Chapter 27

Chapter 27
When I got up from the bed, I felt a searing pain in my shoulder, like my skin had been singed. I looked at the bed and some a yellow powdery substance that blended very well with the flowery pattern of the bedsheets. Immediately, I got scared. Was someone trying to harm me? And who was it? No one had access to my room, no one would ever enter the room. Except Bianca. But surely, she wouldn't do anything.

My shoulder still burned, and I held on to it, hurt. I went to the mirror and stood with my back facing it, pulling the straps of my dress down to properly examine it. And I saw something different. The birthmark remained on my shoulder, but it looked like it had been burned in with a branding iron, so that it was more sharply outlined in my skin. It was red and inflamed.

"What the fuck is this?" I said aloud, bewildered.

And just then, Bianca stepped into the room, bearing a tray in her hand. I quickly repositioned myself so she wouldn't suspect anything. I couldn't tell her anything just yet. I still had to remain safe.

"Are you okay?" She said, a puzzled look on her face.

"Yes. Why are you asking?" I said reaching out to collect the food.

"I don't know," she said. "You look shaken up."

"I'm fine," I said. "I'm just tired."

I sat down, holding the food in front of me. I had suddenly lost my appetite, and I just looked at the food. I had grown very suspicious now and worried that, perhaps, Bianca had put something in my food.

"Why aren't you eating?" Bianca asked, a worried look on her face.

"Ohh, nothing," I said, trying to smile. "I know I said I'm hungry, but now, I don't have much of an appetite."

"If you don't like this meal, I could get you something else, something more palatable," she said getting up.

"No, no, don't bother," I said, stopping her. "Bianca, can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah. What is it?"

I breathed in, bracing myself for what I wanted to ask her. I knew it would be weird, but I had to ask, I had to find answers to what was going on. Besides, there was no one else to tell.

"Well, is anyone else coming inside of this room?" I asked her.

"Inside here?" She said. "No. What for? I don't think anyone has any reason to enter here. I mean, it's not off bounds, but people in this palace would be uninterested. Why are you even asking this? Are any of your things missing?"

Her brows were furrowed and her voice was very serious as she spoke, as if she was more bothered about it than I was.

"My things?" I said with a chuckle. "Bianca, apart from these dresses which I can't really call mine, I don't have any things. There's literally nothing to steal here. But something just feels weird in this room, something feels off, as if someone has been here and upset the balance. I don't know. I can't be sure."

She sighed.

"Perhaps it's because you've spending a lot of time with Master Lucien, away from this room," she said. "Staying away often might alter the air in the room, at least to you. But I don't think much has changed."

"Perhaps you're right," I said absentmindedly, staring at nothing.

I began to eat the food, slowly, picking at it, having decided internally that Bianca would do nothing to hurt me and it was all in my head. But the pain in my shoulder, even though it had dulled, still remained, and served as a reminder that something was up.

Soon she left the room, after I was done with the food, and I was left alone again. I examined the bed and to my utter amazement, there was no sign of the yellow powdery substance. I undid the bedsheets and shook it in the air, but nothing came off.

"How strange!" I remarked. I looked around the room. I had been right, something was up. It felt weird. I went to the mirror again to look at my shoulder, and this time, it was no longer red, but the birthmark was clear. I ran my hand through it. I hoped it wouldn't form into a keloid, because that would only make things worse.

I thought of going to Lucien, telling him about it, but I had my suspicions about him too and needed to be very careful.

An exhaustion took over very soon. I had been up very early and had spent time with Lucien making love, and what sapped more energy than that. As I lay on the bed, getting ready to sleep, I thought about what was happening between Lucien and I, how our relationship was slowly changing, how we were no more like servant and master, but more like lovers now. But I knew that I was still nothing more than a servant to him, a pawn in his hand. When he was done with me, when he had had his fun, he might dispose of me. But I had to make the best of the situation right now.

Slowly, I drifted off to sleep.

I had a vision, but it felt more like a trance because I was half-conscious and aware of my environment. I saw myself in the battlefield, but this time, not on the hill but right there on the field. Although I wasn't fighting, the battle was fierce around me.

Again, a soldier charged towards me on a horse. The person was dressed in an armour, a helmet covering their face. She came very close to me, almost running me over with the horse.

"You!" She said, her voice raised above the din of the fight. She pointed a sword at me.

"Me?" I asked. "Who are you? What do you want with me?"

"Don't you get it?" She said. "I am you."

She took off the helmet and revealed her face, and to my astonishment, it was a face exactly like mine.