Page 7 of Cruel King
Maybe they’d make a good couple. That’s, of course, if he’s still available in a few weeks. She’s not the only one who’s been waiting for the Marius and Maia show to end.
Lost in thought about them as a possible pairing, my eyelids slowly droop closed, but barely a few seconds pass before I hear something like a crack. My eyes fly open, and I see the TV screen black and no lights on in the house. Damnit! Why would the power go out today? My father said he had the repairman fix that problem that was making the electricity shut off during the summer. Something about overloading the breaker, I think.
I reach for my phone on the table and see I have less than ten percent left on my charge. Terrific. Even worse, with no power, the heat won’t be able to turn on. I’ll be freezing in no time.
There’s only one choice. I’ll have to go up to the main house.
Not that I have a problem with that. The King estate has a gorgeous home belonging to Mr. King, and he’s always telling me I can come up and swim in the pool and check out the game room any time I like. Theo’s probably hanging out, so at least I won’t be alone.
Throwing on my winter coat and gloves, I look out the window and see there’s an inch of snow on the ground. I could drive up to the main house since it’s almost half a mile away from here, but I promised my father I wouldn’t use the car.
So it’s the shoe leather express for me. Not a problem. It’s not like I haven’t walked farther in much more than an inch of snow.
About a quarter of a mile to the house, the snow begins to come down so hard I can barely see five feet in front of me. So much for this not being a problem. My feet get wet since I chose not to switch out my shoes for my winter boots, and my hair is drenched from all the snow landing on it.
A hat would have been a good idea. At least my hands are warm because of my new leather gloves my Aunt Jessie sent me for Christmas. I’ll have to be sure to tell her how much they came in handy today.
I press on, trudging through the snow that has to be at least three or four inches deep by the time I’m more than halfway there. I’ve never seen snow fall this fast in all my life. I’ve lived nineteen years on this estate, and never once have I experienced anything like this.
And then the wind starts blowing, and I swear it feels like someone is slapping my cheeks over and over. My skin burns, and I imagine my entire face is bright red. My mascara is probably running down my face, frozen black tracks of makeup to make me look like some kind of ghoulish blizzard monster.
I lower my head so my chin is plastered to my chest and push on as the wind and the snow combine to make me feel like I’m going to freeze to death on this walk. If I had broken my word to my father and driven up to the house, I’d already be there by now, nice and warm and toasty with Eleanor in the kitchen by that huge fireplace they have.
It’s all I can do to keep my eyes focused on the ground a few inches ahead of me as I slowly make my way up the final quarter mile hill that leads to the King mansion. I stuff my hands in my pockets since my brand-new gloves that worked so well a few minutes ago now feel like frozen things stuck to my fingers. It’s like someone has set a sopping wet, ice-cold towel on my head, so I shake to get some of the snow off. It lands inside my jacket, sending chills down my back and making me even colder than before.
Through the blinding snow, I see the gray stone façade of the King house ahead and breathe a sigh of relief. If it’s within view, I can make it there. I’ll just be a soaked and frozen mess when I arrive.
Eleanor will take care of me, though. The head housekeeper, she lives in the main house’s servant quarters built when they called staff servants. A kind lady I think must be in her late fifties, at least, she’s known me since I was a little girl when she came to work for the Kings and my father would bring me to work with him. She always had lollipops hidden in her apron she’d give me before making me promise I wouldn’t ruin my dinner by eating them first.
Snow cakes to my eyelashes, but I lift my head into the blizzard winds to see the house just feet away. Thank God! I don’t know if I could have walked even a few steps more without collapsing.
I knock on the back door near the kitchen and hope Eleanor is nearby so I won’t have to wait very long. I could simply walk in since Mr. King has told me time and time again I’m welcome whenever I want to come up here, but I don’t want to create a snowy mess she’ll have to clean up.
Her round face appears in one of the windowpanes, and her eyes open as wide as saucers when she realizes it’s me. Flinging the door open, she grabs my arm and tugs me inside, bringing a blast of snow in with me.
“Oh, my word! What are you doing out in this snowstorm, Ava?” she asks as she guides me into the heart of the kitchen. “Come right over here and we’ll get those clothes off you before you catch cold. Did you walk all the way up from your house?”
The soothing heat from the fireplace begins to melt the snow clinging to me, making a puddle on the hardwood floor they put in a few years ago before Mrs. King passed away. I look down and frown, hating that I’m making the very mess I wanted to avoid.
“I’m sorry, Eleanor. There’s melted snow all over the place now.”
She slides my gloves off my hands and then eases my coat off me before pointing toward the chair closest to the fireplace on the other side of the kitchen. “Don’t worry about that. God made mops for just that problem. Now sit down and warm up. You need to get out of those soaking wet clothes, though, but first, let me get you a robe. Sit down and relax. You must be frozen solid, you poor thing.”
I can’t help but smile at her mention of God making mops to clean up snow puddles. She really is a wonderfully sweet person, but sometimes she says things that make me want to laugh.
As I take a seat and feel the heat from the fire against my ice-cold skin, I begin to thaw out while I imagine God finishing with his creation of the universe and on the seventh day turning to one of his angels and whipping up a mop.
Beside me, Eleanor sets my gloves and jacket on a rack she’s brought out so they can begin to dry. “How would you like a nice mug of hot chocolate? You loved it when you were a little girl. You, Theo, and Marius would come in from playing outside or building a snowman, and I remember your little face lighting up whenever I said I’d make you three some of my hot chocolate. You aren’t too grown up for that now, are you?”
I look up into her pale blue eyes and see sincerity like I used to find in my mother’s eyes. Eleanor’s face is fuller, and her cheeks tend to be rosy all year round, but in some ways, she reminds me of my mother with her dark hair and sweet disposition.
“Definitely not too grown up for your hot chocolate, Eleanor, but I don’t want you to go out of your way. I just had to come up here because the power went off in the carriage house, and I didn’t want to freeze to death with no heat.”
That news makes her expression fill with horror. “You aren’t making me do anything, and you were right to come up here if your house has no electricity. What was that electrician doing at your house for a full week this past summer if only a few months later you don’t have power on the one day you absolutely need it?”
I rub my hands together in front of the fire as I shake my head. “I was thinking the same thing. I hope my father gives him an earful when he calls him later.”
Eleanor nods and points at me when she says, “If he doesn’t, Mr. King will. When he finds out you were home without any heat, he’s going to be furious. There will be hell to pay there. For me too if I don’t get you straightened out, so let me go get that robe so you can get out of those wet clothes. Hang on. I’ll be right back.”