Lottery king, p.6
Lottery King, page 6
“Me, too.” Gerald gave me a conspiratorial wink.
I smiled at the three servants and was struck again at how insanely upside-down my world had shifted tonight. Then I realized I was hungry even though I’d had all that lasagna just a few hours ago.
“Actually, would it be possible to get something to snack on now?” I asked. “It’s been a rough night, and I’m getting kind of hungry.”
“Certainly, your majesty!” Gerald lit up like a Christmas tree. “I can make you anything you’d like. How about a filet of wagyu beef with a port reduction, or some chargrilled bluefin tuna? Anything you want, I would just love to make it for you.”
“Well, I don’t want to be too much trouble,” I chuckled. “Just a quick snack right now, and maybe you can make me something special tomorrow?”
“Of course, your majesty. I have just the solution now.” He gestured for me to follow him. “There’s a pantry here for you. My staff and I try to keep it stocked for you at all times. But if there’s ever anything you want and can’t find in here, the servants’ kitchen is through that door.”
Gerald pointed at a thick wooden door beside the double-wide fridge, and then he pulled open the slatted pantry door.
“And you don’t need to ask permission for anything,” Poppy added. “It’s all yours. You aren’t a guest here, your majesty. This is your home now, and we want you to feel comfortable.”
“I’ll try to remember that,” I said as I gazed into Poppy’s entrancing purple eyes. “It’s going to take some time, though. This is still so crazy to me. I half-expect to wake up in the morning and find out this was all a dream.”
“I bet it’s pretty weird for you,” Poppy said with a bright smile that bordered on giggles, but then she pursed her lips together, and the brightness faded from her eyes as she looked down at the floor. “Please excuse my forwardness, your majesty. It’s not my place to speak to you like that.”
“No, it’s fine,” I assured her as my heart sank at the embarrassed expression on her face. “I’m pretty laid-back when it comes to manners, and I much prefer bold honesty over a bunch of employees who’d just tell me ‘yes’ to everything I suggested. Please don’t stifle yourselves on my account.”
Poppy forced the corners of her pink lips up just a tiny bit, but the worried look didn’t fade from her eyes. I was pretty sure she was beating herself up on the inside, and I wondered why. The rest of the servants nodded politely, but I expected they’d all still hold onto the formalities they were used to.
I thought about how I’d had to keep reminding my employees at my job to stop calling me “Mr. Ayers” as I turned back around, but then I was nearly knocked over by my shock for the hundredth time tonight.
The pantry was way bigger than it looked from the outside. It was easily thirty feet deep and eight feet wide, and the walls were lined with wooden shelves that were packed like a grocery store. There was an entire section of chips, another huge selection of dried fruits, nuts, and granola bars, and the whole back wall was cereal boxes, bread, and every flavor of jam I could imagine. There were baskets of fresh fruit like oranges, bananas, peaches, plums, apricots, mangos, kiwis, coconuts, and apples in every variety.
“Holy shit,” I breathed as my mouth started to water.
“The fridge is well-stocked, too,” Gerald said with a proud nod. “There is bottled water, Gatorade, freshly squeezed orange juice, lemonade, yogurts, deli meats and cheeses…”
“And we have a fully-stocked wine cellar in the basement,” Isla added. “Along with a large selection of top-shelf spirits. If that’s something you enjoy.”
“I’ve never really indulged in good wine before,” I admitted as I walked further into the pantry and scanned the options. “And the cheap wine I’ve had wasn’t all that great.”
“I’d expect not,” Gerald scoffed with distaste. “Wine isn’t something you want to cheap out on. It would be an honor for me to pair your dinners with an appropriate fine wine or whiskey for you, so you can get a feel for the delicacy it should be.”
“That sounds awesome, Gerald,” I said over my shoulder. “Honestly, I’ve never had someone around who was just paid to cook anything I wanted. That’s… such a crazy concept, I probably wouldn’t know where to begin. But I’m not really picky about food, so I’m sure whatever you have planned will be great.”
