Chapter 7

Elaine woke up the next day, feeling so much better. Raising herself to a seating position, she assessed her injuries. The swelling in her ankle had gone down tremendously, and the pain on her back had lessened as well.

She didn't know how she managed to escape work the day before and not get punished for it, but she decided not to dwell on it. Deciding she was well enough to go ahead for work today, she dressed, putting her appearance in order and packing her hair up in a ponytail before stepping out of the room. She had quickly realized she could only take things one day at a time.

Unsurprisingly, Madam Margaret was waiting for her today as well. Without addressing the incident that happened the day before, she quickly began prattling out her duties for the day, providing supplies as well.

Elaine took the tools without a word of complaint and immediately set to work. Her duties this time around mostly consisted of cleaning the decorative materials in the hallways and some dusting, nothing too strenuous.

It looked like they had held off making her fetch water till her ankle healed. She didn't know if she should be thankful or worried about that. Unfortunately, despite her best efforts, she didn't spot Xinora today either.

She prayed the latter wasn't punished on her behalf. She had seemed rather nice, being the first person in the castle to look upon her and treat her with kindness. She vowed to thank her for it once their paths crossed again.

Once she was through, Madam Margaret came to inspect her work, deeming it satisfactory, and Elaine had the rest of the day off to rest and recuperate.

That night, she stood before the kings again as Madam Margaret gave her report after King Marlon asked for her performance, while King Ryker just stared at her. She managed to meet his gaze once before looking away, too afraid.

"Good," King Marlon muttered after Madam Margaret was done with her report. Elaine held her breath, feeling sweat trickle down her back. Would he talk about yesterday? Punish her for not doing her duties after he carefully explained that she would never miss a day unless it would attract grave consequences?

Instead, King Marlon raised his head and looked at her, his gaze feeling like hands all over her body. For so long, she became uncomfortable and began to squirm. She just wanted to be out of here already.

"You're dismissed," he suddenly said, breaking the tense silence. Elaine's heart skipped multiple beats, and despite her fears, she snapped her head up to look at them. Were they really letting her go?

When not a word was said as she began to backpedal, she immediately turned around, following Madam Margaret behind her, hot on her heels. Any moment away from their presence was a blissful moment.

She was quite a distance away when she stopped, slowly turning her head back to look at the door where she had just stepped out from, disbelief filling her system.

They didn't punish her. Something similar to joy began to spread in her chest. For the first time since she arrived here, she had something to smile about.

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"I hate the way you all cuddle her," Ryker grumbled after a long time, unable to keep his displeasure to himself any longer. His face was still set in a hard line, long after Elaine had left the study.

He felt his brother's gaze on him, but he didn't turn to look at him. To think even Xinora had come to beg on her behalf, telling them to take it easy on Elaine. The poor girl couldn't handle their harsh treatment yet.

"You heard what your lady said, didn't you?" Marlon asked in a bored tone. "Elaine can't handle serious work yet. She fainted and it took them ages to wake her up."

"Xinora isn't my lady," Ryker snapped, his eyes narrowing. Marlon seemed taken aback by the revelation.

"She's not? What is she then?" He asked, sounding amused.

"A friend," Ryker huffed. He'd never seen her that way, though he did genuinely like her.

"A friend you fuck?" Marlon pressed, and Ryker grimaced.

"Yes. Don't you have that?"

"No, I don't," Marlon answered simply. Realization immediately dawned on Ryker the moment those words escaped his lips, and he quickly backpedaled.

"Marlon, I didn't mean... " he started to say, but Marlon cut him off with a raise of just one hand.

"I know you didn't mean it," he groaned. But the deed had been done. The atmosphere had already shifted, becoming tense.

When Ryker looked at his brother, the usual cool demeanor he had on had faded off, replaced with a dark expression Ryker hated seeing. He started to worry. "Marlon... " he tried again.

"I'm fine," Marlon gritted out. Then he closed his eyes, letting out a slow breath. "Although, I would like to be left alone now," he said, his tone back to the usual gentleness.

