HER CHAMBERMAIDS

I am not a queen because I rule, I rule because I am THE QUEEN.

Birthed in my heart. Alive in my veins…

Noise ushered Nadezdha’s senses to a new day.

She gently got to a sitting position before she judged where she was.

In the past few days, she has been waking up in beds and rooms that were not the ones she had lived in all her life.

First was the room given to her in the Grand Castle for Southern Royals, next was Zorgan’s room in the Grand Castle, and now this.

There was not much difference between this and her room in Isoloth, except the white and grey draperies that concealed a French window and linked to a small balcony.

The closet, the style of the vanity table, the floor designs, and basically other little details were included in the room.

It was almost like she was in her old room. It brought a smile to her face before the noise that had woken her up increased and seemed to have partly passed before her door.

She opened the door to check what was happening, and she almost ran into two maidservants carrying a heavy chest.

‘‘Good morning, Princess,’’ The maidservants acknowledged in unison. ‘‘Morning!’’ She replied warmly.

She rested on the balustrade and looked down to see about twenty to thirty maidservants carrying one thing or the other. Things ranging from kitchen wares to new furniture for various rooms in the Minor Palace.

She also noticed that there were some things in the hall that she had not seen the night before, and even the curtains that had caught her fatigued mind were now gone.

Just as her amazement continued to grow, Zorgan came out from one of the rooms downstairs.

He looked up to see Nadezdha wide-eyed at the activity around. He had decided to give the place a better look even though he had never concerned himself with it before since he was hardly around.

Dorian had helped in hiring more maidservants and they were setting everything in place.

Nadezhda looked in another direction to see Zorgan staring at her. But as their eyes met, he evaded her gaze and continued on his way. She sneered at his back, “bloody Dragon,’’ before she went back to her room and was grateful to find fitted clothing and apparel in her closet.

‘Things are happening so fast. I have no idea how I got to this room and I’m certain these clothes were put in place right before I woke up. They still have that peculiar scent of newness.’

She was about to head to the bath area when a knock fell on the door. On opening it, she found three girls with the same type of smile on their faces.

‘‘Good morning My Lady.’’ They saluted at once.

‘‘I’m Astrid’’ The tallest said with a small bow.

‘‘I’m Gaia,’’ The next to Astrid said, followed by a bow.

‘‘Camille My Lady.

The Commander has appointed us to be your chambermaids’’.

With how poised and rigid the ladies were standing, Nadezhda wondered if Zorgan had appointed or threatened them.

In Isoloth, she had one chambermaid, and the only reason she had kept her was that her father would have found it insulting to his reputation if one of his children didn’t possess any.

Now that she had her free will, she had no plans of keeping a chambermaid by her side. Especially three Valcresh-blooded-humans whom she had not personally hired.

‘I wouldn’t put it past him to attach spies by my side’

“‘I believe there are many other ways you can be of help in this house, so don’t bother about me, Astrid, Aida and Camille; I have everything handled.’’ Nadezhda said with a smile, grey eyes glancing from one girl to the other. She was about to close the door on them when Astrid stopped the door.

Though she was a teenager like the other girls, she possessed a level of strength. She no longer had a smile on and creases embroidered on her forehead.

‘‘Please let us be of help My Lady. That- that is the only way we can get paid and also the only way to support our families.

Please Princess, we don’t know where to go from here’’ She pleaded.

Nadezhda was stunned.

Before this moment…

Zorgan was in his private study, and he had called for Dorian.

Dorian stood before Zorgan’s table, which was strewn with various navigational and terrain maps. He knew what the maps signified – duty was calling already.

‘‘Stewards for the garden, stewards for the kitchen, stewards in general. Just get as many that will be needed for the whole place.’’ Zorgan said his eyes still fixated on the maps.

Dorian was surprised. He thought his Commander was calling to inform him of their next font and he had not been expecting such an order.

‘‘Yes, Commander!’’ He responded with fervor. He turned to get going but Zorgan remembered something.

‘‘Steelheart, also, get three chambermaids for my wife.

And in selecting them, choose the ones that are most desperate to work’’ Zorgan added.

Critiquing how she never wants the help of anyone, Zorgan could partly tell that Nadezhda wouldn’t want chambermaids by her side, especially if they were to come from him.

‘The only way for that infuriating Rebel to be helped is by placing a trigger to her conscience,’ Zorgan thought.

He wouldn’t have thought so if she had continued to ride at the pace she started with last night. After telling her his condition which he planned on keeping, he was grateful to the heavens that she had adhered.

A few seconds later, Nadezhda was seated in a tub, and her back and shoulders were being massaged by Astrid. Aida was before her with a towel in hand while Camille was in the closet, selecting a suitable outfit for the weather.

‘‘This doesn’t mean I accept you as my chambermaids, but I guess Commander Zorgan will be able to pay you properly now’’

By the time Nadezhda was done preparing for the day, Zorgan was out of the house and hunting with Dorian to pass the time. Things were very awkward between him and Nadezhda, and it felt like staying out of each other’s way was the best thing for both of them.

For the rest of the day, she asked her chambermaids questions about Valcresh and when her questions began to sound quite suspicious, she decided to wander around the Minor Palace.

But when night time came, unknown shadows moved along the walls leading to Nadezhda’s room. They kicked her door open and peeled her from her bed, leaving the echoes of her screams bouncing off every surface.