Ogre Daddy (Fantastical Daddy Doms Book 2) Page 4

  Instead she tilted her head, and her eyes searched mine.

  “Grayson?” she whispered, her face wrought with confusion.

  Holy shit. She knew me! Stunned, I looked down. Large green legs still poked out from the shorts that were my daily uniform and my feet were three times the size of her own.

  I looked up, and my eyes met hers with an unspoken question.

  “I don’t know why I said that. It just popped into my head, but I don’t even know a Grayson, I don’t think.”

  “You do. You did, I mean, once upon a time. You knew me, and that is my name, Grayson. But, I didn’t look like this.”

  She nodded, accepting this information without question. “I’m sorry, I’m having a weird day.”

  “You looked pretty upset.” I spoke cautiously, but inside, I was dying to know what had happened to send her barreling out of the castle screaming the way she had been. “I’m a good listener,” I offered hopefully, trying to stay calm. “My house is right over there. You don’t even have to come in, we could sit out in the garden and talk, if you want to.”

  Temptation danced across her features, but she was hesitant. “I’m not supposed to talk to strangers… or well, anyone really. The only people I can trust are the ones inside the castle. Only they have the queen’s favor. Everyone else will lead me astray. They will be jealous of my place in the queen’s eyes, and they will try to trick me into betraying her so they can take my place at her feet.” She recited the words without feeling, and it was obvious they were lines that had been fed to her many times.

  “I have fresh lemonade and some brownies still warm from the oven,” I coaxed, realizing that I sounded a bit like a pervert trying to coax a small child into their van with cookies or puppies. But it didn’t matter what I sounded like if it worked. I needed to get Ariana talking with open communication between us if I had any chance in hell of ever breaking the spells cast on either of us. I would do anything to make that happen. Besides, what young woman could resist a warm brownie? None I had ever known.

  Princess Ariana smiled, and I could tell she was aching to accept. “It's a lovely little garden, right on the edge of the ocean,” I added. “It was my mother’s.”

  She looked toward the ocean then back up at the castle, warring emotions evident on her face. I waited, understanding. I hadn’t figured out quite how yet, but the sea witch’s magic had essentially brainwashed the entire village.

  Nobody thought for themselves; to do so was no longer natural. I was sure that this effect must be magnified for those who resided with the queen in her castle. I held my breath and waited for her to answer.

  “Okay,” she finally agreed. “But only for an hour. I want to give her some time to calm down before I go back.”

  I nodded, gesturing toward my modest cottage with a sweep of my arm. I had so many questions. Each time she spoke it created more, but I didn't want to do or say anything that would scare her away. “This way, my princess.”

  “Stop saying that.” Ari giggled. “I told you, I’m no princess.”

  This wasn’t the time to argue that point, so I just smiled and led the way to the garden.

  Ari sat on my mother’s settee, making such a pretty picture that I was grateful I had taken the time to restore it after the unfortunate sitting incident. I went inside, and returned quickly with a pitcher of cold lemonade and a tray of warm brownies.

  “I wonder how I knew your name,” she mused thoughtfully, closing her lips over a large square of chocolate, groaning happily when the flavor hit her taste buds. “And what did you mean, you haven’t always looked like this?”

  I took a deep breath, and chose my words carefully. It was painfully obvious that the spell on Ari was not broken, but that it was bent. After all, I had inexplicably gotten my voice back the moment she had come into my presence. But she made it obvious that she was still loyal to Queen Lamia. I knew that was part of the spell; she knew no other way to be. “Someone cast a spell on me a while back, I suppose. They turned me from a fisherman into this ogre-like creature. They took my voice too, and made me mute.” She was listening intently, her eyes darting back and forth across my face. It was obvious that her brain was working a mile a minute.

  “You’re talking right now.” She stated the obvious.

  “A new development,” I said wryly. “It only happened the minute you came rolling down the hill and landed at my feet.”

