"Where is she?" Keenan asked as he sat down for dinner.

The dining room was dimly lit; a candelabra stood in the middle of the table as different covered dishes surrounded it. The dining seat was partly empty, only four out of the eight seats were occupied.

Keenan sat at the head of the table, Alaina by his right and next to her was Theo. On his left was Winnie seated with her head bent. She sat alone in her row. Two servants stood to the side, ready to be called whenever they were needed.

"She?" Alaina asked with a laugh, feigning ignorance.

Keenan turned to look at her, his expression dark. He had no patience for her pretense.

Alaina shuffled in her seat and laughed awkwardly, looking around for support. "I already sent her dinner, Alpha."

Keenan didn’t doubt that. However, he knew the lengths that fragile woman would go to. He wouldn’t give her the opportunity again.

"Send for her."

"You want her to join us?" Alaina asked with disbelief.

"I do not care about the details as long as she eats in this room."

Keenan turned his attention to the table, to the empty cup next to his plate. The nearest servant moved immediately, lifting the jug, and poured a hearty amount of wine into the goblet.

"I can make sure she eats if that’s what you’re worried about, Alpha. Asking her to join us is too much. She doesn’t deserve any of the goodness you have shown her!"

Alaina’s chest heaved as she spoke. She glanced at Theo, but the latter kept his eyes locked on the table. Theo never went against Keenan; she knew better than to expect help from him.

"Do not make me repeat myself, Alaina." He picked up the cup of wine and gulped it down.

---

Maya was seated in her bedroom. Her back hurt from sitting on the only chair she had. She still had no bed and was contemplating her options. Was it something she would be able to ask for?

The clothes hadn’t exactly been a success. She looked down at the fabrics; they were worn-out maid dresses, and Maya had gotten seven pairs of them.

Bess could barely contain her excitement as she handed the worn-out dresses to her. She should have declined, but she was tired of the filthy wedding dress, and she hated that her thoughts kept going back to the wedding.

Two of the clothes were unusable; they might as well be rags. There were so many holes that Maya would need a full dress to fix them. Three had holes, but a little stitching would fix them, and the last two were in good enough condition except they had gotten dull from wear.

The clothes were clean, at least. Maya considered using the two unusable dresses; she couldn’t wear them, perhaps she could spread them on the ground. It would certainly beat lying on the wooden floor when she needed to sleep.

Maya shut her eyes as doubt once again flooded her mind. She was trying to look on the bright side, but everything was dull and dreary like the gray dress she wore.

"Is this a bad idea?" she whispered in the dark of the room. The sun had set, and she had nothing but the moon and stars as her source of light.

Should I have stayed with Father and let him find a solution?

However, as soon as she had this thought, Maya remembered the look in her sister’s eyes. Maelle didn’t deserve her grace or sacrifice, not after everything she had made her do to Keenan.

Yet, Maya couldn’t help but take some blame. If she had never been adopted, perhaps Maelle wouldn’t have felt that some stranger was taking her father.

Maya jumped as a knock resounded in the dark. She glanced at the door; she wasn’t expecting any disturbance tonight. Perhaps it was dinner, but Maya knew it was nothing to be excited about, just like lunch had been a measly slice of pie.

She walked straight to the door in the dark without hitting anything. Perhaps an empty room wasn’t so bad. Maya let out a sad sigh, but if she didn’t think about some bright side, she would be crushed.

She opened the door to reveal Bess, who was impatiently shuffling from one foot to the other. As soon as Maya opened the door, Bess stretched out her hand to grab her and, without any explanation, started pulling her away.

Maya’s first instinct was to fight, but she didn’t have the strength or mental energy, so she just let the maid drag her. Bess muttered and grumbled the whole time.

It wasn’t until they were heading down the stairs of the second floor that Bess finally let go of her wrist but kept walking. Maya lightly massaged her wrist as she followed after Bess, keeping some distance between them.

The shoes she got were a little loose, but Maya preferred that to them being tight. She could at least walk without discomfort. She was concerned about where she was being led, and the lack of information only made her anxiety worse.

The hallways were better lit than her room and Maya tried to distract herself by looking around. The mansion was almost as big as Father’s. From the moment she stepped in, she had felt that something about this place was familiar but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

Bess slowed as they reached a corner and came to an abrupt stop in front of a closed door. She pushed it open and the first thing Maya noticed was the smell of food before she saw the interior.

This was the dining hall, and it wasn’t empty. She could hear the clink of cutlery hitting plates and whispers that came to a stop at the open doors.

Bess didn’t wait; she proceeded through while Maya struggled to go after her; it suddenly felt like her legs were stuck in mud. Maya forced herself to walk forward, her hands crossed in front of her. It wasn’t a conscious effort, but rather an attempt to hide how she looked.

She felt as though she was in the temple again, having to walk down an aisle with eyes staring down at her. She was taking too long to walk in, but try as she might, she couldn’t force herself to go faster.

"What are you doing?!" Keenan’s hoarse voice echoed in the dining room.

Maya felt vibrations shoot through her body. It no longer felt as though she was walking through mud; rather, she was frozen.