Doris POV
“What?” I breathed. “Me?”
“Yes, miss,” the footman said, eyeing me. “He’s insisting that you join him now.”
“Uh…” I stammered. “Let me just grab my shoes…”
He nodded and stepped into the hallway to wait for me; I closed the door separating us.
Why would William want to see me? He wanted me in his chambers?
I felt the heat rising into my features and my heart racing against my chest heavily and rapidly. My body began trembling uncontrollably as I searched around for my shoes.
I slipped them on and then knelt at Beth’s bedside, shaking her gently with my trembling fingers. She groggily opened her eyes, and I tried my best to keep the fear hidden from my face, but she knew something was wrong almost right away.
“What’s going on?” She asked, sitting up, concern surfacing in her eyes. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know,” I breathed; I bit my bottom lip to keep from bursting into tears, but she could see the pained expression across my features.
She gripped my shoulders gently to try to keep me from shaking out of my skin. I hadn’t realized how badly I was shaking until she tried to hold me still.
“Doris… what happened?” She asked, keeping her tone low.
She looked around the room wildly for a moment as if he was expecting someone to be standing there and then her eyes landed on me.
“William’s footman is outside the door,” I said in a whisper, motioning for the door.
Her eyes widened.
“What?” She asked, raising her eyebrows. “Why?”
“I don’t know. He said that Prince William is requesting me to join him in his chambers for the night,” I answered, my voice sounding weak and quavering.
“His personal chambers?” Beth said, a bit louder.
I could see the many questions crossing her face as she stared at me; she was trying to read my expression, but I wasn’t giving her much to work with.
“Yes,” I answered. “His personal chambers.”
…
The footman waited for me outside the door in the maid’s unit; Beth watched as I left the room. Her eyes were on the back of my head, pouring into me as a million questions surfaced in her mind. I had a million questions as well, but I knew the footman wouldn’t know anything more than I did.
I took in a shaky breath as I followed him through the maid’s unit and out into the main foyer of the palace. It was late so there weren’t any maids or servants roaming around the foyer or the rest of the palace. But there were a couple of nightguards that kept to their posts as instructed.
I walked up each of the steps slowly; I wasn’t sure what to expect. My body was starting to violently ache as it continued trembling uncontrollably. I could feel the moisture building on the palms of my hands and I wiped them on my robe. But just as I did, beads of sweat started piling on my forehead and dripping down the nape of my neck.
I felt as if I have been holding my breath since I left my bedroom. It took everything I had not to burst into tears and run in the opposite direction.
Periodically, the footman would turn to make sure I was still following him. I think he too was afraid that I would run in the opposite direction. He would look at me curiously for a moment before turning away and continuing to walk in the direction of William’s chamber.
We stopped outside of William’s chamber door and the footman cleared his throat as he knocked. He must not trust me to knock for myself as he trusted Lady Melody.
“Your majesty,” the footman said, bowing his head as William opened the door. William disregarded the footman and his eyes landed on me almost instantly. I could feel the intensity of his stare burning a hole in my flesh as it did during Luna Queen Cara’s birthday party. “I brought you the maid you requested.”
“Leave us,” William ordered him, but his eyes still never broke from mine.
The footman bowed once more.
“Yes, your majesty,” he said as he went in the opposite direction.
I stood in the hall, awkwardly, shuffling my feet. I tried to keep the nervousness off my face, but there was no doubt in my mind that he would be able to see through it instantly.
He finally pulled his eyes away from me and turned away, walking back into his bedroom. He left his door open, so I took that as a cue to follow him.
(William’s POV)
“Try not to scare her this time. Our mate has been through enough bullshit to last a lifetime,” Waylon warned, his tone low and aggravated.
William just rolled his eyes as he turned back to Doris who was standing closer to his door than to him. He stared around her body for a long while. She had dark bruises along her jawline, arms, and legs. She walked with a slight limp, so he knew she was probably still in a lot of pain.
Her long dark curly hair fell in a tangled mess around her shoulders; she looked pale and a bit thinner than she was a few days ago.
“If Jack comes near her again…” Waylon began as he gathered her appearance.
“Relax,” William warned his wolf. “We aren’t going to let him come near her.”
He had heard from his brothers that Doris was recovering nicely, and she was finally able to walk around on her own. But he wanted to see it for himself; he grew annoyed that Daniel and Martin had gone to see her. Especially Daniel who goes to see her often. He pushed that annoyance down into his stomach as he went to sit on his bed.
Doris cleared her throat and pressed the palms of her hands together as they remained silent.
“Would you like me to pour you some tea, your majesty?” She asked, motioning for his table across the room, which had the tea set.
He glanced in that direction and then back at her.
“Yes,” he muttered. She went to fulfill that task immediately.
“She needs to rest,” Waylon hissed. “Stop making her work.”
“Pour yourself some too,” William added, ignoring his wolf.
She paused and glanced over at him; her eyes wide and confused.
“I’m sorry?” She asked, blinking at him.
“I said, pour yourself some too,” he repeated, a bit slower.
She opened her mouth as if she wanted to protest but she closed it instantly and did as she was told. He could see a thousand questions surfacing around her face as she brought him the teacup. She had another teacup in her hand, and she hesitantly and slowly sipped the tea.
She breathed in the steam from the tea and her shoulders instantly started to relax.
“Is there something else I can do for you?” She asked as she set her teacup on the table.
“No,” William said, meeting her eyes. “The maids tomorrow can handle everything else.”
She rose her eyebrows for a moment as she processed what he had said. She broke eye contact and stared down at her feet, with a timid frown placed on her lips.
William set the tea beside him on his bedside table and started to blow out some candles around the room. Her eyes widened again as she straightened her stance.
“Allow me to do that for you, your majesty,” she said quickly as she went to meet him at the last candle he was going to blow out.
“Stop,” he ordered her; his voice a lot harder than he meant it.
She stopped quickly and bowed her head, her hair falling over her face to hide her features.
“My apologies…” she said in a whisper.
He cleared his throat and went back over to his bed to lie down.
He removed his shirt and slid into his bed. He lay on his back; one arm kept neatly beside him, and his other arm placed over his eyes as grogginess overtook him. He could still feel Doris eyeing him suspiciously from across the room.
After a few moments, she approached his bed and began adjusting his blanket and his pillows. Moving quickly, he grabbed onto her wrist; she gasped at the unexpected touch and the force that came with it. He pulled her into his bed, and she gasped again as her head hit the side of his chest. He kept his arm firmly around her to hold her place.
He moved his head to keep her hair out of his face, but he refused to release her.
“Please…” she was about to beg him to let her go but he cut her words off with his own.
“Just go to sleep.”