  She took another bite of brownie and chewed slowly, washing it down with a large gulp of lemonade. “It was the queen, wasn’t it? She doesn’t like you.” She said this with a certainty that seemed to startle her.

  Excitement filled me and I nodded, opening my mouth to explain further. This had to be my chance to break the spell the queen had put on her.

  “I should probably go, quickly, before she finds me!” Ari began to panic, standing up and pacing the garden. “Oh, what have I done? I just needed some space to think, and I have made things worse, so much worse. I have betrayed my queen who has done so much for me.”

  My stomach recoiled in the face of her blind adoration. I had to say something, anything, to get her to stay just a bit longer. I had waited so long for this moment, and I wasn’t ready for it to be over so soon. “You were crying,” I stated simply. “I could hear you screaming all the way down the hill.”

  She stopped short, looking in my direction, but past me, rather than at me. “I overreacted,” she responded instantly. “I’m overly emotional like that.”

  “Ariana,” I growled. It was too much. I wasn’t used to my ogre voice yet. It was a bit scary even without the added anger that I was currently experiencing.

  “You don’t know me!” she cried, edging toward the road. “I have to go. I shouldn’t have come. My queen has done so much for me, I owe her my life. I shouldn’t have run, I was just…” She trailed off, looking frightened for a moment before she regained her composure.

  “Ariana, you’re upset, and frightened. Stay for a while. Let’s talk, you can trust me, I promise.”

  “No.” She shook her head emphatically, all but running for the road. “No, I can’t trust anyone. My queen is only trying to make me better. She wants me to reach my full potential. The world is full of jealous and petty people who will try to stifle me. I must do better and try harder to please my queen.”

  “Ari,” I started to argue, wanting to speak the truth, to tell her who she was, and who her precious Queen Lamia really was, but the words got stuck in my throat. I knew she wasn’t ready to hear them.

  “I must go back.” She lifted up the hem of her dress, and began to skip off. “Thank you for the snack! You really are very kind for an ogre.”

  Just as I had two years prior, I watched her disappear from view, replaying the strange meeting in my head. I just prayed it wasn’t the last time I saw her.

  I had wanted to go into the garden with the ogre. For reasons I could not explain, the idea of spending time in his garden sipping lemonade and enjoying warm brownies straight from the oven had called to my soul. I could blame the fact that I loved treats, and that the queen never allowed us to have them, but I knew that it was more than that.

  But sometime around the second bite of brownie and the admission that the queen herself had turned him into an ogre, I started to question my own motivation.

  The ogre, Grayson, had been so easy to talk to, and so interested in everything I said. I couldn’t shake this sense of familiarity and comfort that seemed to linger between us. More than once I opened my mouth to tell him about the monster, and everything I had seen in the queen’s bedroom. I didn’t even question whether he would understand or not; I knew he would.

  But I couldn’t bring myself to betray my queen like that. Every time I opened my mouth, her lessons poured out from my lips. With each word I spoke, I became more wracked with guilt over even being there. The more he tried to get me to share, and the longer he tried to get me to stay, the more I panicked, convincing myself that the queen w
as right, and that I had made a grave mistake by even speaking to anyone outside the castle walls.

  Soon the warm brownies tasted like chalk, and the lemonade soured my stomach. The only thing that kept me staying as long as I had was the vision of the hideous beast turning into my beautiful and beloved queen. It was one of those things, I couldn’t unsee it, but if I could, I would have, happy to return to my naive existence of not questioning the very person who had given me everything I had.

  By the time I stood and took my leave, I was so disgusted with myself I was all but craving the lash of the queen’s whip across my ragged skin. I knew I was in for the beating of a lifetime, and I didn’t care. All I could think about was returning to my home and kneeling at the feet of my queen.

