Rose tried whole heartedly to put the horror of what she had just witnessed out of her mind but the scene kept revisiting her. The sickening smell of blood, the blood stains on the beige carpet, and the complete lack of remorse from the guard's killer all haunted her. The thought that one living creature could be so callous towards another completely defied all logic in her mind. Shaking her head to clear it of such negative thoughts she inwardly vowed to never embrace evil but to fight it with all her heart.
It was with this new mindset that she entered the Royal kitchens were the Royal Family's breakfast was being prepared. Countless aromas, and noises assailed her senses as she walked in between two palace guards and pushed open two incredibly heavy double doors to enter the kitchen. She temporarily paused to take stock of her surroundings.
The floors were white marble, which were complemented perfectly by ivory white pillars jutting from seemingly random points in the kitchen, each pillar was covered in elaborate carvings and was spotlessly clean. Hanging from the walls were elaborate paintings framed with solid gold. She didn't see any food being prepared or people around so she continued studying the room.
She soon discovered that the only light sources in the room came from a bunch of very small flames each perched on a monstrous sized pillar candle strategically placed around the room. Something about the flames struck her as unnatural so she curiously approached one and softly blew at it. It didn't so much as flicker. Now very interested she blew as hard as she could only for the flame to grow in size as if it had been fanned and deepen in color from orange to scarlet.
Slightly spooked she backed away from the candle and waited for someone to come provide her with some instructions. While she waited she mentally reviewed ideal reactions if she were to run into the hedgehog called Fleetway again. Even thinking about him was making her uncomfortable. Just as she was becoming lost to her thoughts a hidden door swung open and another female creature approached her.
Quickly Rose snapped back into a full state of awareness wanting to make a good impression on whoever was approaching. That was a good thing as it turned out to be her boss for the morning. A purple cat approached her "Hello my name is Blaze The Cat and I am in charge of the servants this morning. What is your name?" "Hello Blaze my name is Amy Rose. Rose for short and I'm honored to meet you this morning."
Blaze eyed her for a second and then said "Good you are respectful, lack of respect for the royal family is what got the servant that you replaced killed." Rose opened her mouth to say something but Blaze cut her off: "I didn't do it Fleetway did. I assume you've meet him?" Rose could only nod mutely. Blaze watched her carefully. "You do know you'll be seeing him when you serve breakfast?"
Rose could once again only nod her head. "You're lucky today. The King won't be showing up." Rose finally let herself breathe out a sight of relief. Blaze however cautioned her "You'd best prepare yourself. Fleetway isn't the worst of the bunch. Come with me and pick out something to wear from the approved list of uniforms."
Rose soundlessly followed Blaze into a huge walk in closet filled with suits and dresses. Silently thinking she picked a white dress covered in pink roses, went to the changing room and got dressed without saying a word. Blaze approved of her outfit: "Nice choice be sure not to get it dirty and don't make any enemies while you're out there." After thanking Blaze she went to the kitchens were the food was actually being prepared.
The cooks surveyed her with pity in their eyes and shook their heads. She heard them talking about her: "She won't last long." "She's gonna get cut in half if she even looks at one of them sideways." "I think they're going to like her looks." Mentally blocking out their pitying looks and cruel whispers she went over to the servers.
"What's it like?" she asked them. They looked her over and then responded carefully with none talking over the other: "It's dangerous." "You never know what will set one of them off." "It depends on the mood that they happen to be in." As they spoke to her she looked them over herself they were all lady hedgehogs about her age except for one a very small rabbit that seemed to be half the age of the others and each of them wore a dress."
Just as she was about to question them further Blaze marched in and a hush fell over them. "The king may or may not show up today it's up in the air. As usual your lives are at stake however consider the stakes to be especially high today as Fleetway has already murdered someone this morning. I wish all of you luck follow the rules of engagement and you may come out ok." With that Blaze turned and left as the cooks came in and began lining up each holding a very fancy serving tray laden with picture perfect food.
Rose glanced at a servant behind her it was the very young rabbit. "What are the rules of engagement?" she asked in a whisper. The young rabbit glanced around before quoting from her memory: "Address by title always, don't retaliate ever, keep your head down, if you see someone getting hurt by a member of the Royal Family don't intervene…she looked up into Amy's eyes I think you get the gist of it." Amy nodded "Basically be subservient." Cream looked as if she were about to reply but then quickly got quiet and still as a hush fell over the room.
