Chapter 20

#Chapter 20 You’re nothing like a lady Doris walked to her room wearing Prince William’s coat over her torn dress. It was huge on her, it fell past her knees and gave her a small sense of comfort from the warmth. It even smelled like him, but that wasn’t something she cared to remember. As Doris reached her door, she noticed Ms. Shirley and two other maids were gathered in front of it. They turned when they heard her approach and she could see the smirk crawl up their faces as they observed her. Great, Doris was sure a rumor was already spreading about her night with the prince. No one would believe her when she would tell them she didn’t sleep with him. The gossip of a lady’s maid sleeping with the prince was just too good for them to believe anything else.

“Good morning, Doris. Lady Melody asked to see you immediately.” Ms. Shirley said.

Doris swallowed and went to step past them to get into her room, but they wouldn’t move. “May I have a moment to change first? I’ll be fast—“

“Lady Melody demanded you be present now. Please don’t make this harder than it has to be.” Ms.

Shirley threw a look at the other maids and the girls quickly came up to stand on both sides of Doris so she would walk where they wanted her to. Melody would surely lose it if she saw Doris with a torn dress and Prince William’s coat. Doris shivered at the thought of what Melody might do to her for this.

When they arrived to Melody’s door, the first thing she noticed was the velvet bag on the table. Doris paled when she realized it was the bag of gold she hadn’t had a chance to pass on to Peter after she kept it, but she thought she’d hidden it so well—Melody stood from the table angrily when she saw Doris.

She must have searched her room after she left Prince William’s chamber last night. No doubt looking for something that would land her in trouble. She found the only thing in her room that she didn’t want anyone to find.

“My lady, we’ve brought Doris.” Ms. Shirley announced, Melody walked out with fire in her eyes. Doris stumbled back when the two maids let her go and moved out of Melody’s way.

“You stupid bitch!” She screamed as she barreled into Doris and knocked her to the hard ground. Once she was down, Melody kicked her stomach as hard as she could with her pointed heels.

“My lady, please…” Doris tried to beg but was only offered several more kicks to her stomach, it became too painful to try and speak. Each time she opened her mouth, a bit of blood dripped out.

“How dare you keep the gold for yourself like some nasty thief!” Melody shouted. Would anyone help her? Or would they only watch as she was beaten by Melody? “What were you going to do with it? Bribe Peter? To make him sweet talk William about you so you can sleep with him?”

“No, no!” Doris coughed out. “I didn’t do anything to harm you, my lady.”

“Oh no? So why did the prince make me leave and you stay last night?”

Doris opened her mouth to explain, but saw Melody’s anger flare when she noticed who’s coat she had on as well as all the marks on her skin he’d left last night from their fight. Doris tried to brace herself, but it didn’t work against each of Melody’s aggressive hits.

Melody bared her teeth and kicked Doris harder than she had before. Doris screamed for mercy, but Melody refused to give it. Soon Doris felt faint as blood blurred her vision, she tried to curl herself up but Melody only kicked harder. Ms. Shirley and the other maids finally pulled Melody away from Doris, clearly shocked by her actions. Where were they earlier when she was screaming for help?

“My lady, please stop. You’re killing her!”

“You’re damn right, I am going to kill her!” Melody screamed, it was the last thing Doris heard before she saw darkness.

She wasn’t sure how many minutes or hours passed when she woke up, but the moment she opened her eyes, every sense of pain slammed into her at once. She groaned from the feeling, too afraid to move and make it worse. Her entire body trembled as she silently sobbed, blood leaked from her lips.

“My lady, she’s not lying. Prince William didn’t sleep with her despite the room being messy.” Ms. Shirley said cautiously.

“Really?”

“Yes, it’s protocol to mark down the names of all the girls the princes spend the night with in the Golden Palace.”

Melody was silent for a moment. “So, she just stole my money?”

“I’m afraid so.”

Doris saw Melody near her with a new look in her eyes. It was worse than all of sneers or glares of hatred. This one looked like the cruelty of a killer, Doris only hoped she was quick about it. When she reached Doris, she stepped on her hand without any sense of hesitation. Doris opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back in the blood beneath her.

“You stupid bitch, I can’t believe you stole my money!” Melody pressed harder, Doris heard her bone crack beneath her shoe. She screamed in agony, but the moon goddess did not answer her prayers. It occurred to Doris that she was about to die. Not by a wolf, or the monster in her dreams, but by a girl that used to be a maid just like her. “Fortunately, Prince William loves me despite your attempts at pulling us apart—“

Doris wanted to explain herself, to tell Melody she only did it with good intentions—not to hurt her. But she was too hurt to even get a word out. Would she even listen if she could? Doris had the feeling that Melody had always wanted to get rid of her. She’d never once shown kindness over the year towards Doris, it was always hatred. Even when Doris tried to be the bigger person and offer her friendship, she never wanted it.

Suddenly, her foot was lifted off her hand but the pain was still intense.

“P-prince William!” Melody gasped, Doris looked up to see William lift Melody above the ground by her neck, choking her. She clawed at his hands as if she couldn’t breathe, but he didn’t loosen his grip.

Ms. Shirley and the other maids kneeled to the ground, begging for Melody. “Your Majesty… please have a little mercy.” Doris watched them with her own bite of hatred, they didn’t care as much when it was Doris who was about to die.

William stared into Melody’s wide, frantic eyes and dropped her. “You’re nothing like a lady.” He spat.

Melody gasped for air and straightened. “Your majesty, I—I was only punishing her because she stole a bag of gold from me! I asked her to tip Peter but she kept it for herself. If I didn’t search her room last night, you never know how much she would have tried to steal from the palace…” Melody spoke quickly, Prince William only stared at her.

He tilted his head slightly as a silence followed. His eyes grew dark when he finally spoke.

“Did you just say it was yours?”