“Excellent.” Gerald nodded and pulled a little notepad and pen from his apron pockets. “And do you have any food allergies, your majesty?”
“Nope.” I shook my head and grabbed a full-sized bag of Garden Salsa Sunchips, a snack-sized bag of hickory-flavored beef jerky, and a crisp Granny Smith apple. “I’m allergic to Penicillin, though.”
“Well, you’ll have no need for modern human medicine now, your majesty,” Isla said. “We have better ways of dealing with illnesses and injuries.”
I walked out of the pantry with my snack loot and heard Gerald close the door behind me.
“Magical ways?” I arched a curious eyebrow at the short witch.
“Yes, your majesty,” Isla replied with a grin that made me think of my six-year-old niece when she was thinking up the most diabolical tricks to play.
“That’s somehow both menacing and comforting all at the same time,” I chuckled.
Isla pressed her lips together in a smug grin and tilted her head in a confident little nod.
I stood there and looked at the two faes, a cyclops, a gnome, and a witch as they waited for my next move. My brain tried once more to reject all the evidence in front of me, but it all felt so real. The sleek white tiles were hard and firm under my shoes, the weight and smooth skin of the apple was exactly as it should be in my palm, and I could feel the exhaustion of an eventful evening in my muscles.
It felt like reality was one second away from crashing down around me and shattering this fantastical dream of becoming the goddamn king of the entire paranormal world.
“Are you alright, your majesty?” Poppy asked in a gentle tone as she stepped closer to me. The brightness hadn’t returned to her eyes, but she looked like she’d pulled herself out of her embarrassed state. “You’ve gone very pale.”
“I’m just trying to wrap my head around all of this,” I sighed. “It feels real, but how can it be real? Gnomes, cyclopes, witches, fae-folk? I’ve spent twenty-eight years of my life on this planet and most of them believing you were all just stories and make-believe.”
“It will take time for your human mind to adapt to all these changes,” Rune said in a reassuring tone. “And that’s what we’re all here for. It’s literally our job to help you get used to it all, to answer your questions, and to see to your needs.”
“Maybe I just need to sleep on it,” I sighed and bit into the apple.
“Would you like me to show you to your private suite, your majesty?” Poppy offered as she twisted her fingers nervously together in front of her.
“Yeah, that sounds good,” I hummed as I took another bite of the perfectly crisp and tart apple.
“It was wonderful to meet you, your majesty,” Isla said gently, and then she scurried off through the door to the servants’ kitchen.
I nodded as Tristan and Gerald bowed. Then the pair walked away together, and Rune, Poppy, and I were left alone in the huge kitchen.
“I have some details to attend to in your office, your majesty,” Rune said. “I’ve nearly got it ready so you can begin looking through everything in the morning.”
“Great,” I sighed. “Maybe my business degree will finally come in useful.”
“I expect it will.” The golden-haired fae gave me a small smile and began to walk away through an open hallway in the living room. “Enjoy your evening, your majesty, and welcome home.”
“Thanks,” I said, and then I turned to Poppy.
My heart skipped a beat as I realized I was all alone with the enticing fae woman.
Chapter 5
There was so much of Poppy’s porcelain skin on display that my mouth started to water, and my skin grew hot.
She was ten times more beautiful than any woman I’d ever laid eyes on, and she was looking at me with a mixture of kindness and servitude.
Fuck, this felt almost as unreal as the fact that I was her king now.
“We still have a few more places I should show you, your majesty,” Poppy said after a brief moment of silence, and she gestured a bit awkwardly with her hands. “But they can wait until morning if you’d prefer.”
Suddenly I wasn’t quite ready to go to bed and leave Poppy’s side. I felt a second wind come on strong as I searched for a garbage can for my apple core. Besides, I had no desire to leave her until she didn’t look so worried about “offending” me with her informality earlier.
“No, I’ve got a bit more in me,” I said cheerfully. “Where’s the garbage can?”
