Page 20 of The Unwanted Mate of the Lycan Kings
We turn down a corridor before climbing another set of stairs, and with the twists and turns, I quickly lose direction.Glancing at Shelley, she appears to be troubled with her thoughts, and her soft face grows stern.“Give Zeke back his wolf.He won’t leave you alone until you do.He won’t kill his wolf.Those wolves are the only thing I have ever seen them show any kind of emotion to since they lost their mother,” she tells me abruptly.
“Did their mother die recently?”I ask.Shelley onlyappears to be my age, so she can’t have worked here long, unless the king uses child labor.
“No, around twenty years ago.She was the last female lycan.The kingdom’s pride and joy.I was Queen Electra’s maid before I became the king’s maid.I served her since the boys were born.”I stop in my tracks and stare at her.
“But you’re human?How could you have served the queen over twenty years ago when you are my age?”
“Yes, I am human, but the king gives me his blood.Before that, the queen did.We were close friends.After losing her, he kept me on.”
“So essentially, lycan blood keeps you immortal like their wolves?”Shelley nods as we reach the next landing, and she leads me down a long corridor toward a set of double doors.
“Yes, as long as I have his blood, I will remain alive,” she tells me.
I try to wrap my head around what she is telling me.“Do they give all the maids their blood?”I ask.
“No, only me.King Theron has taken a liking to me.I think it’s because I don’t fear him as the other maids do.”She shrugs, pushing the doors open.“This is the three kings’ quarters, though each room might as well be a wing of its own.The first door is Lyon’s, and Zeke is in this one beside where I’m placing you.”She points to the blue door beside the one we stop in front of.
“I think I’d rather sleep in the stables,” I mutter, not enjoying being this close to King Zeke when he wants my head on a pike.
“Unfortunately, this is the only guest quarters in this wing.The last door on your right is King Regan’s, but try not to go into his room.He doesn’t even allow the maids in to clean when he stays at the kingdom.His room is strictly off limits,” she tells me before pushing the doors open to the guest quarters.
The room is massive with enormous bay windows overlooking the rose gardens below and a huge four-poster bed that sits dead center of the room.Other rooms branch off it,and I stare around the vast space wondering why people need so much junk and tapestry.The room is lavish, and I feel out of place, much preferring my little branch of the cave I shared with Granny.This room feels far too open and exposed for my liking.
Crystal chandeliers hang from the high ceilings, and thick fur rugs cover the floors.Walking in further, I find a massive fireplace.Books line the mantle above it.
Shelley wanders over to a set of doors and pushes them open.“You’ll find towels and everything you need to shower in here.I will return with some clothes for you.If I am not back from town before you hop out, you can just wear the robe.”I nod to her, peering into the bathroom with trepidation.Outside of Granny’s books and magazines, I’ve never seen a bathroom before, and certainly none this grand.
Hunter follows me in as I look over the marble sink basin and huge bathtub.Shelley turns to leave, but I quickly stop her.
Chapter 13
“Wait!”My face heats as she turns back to look at me.
“Yes, Miss?”she asks, and I sigh, feeling stupid.
“Can you show me how to work the shower?”I ask, feeling like an idiot, but it looks nothing like the ones from Granny’s old magazines.It has buttons and a panel on the wall inside the shower, multiple shower heads, and whatever that weird silver pipe thing is in the wall.This shower does not have twisty handles, and why are there so many niches and heaps of potions and lotions?Surely one does not need all these to feel clean.
Shelley blinks at me in confusion.“I came from the North Mountains.There were no showers or baths or toilets in the caves,” I tell her.
“A cave, Miss?In these modern times?”She stares dumbfounded before clearing her throat.“Right, well.”She waves me over, showing me how to work the panel.I instantly forget as she presses different things and options pop up on the screen.She explains there is a way to adjust the temperature and water pressure, yet why I need to know this is beyond me, and quite frankly, it’s all very confusing.
“Why not just a simple on and off?”I ask.People complicate things that do not need to be complicated.
She smiles and shakes her head.“You try,” she says, turning it off.I blink at her, having forgotten everything she just told me.Chewing my lip, I glance down at Hunter, who is at my feet, watching expectantly.Stepping into the shower and taking Shelly’s place, I start pressing buttons.Lights on the screen go berserk.
“No, no...the other.Wait...”I look at her as she steps in with me.
“This one?”I ask, pressing it as I do.Her hands move to grab mine and stop me when water shoots out of the wall, smacking her right in the face.I jump back while she shields her face, the water bursting out of the wall and narrowly missing me.Where the heck is that coming from?She fumbles with the panel blindly.Well, I guess I know why there are those weird pipe looking things between gray tiles.
“Turn it off,” she sputters, choking on the fountain of water blasting her.Yeah, I’m not winning friends here!Jamming more buttons, I try to shut it off, but I only manage to saturate myself instead.I am drenched as I fumble with the controls.
Shelley moves toward the door, and not seeing that it closed behind her, she smacks right into it.The screen rattles, and she shakes her head, turning just as I hit the reddish button on the screen.Surely red means stop, right?
Wrong!
More water spurts out from the other wall, blasting us both with scalding hot water.This is so ridiculous that I can’t help but laugh as I hiss at the hot temperature.Shelley blindly smacks the panel with her palm.We look like two drowned rats, and by the time she manages to shut it off, what is left of my tattered white dress clings to me like a second skin.Chuckling, I look at Hunter, who has his paws over his eyes like he is embarrassed for me.
“Well...”Shelley stands limply next to me with water dripping from her nose and chin.Her eyes are bloodshot from the blast to her face, and her hair hangs in wet ringlets having pulled from her bun.She wipes her face dramatically, and the top button on her soaking wet blouse pops open, revealing a very lacyundergarment and a crystal necklace tucked into her cleavage.
