Diana

Chapter two

YEARS LATER

Diane’s pov:

I woke up feeling strange, something about the day didn't feel right but I shrugged it off as nothing and went about my day as I might be overthinking. It wasn't like everyday in the palace ever felt right.

A normal day in the palace, and by normal day, it was a day filled with chores and having to not bump into one of the nobles which was always hard considering I work in the palace where they normally visit.

Why I always do not like an encounter with them was because of the simple fact that they hated my guts, not just me but the entire werewolf civilization that they feel is beneath them.

They believe that they are the true bloods; Lycans, the first creation of the moon goddess and the most perfect.

They do not like to interact with the likes of my kind but they can't do away with us as well, because we make up more of the population than they do, and so they resorted to making us work for them instead. We were slaves in our own land.

Today was quite special, well for the residents of the palace. There was a buzz of the news that had soon reached me that morning. It was the prince's birthday, and not only that, he was also returning from his travels from a city I didn't know about.

The headmistress called each and every servant present for a briefing. I already knew what it was going to be about but that didn't mean I could skip the briefing. I knew what would happen to me if I did, just like what happened to others that had disrespected her, we never heard of them again.

We gathered in the large room which was detached from the castle, it served as the servants quarters, where they eat, sleep and have meetings and also where the head mistress gets to distribute the chores how she sees fit.

She glanced around menacingly before the noise finally died down, “As you all know, which I believe you do, the prince would be returning, and upon his return the royal family would be celebrating his birthday as well.” She paused to get a reaction from us but everyone knew not to interrupt her and so she continued, “The royal family would be throwing a gala, and the queen has ordered for the ballroom to be extra clean, and also to be decorated and ready by the evening."

“With that I would be redistributing the chores, more people to be assigned in the ballroom, but we cannot also leave the other areas unattended either. Once you are assigned, you are to begin work immediately in order to be done in time."

She said a few more words which I zoned out on as I knew where I would be assigned, and I was right.

It just so happened and there's nothing I could do about it.

She also assigned a waiter duty as well. I would be serving the guest this evening, one thing I dreaded the most, being in the presence of Lycans, and not just any Lycan, but the upperclassmen.

After the briefing, I got down to cleaning so I could round up and have a little rest before the event. The ballroom was large and spacious. Thankfully, a lot of us were assigned here but I couldn't spot my friend, Merilyn. Perhaps she got her normal chores, some luck she has.

I would give anything to trade places with her and not be in a place that would be crowded with arrogant nobles all through the night.

Hours passed by in silence, from cleaning to decorating and then double checking for no mistakes, and finally, we were all done. The others had a discussion on who should inform the headmistress that their job was completed, we were all too scared to walk up to her but someone had to stroll to do it. I knew it wasn't going to be me though, and so I sneaked out while they continued to contemplate and made my way to the gardens.

One of the few places I found solace, the flowers were calming, their vibrant colors and relaxing scent. I had only two hours left before the event starts at seven and so I used those two hours to rest up, take a short nap and prepare myself for one of the worst nights of my life.

I didn't know why I felt that way, but I knew something was going to go wrong somewhere. I've been having the feeling since morning in the pit of my gut, I tried pushing it to the back of my mind but nothing worked.

I prayed to the moon goddess that I don't make a fool out of myself in an event that the queen took pride in. I might get punished or worse, executed.

When I woke up, a maid was already running up to me that the guest would soon be arriving and that I should be in my station already, quickly picking myself up from the grass and racing towards where I would get dressed and then to my station where the headmistress placed me, which was to be at the entrance before I would move inside to serve.

The head mistress, Beatrice did once over the ballroom, checking things off at the last minute, making sure everything is in perfect form and no mistakes would be made this evening. But I doubted that as I still had the feeling that something was going to go wrong.

I thought of taking an excuse and leaving in order for my clumsy self not to cause havoc, but I guess that was too late as the trumpets began to blow, signaling for the arrival of the guests.

I sighed in my heart, I would just have to power through it and hope that nothing happens, especially concerning me.

I took a deep breath while the gigantic gates to the palace were pushed open…