New room

Dahlia was pumping with rage as she ran cold water over her scratch. The cold demeanor she depicted in front of Jacinda earlier was a striking contrast to the storm that was brewing inside of her. At that point, her wolf was out for blood and it took a minute to calm her down.

She kept quiet for far too long and in doing so all the servants thought they had a right to trample and walk all over her as if she were a mere insect to be squashed.

Her dress was stained, her knuckles and elbow were bruised and her butt hurt from the force at which she fell. 

"If one more person even dares to walk all over me, I'll shred them to pieces," Dahlia yelled from frustration as she splashed the cold water on her face.

"Looks like I have to make sure not to get on your bad side from now on."

Dahlia turned to see a tall, lean man standing behind her with his arms crossed over his chest and an amused look resting on his face. From the way he was dressed, it was clear that he was a high-ranking official and not some random man.

'Why do I keep running into these people at awkward times.' Dahlia internally complained.

"Pardon me for rudely yelling out my frustrations." Dahlia gave a slight bow.

Lyonne amusedly raised a brow at her, the way she spoke to him was so gentle, unlike the woman he watched slap her bully a few moments earlier. She was quick at reading the room and changing her emotions to match.

"Interesting," He murmured, "There's no need for a pardon, you've done nothing wrong." 

Dahlia just nodded at him at stood in silence with a 'Why are you here?' look on her face.

"You must be wondering why I'm here," Lyonne started, stating the obvious, "Starting tomorrow, you'll resume work at the king's stable and not the regular one, he has facilitated your transfer so I'm here to give you a heads up."

"The king's stable?" Dahlia confusedly asked.

"Yes. Apparently, you're the only human Storm can tolerate other than His Majesty so your services will be greatly needed." Lyonne wasn't exactly lying when he said that but the real reason was that Azriel just wanted his mate closer to him and that was the only way they could think of making it happen.

"I- I'm grateful for the opportunity and I'll do my best." Dahlia stuttered as she tried to comprehend why exactly the king wanted her there because it was clear that Storm was doing fine before her so that couldn't possibly be the reason.

Lyonne was once again stunned by the contrast in Dahlia's personality from earlier and the one she was displaying before him now. If he didn't know any better he would have thought she was a timid young lady with a fragile mind but that was far from the truth.

"You might want to take care of your injury before thinking of taking care of horses." Lyonne pointed at her bleeding elbow as he spoke.

Dahlia subconsciously hid her arm behind her and stared at her feet. "I'll do so right away." She said in a low tone.

Lyonne could tell his presence was making her uncomfortable and he didn't want to make it worse so he decided to take his leave. "Get yourself treated as soon as possible. I'll take my leave now."

Dahlia bowed at him as he left and only managed to catch her breath once he was gone. "That is a lot to unpack." She sighed as she dried her palms and made her way inside to get something for her wounds.

While trying to figure out the real reason why the king transferred her to work at his stables, Dahlia ended up bumping into Analice because she wasn't paying attention to where she was going. "I'm so sorry." She quickly apologized.

"Oh dear what were you thinking about to make you completely unaware of your surroundings," Analice asked.

"Nothing too important." Dahlia dismissively replied.

"Anyways, I'm glad we ran into each other now. I received work that you'll be working at the king's stable starting tomorrow."

"Yes, I was just informed by a Lord, I believe."

"Ah, well that makes my work easier. Now, follow me, I have a surprise for you." Analice smiled at her.

Dahlia looked up at Analice in confusion as she walked toward the hall where her room was stationed. She watched as Analice opened a door by the end of the hall and walked inside.

"His Majesty told me to change your room to a more comfortable and spacious one so here we are..." She opened her arms and showed her the room.

It was certainly larger than the one she was staying at before that and had better furniture but Dahlia was confused as to why the king decided to do such a thing for her.

"Do you not like it?" Analice asked when she noticed Dahlia hadn't uttered a word since they got in the room.

"Oh, no- no, it's not like that at all. The room is lovely and I deeply appreciate it... I'm just wondering why the king did such a thing for me."

"Me too." Analice agreed, "It's best not to dwell on that just enjoy the benefits you're getting."

"I will, thank you." Dahlia smiled as she looked at the comfortable bed that was already lulling her in. It had been a while since she slept on a bed remotely as comfortable as the one she had back home.

"I'll head out now, enjoy your new room." Analice winked at Dahlia before leaving the room.

As expected, everyone wasn't too thrilled to about Dahlia getting a room upgrade and of curse, they didn't shy away from voicing their unwanted opinions.

While they were all barking at the wall, Dahlia who was in a no nonsense mood zoned out all their snarly remarks and made herself comfortable on her new bed as she wrapped herself in the warm blankets.