Aurora stood beside a well, drawing water, the rope of the fetcher was too short, making it hard for her to pull out water easily.
She sighed and cleaned the sweat beads forming on her forehead, just as she pulled out the last water, making the two buckets fill up.
Sometimes, she pitied the people who were born slaves, whenever she worked tirelessly. She had been fetching water to all the concubine chambers since morning, Malik ordered Morena to make her fill all the concubine jars, including the king’s chamber.
She lowered, carried off the buckets, and placed them on her head, wanting to shift her concentration to the king’s chamber. Likewise, she felt someone peeping at her. She gazed around, hoping to find the shadow creating fear in her.
After meeting with failure, she let go of the thought and the feeling that someone was peeking at her, and she walked away.
Just as she left, Mira came out of her hiding, she walked towards the well, and with a grin plastered on her face, she kicked the bucket and the contents fell, she made sure she threw the fetcher inside the well before she felt fulfilled of her mission.
“Hmmm, done. Let’s see if she will come out of this,” she mumbled and dusted her palms off the sand.
Then she turned and walked away, feeling victorious. She has always had a bad aura for Aurora, working for the queen, and Xena makes things easy for her.
Now, she wants to find the masked girl before anyone does. She raised her shoulder, feeling on top of the world, as she strolled back inside the palace.
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Passing through the backyard, Aurora walked inside Malik Chamber, she put down the water and filled the first jar inside the bathroom. She closed the jar, wanting to go and bring the second bucket.
She couldn’t wait to have her bathe, her body was itching her already, also she wanted to go and meet her sister today, she had decided to leave before she would put the maids in problem, she couldn’t let go of the cool moment she has with the king, but, she wants to let go of the fantasy and stop the maids from paying for her sin.
“Come here,” Malik’s voice came out, from the room to the backyard, Aurora stilled, wanting to hear the voice of the person the king called.
When she didn’t hear anyone answering the king’s call, she wondered if the king was referring to her. She contemplated whether to go in and ask the king, she turned wanting to go since she couldn’t bear to face the king.
“Are you a deaf murderer?” The husky voice resonated in her ears.
She felt saddened, hearing the disdained tone Malik used to call her murderer. She cleaned the tears that dropped on her cheeks, and dusted herself, putting on an unexplained expression, she didn’t know the expression she would put on her face that would anger Malik.
“You call for me, my king,” Malik said, as she lowered her head to the ground.
“How many times, have I warned you, never to hear my king from your mouth, you murderer,” Malik said
“I’m sorry my… Your Highness,” She corrected herself before she made another blunder.
“Have you filled the two jars in my bathroom,” He asked, there was no expression in his voice, he spoke with no emotion in his voice.
“No, my… Your Highness,” making the same mistake again, makes fear creep into Aurora’s fiber.
Oh!, I forgot to inform you that Aurora is always scared of making mistakes in front of Malik since he loves using them against her.
“Why?” He asked curtly, he didn’t insult or abuse Aurora, he loved using her mistake to torment her, and she wondered why the king didn’t do it now.
Maybe, he felt guilty for making her do an overload of work, she knows he is the one who made her work here since morning.
“I have filled the first one, your Highness, I’m only on my way to carrying the second bucket,” She swallowed hard before she replied.
She replied, and waited for Malik’s next sentence. She hoped she wouldn’t make any mistakes in his presence after waiting for some minutes, still, the king didn’t say a word again.
“Your…hi…g…,” she stuttered, after she got fed up with waiting.
“You can go and carry the buckets, make sure you are back in the next five minutes, I want you to help me lay my bed,” He said before Aurora could finish the call.
She raised her heap, wanting to peek at the king. Malik knows how much she loves helping her to arrange his bed, but since the incident, he hasn’t for once called her to lay his bed.
“What happened today?” She asked herself a question she didn’t have an answer for, butterflies giggled in her belly, remembering how the king always hyped her whenever she arranged his bed.
Although it’s the work of a servant, and as a Princess, she shouldn’t have known how to lay bed, but she lives her life as a servant, since she is always out of her community to execute her father’s mission, he made sure he trained her as a servant.
“I’m training you this way so that you can cope with hardship outside the Palace since you are always out for missions,” Her father, King Louis, always replied to her this way when she was being trained.
“Your fives minutes are counting,” The king snapped her out of the thought.
She smiled and rushed out of the king’s chamber, feeling happy.
I guess you know the feeling she has. When you love doing something, and you have been deprived of it for a very long time now, suddenly you are asked to do what gives you happiness again.
Yes! That feeling.
She is excited right now, and can’t wait to carry the bucket of water and lay on the bed after.