Chapter 14

Chapter 14
Perhaps because of the stress, because I hardly got any time for myself, the nightmares that had plagued me in Master Valeth's palace had been absent. Any time I lay down to sleep, it was not only brief and unsatisfying, it was also blank and uneventful. So that night, when I saw Janice in my dream, it was so terrifying that I jerked up awake, my heart racing, blood pounding in my ears, my whole body tremulous from the ordeal.

"What is this?" I said to myself, fanning myself with my hand to relieve myself from the heat. "But I didn't kill her. Why the hell is she in my dreams."

I decided it was nothing, and was most likely borne out of the fact that I had been thinking about her a lot and had been the last person to see her alive. So I went back to sleep. And I had another dream. But this one was completely different. In it, I saw myself spread on a large bed, my ankles and wrists chained to the bedposts so that I could barely move. I looked around and realised that it was Lucien's bed, and soon enough, he came closer to me, a studious look on his face, his mouth tightened into a straight line.

"You," he said. "I knew there was something about you, and I am going to find it out. But you can help the both of us by talking, saying what you know. Why do you seem so familiar? Why do you give off such a suspicious energy?"

"I don't know, Master," I said, more confused than afraid. I was aware that it was a dream and I tried to awaken myself by concentrating hard, but try as I might, I could not. It was not a new thing, this lucid dreaming. Before getting to the Crimson Palace, I often fell into trances and wild dreams like this, but once I was able to recognize it was a dreams, I could steel myself and return to consciousness. But this time it was not possible. It then occured to me that it was probably orchestrated by Lucien himself. Of course; it had to be him.

"You know something, girl," he said, a smirk on his face. "Come on now. Tell me."

He was bent over me as he uttered his words in a lazy drawl, his fingers stroking my face. I said nothing for there was nothing to say. I heard the flick of the knife before I saw it. I hadn't seen a knife in his hand and wondered where it might have come from. I became frantic.

"I swear!" I said. "I don't know anything, Master. If I did, I would have told you immediately. Please don't do this."

"Alright," he said. "Since you won't tell me, I'll have to carve it out of you."

And with that, he put the knife close to the flesh of my neck and drilled into it. A sharp pain tore through my body, and this is when I screamed myself awake. I was bathed in my sweat. It was morning already. Bright shafts of light came into the hostel and most of the servants were already out. The few that remained all gave me curious looks, wondering why I had screamed like that.

I sat on the bed for a while, mulling over the dream I had — or was it a vision? A guard came in and told me soon after that Master Lucien demanded my presence in his chamber. It wasn't a surprise, but it was enough to leave me reeling. Quietly, I took my bath, wore the dress he had given me, the only I had, and made my way to his chambers.

I knocked on the door and the door opened up automatically. When I walked in, I saw Lucien standing at the window, his hands behind his back, a contemplative look to his demeanour. I stood there, just near the door, waiting for him to acknowledge my presence, but he remained at the window.

"Good morning, Master Lucien," I said, trying to get his attention. But he still did not turn back. I thought back to the dream I had had and immediately became nervous. Perhaps he was not going to want to have sex; perhaps he had called me to interrogate me. But I knew that the dream was not inconsequential.

Finally, he turned around. There was a somber look on his face.

"Amara," he said, calling my name for the first time, "you are going to be staying very close to me as from now. This will allow me to watch you even more closely. I can't have you been so far away. I could need you at any time. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Master," I said, curtseying, wondering where it was all coming from. But it was obvious that he suspected me and wanted to watch me.

"You will become one of my consorts in this palace," he said. "And this means you'll get a change of status. You'll get new clothes and clothing accessories, you will live just down the hall, and perhaps a servant will be assigned to you."

I blinked unbelievably. He was conferring on me royal status, something that I had never imagined all my life.

"Thank you, Master," I said, bowing again, but he waved off my gratitude.

"Don't thank me," he said. "I have my reasons for doing all this. Janice before you didn't get any of this. I treated her like the servant that she was. But I can't help but think that there's something mysterious about you, and if I don't watch you closely, I would pay dearly for it. It will also be of your best interest to not engage in any nefarious activity."

I bowed, not knowing what to do with what he had said.

"Someone will attend to you now," he said.

And at that moment, a smallish girl with bright blue eyes walked in, held my hand and asked for me to follow her.