Playing The Alphas

Chapter 73: Jayce Came?

SAMANTHA

The servant disengaged from the hug. She was now looking at me with an expression I could not read.

"Why are you always so uptight?" I asked. The words spilling from my mouth before I could stop them.

The servant blinked. "What?"

"The way you watch me. At first, you didn’t want to be free with me. You never tried to talk to me and if I do, you shut me out.." I leaned back on the couch. "You are not a prison guard.."

The servant’s face tightened. Then she sighed.

"That is how the king told me to be," she said. "And Daisy. They gave me instructions. Strict instructions. You are not to leave the penthouse without permission. You are not to eat before the princes. You are not to watch television. You are not to go to the garden alone. And they told me not to be your friend. Being friends with you means I have to compromise, and they don’t want that."

"That is a lot of nots."

"It is a lot of rules." She sat on the chair across from me. Her shoulders sagged. "I am sorry for being hostile and cold. I did not want to be. But I was told—"

"You were told to be a prison guard."

"Yes."

I studied her face and her tired eyes. The way her hands were folded in her lap.

"You are not a bad person," I said.

"I am not a good person either. I am just a person, trying to survive."

"Aren’t we all."

Her eyes softened. "My name is Joanne."

I nodded. "Samantha."

"I know. Everyone knows who you are. The girl the lizards sold. The girl the princes fight over." She paused. "The girl Leslie tried to kill."

"News travels fast."

"In this palace, news travels faster than light."

I almost smiled. "You have a sense of humor."

"Buried deep. But yes."

Joanne stood. She walked to a small cabinet against the wall.

"I am sorry for being hostile at first," she said. "I was told you would be difficult. Rude. Desperate like the others."

"And instead?"

She turned to face me. "Instead, you are... different."

"Different how?"

"You do not throw yourself at the princes. You do not scheme. You do not gossip. You keep to yourself. You read books. You stare out windows." She walked back to the couch. "You are lonely, just like me."

I said nothing.

Joanne sat beside me. She held up the brush.

"I need to clean you up," she said. "Any of the princes could come any minute. Prince Darlington is supposed to visit tonight. But the others... they come and go as they please. They do not announce themselves."

"Jayce does not announce himself."

"No. He does not." Joanne’s voice dropped. "He appeared in my room once. In the middle of the night. He just stood there, watching and then I screamed and he disappeared."

My stomach turned. "What did he want?"

"I do not know. He left after a few minutes. He did not say a word." She shivered. "He is not right, that one. Something is broken inside him."

"He is dangerous," I said.

"All of them are dangerous. But Jayce is... different."

Joanne lifted the brush. "May I?"

I nodded. "I like my hair parted on the left and curled at the ends."

Joanne’s hand stopped. "Daisy said Prince Darlington wants you in a curly side part that droops down. Over the shoulder."

I sighed. "Of course he does."

"Shall I do it his way?"

"Do you have a choice?"

Joanne smiled. It was a small smile. Tired. "No. I do not."

She began to brush my hair.

"I am from the northern villages," she said. "A small place that is filled with farms, forests and rivers. My father was a hunter and my mother was a weaver."

"What happened?"

"The wolves came. Not the princes. Just wolves and rogues. They burned the village and they killed my father. They took my mother." Joanne’s voice was flat. "I ran and hid in the forest for three days. Then the king’s soldiers found me. They brought me here. I have been a servant ever since."

"How long?"

"Twelve years."

I turned my head. "You have never tried to leave?"

"Leave to where? I have no family. No home. No money. This palace is my prison. But it is also my shelter."

Joanne parted my hair. She began to curl it over her shoulder.

"I thought you would be rude," she said. "Like the others. The sex slaves who come here thinking they will become queens. They scream at me, throw things and blame me when the princes do not choose them."

"I am not trying to be chosen."

"I know." She tucked a curl behind my ear. "That is why I like you."

I looked at her. "You like me?"

"I tolerate you. There is a difference."

Joanne smiled. "There. That is better. You should laugh more. It makes you look less like a ghost."

"I feel like a ghost most days."

"Then we are both ghosts. Haunting this palace together."

She finished my hair, she set down the brush.

"There," she said. "You look presentable. Prince Darlington would be pleased."

"Prince Darlington can be pleased elsewhere."

Joanne shook her head. "You are impossible."

"I am practical."

When she ran out of discussion, she pursed her lips and proceeded to say something else. "Prince Jayce came to check on you," she said. "Earlier while you were gone."

My blood turned cold.

"What?"

"He came to the penthouse and asked where you were. I told him you were resting. He did not believe me. He looked in the bedroom, the bathroom and the garden."

I gripped the edge of the couch. "What did he say?"

"Nothing. He just left. But his eyes..." Joanne turned to face me. "His eyes were hungry, like that of a wolf who had not eaten in weeks." frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

I was quiet. Hmmm....

"Samantha," Joanne said.

"Yes?"

"Be careful. Please. I have seen girls like you before. Girls the princes notice. They do not last long."

This statement made me shiver. What happened to the girls. Did they die? We’re they killed or kidnapped?

"Thank you, Joanne," I said.

"For what?"

"For being honest. For not lying to me like everyone else."

Joanne nodded. She walked to the door.

"I will bring you tea to calm your nerves," Joanne said then she left.

Jayce had come. He had been here while I was in the library. But it’s not it’s turn to see me yet. What could he possibly want from me?