Page 6 of The Princess’s Pet (Soul Match #1)

The Princess watched me as I drank my coffee. When I awoke, she was nowhere to be found, so I had showered, dressed, and brewed a pot of coffee while waiting for her return. I had thought about asking the guard that stood permanently outside the door if he knew where the Princess was or when she would return, but I decided against it and chose to wait instead.

She had arrived back shortly after I sat down with my mug.

“I’m glad to see you’ve gotten yourself ready,” she commented, and I saw that she too was already in her uniform.

“Where have you been?” I questioned, only to be met with a glare.

“You do not question me on such things, pet,” she admonished, not unkindly.

“Yes, Ma’am,” I answered.

She didn’t sit down but instead stood and watched me, and I felt like she was waiting for me. I glanced up at her stoic stare.

“Uh, are you waiting on me, Ma’am?” I asked softly, already setting the mug down and moving to stand up from the table .

She was beside me quickly, and it was a little unnerving when she moved so swiftly, I had no idea how fast she could truly move, only rumours and legend spoke of the Borealis family powers.

“Sit,” she commanded, pushing my shoulders down and stopping my attempt to stand. “Drink your coffee.”

I did as she said, still unnerved when she continued to stand and watch me. I tried not to gulp my coffee, but I certainly drank it faster than normal. When I looked up to the Princess beside me, she held a grin on her lips, and without my conscious effort upon noticing her pink full lips my mind replayed our kiss. My cheeks heated, and I looked away.

“You smell wonderful, pet, but I believe my mark would make your scent perfect,” she said quite seriously.

“You think, Ma’am?” I asked as a playfulness came over me. She growled softly.

“Do you question me?” she asked sternly, but the grin pulling at her lips and the sparkle in her eyes told me she was willing to play along.

“No, of course not, Ma’am. But I do think you’ll have to show me what you mean,” I replied, standing from my chair.

She took hold of my tie, pulling me towards her. She didn’t speak, and gave no warning before her lips crashed into mine and she pulled a startled moan from me.

The kiss lasted only long enough to make me dizzy before she roughly pushed me back against the wall of the kitchen area. Her hands removed my tie and unbuttoned my shirt halfway, pulling the fabric down my arms to reveal my chest and neck before I had been able to comprehend what was happening. Her teeth found my neck first, before her tongue and lips soothed where they had been. I didn’t try to hide my pleasure. My breaths were heavy and gasps of delight fell from my lips .

She pulled back, her eyes glowing ever so slightly, and seemed to admire her work.

“Your poor neck is taking quite a bruising. I can’t seem to stop myself marking you visibly as well as with my scent.” The Princess seemed to muse to herself, a wicked smile tugging at her lips. “I can’t wait to feed from you again,” she whispered, leaning back into me her lips trailing up my neck to my ear. “When I do, you’ll beg for me to sink my fangs into you,” she continued to whisper, and I felt my entire body heat up at her words.

She pulled away, her eyes glowing brighter, her nostrils flaring and her chest rumbled with a low growl.

“Get dressed, meet me outside,” she commanded before stalking away. I could see the tightness in her shoulders and back as she left me.

It took a few minutes for me to calm down. I was hot from her touch and words, and it felt like I needed a cold shower to get myself under control. No one had ever made me feel so wonderfully uncomfortable.

And as I sobered a part of me knew that what I was allowing to happen between the Princess and me was dangerous. I could feel my heart ache for her, though I understood she craved only my blood and body. Fairy tales weren’t real. She wanted no bond with me.

Outside, I found her waiting in a car for me. I entered and closed the door, and the Princess wordlessly leaned forward and straightened my tie.

?

“You have an etiquette class today. I will be waiting for you when your class finishes,” the Princess began as we walked up the steps to the building.

“Yes, Ma’am,” I replied smiling up at her as we walked .

She glanced down at me and stopped walking, taking hold of my blazer in the same fashion as the previous day. She leaned down to smell me and pulled back, her eyes brighter, and grinned. “Try to keep away from dogs in heat,” she said with no playfulness in her voice.

“I will do my best, Ma’am,” I promised. She released my blazer and like the previous day, again left me.

I retrieved my schedule to find where my etiquette class was being held. It was further into the building than I had been, down long corridors and on the top floor. I was nervous as I approached the room. How was I going to handle Dylan if he was there?

Part of me wanted to give him a proper telling off for upsetting the Princess, but I knew I couldn’t. If the Princess wanted to punish him or even let him know of her upset, she would have done so herself. If she didn’t see him as worthy of her time, then neither should I. But I also wanted friends. I didn’t want to alienate myself from my peers.

It seemed I was running late to the class as no one lingered in the corridor. The door to the room was open as I walked in.

I saw Ana near the back and she smiled brightly and waved. I raised my hand in greeting, too, but dropped it when I saw Dylan with Harris sitting behind her.

“Percy, is it?” I turned to see the boy from yesterday, Edward. He was tall and skinny with black hair gelled back.

