Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Guestrooms
Estelle’s POV
“Real leaders?” I repeated, my voice deadly quiet.
The head servant’s eyes darted to
briefly before returning to Caleb, as if I hadn’t spoken at all.
Caleb’s jaw clenched. His hands balled into fists at his sides. “There seems to be so confusion here. Luna Estelle Harper is the rightful heir and current leader of the Blackmoon Pack. There is no Alpha.”
“But surely—”
“No.” Caleb’s voice cut through the air like a blade. “Benedict Harper is not the Blackmoon Pack’s leader. Helena Harper is no longer the Luna. Alpha Jas Harper nad Estelle as his successor before his death.”
The servant’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. His gaze flicked between Caleb and , clearly struggling to process this information.
“I... I see.” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “My apologies for the misunderstanding.”
The apology was hollow. It was clear he didn’t believe a word of what Caleb had said, and he certainly didn’t respect
as the leader of the Blackmoon Pack. Whether that was because the Blackmoon Pack was a werewolf pack and not a lycan one, or it was because I was the leader and not Benedict, I wasn’t too sure.
I watched him with cool detachnt. This wasn’t the first ti soone had questioned my authority, and it wouldn’t be the last. But the blatant disrespect did make things unpleasant and difficult.
“We’d like to get settled in,” I said evenly.
The head servant nodded stiffly. He gestured to two maids standing nearby. Both won looked to be in their thirties, dressed in identical gray uniforms.
“Sarah will show you to your room.” He pointed to a thin woman with mousy brown hair. “And Margaret will escort Beta Jackson to his accommodations.”
Caleb frowned. “Why are we being separated?”
“Male and female accommodations are kept separate, as per lycan tradition,” the servant replied matter-of-factly.
Sothing about his tone made my skin crawl. Not to ntion the fact that he refused to et my eyes.
Caleb looked at
with obvious reluctance. His protective instincts were kicking in, and I could see the worry etched across his features.
“It’s fine,” I assured him, placing a gentle hand on his arm. “We can et for dinner after we’ve settled in.”
He hesitated for a mont longer before nodding. “Alright. Text
if you need anything.”
“I will.”
Margaret smiled warmly at Caleb and led him toward a grand staircase that curved upward to what I assud were the main guest quarters.
Sarah, on the other hand, barely looked at .
“This way,” she said curtly, turning on her heel.
I followed her through a side door that led away from the main entrance hall. We walked down a series of increasingly narrow corridors. The marble floors gave way to plain stone. The ornate tapestries and paintings disappeared, replaced by bare walls.
My suspicions began to grow with each step we took.
The corridors grew darker as we moved deeper into what felt like the bowels of the palace. The air beca stuffier. If I squinted hard enough, I could even spot mold along the corners, along with cobwebs.
“How much further?” I asked.
“Not much,” Sarah replied without looking back.
We turned another corner and stopped in front of a plain wooden door. Sarah produced a key from her apron and unlocked it.
“Here we are,” she said, pushing the door open.
I stepped inside and surveyed the room with careful composure, though internally I was appalled.
The room was small and cramped. A single bed sat against one wall, covered with thin, faded linens. A rickety wooden desk and a matching stool occupied another corner, and a tiny window near the ceiling let in barely any natural light.
This wasn’t a guest room. This was the servant’s quarters. Not to ntion, it looked absolutely dieval.
“Is there so mistake?” I asked calmly.
Sarah’s deanor shifted instantly. The fake politeness vanished, replaced by open hostility.
“Mistake?” She scoffed. “This is what was arranged for you. If you don’t like it, take it up with managent.”
Her tone was sharp and rude.
“I see.” I kept my voice level. “And where exactly would I find managent?”
“Figure it out yourself,” she snapped before storming out and slamming the door behind her.
I stood in the middle of the dingy room and let out a quiet scoff.
This was clearly deliberate. Soone wanted to send
a ssage about my place here.
I pulled out my phone and considered texting Zayne. He would sort this out imdiately, I was certain of that. But when I opened our chat, I noticed his last seen was still from when he’d sent his previous ssage.
He was probably busy preparing for tomorrow’s ball or dealing with state business. Many important guests were coming to attend the ball, and even though the lycans were significantly more powerful in both strength and social stature, it didn’t an that he didn’t need to at least maintain so relations.
Either way, he was likely preoccupied with other important things that didn’t include my accommodation complaints.
I decided against bothering him for now and instead texted Caleb.
[Can you et
at the entrance of the main hall? Need to discuss sothing.]
His reply ca imdiately.
[Of course. Is everything okay?]
[I’ll tell you when I see you.]
I didn’t bother unpacking, not that I brought much in the first place. I carried my small duffel bag with
and turned right out of the room, not caring to lock the door behind .
I was about to close the ssaging app when a new notification popped up.
My heart did that annoying skip again when I saw Zayne’s na on my screen. Turns out, he wasn’t as busy as I thought he would be.
[Have you arrived at the palace yet?]
Strangely enough, seeing his ssage made
frown in mild annoyance.
Reviews
All reviews (0)