58: Where is Winifred?

"Your highness," Martha walked into King Arthur's room and closed the door behind her. "I was told that you asked me to come see you."

"Yes, I did." Arthur said and stood up from his seat, then he jumped on his bed and lied down on it.

"Do you need anything, my lord?" She asked him politely. It's been a while since he last called her for any help. Ever since Winifred became his slave too, he stopped calling Martha for anything. If he needed to do even the simplest things, he would always call for Winifred. He called her for virtually everything he wanted to do, they had grown so close to one another that they barely bickering like before, so she was surprised as to why he had called her today and not Winifred.

Even though she has this feeling that they were more than just slave and master to one another, it wasn't her business, she was a sex slave afterall and he's the king. He owns every being in the palace, every single one.

"Uhm, have you seen Winifred anywhere? I haven't seen her all day. I even ordered someone to get her for me this morning when I needed a servant to do some things for me, I haven't even smelt her at all and that's very uncommon when it comes to Winifred, she's always lurking around me somewhere, making it easy for me to call on her whenever I needed anything, but I haven't seen her." He replied her calmly.

"Oh," Martha muttered. She was right after all. It was still about Winifred, he could barely sit alone or even do a thing without her, she's probably gone for just a few minutes and he already noticed it. She couldn't help but wonder if anyone would notice her own absence should it be her. "I have no idea where she is. I haven't seen her all day either. And now that I think about it, I don't think she slept with us at the slaves quarters last night."

"What?" Arthur asked with raised eyebrows. "And you people don't think that's not norm,, where would she have slept if not with you people?"

"Well, your highness. She doesn't sleep with us a lot of time, and when we find out, we see that she's been in your quarters so we didn't think much of it." She responded.

"What's that supposed to mean? She doesn't sleep with me?" He said, almost shyly and it made Martha wonder why the king was trying to act like he didn't have anything to do with the girl. He had no reason to, he's the king. Nobody would dare say a thing, well... except mock and gossip about Winifred anyways. But him, he's safe, they dare not.

"That's not what I meant, your highness, I just... uh..." Martha stuttered causing Arthur to immediately interrupted her, knowing fully well that he had been the cause of it cause he had put her on the spot.

"Stop stuttering and try to think on where she could be. Apart from working together, I think you're the only one she's quite close to in the palace." He said, unstable.

"I'm sorry but I have no idea, your highness. Now that you have said it, I just figured that the last time I saw her was when she said you called for her and she was going to your room to work." Martha replied.

Now, she was beginning to get worried too. Winifred was one of the few slaves that she liked and bonded a bit with in the palace. At first, her mind went to the fact that she might have ran away, since she was always talking about running. But then, she thought that it wasn't possible for her to just run away, since she had clearly told Martha that she was beginning to like her stay in the land. "I wonder where she is," Martha muttered to herself.

The room remained silent after she spoke, so she raised her bowed head to look at the king. He was lost in thought.

Arthur did not stop thinking about what Martha just told her. The last time Martha was talking about was when she had left for his room in the morning. And immediately they had sex, she had left. But she had not been seen ever since then. It sounded weird and very suspicious to him, but he could not trace it to anyone or anywhere. "Maybe she just went in search of something and she'd be back before dusk." He said to her. Even though he was also bothered, he did not want to act like he was. He then turned to Martha again. "You can take your leave now. Thank you."

"Thank you, your highness." She said to him, bowed her head and turned to leave.

"Ah, one more thing." He said to her and she turned back again.

"Yes, your highness."

"Inform Florence that I'd like to see her here right away."

"Yes, your highness."

"Thank you."

Martha left and after a couple of minutes that seemed like an hour to him, Florence knocked on his door.

"Who is it?" He asked.

"It's the head of servants, your highness. I was told you requested for me."

"Come in."

Florence opened the door and walked in, closing the door behind her. "Yes, your highness."

"Why did it take you so long? I said I wanted to see you right away." Arthur said to her sternly.

"I'm sorry, your highness, but I came immediately I was told you needed to see me."

He rolled his eyes and then spoke. "When last did you see Winifred?"

"Sorry?"

"Did you suddenly go deaf?"

"I'm sorry, your highness. I just didn't hear you clearly and I wanted to make sure I did so I could give you the right answer to what question you asked."

"I said when last did you see Winifred in this palace?"

She paused to think about it, but she could not remember precisely when last she saw her. "Uhm, I haven't seen her in a while now. I mean, I didn't see her all through yesterday, and I haven't seen her today either, your highness."

"And as the head of servants, should you not be bothered that one of the slaves is missing? Or are you just their head by decoration?" He asked with raised eyebrows.

"Missing? Winifred is missing? I'm sorry, your highness but I had no idea that she was missing. I thought she was probably busy running errands for you because normally, I hardly see her."

Arthur sighed before dismissing her. "Now you know, so look for her, its your job! You can leave. If you see her, tell her to see me right away."

"Yes, my lord." She replied, bowed her head and walked out of his room.

Soom enough, it was already a known issue in the palace that the king was searching for Winifred. He had even made a pronouncement that whoever found her was going to be rewarded abundantly. Yet, no one was able to provide him with her or any information about where she might be, and he was getting very impatient.

"My lord," one of his men walked into the palace hall and Arthur stood up from his throne with a look of hope on his face.

"How was the search? Did you find her?" He asked him.

"No, my lord, I didn't." The man replied as he bowed his head. His reply angered Arthur and he

groaned aloud.

"You can leave."

"Yes, my lord." Immediately, the man turned his back and left the hall, closing the door behind him.

Arthur had sent search parties to find her everywhere possible. One of the men he had sent was the one that just left. As he walked around the palace hall lost in thought, he couldn't help but think about where she could be. "She didn't run away, did she?" He asked himself.

No, she can't. His subconscious mind told him.

"But where could she be?" He walked around the hall, soliloquizing. He had told his men to make sure no one comes into the hall, because he wanted to be alone.

At a point, he suspected his chiefs because he thought they might have plotted to kidnap her because he had told them that he won't be marrying anyone except her.

Thinking his thoughts could be true, he had sent for the chiefs in the palace and had asked them if they were the ones that hid her. He even promised to pay whoever saw her a huge sum of money, but they all said they had no idea where she was.

"Winifred, where are you?" He asked himself again. "Could she have gone back to her world like she claimed she will one day?" He then poked himself in the head. "That's impossible. There's only this world of ours. She hasn't gone anywhere." He sighed and pulled a chair closer to himself and then sat on it. "Then where could she be? Where is my lover?" He asked no one, but himself as he stared into space.