“Yes,” I answered curtly. There was something about him that was just a little odd and made me want to keep my distance.

He looked over to where my eyes found Ana, and he turned back to me with a sneer. “You should be careful who you associate with Percy.” He almost hissed. “Not everyone is as friendly as they seem. ”

“What do you mean?” I asked, giving him my attention.

“Don’t trust a Viridis. They aren’t an ally of Borealis. They can’t be trusted,” he explained. “You’re our Princess’s personal servant and,” he hesitated, “bloodbag, you have a greater duty than most to ensure that your behaviour and associations do not bring our Princess and future Queen into disrepute or cause her harm,” he told me, his bright green eyes assessing me with a steely gaze.

“You serve the Borealis family?” I questioned, but I knew he did as he wore the same uniform as me.

“We each wear the Borealis crest over our hearts. You serve them as much as me,” he answered. I nodded. I looked up, noticing Harris making his way towards us. Edward turned to follow my gaze. “You are welcome to sit with me and the other Borealis servants today,” he offered.

“Yeah, sure.” I nodded. He smiled, and though it seemed a little slimy, I followed him to a group of servants in the same uniform as me, not looking as I passed Harris or when he called my name.

“Everyone, this is Percy,” Edward introduced me to a group of three more Borealis servants.

“We all know who she is.” A young woman with short brown hair and a face of dark makeup drawled. “I’m Evaline, but everyone calls me Evie,” she continued, pulling out the chair at the table next to her. “Sit next to me,” she said, and I sat down with Edward taking the free seat on my other side.

Across from me, two more young men sat, and I smiled in surprise when I realised they were twins. Both styled their hair very differently; one had long blonde hair tied back and the other had short messy hair. “These are the twins, Justin and Jasper,” Evie said, pointing to the long then short-haired boy.

“Nice to meet you,” they said together, and I laughed .

“We don’t mean to be creepy twins.” Justin smiled, running a hand over his long ponytail.

“Yeah, but it’s a habit,” Jasper added with the same smile.

“Percy, what’s it like being the Princess’s servant?” Evie turned to ask.

“Um, I don’t know what you’re asking,” I stuttered.

“What do you do all day? I heard you live in the royal residence hall, what’s that like?” she continued.

“I attend classes mainly with the Princess,” I said slowly, feeling like I should be very careful with my answers.

“Evaline, mind your own business,” Edward hissed beside me.

“Oh calm down Eddie, I’m just curious. The Princess has never had a personal servant before, and we hardly see the girl. She doesn’t even stay in the servant halls,” Evie spoke like I wasn’t there.

“What the Princess does with her personal servant is not yours or mine or anyone else’s business, regardless of your curiosity,” he spat back, and I pictured Edward as a perturbed house cat hissing at a bothersome lapdog.

Evie smiled at Edward, but it didn’t reach her eyes and her black lipstick cracked slightly as if her face wasn’t used to smiling.

“Can we please have one class where the two of you aren’t at each other’s throats?” Jasper sighed, loudly.

“Maybe if you could remove whatever Eddie has stuck up his…” Evie began .

“That’s quite enough!” Edward almost shouted, interrupting her.

“Yes, I agree, that’s quite enough, I’d like to start my lesson,” a man in a white chef coat spoke loudly at the front of the class, and my attention was captured by the trolleys of food that were being wheeled into the room.

“I am Chef Ahamed, and today we will be covering dining etiquette. I have served the king himself and regularly prepare meals for the most lavish and talked-about parties and balls. As servants, you may serve at or find yourself participating in dining events. It is of the utmost importance that you all know the basics, from how to set a table and plate food and drink to your guests, to how to eat the food that may be presented to you.”

I was disappointed when I realised that we wouldn’t be eating any of the food. The lesson consisted of learning to put knives on the left and forks on the right, or maybe it was the other way around.

I seemed to get every task wrong. Evie kept snickering at me and Edward followed behind me pointing out my mistakes. But really what did it matter what side of a plate a knife or fork sat? And what on earth was with all the different sizes of utensils?

“What is a fork this small even used for?” I asked incredulously, holding the offending object up.

“It’s called an Oyster fork, and it’s the only fork that goes on the right,” Edward answered, taking the fork from my hand and setting it beside the plate.

“No one eats oysters with a fork like that. You don’t even use a fork!” I said, finding myself getting upset, it was all just a bit ridiculous.

“It’s used for other seafood too, like lobster,” he continued, unaffected by my incredulous stare. I couldn’t respond .

Eventually, we got the pleasure of putting food onto plates only to be told that there was a special and appropriate way to eat different types of food: including holding a fork backward to eat rice by pushing the rice onto the fork!

I’d never heard anything more, just… silly.

“Where did the Princess find you, living in a cave? Do you usually eat with your hands?” Evie mocked as I struggled to put the rice on my backward fork, and something in me snapped at her continued mocking and tone. Who did she think she was? There was nothing wrong with me, or anyone else, that didn’t need a thousand knives and forks to eat a meal.