Ryker still felt guilty, though. His bad temper had caused all of this to happen. Promising to see his brother at a later time, he stood to his feet and started to walk out of the study. "Ryker?" Marlon called out, and Ryker turned to him. His expression had grown serious as he held Ryker's stare.

"Don't go bothering Elaine. That's an order,"

Ryker swallowed the lump in his throat. "Yes, brother," he answered in a rough voice, opening the door and closing it behind him.

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The next day, Xinora came to visit Elaine. "How are you? I see you're getting better, seeing you're already hard at work," Xinora commented, glancing at the rag in Elaine's hands.

Elaine looked up, immediately beaming at the sight of Xinora. "Princess Xinora!" She called out excitedly, rising to her feet and then quickly delivering a bow. Xinora smiled at the sight.

"I am indeed getting better," Elaine babbled on. "The herbs you gave me are doing their job. Thank you so much for helping me! The kings didn't punish me for missing a day. I was so surprised."

Xinora scoffed, remembering how she had pleaded to let Elaine be for just a day. She had met Elaine unconscious, the latter already going pale and in a deplorable state, and knew things wouldn't go well if it continued like that. "It won't always be like that, you know?" She said softly, not wanting to get the girl's hope high.

Elaine nodded quickly. "I know, but I'm so grateful. I needed it." Then her gaze dropped to the thing Xinora was holding. "Oh... What's that?" She asked, pointing at it.

"Oh... This?" Xinora asked, raising the pot high. "It's a flower pot. I've been trying to grow flowers in it for a while now. It's not working," Xinora announced rather despondently.

"Why?" Elaine seemed distraught. "Flowers are the easiest things to grow."

Xinora let out a sad smile at that. "In case you haven't noticed, nothing grows in this patch of land. Why do you think the courtyards are bare?" Now that Xinora mentioned it, she noticed it. She had wondered why there was no greenery in the castle when she first arrived, thinking it was because the kings didn't bother about it.

"Why?" Elaine asked, curious.

Xinora shrugged. "The land is cursed. Nothing grows. It's because of the plague caused by the moonstone," she explained. Elaine's eyes widened, but Xinora could see she didn't quite understand what she had said.

"Let me guess, you don't know about that too?"

"No..." Elaine muttered, her face falling. "I'm sorry. I can't imagine how that is."

Xinora let out a sigh. "Oh well, that's the state of things, but what can we do?" She said, waving it off. She glanced at the pot, a small frown on her face. "I wanted to throw this away since I have no use for it anymore."

"Can I keep it?" Elaine perked up. Xinora gestured to the pot in her hands.

"You want to have this barren thing?" Elaine let out a bashful smile, her cheeks turning pink.

"Who knows? Maybe it just needs a little more love. Plus, the pot is very pretty. I want to use it as decor in my room. It is rather plain and I don't like it."

"Okay then, here you go," Xinora said, handing Elaine the pot.

"Thank you so much!" Elaine said, hugging the pot tightly to herself with a grin on her face. Xinora found the sight comical and chuckled. The girl acted like a child sometimes.

"I'll be going now. Talk to you later," Xinora said, turning around and walking away. Elaine quickly took the pot to her room, placing it on the windowsill. The pot was really pretty, and for a while, she spent some time admiring it.

It would add color to that otherwise bare room. She added some water into the bare soil, humming a tune. Once she was satisfied with the content of water, she leaned into the pot, smiling at it.

"Grow, my little flower. Grow," she whispered in a soft, spell-like voice. Then she turned around and left the room, needing to return to her duties before anyone noticed she was missing.

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It was in the dead of the night. Everyone had gone to sleep. Even Elaine was snoring softly after a long, exhausting day. The flower pot sat idly on the windowsill, basking in the moonlight, a wolf howl sounding in the distance. Then the strangest thing happened. Something poked out of the soil in the pot. A green, tiny bud.

The plant was growing.