To Bewitch a Devil

50 Something fun

“Princess Jasmine is the prettiest princess, have you seen her? Oh my God.”

One of the maids spoke as they washed bedsheets in the washing area.

“Yes, and she’s so soft-spoken. I wish she’ll become the queen,” another chirped in.

“No, I think it’s Princess Kitana, but I do not think she’s kind to the maids. A few maids have complained about her.” Another said.

Penelope sat by the side as she listened to the discussion but did not contribute a thing.

” Penelope, you’re serving Princess Lyra, right? How is she?”

One of the maids, who were having the discussion noticed her and asked;

Pen smiled; “She’s nice.” She replied. She did not want to say anything about the Princesses to avoid any punishment or her role taken from her. She had been eating well for the past few days, and now slept in a more comfortable room with the maids that served Princess Lyra.

She wouldn’t dare make a mistake. She knew some of the maids there were waiting for her to slip so they would quickly report her to Lady Beatrice.

.....

“Yes, I heard Princess Lyra is kind. Princess Alicia and Daphne are always together, they look like sisters, I love their friendship.”

One said and another laughed;

“You don’t want to know what they are always talking about. They look sweet but they are just sitting together and gossiping about the whole Castle.”

The rest of the maids became quiet as they looked at the one who just spoke;

“You should not speak like that about the Princesses. Your mouth would get you in trouble.” One quickly cautioned her;

“Except you don’t like your tongue anymore.”

Color drained from the girl’s face when she realized she had crossed the line.

“I’m sorry, it was a slip of the tongue.” She said.

“Alright let’s continue washing, we don’t have time to idle away.”

The one who had cautioned her spoke as she tried to lighten the mood.

Pen did not say a word, she just washed her clothes quietly and quickly left the place. As she went back to the Castle, she sighted some of the generals chatting.

She watched them for a little too long when suddenly one of them waved to her.

Penelope’s heart skipped a beat as she looked behind her to be sure it was her they had called for, when she saw there was no one behind her, she walked toward them.

“Bring us some wine and cups.” One of them said and she hesitated but then nodded and walked away.

She was not working in the wine house and only a few people were allowed in, she wanted to tell them but she feared they would scold her, so she just left.

Azriel looked at the girl who was carrying a basin. He remembered seeing her with them on the travel, but he did not pay attention to her, but now he saw that she was quite beautiful.

His throat tightened as he watched her walk away, it had been long since he had a woman by his side and he craved a woman’s touch.

One of the generals spoke to him, drawing his attention from the girl.

Penelope kept the basin and walked to the wine house. Thankfully, there were servants on duty, so she relayed the message to them.

They went in and brought two wine bottles and gave her. Pen carried it carefully to the men.

After she dropped it, she went in and brought wine cups for them. As she turned to leave, Azriel stopped her;

“What is your name?” Penelope paused and turned to him in surprise;

“Penelope.” She replied, confused as to why he was asking for her name.

“Penelope...” He called as though tasting her name on his lips, and then he smiled;

“You may go,” he said and she bowed and walked away. After she had gone a distance, Ryan, one of the generals laughed,

“Do you like the girl?” He asked and Azriel chuckled;

“I cannot believe that after hundreds of years with me, you can still ask me that question.”

Azriel shook his head and Ryan laughed.

“Will you ever change?”

“I’m not planning to.”

Ryan shook his head as he watched the girl disappear into the distance.

...

Every night, a party was held for the dukes so there was a lot of eating and drinking. This night was no exception. The dukes sat with the king, as beautiful women danced and entertained them as music played in the background.

Azriel sat with Ryan as he watched the women swing their waists from side to side, entertaining the crowd. He was tired of the party and wanted to go and rest but Ryan wanted to stay a bit more and asked him to stay with him.

As Azriel drank from his wine cup, his eyes landed on the girl from that afternoon.

She was carrying a tray of snacks and placed it in front of one of the Lords.

The Lord smiled and patted her hand but before he could stretch the conversation, she had walked away.

Azriel smiled as he watched her. Most of the maids searched for a way to escape the Castle, they even wished for the Lords or nobles to look their way and they grabbed onto it without blinking, but this girl did not even care.

There was a look of disdain in her eyes as she pried her hand away from the Lord and walked away. His eyes followed her movement as she served the guests. When she was done, she walked to a corner and stood with a few other maids.

Suddenly she stood up straight and walked towards the Princesses.

Azriel watched her; she walked to Lyra and squatted.

Princess Lyra whispered something in her ears and she nodded and walked out of the hall.

Azriel hesitated for a second before he stood up;

“Ryan. Have fun, I think I’ve found something exciting.” He smirked and before Ryan could ask, he had walked away.