Lord of Eternal Night by Ben Alderson
8
Ijolted awake to the slam of something on the table before me. Surprised, I kicked out, knocking myself backwards.
“Careful.” A hand gripped the back of the chair, stopping it from falling to the floor with me in it. “We would not want yet another accident. Would we?”
I came to quickly, gripping the seat as Marius rocked me back to safety. How long had I been sleeping? Long enough for dribble to have dried on my chin.
“You have had an eventful evening. I am far from surprised that you are tired.”
“I’m fine…” I regarded the large sack that now took up space on the empty table before me. But before I had slipped into sleep the table had been completely covered. “The food is gone.”
“Were you that famished?”
I shook my head. “No, the food is gone. This table was full and now it is not.”
I had fallen asleep with a belly full of more delicious food. Yet there was not a scrap left. “You said no one else lives here. But I hardly imagine you stoop low enough to serve and clean in your own dwelling.”
Marius kicked a chair out for himself and sat upon it. He leant his elbows on his knees and rested his chiselled jaw in his palms. “You are wrong. I said that there is not anyone living inside this castle.”
“But I—”
“Smell terrible. Truly.” He leaned back, nose scrunching. “I have drawn a bath in my chamber for you. In that sack is a spare set of clothes. Ones that are not so… revealing. Clean yourself up.” His voice was soft yet demanding.
I stiffened in the chair, gripping onto the sides to keep my hands busy. “What about Katharine?”
“She has returned home. The room is yours.”
“What about…” I silenced myself.
“Speak, Jak. Do not be shy.”
I was far from it.
“Where do you sleep?”
He tilted his head to the side. “I do not sleep.”
“Then where do you go? I have seen enough of this castle to know there are other empty rooms for me to stay in.”
“Those rooms are not mine.” His neck straightened, his deep voice hardened.
“Is that supposed to make me feel a type of way?”
He was still. Burgundy eyes flicked across my face. Searching. I held my breath. But then he smiled. “If I wanted to make you feel a certain way, Jak, I would not need it solely to be in my room.”
The chair squeaked across the floor as I stood abruptly.
“Have I said something to offend you?” he said through a sly grin.
My hands shook wildly at my side. “I do not know what you have grown used to, Marius. But I can tell you I am not like the others you have … played with. Watch what you say to me. And how you say it.”
Marius stood now, towering inches over me. “That sounds awfully similar to a threat.”
I stepped forward. “What if it is?”
We held each other’s stare. Neither one wanting to break it before the other.
“You are right, Jak,” Marius whispered, being the first to step back. “You are nothing like the others that have been before you. Nothing.”
* * *
The water was stillwarm when I slipped into its embrace. I released a groan until my head went under, mouth filling up with water. I kept my eyes open, watching bubbles escape from my mouth and rise to the surface.
Bliss. And much needed.
Only when my lungs burned for breath did I burst from its warm belly. I hardly cared as it splashed over the edge of the brass tub and splattered over the slabbed ground of Marius’s room.
The man… creature, infuriated me. Disgusted me. At least that was what I told myself over and over as I washed the days of dirt from my skin until it was red raw.
I was becoming accustomed to the late nights and early mornings. My normal routine had completely altered since arriving. Before the drawn curtain the sky was lightening and with it brought my tiredness. The short nap I had at the dining table was not sufficient. I longed to swaddle myself in the comforting sheets of Marius’s bed. Which had, yet again, been prepared. No sign that Katharine had ever lied upon it nor the dried droplets of blood.
I did not climb into the bed until the water had grown cold and I struggled to keep my eyes open. My arms shook from tiredness as I lifted myself from the tub and trailed a line of water to the bed. I gave little care in letting my bare skin dry. Barely rubbing at it, nor allowing myself time to dry amongst the air before clambering within the sheets.
I turned over in the bed, stretching my exposed body as far as I could. Something stiff scratched against my arm. I fought the tiredness enough to lift my head and look through one eye as to what it was that I felt.
There, on the pillow beside me was a note. A folded piece of parchment that was sealed with black wax.
I ran my thumb over the seal, feeling the ridges of the design that I could not fully make out. It was what I thought to be a cross. But it seemed a rose was etched in the middle of the crosses interlinking lines.
It was a shame to pull the folded parchment apart, breaking the seal too.
Join me for supper.
M.
The note was short.Precise.
“Dinner.” I laughed, discarding the note back on the pillow. Turning my back on it, I rolled over, my heart beating calmly in my chest.
Who knew it only took chasing a girl through the gardens to get his full attention?
I almost longed for the scrying bowl to be fixed, so Mother could see how I had changed the tides in my favour.
I suppose she would have to wait and see when I walked back home with his head in my hands.