Cinders [Completed]

Chapter 12: Gossip

Not long after I've settled in at my station, the gossip begins. A server, taking a heaping pan of hash browns to the dining hall, stops by and provides me with the first morsel of the day.

"You know, the Prince was in the med wing this morning. Have you heard?"

I lick my lips. "No, I didn't know."

"The Prince was in the med wing?" A kitchen aid says as she places a stack of dirty plates near my sink.

I feel an echo of the sharp pain from this morning.

"What happened?" I ask her, trying to keep the desperation out of my voice.

"Who knows?" She replies eagerly, like this mystery is far better than if the cause of his visit had been known.

"I heard he was stabbed!" One of the guys that clean dishes at the other sink exclaims.

"I thought that there was a training accident?"

"In the middle of the night?"

"No, no, the Prince's runaway mate was attacked and died! It was just his mate's pain, like last time -"

"No, there was blood! And of course his alpha healing fixed it up in 10 minutes, the med visit was just a precaution -"

It takes Blackwell a few more minutes before she disbands the horde of gossipers. By this time, the theories have become pretty absurd, but it dissolved into background noise. I try to look appropriately shocked and encouraging - it's not their fault that every suggestion makes me feel more like death incarnate - but I tune it out to hide the cause of my shaky hands.

All that matters is that the Prince is alive. The pain must have gone away when he healed himself - quickly, like any alpha. My shoulders tense at the thought of my still scabbing burns. I wish I healed like a normal werewolf.

"Clark!" Blackwell barks out from the industrial mixer, "stop daydreaming, the lunch load is starting to come in!"

I break out of my reverie to find that a mountain of dishes is already waiting for me. I wish my hands would stop shaking. There are too many anxieties for me to keep track of them. Leaving Lucy at home alone after such a fall was terrible. She would be hurting for weeks. And, though I know he's perfectly fine, I'm still struggling to swallow the instinct to find and protect my Prince.

I mean, the Prince. Prince Orion. Not mine, really, at all.

I shake my head and continue washing. Maybe, just maybe, I could leave early so that Lucy wouldn't have to do her chores.

"An announcement. With the house staff and everything? I can't go, of course, that's right after dinner and there's too much to do. I'll keep Clark with me, the rest of them can go and be sure to come back when the announcement is done or I'll scare their wolves back to the first life!" Blackwell announces this to the room, though she's talking to a small messenger girl that obviously brought news.

With how loud the entire palace staff is, it doesn't take very long for the invitation to spread. The royal family is making an important announcement to all employees at 7 in the main hall.

For a moment, I imagine seeing the Prince, up on the stage. Our eyes would meet again, and he wouldn't be able to stop himself from running towards me, even with all of the people. We would be together.

Heat rushes to my cheeks. It's definitely better that I will be here, washing dishes. I'm relieved, really, that Blackwell picked me to stay.

"Ooo, I wonder what the announcement will be about, and right after dinner? Maybe the Prince has finally chased down his mate," A maid chatters to his partner.