“Where I’m from, if there is food on our plate, we don’t worry about which sized spoon to use; we’re grateful for the food on our plate. There is a whole country outside of the mansions and castles and Royalty and nobility. We don’t all have so much food that we waste our time playing with it!” I seethed loudly and angrily, and as I spoke the background chatter of the class lessened until I was met with silence when I finished.

The silence lasted all but a brief moment before there was loud clapping from Harris and Dylan across the room. I noticed a few other students join them, with Harris yelling “You tell them, Percy!”

“Quiet, quiet!” Chef Ahamed called, and the class silenced instantly. “My class is concerned with etiquette, not politics. Save your opinions for outside my classroom,” he said, looking to me. I balked at being called out, mainly at the use of the word politics, because I didn’t have any and I certainly didn’t mean to express any.

I was silent for the rest of the nonsensical lesson.

Evie packed up and stormed off angrily, rather quickly followed by Justin and Jasper who gave me small smiles .

“I’m afraid I will have to make a report of your outburst today, Percy,” Edward stated as he made to leave.

“Fuck you, Dickward,” Dylan called as my group of maybe friends from the previous day approached. I cautiously made sure to stay away from Dylan.

“Why didn’t you sit with us?” Ana asked, seeming genuinely upset at my absence.

“Yeah, we could have laughed at all these fools with their fancy forks,” Harris added.

“Why’d you ditch us?” Dylan asked. I looked at him seriously for a moment, and his face fell. “Oh,” he said in understanding, and I knew then that he had purposefully marked me with his scent the previous day.

“What did you do!” Ana asked, frustrated, turning to Dylan.

“Look, Percy, I’m sorry, I just wanted to poke the bear,” he said, hand rubbing the back of his neck.

“You’re lucky that bear thinks you so completely insignificant,” I said coldly.

“Someone tell me what’s going on, please?” Ana said, looking between us all.

“Don’t look at me, I’m as clueless as you are,” Harris said, holding up his hands.

“You can ask Dylan,” I said. “I thought we were friends,” I continued sadly as I walked past him.

“Percy, we are friends, I’m sorry,” he called, and I heard a slapping sound and Dylan yelp, followed by Ana angrily asking what he did .

When I left the room, standing directly opposite the door, leaning leisurely against the wall, was the Princess. I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face at seeing her after such a horrible class.

Her eyes met mine, flashing brightly.

“I hear my little pet gave a speech today,” she commented as she pushed herself from the wall and walked lazily towards me. I gulped.

“It wasn’t a speech, Ma’am,” I whispered as she reached me, and I saw her nostrils flare as she subtly scented me.

“Tell me what it was then,” she instructed, and I fell into step beside her as she led us down the corridors.

I hesitated a moment and saw the Princess look down at me from my peripheral vision as we walked.

“A girl was mean to me,” I started and I looked up at the Princess but quickly looked away when I saw her smile and eyebrows raise in surprise. “The lesson was so ridiculous. They wanted us to eat rice in the oddest, most ridiculous way, and I couldn’t remember where the forks were supposed to go, and she kept saying…things to me.” I paused and looked back at the Princess, her eyes were shining with mirth.

“What things did she say?” she encouraged, I felt like I wanted a great big hole to open in the ground and swallow me whole right there and then. I felt so stupid when I was no longer upset and retelling what happened.

“She said you found me in a cave and I eat with my hands. So, I told her there was a whole country where we don’t all have so much food that we play with it.” I paused, looking up at the Princess, and while there was still mirth in the liquid silver that met me, there was something else too—a contemplation, on what I didn’t know. “It wasn’t a speech, Ma’am,” I finished looking away .

“No, not a speech, I agree,” she said, pausing, and I looked up at her waiting for her to continue. “But what you said is very problematic. It could be construed by some as my own servant being upset with Borealis rule,” she explained.

“How, Ma’am?” I asked, not knowing how what I said could have possibly meant such a thing.

The Princess stopped and looked down at me with a thoughtfulness I wasn’t used to seeing on her face.

“The lower classes don’t tend to concern themselves with politics; they are not encouraged to ask questions. There are those amongst the nobility that would like to cause chaos; they want to see a change in our systems and ways of life. They do not like the current setup,” she explained. It didn’t make much sense to me; all I knew of politics was the civil war, and that wasn’t politics—it was history. “You need to be careful that you do not unknowingly give the wrong message about where your allegiance lies,” she said softly, and I realised that we were speaking quietly. Only a few students passed us in the corridor. She leaned in towards me, a little closer. “Tell me, pet, where do your allegiances lie? Who do you belong to?” she asked me.

“I belong to you,” I whispered. She was so close her breath fanned against me. “My allegiance is with you,” I answered.

She pulled back and smiled down at me. “Don’t forget that you’re mine, Percy,” she said before continuing to walk, and I followed after her.