Page 4 of The Beast of Ashwood Manor

Coming up to the table, I glanced down at the plate. Plump red grapes curved around a morsel of steaming buttered bread. Big blueberries and strawberries lay around it, as well as a handful of sunflower seeds.

My mouth watered. I had only had an apple this morning for breakfast, as my money was low and I needed to conserve it. And the bread looked much better than the one I had.

But whose is this? I shouldn’t be eating someone else’s food.But my rumbling stomach told me otherwise.I’ll only eat a few.

Picking up the berries, I devoured them. I ate the bread, groaning at its softness, and shoveled the seeds into my mouth.

After eating half the plate, I heard a noise from behind. I whirled around, my heart pounding, but saw nothing. When I turned back to the plate, I noticed the table looked different—it was no longer a dull gray wood that was nearly falling apart, but a rich mahogany.

I looked up, my eyes widening as the room seemed to change. The air grew warm, and beautiful blue rugs splayed out on the carpeted floors. The walls were clean, and the door was intact. The staircase was grand, with rich-blue carpet lining the stairs.

I rubbed my eyes, wondering what was in the food I had just eaten. When I pulled my hands away, I jerked back against the table. Before me were three women moving about the room; two women placed flowers in vases, while another walked up the stairs.

It took a few minutes before someone noticed me standing frozen.

“Oh!” a young woman started. “A new face. Annie, a new face!”

I gripped the table hard and swallowed.

The young woman came up to me, followed by an older blonde lady.

The blond looked me over and raised her brows, and I grimaced, not liking the way she looked at me.

“Won’t Lord Gil be pleased?” the young girl asked, her dark hair pinned into a bun at the nape of her neck.

“That’s for him to decide,” the blonde, Annie, said in a dull voice. “Stand up straight, lad. You’re soaking wet.”

“Oh, I-I’m sorry,” I stammered, straightening my back quickly and stepping away from her, her taller stature still looming over me. “I was caught out in the rain.”

“Does it look like it’s raining?”

Furrowing my brows, I glanced outside the window nearby to see the sun shining. “What? It was just raining. N-none of this was here!”

“It’s all right.” The young girl patted my arm reassuringly, but I recoiled. Who were these people?

“Am I . . . dead?” I asked.

“Unfortunately, no,” Annie remarked.

The other maid with long red hair flocked my way. Looking me up and down, she smiled. “Oh, he is adorable.”

“Lord Gil will want to see him,” said the young brunette woman.

“Of course he will,” Annie intervened, crossing her arms. “He’s a new face.”

The redhead rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m not taking him upstairs to that grump. Mary can.”

“I would love to!”

“Shush!” Annie silenced them both. “I will take care of this.” She looked at me and said, “Come with me.”

When she moved away, I followed behind her, looking around at the wide-open space that made up the foyer of the manor. The walls were dark brown, the floor was wood, and the ceiling was high. It looked like there were two side rooms on either end of the foyer.

When Annie suddenly stopped in front of me, I nearly ran into her.

Grunting, I followed her eyes up the staircase to see a man standing at the top.

“Who’s this?” the man asked, his voice rough like sandpaper.

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