Ivy’s Point Of View
My eyes widen in horror, and my hands immediately go to cover my nose. I’ve always thought it was way too long for my face, even though others have said it’s just fine. Now, I feel as if everyone has been lying to me.
"Come on, Miss Ivy," Callie says, tugging me around the mess. "We don’t have to stand here and listen to this."
A maid comes with a broom and mop to clean up the mess, and I tell her, "I’m so sorry." She only bows her head and moves on.
I hear Marissa shout, "Clean this all up, bitch!" Then she says, "My beautiful dress is ruined! I’m going to make that bitch pay for this!"
"I guess they can take the money out of my pay... before they send it to my family," I say as Callie and I hear the maid scooping the glass up with the broom while the other women hurry back the way they’d come, down a side hallway, complaining about her gown still.
I really can’t blame her, I’d be upset if someone ruined my dress, too, though I would never yell at them like that. Especially not if they apologized.
"Don’t mind her," Callie says. "She’s all bark and no bite. You don’t have to pay for her dress. The laundresses here are excellent. They’ll get the stain out. One time, I was wearing a white dress to a dinner party, and someone bumped my arm, and I spilled burgundy wine all down the front, and they got it out the next day. No problem!" Callie smiles and pats my shoulder.
"Was your dress made from the finest silk from the finest silkworms in all of the kingdom?" I ask her.
"Well, no," Callie admits. "But it won’t matter. It’ll be good as new in no time. I’m sure of it."
I want to believe her, but I still feel bad. My mind is elsewhere as she continues to tell me about all of the kings and other royals whose likenesses we are passing in the hall on the way back to my room.
At least, that’s where I assume we are going.
When we reach the hallway where my room is, Beta Owen is walking toward us, his long legs allowing him to cover the ground so much faster than either of us.
"Oh, hi, honey!" Callie gushes, rushing to meet him. She wraps her arms around him and kisses his cheek, and I see that she’s making him uncomfortable, but she doesn’t seem to notice. "How has your day been, sweetums?"
"Fine, fine," he says as she releases him. "I was just coming to check on Ivy. How are you today? The king is asking."
"Oh, uh... fine," I tell him, wondering if I should fill the Beta in on the accident with the dress. After all, it sounds like Miss Marissa will be telling King Victor everything shortly anyway.
"Marissa came around the corner with a glass of wine in her hand and spilled it all over herself and blamed Ivy," Callie says, putting her hands on her hips. "Really, who carries around a glass of wine with them wherever they go? It’s not even noon yet! And then she screamed at her and threw a fit at the maid who came to clean it up as well. The nerve of that woman!"
"Keep your voice down, dear," Owen says, holding up his hands in front of his wife. "There’s no need to let everyone know you’re displeased with the king’s cousin."
"Why shouldn’t I be?" she asks in an even louder voice. I get the impression Callie doesn’t like to be shushed. "She’s just terrible!"
"I understand your feelings, dear, but she’s still the king’s cousin," Owen reminds her.
"So what?" Callie asks, her eyes huge. "Are you taking her side?"
"No, dear," he says, and I get the idea that perhaps the happy couple is not as happy as they first appeared. But I feel very uncomfortable standing here as they continue to argue.
I think I see my room up ahead. I’m not quite clear which one is which, but I vaguely remember the vase of flowers by the door. I dismiss myself and say, "I’m going to lie down for a bit." Neither of them seems to notice.
Somehow, I manage to guess right and walk into my room, but there will be no lying down. A spread of food awaits me, and the maids who have just finished setting it up grin from ear to ear.
"Your lunch is served, Miss Ivy," one of them, a blonde with a button nose and big hazel eyes, says.
"Why... thank you," I say, looking at all of the food.
There are enough sandwiches on the table to feed the entire army, and I can’t even count how many different kinds of fruit there are. I haven’t ever had a lunch like this in my whole life.
"You’re welcome, my lady," the other girl, a tall, dark girl with satiny skin and a wide smile says.
They are both beautiful, and I feel myself thinking maybe under different circumstances the three of us could be friends, but Callie mentioned earlier, while she was babbling on, that I should try not to treat the maids as my equals.
The only problem is, under my circumstances as the only Breeder, I don’t think anyone here is my equal. I sit down to eat, but I haven’t made it very far into my first sandwich when my door flies open, and Callie comes in—crying.
I’ve never had to comfort a friend when she’s fought with her husband before because I really don’t have that many friends, so I don’t know what to say, but when Callie flings herself at me, I wrap my arms around her and pat her back.
I’m getting the impression that everything here at the castle is not what it seems.
Marissa’s Point Of View
"That stupid bitch!" I mutter to myself as I head back to my room to change clothes.
Fiona and Renee are right behind me, agreeing with my every word, as well they should, but there’s nothing they can say to make me feel better. I know who the girl was. Hell, the entire kingdom knows. I was there when she was presented to everyone. I stood in the back, near the four Alphas, my four Alphas, at least, that’s how I liked to think of them. This stupid bitch probably thinks of them as hers.
I can’t wait to see her face when she finds out how fucking wrong she is!