching Tristan's figure disappear into the hall. But deep down she knew that there was some truth in what Tristan said. There was a demeanour about the King that put Persephone in a frozen-like state in his presence. Being under his gaze was like standing, fully exposed, in the coldest time of year. Simply thinking about his alluring eyes caused goosebumps to run through her body. Though she hated the name 'Ice King' it was rather fitting for him, but she desperately wanted to work in 'Perverted' in the name which be be most accurate.

"If the lady hadn't stepped in, what would you do if you had to serve His Highness?" Elle inquired, worried that she put her precious new friend in a dangerous situation.

"Well, theres always easy access to the windows in his room, the only thing holding me back would be deciding which one to jump out of." She giggled, trying to lighten the mood, though she knew that the young girl was genuine with her worries.

"You'd rather die than spend the night with the King?" She raised her eyebrows inquisitively. "What if he took a liking to you?"

"I have no desire for material objects." Her smile subsided into a small smile. "That man could never give me what I desire most in this world."

"If you don't mind me asking, what could that be?" Ella inquired.

"Well, I've yet to find that out myself." The older woman sighed, tilting her head back in exhaustion.

***

The Palace was quiet, silence fell upon the halls as if it was deserted. The midnight moon shining brighter than ever before.

Persephone lay awake in her room, tranced by the moonlight decorating the walls in her chambers. She let out a heavy sigh and sat up on her bed, feeling unable to fall asleep.

The light tapping of her feet was heard in the corridors, disrupting the deafening silence. Suddenly she spotted the patio looking out to the garden, which was the first thing she wanted to see upon entering the palace. She quietly opened the doors, shivering at the nibbles of the winter cold on her bare skin.

But soon awe filled her as she looked upon the winter flowers that filled the yard. They thrived even in the winter weathers, looking beautiful as ever. "Beautiful." She sighed, smiling as she hugged herself in an attempt to warm up.

Persephone couldn't help herself but descend down the staircase to the garden for a closer look. But upon coming to the last step, she slipped on the ice and fell forward, crashing into a wooden door, to which it burst open. The young woman gasped at the mess she created but to her surprise there was a staircase before her, leading upwards.

Curiosity took over all reason and she further investigated the area. The staircase looked old, the rails looking rustic. Once she got to the top, her breath was sucked out of her lung at the sight of a beautiful room filled with books. The shelves were rounded along the walls, which were 30 feet tall. It even had its own mobile staircase to reach the top of the shelf.

The room was not too furnished apart from the adequate sized round table in the centre of the room with 4 chairs around it. And the only thing on the table was a used candle and big book with a pen next to it.

Persephone grew up on reading books, she read books every chance she had and her parents encouraged it. She had read every kind of book from made-up romance stories to true documentations of history.

Her eyes skimmed through the titles of the many books, recognizing the books she's read and the series for them that she wasn't able to get her hands on. Excitement filled her heart, discovering her new hobby at the palace.

However, the big book on the table which had no title grabbed her attention, drawing her towards the table. She traced her fingers along the black bind of the book and opened it to reveal a page with words hand written in it like a journal entry. She flipped to the latest entry which was written a couple days ago.

'Darkness fills my heart. My memories of how it felt to be happy ceases to exist. There seems to be no real meaning to life anymore.'

Persephone's eyebrows knitted into a frown upon reading the first few sentences, but she continued to read.

'The way the people around me describe love sounds so foreign to my ears. My mother was the only one who ever truly loved me up until I turned the age of 4. My father never bothered after she died and my brothers share bonds with their women that I simply cannot comprehend. I wish to experience such things, but on different circumstances than the ones that are made for me.'

The young woman felt for the person who wrote the entry. The person sounded as if they had been through a lot. It was definitely someone who worked in the palace for a while. She wanted to write some words of encouragements for them, anonymously, wishing to stay nameless in fear of the owner.

'Though I do not know you as a person, I can tell that you are definitely someone who deserves nothing but love. You just need to open your heart up to others. Do not dwell on the past or look upon other people's relationships in envy. Because you will find your own unique love, one that will bring you all the happiness in the world.'

Persephone sighed and set the pen down and allowed the ink to dry before closing the book. The young woman sighed as she stood up from the seat, she knew that she had to wake up in a few hours and tend to the King's room, which she dreaded. She knew there was going to be too much to clean and she was going to need energy for it.

She made sure to close the door properly and ran back to her room before anyone caught her. And the young woman couldn't stop thinking back to the journal entry, she was definitely out of line, writing in someone else journal. However, she was definitely looking forward to going back again.

***

"Persi!" Ella caught up to Persephone who was walking along the cooridor towards the KIng's room. She couldn't hold back a big yawn, to which the younger woman chuckled.

"Did you not sleep well last night?" She asked, patting the tired woman on the back.

"I couldn't sleep." She nodded, the memories of her endeavour mere hours ago still fresh on her mind. "I do hope that we won't open the door to indecency."

"Oh dear, I hope," Ella sighed as she knocked on the door.

"Enter." Bastille called out, granting them access to enter.

The two girls entered the one again shabby room. Clothes were thrown around everywhere, tattered, as if it had been ripped. The lady's garments were seen as well, though there was no sign of her in the room. Persephone couldn't help but wonder how she returned to her room with no clothes. She couldn't help but imagine the lady running through the castle corridors wearing nothing.

A giggle slipped past her lips, which she immediately silenced with her hand. She hoped that the King hadn't heard that, but she should've known that nothing could surpass his ears. "Surely you must enlighten me as to what could be so amusing?" He grumbled in his hoarse morning voice, bringing butterflies to Persephone's stomach.

"You there." He directed his attention to Ella, who flinched upon his beckoning.

"Sire,"

"Leave the room."