The Guardian of Halloween [A Disney Fanfic]

𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔈𝔳𝔦𝔩 𝔎𝔦𝔫𝔤 [𝔓𝔞𝔯𝔱 2]

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The Evil King [Grimwald] x fem! reader

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31 DAYS UNTIL THE EXPIRATION OF THE CONTRACT

Y/N could hardly believe that her contract was finally coming to a close. A year under King Grimwald's thumb, tending to everything from bird droppings and dust to messy beds and fixing fires in the many hearths scattered throughout the castle, all the while worrying about how the village was fairing. Her year was almost up, but their time with the gem had only just started.

Currently, she was toiling away in the grand entrance hall of the castle, her muscles aching as she scrubbed away at the oaken stairs, careful not to scuff the varnish. She had already scrubbed down the windows in the entrance hall, standing on shaky ladders provided by the king and his ever-present birds as she attempted to scrub away the years of dust that had caked onto the glass. The last thing she needed was for one of the vultures to report to the king that she had failed at her task.

The first time she had messed up had also been the last. She had been washing windows in one of the main halls of the castle and had slipped from the ladder. Only by some miracle had she managed to grab hold of a curtain to try and keep herself aloft, but the curtain had ripped beneath her weight and had sent her plummeting to the floor. The vultures had flown off to inform their master immediately and Y/N had been threatened with a terminated contract. The king had informed her that if she failed another task, he would end their deal. She would be released back into the cold instead of delivered to the village, and the gem would be retrieved and returned to the castle.

Splat.

Y/N glanced up from the stair she was scrubbing – which had a particularly irritating mark left by the former rulers no doubt – and glanced down at one of the formerly clean steps. A large white splotch of bird droppings now rested on the stair, and the vulture above seemed to cackle with glee. Furious that she would have to clean the spot again, Y/N got to her feet, waving her rag at the bird.

"So help me if I don't turn you into tonight's supper," she shrieked. She stuffed the rag into the bucket of water at her feet and balled it up, launching the rag at the vulture. It squawked and flew off to a different rafter, sneering down at her as the rag landed on the ground at the bottom of the stairs. Y/N had half a mind to curse the bird, but instead, she trudged down the steps – avoiding the droppings – and retrieved her rag, pulling a towel from her shoulder to wipe up the spot before turning and heading back up the steps.

"You don't enjoy the presence of my birds do you, princess?"

Y/N glanced up the steps and groaned when she saw the king standing at the top, ever the intimidating figure. Still, after a year in his employ, she was hardly frightened of the man.

"No," she snapped. "And I would appreciate it if you would get them out of here." She threw the rag down into the bucket with enough force that the water sloshed over the edge. "They're making my job ten times harder."

"If they don't watch you, then how will I know that you're getting your tasks done?" He ran his finger down the railing as he approached her, lifting his finger to inspect for dust.

"You know I'll get them done," Y/N hissed. "You just leave your birds here to annoy me." She flopped down beside the bucket and mopped up the water before it could stain the varnish. Water stains were nearly impossible to get out. Once they had been cleaned, she headed down the steps to clean up the bird droppings. Reaching into the pocket of her skirt, she pulled out a wooden contraption and set it down beside the droppings, using a pocket shovel to scoop up the remains. Once the droppings had been cleaned, Y/N set the contraption and shovel aside to wash later before returning to her task of cleaning the stairs.