“Is there something we can do for you?” the maid with large, innocent eyes asked.
“Um,” I said, trying to think. “Sorry. I couldn’t help but overhear. Who saw a monster?”
The laundry maids looked at each other, shocked, but the one with the long braid said, “A stable boy. He said he’d seen a monster with claws flying around last night.”
My heart hitched, but I tried not to show it. I folded my arms over my chest and tilted my head to the side. “What kind of monster? What did it do?”
“He says it was a manananggal, but that’s unlikely. He said itkilled one of the horses. Came out of the night sky, screeching like a banshee, and picked up the horse by the neck and carried it into the jungle.”
The other maid nodded, still pale.
“Did it hurt anyone or anything else?” I asked.
“No, Your Majesty,” the doe-eyed maid said. “Just the horse.”
Something like relief worked its way through me. I felt awful that I’d killed something, let alone a horse, but at least I hadn’t hurt a person. That would explain why there was so much blood in my room.
“Oh,” I said. “That sounds terrifying.”
The maids nodded.
The pink-haired maid continued. “At first no one believed him. Edgardo thought the stable boy was careless and let the horse run loose, making up an excuse so he wouldn’t get in trouble, but the guards found some parts of it in the jungle this morning…” She took a deep breath, a blush appearing on her cheeks. “I apologize. I am speaking too much. I do not mean to alarm you, Your Majesty. It’s likely a great bird of prey.”
“You should have nothing to fear,” the doe-eyed one said.
A look must have crossed my face despite my best efforts to remain calm. When I’d broken out during the night, I had eaten most of a horse without waking up. Was the monster growing stronger? I tried my best to smile. “I’m just thankful the stable boy wasn’t hurt.”
“Indeed, Your Majesty,” the pink-haired maid said.
I tried to steady my pounding heart and gestured to the sheets in their arms. “Are you bringing those to my room?” I asked.
The doe-eyed one held out her stack. “Yes. Clarissa told us you didn’t want to be disturbed, but we were coming to turn down your bed.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I said.
The girl looked confused. “You don’t want fresh sheets?”
They couldn’t see the state of my room. I had to keep them out. “Is that okay?” I asked.
They both stared at me, cheeks flushed, but neither of them could muster up the ability to speak. I don’t think they had ever been asked by a royal for their permission to do—or, rather, not do—something.
I explained, “I’d like to do my own laundry, if that’s not too much trouble. I don’t want to take your job from you, but…doing my own laundry makes me feel independent again…You know, like before I was queen.” I wanted to say “like normal,” but nothing about any of this was normal, and I decided against it.
The maids glanced at each other, but neither of them seemed bothered when I explained it that way.
“Of course, Your Majesty. As you wish.”
I was probably breaking a dozen house rules, but I didn’t care. I thanked them when they handed me the sheets and left, heading toward the other rooms. I watched them go, my throat tight, before I went back into my room to hide the evidence.
The air inthe house had changed. Either I was imagining it, or there was a nervous electricity to it. Every servant I passed seemedto be talking about the same thing: a monster. But their conversations quickly shifted once they noticed me.
I kept my head low, trying to stay unnoticed, but it was difficult. Everyone knew me, and I couldn’t hide, no matter how hard I tried. People greeted me as I walked the halls of the great house, and I did my best to greet them in return, but the whole time, I was fearful that someone would scream, point at me, and call me out for what I truly was. But no one did. No one suspected that their queen was secretly turning into a monster at night and terrorizing the land. Who would ever think such a thing?
When I reached the main foyer, I heard shouts coming from the lawn, but they weren’t alarming. They almost sounded…fun. I followed the sounds of boys yelling and cheering.
In the courtyard, Qian and his men were in the middle of an intense game of sipa, which was kind of like if soccer and volleyball fell in love and had a baby: Two teams of four kicked a ball back and forth across a net, trying to get the ball to hit the ground on the other side.
They shouted to one another, leaping and kicking the ball over the net like martial artists. It was almost hypnotic watching them flying through the air. Qian drew my eye first, especially with how he smiled and clapped every time they scored a point. He’d noticed me when I arrived but hadn’t stopped playing.
