WALLFLOWER

Freya's POV:

My cheeks still stung but the embarrassment I felt was way worse.

No one in the kitchen gave two hoots about me, but I couldn't say the slaves outside. The stares I was getting made me wonder if it was so obvious that I went through Laura's brutality.

My hands on the tray clenched harder as I walked to the tunnel while trying my best not to trip or embarrass myself further in any way.

I passed by the elevator and slowed down without meaning to.

The last time I had been in there was with Duncan and, for some reason, everywhere felt… off now that he wasn't here.

We weren't close at all but I couldn't shake off the feeling.

I had been so carried away by Lucien's protection that I almost forgot what could happen if he wasn't in the same space.

He wasn't a god.

He wasn't going to be there to save me the whole time.

The realisation hit me ten times harder than the slap and made my eyes sting.

“Freya?”

I heard his voice before his black polished shoes appeared in my vision.

Of course, he always had to look perfect.

I blinked away the tears before I raised my head just a bit and stared at the torso of the man who put me in my current situation.

It was clear that Laura had a thing for Lucien, and she might have thought that I was getting in the way.

“What happened to you?” he asked, the frown on his face the only expression of concern.

Concern? I couldn't be so sure about it.

“Who did this to you?” He budged when I didn't say anything and just kept staring at his ironed blue shirt.

I let out a gasp when he moved closer and forced my head up, holding my chin firmly when I tried to fight back.

“Who?”

I obviously couldn't tell him. The thought of Laura going nuts made me clamp my lips shut.

His hand moved my chin to his will, the pink shade on my cheeks, in his line of sight. His touch was soft but yet rigid and cold.

Did he really care? There was no way he would be giving me so much a-

I took a step back at the same time it became clear to me. I was just a human toy to him and nothing more just like the dead woman he refused to talk about.

“People are staring. They might talk,” I whispered softly, taking a glance around and, indeed, they were watching and whispering.

If words got to Laura, I was definitely done for. A shiver crawled up my spine at the thought of getting humiliated.

“You'll no longer work in the kitchens,” Lucien said out of nowhere.

The tray in my hands suddenly seemed too heavy as I snapped my head up in surprise.

I was waiting for him to call it a joke but the serious look he had on didn't waver. He was dead serious.

I let out a gasp, my heart thumping. There was no way I could survive anywhere else.

The kitchen was somewhere I was gradually getting accustomed to, and now he wanted me to leave it.

“You can't do that,” I muttered, breathily.

The tears that I thought it had managed to push back welled up again.

Nora.

I wouldn't get to see her so often.

“I just did.”

It was obvious that he wasn't going to change his mind, nor did he care about my opinion.

For some reason, that infuriated me more than it should have.

“If you won't tell me who hurt y-

“How does it affect you?” I interrupted him, no longer fighting the tears back.

Within a few minutes, he and Laura had managed to ruin my whole day. I was mentally exhausted as it was and he was making it worse.

“It doesn't affect you," I muttered, looking up at him through my blurry vision.

I didn't care that people were watching and rumours were going to spread. At this point, the worst that could happen was death, and it seemed appealing out of nowhere.

“I don't want this attention,” I continued, not caring if I was crossing a line.

“I just want to live and be on my own. Is it so hard to be a wallflower?”

Something in Lucien's expression shifted for just a second before stared quietly at me as if none of my words had managed to get to him. I wanted to yell in frustration.

I didn't know exactly what I wanted from him, but it was definitely not this guarded expression.

“You can stay,” he finally said.

I nodded slowly, feeling embarrassed about crashing out at him.

“If you don't get on anyone's nerves,” he added.

His words brought up a type of anger I hadn't felt in years, and it took a lot for me to keep it in.

I shouldn't get on people's nerves?

“What about a situation where you're the cause of my dilemma?” I asked, meeting internally.

“It's not like this is the first time she's overstepping,” I said with a huff as other memories resurfaced.

Lucien's jaw clenched and unclenched as he stared at me. He was definitely mad at me, but the question was if he was going to humiliate me now or later.

“Laura,” he muttered, and my eyes went wide.

I had fallen for it.

He had done it on purpose.

I wanted to beg him to let her be, but I knew that it would only make my situation worse, so the best thing to do was run.

“What else did she do?”

His question made me shift my weight on my other foot as I thought of an excuse to give him. Then one appeared.

Amara.

She was quite far away from me, but that would do.

“I need to get this delivered,” I replied, pushing the tray forward for more effect.

My eyes diverted back to Amara, who was now close to the tunnel, so I said, “I really need to follow her.”

He followed my eyes and a frown of confusion appeared on his face. Never did I think I would ever see Lucien so confused.

“We are meant to deliver this together,” I added with a fake smile and started to back away.

I saw him open his mouth but didn't say a word, so I bolted, catching up with Amara just on time.

“Freya!” She greeted me with a type of excitement that eased something in my chest.

I wanted to ask her where she went when Laura decided to shower me with her wrath but kept quiet.

It was best to leave things as they were.

“Have you noticed the weird look people have been giving us?” She asked then tsked, obviously not pleased with it.

Lucien had also given us that look, but it didn't matter.

There was something about it that made me laugh loudly out of nowhere. The laughter felt wrong as if it wasn't mine, but I continued anyway.

For a second, Amara seemed shocked, then she joined in.

“I couldn't care less,” I replied, then sniffed, my mind temporarily drifting away from Lucien.

Amara laughed again, softer this time before she said gently, “Freya…”

Something about the way she said my name made my smile falter.

I turned to her and my breath caught.

Her lips weren’t moving, but I could have sworn I just heard her.