Chapter 20

Chapter 20

I woke up to strips of light breaking into the room from the window, and the sound of Bianca moving around as she tried to clean the room. By the time I sat up, the room was almost in its former shape, if you ignored the smashed up walls. I rubbed my temples, a full ache gliding across the sides of my head.

"I hope you slept well, Amara," Bianca said. "I'll be done cleaning the room soon, and then I'll get you breakfast. Is that okay?"

I nodded, not wanting to speak. My head continued to throb as I made my way to the bathroom to wash my face. I examined myself in the mirror. I looked much the same as when I was brought to the Crimson Palace, except that my eyes looked dimmer. When I returned to the room, my thoughts went out to Elias.

"Do you think he's okay?" I said out loud, absentmindedly, as if to myself.

"Who?" Bianca asked. She was arranging my dresses in the wardrobe, dresses I didn't even know I owned.

"Elias," I said. "He took such a beating yesterday."

"Ohh, don't worry about him, Amara," Bianca said. "Elias is a vampire. Maybe you don't know a lot about vampires, but they have self-healing abilities, which means that by now, most of his injuries would have healed. In fact, the only reason they would take this long is because they were given by a much stronger vampire, Master Lucien. But all in all, he'll be fine."

"Ohh, that's good," I said.

"Are you very worried?" She asked me, sitting beside me. She smelt of sweat and something like soap, and I loved having her very close to me.

"Well, yeah, but not really about him," I explained. "I'm scared for myself. I know he can handle himself. He belongs here. Unlike me, I'm just a ... servant girl, a stranger. Even with my own room and all these fancy dresses, I'm nothing. Imagine if Lucien had killed Elias because of me, what would people say?"

"You're right," she said, nodding. "You do have a point. But Lucien is the Master here. He does whatever he wants, and nobody will question him. Besides, I think you should cheer up. You have it better than most of the servants in this palace. Even me."

There was some wistfulness in her voice as she said her last sentence, and it made me wish I had not complained so much about my situation. I said nothing more, afraid to make things more awkward.

"Let me get you your breakfast, alright?" She said, getting up. And just before she left, I told her.

"Can you also get me something, anything, for a headache?" I said.

"Okay, I will," she said as she walked out of the door. "Sorry about the pain."

And with that I was alone in the room. I wished I could go outside, walk around the courts, but I thought that that would be trespassing and I still had to mind myself. I still wished I had some freedom. Apart from Bianca, I had no one to talk to. Deep in thoughts, the door opened and I thought it was Bianca with my breakfast and possibly some medicine, but when I looked up, it was Lucien. I got up immediately. He stood at the doorway, lingering, as if uncertain whether to come inside or go back out.

"Are you okay?" He asked me as he walked in.

"Yes, Master, I am," I said, twiddling my fingers.

He got close to me and held my face in his hands, carefully examining it. The glare from his eyes were so strong that I looked away, and even though I knew that at that moment, he would most likely not hurt me, I was still trepid and my body trembled lightly.

"You look pretty shaken up," he said, to which I nodded.

Bianca walked in, too, and Lucien took a step backwards so that he was not so close to me.

"I'll just drop your food," she said as she placed the tray on the bedside table. She raised a wrapped object from the tray and showed it to me.

"This is a poultice that I got from the court physician," she explained. "You're to use it right after your meal, wash it down with water. It'll help with the headache."

And with that she left the room, bowing to Lucien before she did.

"You have a headache?" Lucien asked, a rare compassion in his eyes, and I nodded.

"How long?" He asked.

"Since I got up this morning," I answered. He held me by the shoulders, squarely, and shoved me gently on the bed, so that I sat on it, looking up to him. I wondered what he wanted to do, but he still had kindness in his eyes and I wasn't so scared.

"Let me help with that," he said, and then he placed his fingers on my temple and looked in my eyes. Orbs of light shot out of his eyes briefly, and with that, the ache in my head was gone. I was quite surprised by this and equally grateful.

"What-what did you do?" I asked him, my eyes widened.

"I cured you of your ailment, girl," he said, chuckling.

"Thank you, Master," I said, bowing. "Really. I'm grateful. Thank you."

He stroked my chin with a finger.

"I'm going to leave you to eat your meal now," he said. "Have a bath when you're done, and have some rest. I want you in my room before noon."

"Ohh?" I said. "Okay, Master."

"Staying cooped up in this room won't help you much, I know," he went on. "You need to go outside sometimes, feel the warmth of the sun on your face, enjoy the breeze. That'll do you much good."

I nodded. He stroked my chin again, smiled briefly and left the room.

For the second time that morning, I was alone again.