  Even though I ran the whole way, it was almost pitch black by the time I made it to the doors of the castle. All I could think about was the queen and the wrath that I was about to face, but I was at peace with that. I broke rules and I was going to be punished; that’s how life worked. It was part of the price we paid for the honor of living in the castle with our queen. We were the chosen few. Not everyone was blessed with the same opportunities I was, and here I was taking them for granted. Not practicing my spells, missing meals, disappearing for hours with no explanation. I deserved whatever the queen decided to throw at me.

  “Oh my heart!” the queen screamed, clutching her chest as I came through the door. She was perched on the edge of her throne with makeup dark around her eyes. Had she been crying? My heart sunk even further.

  “You’re home, we were so worried. Ruthie said you went out to the water, and all I could think about was you being washed away due to one of your foolish actions.” She held out her hand, and I hurried forward and took it before kneeling at her feet.

  “I’m so sorry, my queen. I—”

  “Hush, girl. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you are home and you are safe. Do you know how worried you have made me? I have not been able to complete anything this evening because of my worry for your well-being.”

  “I’m fine,” I assured her, quieting, when she interrupted me.

  “I have told you to be silent. You have already taken up too much of my time this evening. I simply do not have the energy to listen to any of the excuses.”

  “But, my queen, I saw—”

  The queen reared back when I dared to speak again. Her eyes flashed with anger as they met mine, daring me to speak of what had transpired. I saw the fear there for a brief minute, before she shook her head, and dismissed me with a sad tsking noise. “Whatever you think you saw, you must have dreamed it, you are such an unfocused girl, a wicked daydreamer. Or maybe you hit your head out there on the rocks. Rowena thought she saw you coming up the path hours ago, but you never appeared. We were so worried. Ruthie has spent all evening in her room fretting. I was forced to cancel Rowena’s studies. You have been gone all day. What do you have to say for yourself?”

  Dreamed it? Okay, granted I was a bit of a daydreamer at times, but never in my wildest daydreams had I ever come up with anything like what I had seen up in the queen’s room this afternoon. And now she was saying I had never even come back to the castle after my walk? My brain clouded with confusion. Granted, I had been gone most of the day, but I had come back, I knew. I wasn’t crazy, and it certainly hadn’t been a dream. I could still taste the chocolate on my lips from the Ogre’s brownies.

  “I said, what do you have to say for yourself?” In my confusion I had forgotten to answer, and she reared back, slapping me hard across the face, stomping a foot on the ground below her throne as she shrieked at me.

  My hand flew to my cheek, but I quickly recovered, dropping it to my side. The queen wouldn’t like that. Any evidence of her losing control would send her further into a fury, and essentially be all my fault, because everything always was. “I’m so s—”

  The queen burst into tears before I could squeak out even the meagerest of apologies. “How can you be so selfish; have I taught you nothing?” she cried, wailing the beginnings of a tirade I had come to know well. “I’ve worked hard and done so much for you. No one would do the things I’m doing for a poor orphan girl, and what kind of thanks do I get? You’re gone all day, leaving the castle without permission, missing dinner and your chores, not coming home until after dark, and leaving your sisters and I sick with worry. You are a selfish, spoiled, thoughtless little girl. I love you like my own child, and you treat me like sludge on the bottom of your shoe. Shoes that I paid for, mind you. I clothe you and feed you, and give you a home here in my beautiful castle. I teach you everything I know. I pour hours and hours of work into you daily.”

  I couldn’t keep up with her drastic range of emotions, and I knew that this rant could go on for hours. I had heard it before, and every time I did, it made me sick with guilt and self-hatred. I wanted to say or do anything that would get her to stop crying, but every time I attempted to speak, she cried louder. Tears burned the back of my eyes and guilt filled every ounce of my body. I gave in, fell on my face at her feet, and cried.

