The Demon's Soul

"So what brings you, girls, here? Family crises?" Belinda asked us casually as she tore the meat away from the fork.

"Yes, my father has been spending the money my mother earns to gamble and buy alcohol," Emma replied with a sad tone, "I had no choice but to come here," she sniffed while I gawked at her internally with the flawless lie she had thrown at Belinda.

"Sorry ’bout that but men as such should be cremated before they cremate us with their irresponsible behavior," Belinda said shaking her head and then shifted her eyes on me, "What about you? You don’t look that bad."

"I’m her best friend, trying to help her out," I lied before filling my mouth with water as it was the best way to buy time to lie if she asked another question.

"Interesting," she hummed without saying anything more which made me wonder if she bought what we told her.

Rest of the dinner, I sat there having food from my plate which was hardly edible. I didn’t touch any meat as most of them looked half cooked or completely raw with blood. Most of the people here were of low-rank creatures such as a half vampire or half witches but then there were few humans too, who apparently were abducted from the human dimension. The ones who were humans looked scared and timid while they had their food. Men were still fighting with their fists covered in blood as the others around cheered at them.

When we were done eating I was glad we got up to wash our hands as the table we had occupied minutes ago was knocked out by a man who fell over it. I had a feeling that this place looked more like a prison. We began walking towards the exit when a muscular man entered in front of us. He had a black eye patch covering his right eye and I could see an ugly scar which began from his cheek disappearing behind the eye patch.

"Brock sir," Belinda greeted him with a small bow. Emma and I instinctively bowed our head following her actions which seemed to please him, "These are the new maids who’ll be working at the palace."

"Hmm," was his response as he assessed us with his tiny sharp brown eyes. He then spoke in his gruff voice, "They seem to have some manners, unlike others. The palace would need plenty of assistance as we have many important guests who have already arrived. Gather all the new maids by morning and send them to Annie, and make sure we don’t have any problem like last time. I have given instructions to Annie and the others, therefore, there shouldn’t be any problem."

"Yes sir," Belinda responded obediently before he walked past us.

"He didn’t look scary," Emma said.

"That’s because he’s in a good moo-" Belinda was saying until we heard a crash behind us that came from the hall we had just left. Someone screamed in pain making me flinch, "And there goes the mood switch," she whistled.

We walked through the corridors of the rocky walls and I found it fascinating looking at the surrounding. I felt like we had been transported hundred centuries back in time.

"If I may ask, what did sir Brock mean when he said ’problem like last time’?" Emma asked curiously but didn’t get a response from the other girl. At the same time, a woman came running towards us.

"Miss, little master broke the statue again," the woman said panic in her voice as she tried to level her breathing, "Master Victor is going to be angry because of the mess."

"That little brat," Belinda cursed under her breath with closed eyes, "I’ll be there in ten minutes," she informed her. Belinda showed us the way to our room as it was our first day here and gave us two identical cards which were access cards to get in and out of the palace, "We don’t have many guests who visit us but when we do, they are all important people. Last time a vampire maid refused to please one of the Lords which resulted in her death," I took a sharp intake of breath hearing it.

"That’s plain cruel," I commented out of shock, "And your king did nothing to prevent the situation?" I asked her. No wonder they had no guests visiting them!

"No. This is how life works in the kingdom of Syrians. If you want to survive you’ll have to abide, once you enter the servant quarters leaving it is impossible. You will be dragged back here and tortured," she said turning to leave, "You have stepped into wrong grounds. Don’t loiter around at night," and saying that she left.

"I have a feeling that I’m going to spend the rest of my life here which is definitely not in my bucket list," Emma said looking at the retreating figure of Belinda.

"Don’t worry, we should be back in Presaxil within a week," I assured her with a smile. Later that night, I wondered what Luke and Marc were doing.

Elvis said Syrians were the only ones who had the ability to remove the venom out but there was no guarantee that it would be successful. I guess I would get to see Luke tomorrow, which was one of the reasons why Elvis sent us as servants as I would get to meet him without anyone suspecting us. I remembered what Elvis said as I looked up at the ceiling.

"Maid?" I repeated the word when Elvis proposed the idea of me going as a servant to the Syrian kingdom.

"Yes, Lilly," the witch king confirmed, "Syrian is not safe for you. You being Luke’s fiance and adding to be a demon’s soul just puts you in more danger. The kingdom has mixed supernatural cultures with high handed lords who wait to pull strings. Meredith here will take your place instead. I have made sure Emma and you are assigned work in the inner palace, that way Luke can get in touch with you."

I looked towards Luke who was leaning against the wall. He was quiet with no input to whatever was told and I wondered what was going through his mind.

"Keeping her identity a secret is important," Canrart said to Luke who seem to follow his elder brothers thoughts, "Even though the Syrians are offering their help that doesn’t mean they’re being nice, they are the cunning lineage of creatures."

"Not as much as me," I heard Luke say as his lips curled up to a wicked smile.

"No doubt there," Canrart muttered.

"I’m serious Luke," Elvis narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah yeah," Luke replied pushing himself from the wall, "Time for a little trip."

I looked at the woman named Meredith who smirked when my eyes met hers and I felt we weren’t going to get along.