AN: Hey guys! Long time no see! So this story came to me in a dream and now it has evolved into a full story. Some changes I made to the characters is that there is a character named Jasmine- not Jessamine- Jasmine. I know how creative of me. Jessamine is another, separate character don't worry their physical attributes are completely different, so you'll be able to tell the difference. Also there is Downworlders in this story, but no Shadowhunters. Just wanted to make that clear.
"Tessa! It's time to wake up." I rubbed my eyes to see Sophie standing there holding something behind her back. She was smiling her beautiful kind smile as she handed me the book. I quickly stood up and took the book realizing that I fell asleep while reading.
"How long was I asleep for?"
"It's almost time for the Princess Jasmine's walk at 5, so I would say about 3 hours."
I looked in the mirror to see my light brown hair in a complete mess. My white skin was flushed from the warmth of the bed and the blankets. My dress looked as if a couple of wild dogs had been playing with it, but I didn't pay much attention to it. I wiped my grey eyes, but they were still sleepy and slowly closing until I realized-
"Sophie, you let me sleep for three hours? Charlotte would kill me if she found out that I wasn't cleaning the stables."
"Don't worry. I already cleaned the stables." Sophie said and I sighed from relief.
"Wait, but what about your duties?"
"Oh the king and the princes left to hunt, so there wasn't really any food to take and bring back from the kitchen. They told me to rest, but I saw you sleeping, and I was afraid to wake you."
Sophie's brown hair was in a one sided ponytail. She had a scar that ran across her right cheek. Even though she claimed the scar made her look weak, fragile, ugly, I remember telling her, "Sophie it makes you strong. If a man can wear his scars from a war feeling proud of himself, then you should wear your scar in pride that you survived whatever man was weak enough to inflict such pain to you. Sophie you are- and always will be- strong."
"Sophie, you're too kind. I mean seriously I am going to teach you how to properly be rude to someone. But seriously Sophie is there anything that I can do for you, tell me."
"Well actually there is something that you can do for me. For the dinner tonight do you
mind serving the food?" Sophie said, but there was a weird hesitation with her voice.
"Anything Sophie. Seriously I owe you." I said beginning to fix the bed that I was sleeping on to make it look not- slept on.
"Like I said the boys all left to go hunting, and they plan on having a feast…" she paused and I waited for her to tell me the bad part, "The feast will be for all the knights in Idris."
"Oh no, no, no, no, no, no! Please Sophie anything but cleaning after those disgusting knights. Last time, there was a feast for all the knights, I spent weeks trying to clean the dining hall. I can still smell the alcohol and the other fluids from those atrocious knights."
"I will help you. I swear I will, but I promised Thomas that tonight we could go on a walk, and who knows the knights might not be all that bad. Please Tessa. This would mean so much to me if I could spend time with Thomas."
She started at me for a long time with pleading eyes before I said, "Alright fine. I will clean after the precious knights."
"Thank you Tessa. That means so much to me." Sophie said and brought me in for a hug.
It was hard to stay angry with someone who was so nice and caring like Sophie. I knew that this night was important for her especially because Thomas was one of the only men in this entire kingdom who ever looked at Sophie as if she were the most beautiful women in the world. In reality, Sophie was the most precious, but some people choose to only see the scar on her face.
"You're welcome. Let's go before rincess Jessamine throws a fit." I said fixing my hair into a bun, but one piece of my wavy hair stayed in the front reluctantly.
"Aren't you going to change?"
"Why would I do that?"
"Because your dress looks slept in and it makes you look-
"Makes me look like what?"
"Like if you have been doing a very specific and inappropriate activity."
"Sophie, you're such a prude." I said laughing.
"Alright then make fun of me all you want. I am simply trying to warn you." Sophie said raising her hands above her head. "Oh and I almost forgot that prince William needs someone to take care of his room before he gets back."
Take care?
Sophie must have seen my confused look because she grabbed my hand and said, "C'mon I'll show you. See Prince William enjoys company after his hunts and we must prepare his room for the company. That man is an absolute disgrace. His father and him are the most disgusting men I have ever met in my life. If only you had met the Queen, she was truly the glue that held the kingdom up. Oh well no time to dwell." Sophie grabbed my hand and pulled me outside the door.
We abruptly stopped when we looked through the big window and witnessed what was about to happen. We were at the lowest level of the castle, and there was a hanging about to happen right outside. There was a woman with a loose rope wrapped around her neck. She was standing in front of everyone in a dirty white dress. She wasn't crying, but I could see the sadness in her eyes. I- instinctively- held onto my angel necklace knowing once the man was finished screaming about her crimes involving magic she would be hanged. This wasn't the first time I had seen this, but I have never actually watched anyone get hanged. I would always walk away right before it happens hoping that someone with royal blood and power would see the injustice and end it. I was about to turn away when I heard a little girl crying in the crowd.
"Mama, Mami. Te quiero mucho!" the girl was probably five years old; the same age I was when my mother was taken from me. Sophie must have seen the tears form in my eyes because she quickly pulled me away from the window, but I still heard the sound of a rope being cut and the little girl screaming and crying. I breathed in deeply and calmed myself down before completely breaking apart in front of Sophie.