“Over here,” Poppy said as she opened two lower cabinet doors. She pointed at the different colored bins as she explained their different purposes, and her tone brightened a small fraction as she explained. “The blue one is for recycling, paper, plastic, and glass. The green one is for compostable things like your apple core, banana peels, and eggshells. And the black one is for trash like meat cuttings, styrofoam… basically anything we can’t recycle or compost. That one doesn’t fill up very fast, that’s why it’s smaller than the others.”
The blue and green bins were twice as wide as the black one, which made sense. So much of human garbage could be composted or recycled, and it made me feel good to know I was coming into a household with those habits already in place. I’d always loved the idea of composting, but it just wasn’t possible in apartment life.
“That’s awesome,” I said as I dropped my apple core into the green bin.
Poppy rewarded me with a small smile as she closed the cabinet doors, and then she brushed her hands nervously down the front of her flowy dress. It was a material I’d seen before, but I didn’t know the name of it. It looked light like tissue paper, but soft like the finest silk, and I wondered how it would feel under my fingers.
“Would you like to see the library first or the throne room?” Poppy asked in a voice that was a bit more sure than she’d sounded moments before.
I looked into her vividly purple eyes as a soft pink flush covered her cheeks, and I realized how close I was standing to her.
“Library,” I cleared my throat and took a step away to give her a bit of space because I thought I was making her uncomfortable. Although I couldn’t tell if it was because she wanted more space, or less between us.
I silently scolded myself for this thought. Poppy was my employee, and I should treat her with the respect of her position as my advisor.
I shoved those thoughts away as I wondered if fae-folk had some kind of magical attraction in them that could explain my actions. I didn’t think it was faes who had the magical and hypnotic attraction, though, and I tried to recall what myth did. I was pretty sure it was a Greek creature, maybe mermaids or sirens.
Either way, I was her king, and she was my advisor, so I made a mental note to try and figure out what the hell that dynamic was supposed to be like.
Before my imagination completely ran wild.
“This way, your majesty,” Poppy mumbled, and she started to lead me through the open hallway Rune went through. “The library holds over thirty thousand books.”
I followed a few steps behind the fair-skinned fae to try and give her some space, but all it did was give me a perfect view of her slender legs as she walked. Her soft pink dress swished gently around the tops of her thighs, and she practically floated across the hardwood floors.
“Are you an avid reader, your majesty?” Poppy asked in a distantly polite tone, and she drew my attention back to her face.
“Uh, yeah, I enjoy reading,” I said. “I don’t always have the time for it, though. I do audiobooks.”
“That’s understandable.” Poppy nodded. “Life can be very busy. I also enjoy audio books, although Rune is of the notion that’s not really reading.”
“What?” I scoffed and quickened my pace to bring myself beside her. “The book’s still in your head when you’re done, isn’t it? It’s totally reading.”
“I agree!” Poppy exclaimed with an excited grin. Then she pulled her smile back again, but not all the way this time, as she continued in a respectful tone. “There is a wide selection of audiobooks on the mansion’s private server as well, your majesty.”
I glanced back over my shoulder to get a quick look at the hallway I hadn’t paid attention to, and it was just as spacious and expensively decorated as the living room and kitchen. The walls were painted a crisp cream color, and the floor was a perfectly polished light oak. There were soft recessed lights dotted along the ceiling that gave the hallway just enough ambient light without being too bright. Then there was a painting on the wall of an ocean sunset that was painted in a style that made me do a double-take.
“The library’s through here,” Poppy said before I could ask about the painting.
“Hang on.” I laid a hand gently on the inside of her elbow as I pointed at the painting. “Is that a Van Gogh?”
“Yes, it is,” Poppy confirmed. “It’s one of his unknown paintings. It was never shared with the public, you see. It’s valued at an estimated two hundred million dollars because of its rarity.”
“I own a Van Gogh?” I asked, and I was struck by how many surprises I could withstand in a single night. Then my brain replayed the price tag she’d listed. “And it’s worth hundreds of millions of dollars? What the literal fuck?”
