3 03

"What have I done, mistress?" I asked her since she spoke in parables. 

She looked at me and replied, "I have never seen a drop of tears from Allesio's eyes before, yet because of you I have seen it flow from his eyes like a river, you should be proud of yourself now Sage," 

Her words sounded like bombs to my ears, words couldn't describe the guilt that I felt when I heard that he cried because I refused to dance with him.

I questioned how real that situation was, because I had never expected a full-grown man to shed tears for that reason, besides I gave him a good explanation for why I refused to dance with him.

Samantha spoke about his tears like there was something bad associated with it, "It wasn't abnormal for a man to cry, was it?" I thought.

"Why have you been blind Sage? You have chosen to ignore the person who loves you. I have watched Allesio come after you for months now. I wanted to intervene but held back myself to avoid doing something stupid, but after seeing him cry today Sage, I swore to  make him happy and I don't care how I'll do it but I would just know it."

" Maybe tell Allesio to stop coming after me if it bothers you too much," I placed my hand over my lips when I realized that I had spoken to the head maid in a way that had terrible consequences. 

"I see you have forgotten your manners young lady, but I wouldn't react to this since I'm not in the mood right now, just know this, I give you from now till dawn to fix what you have done to Allesio else I would make you miserable," she yelled at me left in anger.

I was shocked, it felt too unrealistic to have believed, she threatened to hurt me so I would dance with Allesio. To me, that made no sense.

But I was afraid of Samantha, she wasn't a maid who gave empty threats. I would say that she abused her position as the head maid and treated the rest of us like garbage. Once, she had threatened to get a maid imprisoned for a reason unknown to me. 

It didn't take so long for the maid in question to be thrown into the dungeon where she hasn't returned and Samantha never denied the fact that she had something to do with it.

So I was faced with the same lady who has asked me to do something that I never dreamt of doing.

I tried to concentrate on the clothes I came to wash but that was hard as those thoughts lingered.

I completed the laundry, had my breakfast, and then rested in the maid's quarters. I wasn't able to stop those thoughts from coming so I picked up a book from the shelf next to me, flipped the pages, and digested every piece of information I read on it. 

And suddenly, I was startled by the sound of a bell, it was only rung twice which meant a servant's assembly. That sudden gathering was never good news, it was either a maid or a palace guard in trouble, or the King wanted to address us concerning disturbing occurrences.

For some reason I felt that I was the reason for that assembly, with how I spoke to Samantha earlier that day, I knew there was no way to escape her punishment, although she said that she would ignore it even though I found it hard to believe.

I walked out of my room with my eyes facing downwards, I was afraid to stare at other servants even without knowing whether I was the cause of the assembly or not.

The assembly was held at the royal garden, the outskirts of the royal garden to be specific, as there were lots of edible vegetation beyond, and it was kept in good condition by maids in charge of gardening.

When I walked into the garden, there were several maids and guards present, my heart continued to beat faster but for some reason, no one paid any attention to me, maybe not everyone knew what I had done.

I raised my head to get a little bit comfortable and to avoid drawing attention to myself with my unusual behavior, and that was when I looked into her deadly eyes.

Allesio's sister gave me a killing glare and I was convinced that I was getting in trouble that day. More maids and guards entered the garden until they were complete before   King Romeo Caesar alongside his wife the Queen of Aeradon Queen Eliana Caesar, and his daughter, Princess Agatha Caesar arrived.

I turned my head in different directions and looked for Allesio, he hid his face from me and I understood why he did that.

With the King and Queen before us, I became so scared that my breath was heavier and both maids that stood beside me noticed it because they stared at me simultaneously with their faces somewhat quizzical.

The King cleared his throat and there was pin-drop silence in the vicinity. My body trembled even when he didn't say a word. 

"Sage," The King called my name and a shiver went down my spine.

"You have an important role to play here so step forward," He ordered me with his cold and expressive demeanor.

Tears gathered up at the corner of my eyes even though he hadn't said much, as I walked towards the front of the assembly I managed to hold back my tears with eyes that pleaded for mercy.

"Now," The King began and I almost wanted to scream "I'm sorry your majesty, it wasn't intentional," But I held my tongue and listened and my eyes stared at Samantha who paid attention to what the King had to say.