I understood why Sophie would be disgusted with the King; he had laws put in place that didn't allow anyone from doing magic or to be in anyway associated with magic. The punishment for doing magic was death. A very poetic death too; I heard from the other servants that you can choose whether to be publicly hanged, beheaded, or burned at the stake. At least the King has some compassion. I have heard about Prince William's reputation with Princess Jasmine how she fell in love with him, but he was only playing with her. Of course believing rumors from the other servants would make me a fool. However, I do believe Sophie when she says that he has definitely broken the hearts of many women, and the way she speaks about him makes me think that she was one of them, but I never ask her. My brother is training to be a knight, but he is only a trainee, so he isn't in the same social class as other knights.
I have only been working as a servant to the castle for a month now, so I still needed some help when finding my way around. I knew where the king slept and I knew where princes Jessamine was from noon to nightfall considering that they practically had me following her and answering to her every need between that time, but I didn't really know where anything else was. Sophie led me up a set of stairs that I knew was going to take us to the main hallway of the kingdom. Sophie and I were giggling up the stairs until we finally took in the smell of a group of males coming from the middle of the hall.
The knights were pouring into the castle, laughing and crashing into one another. I only recognized a couple of them as actual knights who worked in the kingdom day and night. The rest of them probably worked in the borders of the Alicante. It made me wonder if they were here now then who was protecting the borders?
"Oh no what if prince William has already returned?" Sophie said staring in horror at the group of knights that was forming in the hallway. "They could already be in his chambers and we haven't even prepared it for them."
"Then let's not linger. C'mon show me where his bedroom is."
She was holding onto my wrist, and I could feel her body shake with fear as we walked past the knights. I once felt shame because men would stare at my body, but I now realized that I wasn't the one to blame for the lustful stares of others. I looked away from the way the men were staring at us. However, I had already caught the stare of a blonde man. He had a scar on his face, but- unlike Sophie's scar- the scar made him look terrifying. His eyes were a beautiful green, but somehow the way he looked at me made me want to cower in a dark corner and never come out. I couldn't picture exactly what is was about the way that he was looking at me compared to the other men, but he made me feel like a deer and he was the wolf hunting for me.
Once we were far enough away from the man, I heard Sophie let out a big sigh. "Tessa nevermind, I am not going to leave you alone with those men tonight."
"Don't worry Sophie, they can't do anything to me- not with the king there." I said taking a hold of her hand and squeezing it in reassurance. "You deserve to have a night alone with James. I will not be the reason why he doesn't get to see your beautiful face tonight." I said smiling at her once I realized that I had been convincing enough even though the green eyes from the blonde man were still embedded in my brain.
"Ok Tessa thank you. The room is at the end of the hall." We kept walking a lot calmer than before when I realized that Princess Jessamine's bedroom was right across prince Williams.
How unfortunate for Prince William if he had to sleep right across the hall from her. When Sophie began to laugh, I realized that I had said it outloud.
"Tessa! You are so rude." Sophie said giggling and I joined her until we both abruptly stopped at the sight of Princess Jasmine.
The princess's curly black hair was in cornrows braids that formed a high bun. Her eyes were a beautiful dark brown that matched the dark brown color of her skin. Her dress was a simple pink gown, but she looked absolutely radiant. She was considered to be the most beautiful princess in all the kingdoms. Hell, I would even guess that she was considered to be one of the most beautiful women alive. Except that she was a princess and being as beautiful as she was; she was also very arrogant and selfish. She practically has me follow her around just so that her friends can judge my clothes, my hair, and anything else that I happen to not have 100% perfect.
She was leaving her chambers with Charlotte Branwell. Charlotte was in charge of- well she was in charge of everything from what I have noticed. She made sure that food was properly cooked before bringing it to any member of the royal family. She planned out all events in the kingdom including the hunts and battles that happened between the knights. She even helped train some of the knights and always made sure their armor was correctly positioned on their bodies. She did all of this and somehow managed to have a loving husband and children. Her brown hair was tied up in a clean bun at the back of her head and her brown eyes were now looking directly at Sophie and I, and she definitely did not look happy.
"Tessa, by the angel, what are you wearing?" Charlotte questioned and I looked down and took notice of what Sophie had been warning me about. There were a few knots and rips in my dress and my breasts were more visible than what was appropriate.
My dress must have ruined when I was sleeping. I thought to myself and this time I clamped my mouth shut to make sure it didn't slip out.
Sophie quickly came to my rescue, "It was the knights Ms. Branwell. We ran into them on our way here and one of them was messing with Tessa's dress, but we ran out of there before anything else could occur."
Charlotte was looking toward us horrified, but she seemed more horrified at the idea that we were harrassed rather than my very obvious cleavage that was showing. Jessamine stared in horror as well, but her eyes didn't seem sincere about it.
"Are you ladies alright?" Charlotte asked before coming up to me and in very quick movements she fixed my dress to make the rips and knots look like layers that were there on purpose.
"Yes, we are fine. We were just on our way to take care of Prince William's room." Sophie said smiling brilliantly at Charlotte.