“Your majesty,” Poppy giggled, and the sound brought warmth to my heart. “You own four. The assessed values of all your assets are among the records in your office.”
“What?” I gasped as I turned back to her. “What kind of assets?”
“Real estate, art collections, the library and video game collections, the crown jewels, cars, boats, stockholdings.” Poppy ticked things off on her fingers, and I was pleased to see the embarrassment was completely gone from her face as she proudly informed me of all my spoils.
“How… how much am I worth?” I muttered as I imagined stars and dollar signs twirling around my head.
“An estimated five hundred billion American dollars, your majesty,” Poppy said as if she were telling me that two plus two equals four.
“I– I–” I stammered for a second and then forced my throat to swallow. “My brain can’t even comprehend that number.”
Holy shit.
Holy.
Shit.
Five hundred, and then nine zeros after it?
This couldn’t be real.
This had to be a cruel dream.
“We can view the galleries tonight if you’d like,” Poppy offered. “But let’s see the library first.”
“Galleries…” I breathed. “Right…”
Poppy smiled at me and pushed on a pair of thick wooden doors until they opened. The room was totally dark until Poppy stepped inside and the motion activated lights turned on.
“Holy hell,” I gasped.
This place was a bibliophile’s wet dream.
Just like the snack pantry in the kitchen, it looked much larger than I would have expected.
“It’s bigger on the inside,” I whispered.
The house was large on the outside, but it didn’t feel like there should be this much space inside it. The library was like walking straight into Beauty and the Beast.
“Was that a Doctor Who quote?” Poppy giggled a tiny bit, and then she clasped her hands tightly in front of her.
“Yeah,” I chuckled. “It’s one of my favorite shows, and it really fits this place. Is the mansion actually larger on the inside than it looks?”
“Yes,” Poppy confirmed. “Though it’s not Time Lord technology, it’s just magic.”
“That’s incredible,” I murmured as I strolled up to the first row of bookshelves.
The shelves went all the way to the three-story vaulted ceiling, and there were fancy rolling ladders every twenty feet on brass rails. The books seemed to be sorted by age and then color, and I wondered if it was an aesthetic choice only.
“How are they organized?” I asked.
“Well, King Vairn had no taste for books or reading,” Poppy said with a sudden frown. “He said books are a waste of time and paper, so the library hasn’t really been touched since the king before him.”
“What was his name?” I asked.
“King Roman,” Poppy said with a wistful tone. “He was a dryad and very well loved. He was king for nearly a hundred years.”
“Wow, what happened to him?” I asked.
“He passed peacefully in his sleep just days after his four hundredth birthday,” Poppy explained in a sorrowful voice. “The Eternal Realm mourned his passing very heavily.”
“Sounds like big shoes to fill,” I said.
“I assume you don’t mean that literally.” Poppy said with a tiny smirk on her lips, and then her face grew more serious. “King Vairn was an unwelcome change after so many years of peace. I’d just come into my advising position a few months before King Roman’s passing. I was excited to do a good job until…”
I could hear the sadness and dejection in Poppy’s voice as she trailed off, but she suddenly barreled on before I could respond.
“I’m sorry, your majesty.” Poppy straightened herself up again and folded her hands behind her back in a formal pose. “I’m being too familiar with you. I’m ready for whatever reprimand you think I deserve.”
That shocked me, and I started to hate King Vairn a little more. If this was how she reacted to a normal conversation, he must have been an overbearing piece of shit.
Though I could see it from her perspective, too. I was her new king, and it wasn’t just a job for her. This was the way of life Poppy had always lived in. She was used to interacting with literal royalty, and the separation that created our places in society was better known to her than to me. I’d always lived in a world where I was much closer to equal to the people around me than she was used to.
Poppy stood there with her eyes trained on the floor, and her hands were clenched into fists at her sides as she waited for me to reprimand her for talking to me so informally. But I knew I couldn’t just tell her not to worry about it. I was her king after all, and I was almost certain behaving in an unprofessional way would just make her more worried.