  “Please. My queen, please punish me for what I have done. I am so sorry to have caused you so much grief. You have given me everything, and I have acted like a spoiled child. Please teach me to be better. Please!” I begged. I didn’t notice when she had stopped crying, but as I lay there in a puddle of my own tears, all I could do was hope she heard me. I didn’t want to raise my head. I didn’t deserve to look upon her beauty. That was an honor, not a right, and I definitely had lost that privilege. I continued to beg and plead with her, continued to make my apologies and praise her as much as I could, but she didn’t move or speak. For a moment I thought she had left me there, but when I snuck a peek, I saw that her feet were rooted to the same place they had been.

  I forced myself to slow my breathing and calm down, but it took a lot of effort and I was exhausted from the emotionally and physically taxing day. I didn’t dare move until I was told. I wanted to show her just how sorry I was by my complete trust and obedience. If she wanted me to, I would sleep the entire night on that stone floor.

  After minutes of total silence, the queen finally spoke, “I cannot deal with any more of this episode this evening. Clean yourself up, go straight to your room, and go to bed.”

  I lifted myself off the ground in time to see her retreating form disappear into the elevator. That was it? Go to bed? I looked around the empty room at a complete loss. I had broken more rules than I could count in the last few hours and begged to be punished, but she was just sending me to bed. Another wave of guilt washed over me, settling like a boulder in my gut. I must have really done a number on her for her to let me just go to sleep.

  I had been expecting the harshest of punishments; being whipped endlessly while working on an assignment that would take me hours to complete or having to sleep in the cage beneath her bed with no comfort, or even both.

  Her dismissal stung me worse than her whip. I knelt there feeling bereft, staring down the long hallway, waiting for her to come back, and dish out the punishment I so sorely deserved.

  When the clock struck midnight, I forced myself to my feet and made my way to my room.

  So much confusion and turmoil about the whole day plagued me, there was no way sleep was going to happen anytime soon. I shed my clothes and headed for my shower. Catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I passed, I turned to see the marks from that morning’s punishment. The shame set in. How could I have failed so miserably all in one day? How could I have done those things to my queen? She deserved so much better than me.

  I turned the water on as hot as it would go and stepped into it, wishing the hot water could somehow wash away my shame. The drops stung as they hit my punished back, and I wondered just how much worse it was going to get. She wouldn’t let this go, I knew that.

  The queen believed that letting us out of a punishment made her look weak and ruined our faith in her. She took her job of punishing us very seriously be
cause she said it was the only way we could learn and grow and become the people she wanted us to be.

  My body began to go numb under the pounding hot water, and exhaustion set in.

  A quick scrub and rinse rid me of the day’s dirt and grime, and I pulled my weak body out from under the shower spray. I felt so lost and uneasy, everything was a grand effort. My mind was full of the queen’s words and the overwhelming need to feel forgiven. I pulled a nightshirt over my still wet skin and fell into a heap on my bed before letting the tears flow again. Waiting for a punishment was difficult enough, but waiting for closure and forgiveness was pure torture. I knew I would not be myself again until I had been thoroughly punished and felt the agony of absolution under the sting of the queen’s whip.

  “The queen would like to see you.” Ruthie peeked into the study where I was practicing my last spell. I hadn’t had another training session since I ran off, but it could come at any time and I needed to be prepared.

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Did she happen to say why?” It had been days since I had gotten in trouble, and I was still waiting to be punished. Each time she summoned me I told myself it was time, but it never came. I was beginning to think I was crazy and had dreamed up the entire day, and I was scared to death to bring it up again.

  “You know she never does,” Ruthie answered.

  Sighing, I collected my things and steeled myself for whatever was about to come. The guilt was still so heavy that as I made my way up the steps, I prayed she would finally have the time to deal with me.

  The grand double doors to her quarters were propped open and she lounged on her chaise, reading over one of her latest stories.

  “My queen?” I knelt at the entrance to her room waiting for permission to enter. She did not acknowledge me. Her trance-like stare was focused on the book Rod was holding for her. I waited patiently, knowing it was my best bet. If she summoned me, it was for a reason, and she would get to me when it was convenient. Her time was precious, and we were lucky when she chose to spend any of it with us.