"Well you only need one person to do that." Jasmine said scanning the both of us with her dark brown eyes, "Sophie you can join me on my walk and Jessie you can take care of Will's room." I looked behind me until I realized that she was referring to me; I was Jessie.
I looked at Sophie from the corner of my eye and saw her walking away from me and towards Jasmine. Sophie smiled at me reassuringly before the three of them walked away from me, but I still had no idea what take care meant.
Do they want me to clean it? Am I supposed to have food prepared? Should I prepare a bath? What in the angel was Sophie thinking letting me do this by myself?
It's fine, you'll figure it out. I told myself, but I didn't know how much I actually believed that.
When I walked into the Prince's room, it was completely clean. There was no one in the room, and there was also nothing that I could possibly make even more clean. The bed was neat, and there was no sign that someone had been sleeping in it. But if Sophie was the one who had to take care of the room then why was it already so nice and neat. I looked around for any indication of what I needed to do and I saw a glass of water sitting on the table; there was a very small amount of water left, but I was thirsty and I figured no one would mind if I finished it.
I walked up to the table and picked up the glass of water to my lips when I heard a voice say, "What are you doing?"
I jumped and shrieked right before dropping the glass to the floor. The glass didn't completely shatter but a small piece had broken off. Great. I turned around to see a tall white man standing behind me. He was smiling amused at me, but I couldn't concentrate on that because he was a lot different than what I imagined. He had slick black hair that almost covered his blue eyes. He was- by definition- beautiful. Sophie had practically described him as the ugliest person on the planet. She spoke of him the way that she would speak of a dirty criminal that murdered puppies for fun and stole candy from children. I never imagined that I would find him attractive. Then again Princess Jasmine was absolutely beautiful with her dark brown skin and her kinky hair, but she has never shown interest for me at all.
Of course Prince William was nothing like Prince Jasmine. Prince William was looking at me with a lot of interest, but it didn't feel real. I avoided his gaze and picked up the glass that had fallen to the ground. I found the piece that had broken off, but I wasn't paying much attention to it, so I immediately cut my hand picking it up. It wasn't a deep cut, but I was definitely bleeding. I felt two hand come up around me and there was Prince William examining my wound. I was sitting on the floor and he was knelt beside me. He began to dab at it with a towel that had been on the table. I flinched away from the pain, but Prince William ignored me and put the towel around my hand and tied it into a tight knot.
He stared at me in concern, but his eyes looked exactly like Jasmine's: insincere. I quickly stood up and walked away from him.
"I am sorry for the mess." I said still looking away.
"You're hand is bleeding and you're worried about some water spilled." He smiled, but it still didn't feel real. "Here let me help you go to our apothecary, Magnus."
He walked up behind me and put his hand on my lower back and his other hand on top of the towel.
"I assure you that my hand injury does not affect my legs in any way." I said pushing against him.
"You don't like me do you?" he said staring in confusion.
"I don't know you. I can't possibly form any opinion about you." I said trying to ignore the stinging that came from my hand.
"Yet it seems you have already formed one."
"Why do you need a servant to clean up your bedroom when your bedroom is already very clean?" The question came out of nowhere and it sounded angry and accusing, but I was merely curious.
"I don't need you to clean my room. I need someone to prepare my room for my lady friend. Which lucky for you could not join me today."
I scoffed knowingly, "Of course she couldn't." I whispered, but I guess not low enough.
"Excuse me? I may have offered my help to you but do not forget that you are a mere servant. I can easily have you hanged for treating me with disrespect."
Now I made sure the anger in my voice was clearly understood, "I only said that I am sorry your lady friend couldn't come and see what a nice gentlemen you are. Afterall, she might have accidentally stepped on your foot and then you would have no choice but to cut off all her toes."
"That's a great idea. How about I cut off your tongue? It doesn't seem to be doing you any good either way." Prince William said and now his expression was not fake, but it was also not very happy.
I tried to hide my anger, but all I could hear was the little girl screaming for her mom. "Like father, like son. At this point your father is probably responsible for the deaths of hundreds, and you will probably be exactly the same. You might as well began with me. I am just as innocent as the people your father murders. If you're going to murder anyone, it should be me!"
"What in the name of the angel is going on here?" I looked towards the door to see a knight standing there. He was asian and his hair and eyes were both a silvery white. He was staring at Will and I in utter shock, but the second he saw the blood dripping from my hand, he quickly came over to me with real concern in his eyes.
"Are you all right?" he said looking into my eyes. He was beautiful not in the same way that Prince William was, but his features were most definitely angelic and innocent.
"Yes, I cut my hand on a piece of glass." I said and I no longer felt as upset as before.
"What's your name?" he said and I realized his concern was genuine.
"Tessa. I mean Theresa Gray. But I don't like being called Theresa. Just call me Tessa." I said feeling like an idiot.
"Well Tessa, I am Jem. C'mon let me take you to Magnus; he will fix you up very quickly."
"Yes, thank you."
"So you'll go to the apothecary with him?" Prince William said looking at me with an eyebrow raised.
"His smile was real." I said before walking out the door with Jem.