Her Unwanted Mate On The Throne

Chapter 93 All that gossip.

A set of uniforms and food were left by their doors when William checked in the morning. Doris sleepily

got ready in her own and pulled her hair up into a high pony tail on her head. It was just a thick dress that

went to her ankles and an apron. Absolutely hideous, but warm enough and that was all that really

mattered to her. He didn’t say much to her as they ate-or when he left to find where he was to be

dressed in a grey button down and trousers. Doris followed the small map on her letter and felt

goosebumps line her arms. This place gave her the creeps. It was all gray and felt hollow. She passed

people but they paid no mind to her as if she was just a part of the wall decor. She was used to that back

in the palace, but it felt strange here. In the daylight, she could see all the imperfections she missed

when they first came. Cracks along the floors and walls, she wondered when the last time Enzo had

seen this place. Did he know it looked like this? Or was there not much for him to do about that? She

found it hard to believe he wouldn’t want to at least put a little more care in the place he ruled over. “Are

you Isabelle?” A small voice said, halting her steps down the hall. Doris looked over to see a young girl

poking her head out of a large door. Doris nodded. “Perfect, come with me. I’m Millie.” The girl looked a

bit younger than Doris, but she didn’t act like it. It was as if only her voice gave away the truth with how

mature she wanted to appear. “This is where you’ll be stationed.” The girl led her to a table with a line of

empty bottles and one large full one. “There’s nothing to it, you just read the paper set with each bottle

and fill the number of pills in each one. After you fill a batch, make sure all the labels are correct before

you carry the basket over to the finished area.” Doris took a seat at the table and glanced around at the

other girls who were busy with their own bottles. They looked tired and worn, but not completely

unhappy.” Please make sure to check the labels, that’s the most important part. We can’t have the wrong

medicine labeled, ever. A mistake like that could turn fatal.” Doris nodded. “Okay, seems easy enough to

remember.” “If you think you can work longer than the training hour, be my guest. We have thousands of

bottles that always need to be filled. I’ll come check on your work before you finish the first basket.” The

girl nodded and turned away to walk through the room. An older woman with bright red hair leaned

towards Doris once the girl was out of earshot. “Don’t worry, she looks younger than she is.” Doris

turned, a bit surprised but eager to earn friends already. They seemed friendly enough, it was even

better if they liked to talk “Oh? How old is she?” “She’s 22, believe it or not.” The woman laughed, her

eyes never left the bottles. “No! I thought she was 16.” Doris glanced at the girl who was already in

another conversation across the room.

“Everyone thinks that. She can get really mean just to prove a point and remind us that she’s in charge.”

The woman rolled her eyes. “I’m Beck, by the way.” Doris smiled. “I’m Isabelle, lovely to meet you.” “We

were excited to get another girl down here! It’s been a while but we heard news yesterday you were

coming with your husband.” Another girl sighed loudly and leaned towards them. “Is he handsome? All

the men here are like toads.” Doris blushed a little. “I-I mean, yes.” “Mia! Don’t ask her if her husband is

handsome! Of course he is to her, she doesn’t need you drooling over him.” Beck rolled her eyes. Doris

took the minute to read over her note before she started to count the pills and bottle them. “He brought

his cousin, too.” Doris offered quietly. The girls giggled at the idea. “How far did you travel from?” Mia

asked. Doris chewed on her lip. She knew that to gain their trust she had to give them answers instead

of shutting them out. The more talkative they were, the more likely they would tell her things that they

thought were harmless to a girl like her. “Oh, we used to live in a small village near the palace. It was

always so horrible there compared to the rest.” Beck gasped. “Oh! Did you hear that the prince from that

palace is in the north?” “Really?” Doris said, shocked. “I hadn’t heard! We’ve been traveling nonstop—

which prince is it?” “Oh, I think it was the William one. I really don’t know which is which but I’ve heard

he’s been an animal to the rogues and many are trying to stop him. Did you ever see any of the princes

where you lived?” Mia asked. Doris swallowed as she continued bottling the pills. “How strange… but no,

I never saw any of them. They barely came into the villages, if ever.” Doris said. “Isn’t it so strange? It’s a

shame you never got to see him. There’s been so much gossip in the past few days because of that man

but no one has even caught him yet! We’re all trying to guess what he looks like.” Doris sat up a little.

“Gossip?” She glanced around and leaned closer to the two girls. “I’ve been in a carriage for days with

two men that barely talk,” The girls’ eyes widened in pity. “Oh, you poor thing. I couldn’t imagine going

days without a good conversation! Men are the worst when it comes to that.” Beck rolled her eyes at the

thought. “Well, the things I heard would last us days to talk about.” She laughed. Doris’s hand tightened

around the bottle she was holding. She laughed with them and glanced at Millie to make sure she wasn’t

heading near them yet. “How long have you two been here?” Doris asked causally. She didn’t want to

seem too eager. If William was as quiet as he normally was, it was up to her and Patrick to get some sort

of answers out of these people. “Mia and I came around the same time about a year ago—almost two

years.” Beck smiled. “We both got moved down here from mixing which was a terrible job. Our arms felt

like jelly at the end of the day!” Doris smiled as they laughed together. She suddenly missed Beth and

wished she was here—but at the same time she was glad she wasn’t. There was so much to see and do,

but none of it was worth the risk when it came to death. “Oh, you know what I heard yesterday about the

prince?” Mia lowered her voice, Doris leaned closer. “I heard he killed one of the men that was sent to

assassinate him. He somehow found him and hunted him down, they found his body in the woods the

next day.” Doris did her best to look appalled. “Oh my… how gruesome.” “Yeah, the other two think

they’re next. They’ve been blabbing to everyone to watch their backs but there’s no way he would come

here.” Beck filled in. “Did the rogue leader send them after him? I heard the princes were dangerous

men.” Doris said with wide eyes as if she couldn’t believe the sort of gossip she was hearing. She did the

same face often with Beth whenever she told her something risky. “Oh no! Lord Enzo has been ordering

them to stop but apparently someone from his own palace has offered a large bounty on his head—“

“Girls! You’re paid to work, not talk.” Millie scolded. Doris quickly started filling the bottles again and felt a

deep sense of annoyance raise inside her. If she had only gotten a few more minutes, she might have

been told more crucial things. Her mind grasped on to what she had been told-and she knew instantly

who had put a bounty on William’s head. The Luna Queen. It had to be. She was the only one aware of

where they were going besides his family, and she was the only one Doris suspected. The two girls

return to lighter gossip after an hour about people she had never met. Doris engaged just as much as

she had with the William gossip, even though she knew it wouldn’t leave her mind. They saw her as a girl

just like them and confided in her instantly. She was a girl like them, she was a maid who had met

hundreds of maids before that always did the same thing when they saw her-even if they never saw her

again. She supposed she just had a face they trusted. After Doris realized they had nothing else to offer,

she waved over Millie. “Done already?” Millie took her sweet time looking over every single bottle before

she nodded in approval. “Good, tomorrow you’ll have your first full day. Work starts mid morning, don’t be

late.”