The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon

LARA

I woke up and almost fell off the cold windowsill. I couldn’t believe I spend the whole night on it. But my body could. It was stiff and I practically crawled to open the door.

Lady Fiona was behind it and her gaze traveled over me in my beautiful silk nightgown with handmade lace. I quickly grabbed the think cotton throw to cover myself as she walked in.

“So, Kara,” she walked inside without asking permission, “I now remembered that my… cousin did not mention how the two of you met.”

Of course, he didn’t. And there were good reasons for that.

“We…”, I mumbled, trying to figure out what to say. “We used to work at the castle together. I mean at the palace in the capital of The Gerdian empire. I was a maid there.”

“Hmm,” lady Fiona looked me up and down again, “Let’s make one thing clear at once, Kara. I absolutely do not tolerate liars. Even a maid from the palace would not be able to afford a nightgown like this. I may be old now but lady Solveig’s boutique opened when I was young and I would recognize her work everywhere.”

Stupid guardian fashion! I knew it would get me in trouble!

“Oh, this?” I pointed at the delicate lace, “It was a present of my previous lady, nothing more.”

“Even so,” Fiona kept staring at me, “Sean was a noble back then. I doubt he even knew any maid’s name. How did the two of you get so close? Did you sleep with him?”

My cheeks went red when I heard the words.

“Of course not!” I muttered faster then I realized that it was probably the best explanation. But it was too late for that. “The thing is,” I was hectically looking for some kind of idea that would make sense, “My love is dead. I mean … the love of my life is dead. He was a… red dragon… and when they started the rebellion…”

“Are you out of your mind, child?!” She closed my mouth with your palm and hissed at me, “Never mention it ever again. At least not out loud. But I get it, Sean is responsible for your beloved’s death and now he feels guilty.”

I opened my mouth to protest but then closed it. That was actually better than whatever I could come up with. So, I just nodded, biting my l*p.

“You poor thing,” lady Fiona’s face became softer for a second but then she became strict again, “However, do not think that you’ll get any type of special treatment here.”

“Of course, not!” I agreed quickly.

“It’s an honour to get a job here already,” the woman continued while I was studying her beautiful face. She had noble straight features and looked like she was in her fifties. Yet she had a ridiculously thin waist and straight back, there were a few small wrinkles on her face but they didn’t ruin her beauty. The most prominent feature, however, was fiery red hair. Just like Sean’s. And only one strand of white gave away her real age. Which I had no idea about but it was probably way more than fifty. She was wearing a long black dress with silver embroidery today and looked elegant and graceful.

“I understand, my lady,” I curtsied before her and noticed a vague smile on her lips.

“You indeed worked at the palace,” she commented as I stood up, “That makes you a very lucky girl, Kara.”

“W-why?” I asked hesitantly.

“Because originally I planned to make you clean the rooms,” she informed me, “But it just so happens that this year’s candidates started arriving already and one of them is not happy with her current personal maid. It’s hard for village girls to satisfy the needs of noble ladies.”

She sighed and came closer to me, “They probably wouldn’t want someone as pretty as you close at a competition like that…”

My lips parted. Was that how everybody looked at it? A competition? I thought that they wouldn’t be happy to be looked at as objects to take back home. But apparently, it was just me…

“However, we are lucky that your hair is cut so short!” the woman smirked, “So, no one would see a threat in you.”

“Good…to know,” I mumbled.

“And you remember that you are just a maid!” she suddenly became very cross with me, “No tricks! The gerdians are here for the brides that could give them heirs! Not the maids!”

“I’ll keep that in mind at all times,” I nodded truthfully, “I am not interested in anyone except for the man who is already in my heart. I assure you.”

“Good,” the woman smiled again, “I like your attitude, Lara. Dress up and go to the servants’ dining room. I assigned a maid to help you on the first day. And slightly later I’ll take you to the lady you’ll be serving.”

“Thank you, lady Fiona,” I curtsied again.

“Don’t mention it again,” she dismissed me, “Maybe for once that cousin of mine actually made me a favour. I need this Dark Selection to be perfect!”

The door closed behind her and I hurried to put on my uniform. Luckily, the dress was exactly my size, and felt comfortable enough to do choirs.

I went downstairs and met some of the maids who were going to work here as well. They greeted me dryly when a girl grabbed my arm.

“You must be Kara,” she smiled, “You can’t sit here. These are the cleaning maids. And you are one of the elite ones. Come.”

I was shocked that even maids had a hierarchy. I never thought of that when I was noble.

However, at the table we came to, I was greeted with a lot more enthusiasm.

“I am Aubrey,” one of the girls introduced herself, “And who are you?”

“Kara”, I gave a weak wave to everyone and they started calling their names. There was no chance to remember them all, of course. But I’ll get to that later.

“Welcome to the lucky table, Kara,” the girl who brought me said, “My name is Ramina. But you can call me Rami.”

“Do you already know who you’ll be serving to?” a giggly redhead next to me asked.

“No,” I replied honestly, “They didn’t tell me yet.”

“Who else,” Aubrey sighed heavily, “You all know that as of now only one of the ladies doesn’t have a personal maid anymore.”

“True,” another girl next to her looked at me in pity. And that’s how I knew that I probably wasn’t as lucky as I thought…

“Who is this lady?” I tried to sound confident while poking my porridge with a spoon.

“Gianna Vensal,” Ramina rolled her eyes, “The lady of the South.”

“Is she nice?” I looked at the rest of the maids hopefully and they all burst out laughing…