All Chapters of Spider King: The Legend Begins: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Some time for herself? How lovely! But Muriel wanted to know something first. She quietly said to Princess Arya, "Your Highness, I hope you'll forgive me if this question seems impolite." The princess rolled her eyes. "Go on and ask the question so I can judge it for myself." "I've heard that His Highness, the master of this castle, is unwell and bedridden. Is this true?" Princess Arya took an oddly long sip of her tea, quiet and methodical, her eyes closing as if she was trying to decompress her mind. Then her eyes opened and sharpened, but Muriel couldn't exactly believe that those brown eyes were seeing her own blue-gray ones. The princess wasn't likely seeing her. Those cocoa fingers lowered the princess' yellow cup to its saucer. She inhaled and exhaled rather dramatically. The brown eyes closed. Opened. And beca

The following days were pretty dull. At least they weren't difficult. She didn't have any chores whatsoever. The most taxing duties she had were pouring tea, playing music, writing boring letters dictated by her mistress, and reporting messages to high ranking servants. Princess Arya still gave a brutal statement every now and then, but some of her statements weren't directed towards Muriel. The princess seemed to be a painfully honest kind of person, uncaring of people's feelings as long as she was able to give what she thought to be the truth. Sometimes, Muriel thought she actually agreed with the princess, but she didn't want to admit that to anyone. One morning, however, there was a minor disagreement. Princess Arya wanted to have some furniture carried out of storage and taken to a reception room that was almost never used. Muriel watched with the princess as a few men laid the tables out for their perusal.&

Some more minutes passed on, and then the butler returned, holding a thick cane with a gem encrusted handle. Behind him was the housekeeper, Radine Cardon, and two men holding the arms of a frightened looking maid with black hair. They brought her before the princess while Radine held up an ornamental looking dagger made of gold. Muriel took the dagger with cautious fingers. Then she put it on a table near the princess and waited for the next scene to play. Princess Arya coldly asked Radine, "Where was this dagger found?" "Inside Mara's room, Your Highness," Radine answered with a curtsy. "And Mara is the maid here?" "That's so, indeed," Radine said. She had a very unhappy expression. "Precisely where was this dagger found? Behind something?" Radine shook her head. "It was found under Mara's bed." Princess Arya's head moved to one side as

Princess Arya could be seen wandering the halls in free time before dinner. Sometimes she would let Muriel off so she could eat in her room if she wanted. Even during her free evenings, however, Muriel still ate with the princess, mostly because the alternative was lonely but also because she wanted to watch the princess as much as possible. Who could say what was in the princess' mind?! Once, Muriel, all alone, was walking and admiring paintings and tapestries on the walls. The old family's portraits had been removed. New portraits, or rather, portraits of the princess and her family members were there. There were even some paintings of her siblings and parents, the now late king and still alive queen of Junjaia. Muriel paused her walking and talking to look up at one painting. It was of the princess' mother from maybe five years ago, or at least that was what she remembered Princess Arya saying. That queen was so old,

It had been a good while since Muriel had done the more frivolous kinds of shopping. Seamstress shops for ordering new clothing. Cosmetics shops for various creams, powders, rouges, and other items for rejuvenating or painting the flesh. Fragrance shops for perfumes and colognes. Milliners' shops for hats. So many things! Princess Arya even took Muriel to a jewelry store and purchased a few pieces to wear on special occasions. They weren't foolishly expensive, but they were certainly fancy. This was so wrong. Muriel kept mental notes in the back of her thoughts to check everything for poisoned pins or medicinal smells before using anything. When she was back at the castle with a new jar of hand cream, something odd was requested of her. The princess said that she should sit near a window in one of the sitting rooms. The windows there were bigger, and she claimed that the creams would be more successful if her hands could