Ivy POV

It was early in the morning when I slipped out without the King waking; I had shut off his alarm when I woke before deciding to help Clarice in the kitchens; I looked over at Peter, the stable hand boy, as he came in. He stopped by the counter and leaned on it. Peter was only young, with a mop of curly hair. He kept shoving his fringe out of his eyes.

“Clarice, is Gannon or Dustin around? I need help to move the barrels from the shed into the barn.” Peter asked.

“Barrels?” Clarice asked questionably, and Peter sighed.

“Yeah, the empty wine barrels. Jamie wants me to cut them in half so he can make garden beds out of them, but I need to cut them and paint them for him,” he said with a huff, clearly not enjoying being given extra chores by the gardener.

“Do it in the shed,” Clarice tells him with a shrug.

“Can’t, there is not enough room; it’s full with the furniture from the east wing,” he whined.

you will have to go look for them. I do not know where either

let me do anything to help besides peel potatoes, saying I shouldn’t even be helping. However, with Abbie gone, I was constantly bored and still hadn’t forgiven the King for marking me or healing me while I slept. I also hated that he used

he finds you in the stables working,”

her, and Peter’s eyes lit up

mind if you get hurt,” Clarice

Clarice; I will deal with the b****y King if needed,” I growled before grabbing Peter’s arm and tugging him out the

sure, my Queen? I don’t want to get in trouble” Peter said nervously as he worried his lip between his

I knew the King was asleep still, so I didn’t have to worry about him sending someone to look for

I watched as Peter cut the wine barrels with

I saw moving was something flapping, so l suspected it was a bird. Stepping cautiously onto

the poor thing, I began calling out to Peter, but he was nowhere to be found. In a kneeling position, I held onto the wooden pier as I tried to grab the swan by its long neck, so I could pull it closer. The bird seemed to be caught in some netting or something. When the creature shrieked and flapped its wings as it tried to free itself, my fingertips grazed

my weight and angle overbalanced me, and I screamed, tumbling into the blackened water. While I

The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

Comments ()

0/255