Chapter 23

Chapter 23
The look in his face was bewildering and it sent shock waves rippling across my naked body. For what seemed like sn eternity, he held me by the hands, firmly, and was looking upon my shoulder with such concentration.

"What?" I asked again. "What is it?"

I was frightened already, and I'm sure he could feel me quivering. He looked at me for the first time, a hardness in his eyes. And then he looked back at my shoulder.

"This mark on your shoulder, where is it from?" He said, letting me go and taking a step back. I tried to look at my shoulder but couldn't get a good view. But I knew what he was talking about. There had been a birthmark on my shoulder since I was born. It was oddly shaped, but I had never really paid it any attention.

"It's just a birthmark," I said, chuckling nervous. "It's nothing."

A desperation had come over me. I wanted him to stop acting so weird, to come back to me and continue kissing me. But something had changed in the room and I knew by the look in his face and by the way he moved about that it was something really serious.

"That is not just a birthmark!" He barked. "That mark..."

He stopped in his tracks, looking at me, as if trying to figure me out. I stood there, naked, confused and helpless, wondering what had all led to this. It was dark outside already and the room was lit by torches that hung from the wall.

"Master, do you want me to go and maybe come back some time later?" I asked him, trying to redeem the situation.

"No!" He said. "Yes! Ahh, I don't know."

He sat on the bed, his head buried in his hands. I could hear him breathing laboriously and I knew he was in despair. I tried to look at the birthmark again, but it was hard because of the position it was. I picked up my dress from the floor and threw it over my body. And then I went to sit with Lucien. I put my hand on his back and rubbed it.

"Do you want to be alone, at least for some time?" I asked, still rubbing his back. "We could do this some other time."

He straightened up and looked at me sharply. And when he saw that I had put the dress back on, he slid it off my body and looked even harder at the birthmark.

"This is not just a birthmark," he said, under his breath, more to himself than to me. "This is the Blood Sigil."

"The blood sigil?" I asked myself. "What is the blood sigil?"

"Go to your room now," he demanded. "Come back tomorrow. I need some time alone to think. Okay?'

It felt like he was trying to be harsh and gentle at the same time. I got up, still confused, straightened myself up and walked out of the room. When I was just outside the room, I breathed in deeply. Lucien's behaviour had deeply unsettled me and I needed some air. So instead of going straight to my room, I decided to go to the garden.

Under the cover of darkness, nobody could see me and I strode through the court unnoticed. I headed for the garden, hoping to sit alone there. From the outer section of the court, I could see that there were torches already lit in the garden. Only a few people were there. But as I got even closer, I saw familiar figures sitting on one of the benches. When I looked even closer, I saw that it was Bianca and Elias.

My heart leaped. Something about the way they leaned into each other told me it was not the first time they were meeting like this. And something also told me that whatever they were discussing had to do with me.

I stopped in my tracks in shock before making it to the benches, but almost as soon as I sat down, they stood to leave. I sat on the bench for a long while, fazed, multiple thoughts running through my head. I still could not figure out what had happened with Lucien and I wished he had told me in clear language.

After a while, when I was the only person in the garden, I stood up and made my way back to my room. When I got to my door, I discovered that there was someone inside, and on stepping in, found that it was Bianca. She looked shocked to see me.

"Ohh, you're here?" She said, breathing quickly, avoiding my eyes. "I thought you were going to spend the night with Masters Lucien."

"There had been a change of plans," I said. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing, really," she said, looking around. "Just ... keeping the things in order. Also, I sort of got bored and thought I would stay here for a while. I hope that's not a problem."

"No, it's not," I said coldly, undressing.

"You must be hungry," she said. "I'll get you some food. Is that okay?"

"Alright," I answered. When she left, I looked around to make sure she had not been snooping through my things but everything seemed intact. I couldn't shake the feeling that Bianca meant me some harm but I tried not to dwell on it.

When I had taken off my clothes, I decided to look at the birthmark and see what had made Lucien so disturbed. I stood naked, with my back to the mirror, and looked at it. And then I saw it, properly, for the first time. It was like a tendril, and the way it curled on my flesh, it seemed like it had been carved in by someone. I continued to look at it, wondering when the mark had gotten so elaborate, as if it had been drawn-out, because I had never seen it like that before.

At that instant, the door opened and Bianca stepped in with a tray of my food.