Once Upon a Time

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

That night, as I sat on my bed in the female servants' quarters, I listened to the others as they did their daily gossiping about the rumors in the castle. It's all they have; we never go outside since we are taken from our families.

"Do you know what happened today?" A girl named Fern asked to her audience. "When Lucas was watching the roast, for the cook, he dropped it on the floor and was sent to the dungeon."

Some of the girls nodded. "Yeah, I saw. Mistress Marlene yelled at him and whacked him with the broom. I'm sure it left a mark." Beatrice told Fern dramatically, holding her cheek with her hand. It was not uncommon for Marlene to lose her temper over small things and take it out on the servants. The King and his family didn't care, so what was to stop her?

A small girl, around the age of nine, raised her hand. I think her name was Lacy. "I'm sure she didn't mean to." She said quietly. "Maybe she just slipped while she was sweeping?"

Fern and Beatrice turned their heads to look at her. The King hadn't taken many servants in the past eight years, but once in a while he would attack a village and take some children to work at his castle. Lacy and her fifteen-year-old brother, Travis, were the last children taken, so it would make sense that she didn't know how terrible servants were treated here.

"Are you stupid or something?" Fern asked the girl.

"Well, no one would hurt someone for no reason, right?" Lacy asked, shrugging.

"How long have you been working here, exactly?" Beatrice asked, following Fern's lead. I didn't like where this was going.

"Beatrice... Fern..." I warned them, hoping they weren't going to be mean to her.

Fern shot me a look. "Shut it, red head."

I gave her a glare and fingered my blue-gemmed necklace like I always did when I was sad or angry, and right now I was both.

"Don't tell her what to do!" Anna said, losing her temper, and jumped off her bed. She was going for them, but I quickly grabbed her wrist before she could get close.

"It's fine," I whispered so only she could hear. She gave me a sad nod and managed to contain her anger.

"Yeah, Anna, you just listen to your friend and you'll be fine." Beatrice told her, her signature smirk finding her face.

"You..." Anna growled angrily, shaking her head. She tried to pull out of my grasp, but I wouldn't let her.

"What is the problem, Anna? Did you finally figure out who is boss?" Fern asked rudely, cocking her head.

Anna shook her head again and ripped her wrist out of my hand, running towards the two girls. They barely had time to react before Anna pushed them off Fern's bed and they toppled over onto the cement floor.

They yelped in pain as they hit the floor. Wincing they tried to get off the floor, but couldn't manage it.

"Anna!" I yelled at my friend. She slowly walked over to me and sat on the bed next to me, head held high. "Was that really necessary?" I asked her quietly.

"Well, someone needed to teach those two brats a lesson, and I figured that if anyone, I should." She shrugged.

"What if Marlene finds out?" I asked her, hearing the worry creeping up into my voice.

She scoffed and waved it away. "Relax, Aileen. She won't find out. Besides, they needed to be taught a lesson, and me pushing them off the bed doesn't even begin to cover it."

"What, pray tell, will I not find out?"

All the girls in the room jumped in fright as the Mistress appeared in the doorway, hand placed on her hip.

"Nothing!" All of us said in unison, like we had done in the kitchen.

"That's not what I saw." She shook her head, tsking at us like we were stupid. "It seemed to me that little Miss Green lost her temper and pushed Miss Cooper and Miss Daymond off the bed. Is that what happened?" She looked around the room, her eyes seeming to bore into mine as they met. "Miss Blackwood, why don't you tell me if what I think I saw was true?"

"Umm..." I started, unsure what to say, but was interrupted by Fern.

"Of course she did! You shouldn't ask that red head over there. She would probably lie. I, on the other hand, wouldn't lie to someone as important and beautiful as you." She was obviously sucking up, but Marlene, being the attention-seeker she was, took the bait.

"Why, thank you, Fern!" She told her, twirling her hair around a finger.

"You're welcome, Mistress." Fern gave her a smile that was obviously a fake. "In fact, for her and Anna's behavior, I think they should spend a night in the dungeon." She shot us a look that said she knew that she had won. Sadly, I knew that she had won too.

"Yes, you're absolutely right, Miss Daymond. That should teach them a lesson."

Anna and I looked at each other and a single thought crossed both of our minds.

We're in trouble.