Rose followed everyone's gaze to a large white male hedgehog about Fleetway's size that had just entered the room. He surveyed everyone with a cold gaze and began to speak. "For those of you who don't know my name is Nazo and I am Captain of the Guard. I am here this morning to remind you that it is your place to serve and obey. Anyone who attempts to posion a member of the royal family will be personally executed by the King." After this he paused "Am I making myself clear?" Everyone except for Rose chorused in unison: "Yes Captain Nazo!"
Nazo looked at them and sneered. "Good then I expect a minimal amount of bloodshed this morning. Especially since the king will most likely be absent." Blaze then entered and rung a small bell. Nazo left without another word. Blaze then looked at the cooks and nodded. They in turn nodded to two elaborately dressed honor guards who pushed open the doors. The cooks then marched in with the food held high.
When the cooks were out of sight Blaze rung the bell again signaling for the servers to follow. Rose found herself following the young rabbit as they headed out of the double doors and into the dining area. The place immediately took her breath away.
Everything looked more beautiful than she could have ever imagined even in her wildest dreams from the perfectly set table with it's exquisitely embroidered tablecloth, to the lone chandelier in the room which reflected rainbow colored light, down to the silverware which was actually made out of Silver. Quickly regaining her focus she watched the other servers carefully and took up position with them hovering closely by but still keeping her distance.
A sense of unease filled her being when she spotted Fleetway again until she realized he was paying her no attention. He was talking to another hedgehog seated at the table. She glanced at this other hedgehog and had to stop herself from crying out. For this blue furred creature seemed to have blood constantly leaking from it's eyes and running from inbetween it's teeth. Turning away quickly trying to erase the sight from her mind she found herself looking into the young rabbit's soft brown eyes.
Trying to distract herself from the horror of what she had just seen she asked the young rabbit for her name. "My name is Cream Ma'am what's yours?" Rose was touched by the young rabbit's politeness and shaken that one so young and innocent had to serve such monsters. "My name is Amy Rose but you can call me Rose." "Ok Hi Ms. Rose." Cream chirped. Amy smiled down at her even as she heard Cream get called across the room.
Cream turned and quickly scurried away. Amy watched her hoping desperately that no harm should come to the young rabbit. She herself was waved to the opposite side of the room by another Server. "I need you to stay over here, you're inexperienced and don't really know what you're doing so this is the best place for you to be." Rose thanked her and glanced at the hedgehog she was supposed to be serving and shocked to see that he seemed to radiate kindness.
A piercing shriek from across the room immediately caught her attention. Terror filled her being when her eyes fell upon the source of the unearthly sound. The hedgehog that she had seen Fleetway talking to earlier had bitten Cream on the tip of the ear and wasn't letting go. Cream was tearing her delicate ear shrieking and trying to get away as blood from the tip of her ear dripped to the floor.
For a split second the whole room seemed paralyzed and then everyone went back to what they had been doing as if nothing was happening. Everyone except for the hedgehog Rose was supposed to serving. He stood up and a quiet voice that was scarcely a whisper addressed the hedgehog that was biting Cream's ear. "Exe let her go."
Exe looked at the other hedgehog (who Rose had just realized had the oddest shade of mauve fur) and bared his teeth without letting go. The other hedgehog walked to the other side of the room and looked into Exe's eyes. "Let her go. She hasn't done anything to you, plus you've already had your fun." The hedgehog called Exe seemed to consider it then gave one last yank followed by a pained yell from Cream and then let go grinning (literally) from ear to ear.
The purple hedgehog picked Cream up in his arms and wordlessly carried her from the room as she buried her face into the ornately decorated scarf he wore around his neck and sobbed. Rose was filled with anger at what she had just witnessed but realized that she'd just seen her first sign of kindness since entering this terrible place. She glanced around at everyone else to find that they seemed surprised at the sudden turn of events.
Even as they continued serving they glanced at the spot that the purple hedgehog had left with confused expressions. Rose kept waiting for him to come back but breakfast was finished without him. She was in such a state of shock from what she had witnessed that she didn't pay any attention to the other hedgehogs seated at the table but moved around them without actually looking at them. Worry for Cream was setting her nerves on edge and had her constantly glancing at the clock.
When the Royal Family finally finished breakfast and the table had been cleared she realized she had no idea where she could find Cream or the purple hedgehog that had helped her. Remembering Shadow's advice not to ask too many questions she kept her head down as she reported back to Blaze. Blaze told her to return to her bedroom and stay there until summoned for further duties.
As Rose sat in her bedroom staring at the ceiling she mentally reviewed what she'd seen, the hedgehog with the horrifying appearance (he seemed to have bottomless black pits with two red bits of light for eyes), his cruelty, and the surprising act of kindness from the purple hedgehog. She quietly hoped that her newfound friend was ok with the purple hedgehog and hoped to be able to see her again soon.