NIGHTS OF HALLOW

Emily muttered curses under her breath as she walked in another direction leading to the kitchen too. She rather walk in another direction than meet more of Lady Rosamonda’s maids.

Who was going to follow Lady Rosamonda? She questioned herself with yet another curse escaping her lips which she made sure not to come out to the hearer of another person.

Like she had told herself, she came here for a mission. And that mission was the first thing she was going to accomplish before any other task. She already had an inclination of why Lady Rosamonda called for her. But she was no fool to fall head deep into the nest of the pureblooded Vampiress royalty.

Emily arrived at the kitchen in no time and was met with the cooks inside who were busy preparing one meal or the other. She quickly told them what she wanted and who she was serving it to.

While the cooks prepared the snack, Emily prepared the orange juice herself. She wanted to make sure it tasted delicious so that her Lady would love it.

Her carefulness in preparing the drink made the cooks wonder why she was so dedicated to serving her new Mistress, unlike some other maids who would always wear a frown on their faces when no one was looking.

The snack was made up of pie and some fries dished out on a plate, while it was neatly placed on the tray together with the glass of juice.

Emily carried the tray and left the kitchen, heading back to the library room. Her thought and wish was for Perdita to find whatever book it was she was looking for before she got back with the snacks.

As Emily made her way back, now in the hallway that led to the library, she was suddenly stopped by Lady Rosamonda who seemed to have been there, probably waiting for her. And behind was the annoying Headmaid, Theresa.

Emily bowed her head despite the load she carried and greeted, ”Good day to you, Lady Rosamonda,”

”The day was going to be good had you answered my call,” Lady Rosamonda stated in a brisk tone, her red eyes peering down on the lowly maid.

What a bad day it is! Emily concurred with what Rosamonda said in her mind. She wondered why the Vampiress would wait in the hallway for her. What was her mission?

The maid daring not to look up as she still had her head bowed apologized, ”My deepest apologies, Lady Rosamonda. I couldn’t answer your call as I am still in the service of, My Lady. My apologies too if Headmaid Theresa failed to relay my message to you.”

Theresa who was at the back glared at Emily. Her hands itched to give her a hard slap on her cheeks by merely looking at her and the audacity she was suddenly displaying.

Lady Rosamonda rolled her eyes at the mention of Perdita’s name. She waved her hand dismissively and said, ”I don’t have time to waste with you lowly thing. The reason why I called you seems to have found its way to make itself available at the right moment.”

Emily slowly raised her head, but not too much to stare directly at the pureblooded Vampiress. Her face furrowed into a frown as she wondered what the Lady was talking about.

”You see, Emily dear,” Rosamonda drawled as she walked in circles around the maid. This caused unease in the heart of Emily as it seemed as though she was on the edge of a double-edged sword.

Rosamonda stopped in front of Emily with a wicked grin on her face as she continued, ”I have always had this striking likeness towards you because of the way you do things. Quiet but resourceful. That is why I have decided to get you on my side.”

”You know what that means, don’t you?” Rosamonda asked as if she was interrogating Emily.

Emily’s heart slightly skipped a beat which made the smile on Rosamonda’s face widen.

Emily’s palm turned clammy on the tray she carried. Of course, she knew what this evil woman was implying, but she was not going to fall for it. The heavens help her.

”Forgive me, Lady Rosamonda,” Emily began and nervously bit her lower lips even though she tried to appear brave on the outside. She went on to say, ”I do not understand what you are talking about.”

The smile on Rosamonda’s face was wiped off immediately when she heard what Emily said. She glared at the maid and uttered, ”Be on my side and you’ll get more privileges and promotions just like this lovely Theresa did. Don’t you envy her?”

Emily internally sneered in her head. What has she got to envy? Someone who is also a maid like her? Assuming she has promoted the Head maid to someone who would marry her son, Prince Regan, then she would know that, that is the promotion she was talking about.

”Her rank among the maids is quite admirable, Lady Rosamonda.” Emily agreed to the words of the Vampiress while holding back her real thoughts.

”Of course it is,” Rosamonda beamed with a smile that was as if she was doing a great job at getting those on her side promoted.

”This is the reason why, Emily dear. You have been found eligible to be the next in line to get promoted. Do you always want to be attending to the calls of someone else? Preparing baths and doing all that? The answer is no I guess.” Rosamonda stated as she slipped her hand into her dress. When she brought it out, she retrieved a small glass bottle from inside her dress.

”Do you know what this is?” Rosamonda asked Emily.

”No, My Lady.” Emily shook her head to a no as she eyed the bottle. What is that? She internally questioned herself. Don’t tell me that is a poison!

Rosamonda smiled again. The evil glint in her red eyes couldn’t be mistaken that the next words that would come out of her mouth were going to be of evil intentions.

”This bottle you see here is going to be the ticket for you to get promoted,” Rosamonda announced her red eyes fully on Emily. She opened the glass bottle containing a colorless liquid inside and her next action got the light brown eyes of Emily to bulge in their sockets.

”M—my Lady?” Emily stuttered in question at what Rosamonda was doing. This vampiress was going to land her in trouble! This is the reason why she had called for her. No one wonder she stopped her at this side of the castle that was always deserted as this was the King’s quarters where no one went at will.

This woman is pure evil. Emily screamed in her head while praying for God to spare her from the incoming trouble.

Lady Rosamonda was poisoning the drink of her, Lady Perdita!

”Shush,” Rosamonda quietened with a glare as she emptied the contents of the glass bottle into the glass containing the drink of Perdita.

”You just have to do what you were about to do before I stopped you. And no words of what transpired in this hallway shall leave your mouth. Do you understand me?” The sweet smile on Rosamonda’s face was long gone to be replaced by the evil her face displayed.

”Y—yes, yes, Lady Rosamonda.” Emily stuttered in panic at the coming trouble that would probably be the end of her.

How was this going to be the ticket to getting promoted when her neck would probably end up on the scaffold for poisoning her new Mistress? This was no ticket to promotion, it was a direct ticket to death. Perhaps death was another form of promotion.

”Good,” Lady Rosamonda patted Emily on her shoulder. She went behind her and gave her a push to start walking. ”My eyes are on you, Emily. Do not try anything stupid.” She warned as Emily fearfully strode down the hallway which would soon lead to the dismissal of both her and Lady Perdita.

As Emily was about to reach the door of the library, a contemplative thought came to her mind.

What if she went in and told her Lady everything so that she wouldn’t drink it? But then again, as she looked backward, Lady Rosamonda stood there, watching her. Not to add, the Vampiress was a pureblood with great hearing ability, so she would definitely hear everything she said inside.

What about using sign language? Emily thought.

Yes! That was it, she would use sign language to tell Perdita. This thought brought a bright light and hope in the eyes of Emily as she knocked on the door. She didn’t care what Lady Rosamonda would do to her if she didn’t do as she had ordered.

With that thought in mind, Emily pushed the door open. But what she saw inside the room almost made her drop the tray in her hand.

Holy crap! Emily screamed in her head.

The K—king was in the library room!