CHAPTER 10 #2
The first part of the night was a celebration dinner, and I was thankful that Mrs. Prast had mentioned to grab more bottles, as the night was still young and over half of the original bottles I had were gone.
Another servant had to bring me another basket full of bottles from the pantry.
Dinner was finished now, and all the guests had dispersed into smaller clusters throughout the lawn and gardens.
Some stood in groups, engrossed in conversation, while others lounged on blankets by the fire, watching the flames dance against the night sky.
Dessert was not plated tonight, and servants and butlers walked around with trays of bite-sized portions, each adorned with a small piece of wood so guests could easily grab them and pop them into their mouths without getting dirty.
The King and Queen kept me busy pouring drink after drink; I had no idea that two people could drink so much, but anytime their glasses ran dry, I was right there pouring more into them.
I followed them as they moved from one group to another, engaging in brief conversations with their guests, which lasted no more than five minutes before moving on to the next.
The King gave the Queen disapproving looks each time she ordered me to pour another drink, which she signaled by raising her glass, not bothering to look at me; she was already swaying on her feet and slurring her words.
Around midnight, the King and Queen said their final goodbyes to their guests and made their way inside.
As they stepped inside the threshold of the manor, the Queen bent over and emptied her stomach onto the floor.
The King didn’t even look at the mess or the Queen, who was hunched over, heaving up more wine, and continued walking forward, not stopping to help her.
Asshole. Mrs. Prast was quick to assist her, as another servant girl cleaned up the mess in hopes that no party guests saw, but I was sure everyone had, as disgusted faces could be seen throughout the crowd.
Mrs. Prast and the servant girl were prepared and moved quickly, so this must have been a regular occurrence for the queen.
Mrs. Prast scurried over to me after she made sure that the Queen was safely inside.
“Well, that was the quickest I have seen them leave in a long time. You can move on to serving other guests, maybe go a little easy on the quick refills, poor Anna does not need to be cleaning up vomit all night.” She grabbed a bottle from the stash under my table and began serving guests herself, trying to bring the attention back to the party and not to Anna wiping up the vomit into a bucket with a rag.
The night dragged on as I filled one glass after another, making sure to leave a little extra room at the top of each glass, hoping to prevent another mishap.
My head was throbbing now, pulsing with each step I took, and I found myself struggling to focus on the glasses as I poured them, my vision blurring more with each pour.
“Well, aren’t you a pretty thing?” I heard behind me and turned to see a group of young men walking towards me.
“Do you need more wine, sir?” I asked, hoping not to engage in more conversation than necessary.
The short one who spoke to me emptied his glass into the grass, and a slow, unsettling smile crept across his face, “I do now.”
I did not want to deal with this jackass, but I had no choice. I walked over with the bottle of wine and poured it into his glass, but he reached around my waist and pulled me closer to him. I jerked against the quick movement, and wine spilled onto the sleeve of his tunic.
“I am sorry, sir, let me get something to clean that up.” I tried to turn away, but he grabbed me again, pulling me closer.
What was the policy about punching guests in the face again?
“No need to rush off, I have plenty of other shirts at home.” The smell of alcohol on his breath became stronger as he leaned closer to me.
He had a strong hold on my waist, and squirming away was not an option. My head pounded more as his hold became tighter, and panic also began to take hold of me.
“I don’t know how you conduct yourself at your manors, but here we do not fraternize with the servants.
” Prince Zendryk stepped out of the shadows of the tree line, Ulric trailing behind him.
“If I were you, I would release her right now.” He crossed his arms and lowered a challenging glare at the man holding me.
I didn’t know if it was from my headache or the clouds covering the moon, but darkness swarmed my vision.
The party guest who had been holding me gave me a departing squeeze, whispered into my ear, “Until we meet again,” then released me and pushed me towards the Prince.
I was not prepared for his sendoff, and I stumbled back, tripping over the root of a tree that was poking out from the ground.
I tried to catch myself, but I stumbled a few inches, and these damned shoes had no traction.
The world around me slowed, each movement more drawn out than the last. The wine bottle flew out of my hand and crashed to the ground.
The group of men laughed at me as they walked away, and I looked for something to grab onto.
I reached down, hoping to find something to brace myself on, but the pain of broken glass pierced through my skin, and my hands slipped in the wine-mixed dirt.
My head flew back and slammed into the ground.
The last thing I could remember was everything fading into darkness.