Chapter 7

Aurelia's POV

The sound of the thin cane hitting my back made me jerk but there was nowhere to run to.

The two guards who held my arm did it with such power and I wondered if I wasn't as little as I thought I was.

Norton grinned maliciously as he watched them whip me with a thin but excruciatingly painful wooden cane.

"This will teach you not to put your hands on me," he said with satisfaction. In the end, he had dashed out only to return with a few guards to punish me, lying that I had pushed him to the ground.

I counted over ten strokes with gritted teeth and when they finally left me, my back was bleeding.

I was exhausted but I still had to clean the Royal Hall and I wasn't even halfway done. I cleaned myself up and got to work immediately.

*                        *                            *

"Ow, ow," I winced as the ice touched my shoulders but I had no choice but to relax into it.

"Sorry, dear, it'll be over soon," Maggie sighed as she watched Barbara, one of the maids I was familiar with, massage my shoulders with ice.

I wondered if she would still say that if saw my back. I made sure to only let Barbara massage my shoulders over my clothes.

We were finally in my room after I was done with my chores. Thankfully, I had finished cleaning the Royal Hall by 5a.m. and I only had three hours of sleep before I was woken up again to carry out my chores for the day.

My stomach growled and Maggie quickly pushed a slice of bread with Jam my way.

"Here, you need to eat. I'll try to get you more from the kitchen," she promised but I was already shaking my head in denial.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Barbara said behind me. "I don't know but it feels like Prince Norton is purposely picking on her. I doubt anyone should get involved. I'm really sorry, Aurelia."

I smiled weakly as she moved my arm back and forth. I winced softly trying not to show my pain. "It's fine."

"But, what did you do, my dear?" Maggie asked. She had been asking me this question for weeks and each time she asked, I would find a way to avoid answering the question.

"You're such a sweet person. I wonder why the Prince would treat you this way. Did you offend him?" It was Barbara's turn to be curious this time.

I guess I was too sweet of a person. I played back Norton's words and I couldn't help but feel guilty that I brought this upon myself.

I was too kind, too nice, too cheerful. Indeed, too much of everything had its down part. But how could I stop being all these things that defined and made me who I was?

The thought of hiding my smile and my personality just to avoid attracting a man didn't make any sense to me.

So it wasn't my fault. Norton just wanted me as a possession and I wasn't going to let that happen.

"I don't know," I finally replied. "The uhm… guards at the gate... Do they take turns? I worry for them."

"Eh? Of course they do. They do it thrice in a day: 6am. 3pm. and 10p.m." Barbara answered. "Why are you asking?"

"No reason, I'm just worried. I can't imagine keeping guard for twenty four hours."

"The Alpha King makes sure that the security is tight and there's at least eight to ten guards at night," I listened as Maggie explained. I couldn't imagine sneaking out with that amount of security.

The chances of getting caught were high and I didn't want to risk it.

"He sounds like such a smart man. But, I wonder if there's a blind spot," I mumbled to myself. "That would be a shame-"

"A blind spot is impossible," Barbara scoffed. "You're not planning on sneaking out, are you?" She teased and I forced a giggle.

I noticed Maggie's silence and I could feel her stare on my skin but I refused to look at her in fear that she might see right through me.

My chores for the day were twice as bad as the other days. Even as my arms were sore, I was made to drag the well at the back of the castle.

The tap was working perfectly but I guess the water I would pull out would be neater and better, right?

"Aurelia is a Beta," I heard some of the maids gossip on my way to drop the bucket of water in the slaughterhouse.

"I knew it! She doesn't smell like an Omega. Why is she being treated like one?"

"She probably fell on the wrong side of the Prince. I heard they had a fight!"

I sighed at the rumours, wondering how they started in the first place.

"Poor girl, if only she had a family to run back to."

My feet came to a stop at the mention of my family. I swallowed hard as the memories of my family rushed back to me with a feeling of emptiness in my heart.

"It's so sad that they died. The Alpha  was nice enough to take her in."

I picked up the bucket and continued my journey. My arms felt like they were being pulled but complaining would only mean more work.

I buried my thoughts by cleaning the slaughterhouse, packing the blood of animals into a bucket and moving to and fro to dispose of it. 

By the end of the day, I was sore all over, my arms were most definitely dislocated and the weight on my shoulders felt as though I was carrying the weight of the world.

The open wound from this morning wasn't left out. It throbbed again and again, sending waves of pain through me.

I retired to my room a few minutes before 10pm. and took a long shower. I sat on the floor in the bathroom, feeling thankful that at least he didn't take away my privacy but I couldn't guarantee he would let me keep it on the next couple of weeks.

I watched as blood from my back mixed with the water and I held back the pain.

As I thought about sneaking around eight to ten guards, I rubbed my hands over my necklace. This was the only property I had and it wasn't even entirely mine.

I thought about the stranger and wondered if he was still alive. It would be a shame if he had died somewhere along the line. I hoped he was living his best life because I sure as hell wasn't living mine.

Ha had taken a huge chunk of my blood and in exchange for leaving me almost at the point of death, he left me such a beautiful necklace.

"Mother, Father, I'll live," I concluded with tears streaming down my face as I hugged my knees to my chest while sitting on the cold bathroom floor.

"I'll live my life to the fullest. I'll find my mate and be happy. I'll have pups too," I huffed in a short silent laugh.

But the first step was to leave this place of doom and endless torture.

I stepped out of the bathroom and changed into my night clothes. I arranged a small bag and threw in a few clothes and placed it under my bed.

Immediately I sat on my bed to try to get some rest before 10pm., the door opened and Margaret walked in.

"More chores?" I wondered, ready to throw my head back and groan but would still head out anyway.

She smiled and slowly shook her head, "Not yet. I figured you might be hungry." She brought out a black nylon and placed it on the bed beside me.

"Cheesecakes," she beamed at me.

"Maggie, you shouldn't be doing this," I didn't want to get her in trouble. As I stared into her face, I realised I had grown attached to her.

"It's only for a short while," She grinned. "I also brought some meat, sausages, bread- I know you like bread."

She rambled on and when she was done, I looked over what felt like three day's worth of food.

I stared into her teary eyes and she gave me a knowing smile. My heart broke at that instant but I willed myself not to cry.

"You know, the East gate has fewer guards," Maggie informed me as she wiped her tears with the back of her hand. "If you go in the direction of the slaughterhouse you can make it just in time-"

"Maggie-"

"But what do I know?" She scoffed and rose to her feet. "We never had this conversation to begin with and I was never here."