Ryder won’t hurt me like that though and I know that I shouldn’t feel scared or threatened by him. I really do trust him, he’ll keep me safe. Without a doubt I know that he will. There’s just something different about him and the way that he touches me. It was his touch that I felt on the street as the water from the road soaked into my clothes after whatever attacked me. Pain was coursing through my body from the injuries that I sustained and the warm tingles that I felt calming and distracting me from the sharp pinching. My eyes move down to the bandages that still wrap around the ripped skin of my palms and look to the table at my side and see that there is a glass of water and the two tablets that look the same as what Ellie gave me yesterday. Still now he is making sure that I don’t hurt and that I’m healthy as well. This is the first time that I have thought of the attack against me. What and who it was that attacked me. One more reason to know that I am safe with Ryder if not even my thoughts have moved to something that was so dangerous, that if he weren’t there I wouldn’t have survived. “Lottie?” Ellie calls me back from my trance. “Tea will be served in half an hour if you wish to join the King. Cyrus and Theo will walk you there when you are ready.” Soft blackness fly’s quickly past the window to my right. The black feathers of the bird standing out starkly against the cream marble of the massive castle. Letting out a breathe I watch through the long windows as it swoops down over the gardens. I let it distract me as I try to think about whether I will join Ryder or not. “Your doctor has put you on a diet plan to put your weight up to a healthy level and either way, if you want to be served in here we can do that as well, but you must eat.” Ellie continues not really allowing me to give much thought. “I’ll eat with Ryder.” I say quietly my eyes moving over her body before moving them elsewhere. Her head drops down a sympathetic smile stretching her cheeks. “Would you like me to help you get dressed?” Ellie looks more like she wants to leave the wing of the castle then to stay here and help me get dressed. Letting out a small laugh I tell her that she can leave and her smile changes from the sympathetic one to a relaxed one. Getting up from the bed, I pick up the clothes that have been rested on the back of the closest lounge. The clothes that I had on yesterday aren’t there anymore and I can only guess that Ellie has taken them. Slipping on the clothes that still hang loose on me despite how much I was fed last night, my eyes move over my ribs as my fingers timidly move over the skin. Some of the bruises have darkened and some have turned a lighter yellow colour and the short raised and stitched skin has turned redder and I’m sure that it’s not supposed to turn that colour. Sighing as I drop the shirt down I’m reminded to take the two tablets as I wince with the same sharp pulling pain from the area that I had that night. Swallowing down the tablets, I take a seat back down on the bed trying to calm my mind before I go to eat with Ryder, again. Twenty minutes later there’s a light knock on the door and the guy that introduced himself last night as Cyrus takes a step in. He looks more relaxed now. His eyes are trained on my face and I try not to look him in the eyes. “Are you ready to go miss?” Cyrus’ voice is quiet hinting to him being nervous, much like the others to begin with. Why the guards are so nervous around me doesn’t make much sense to me. They may only have a hand gun sitting against their waist but by the build of their bodies and towering heights I know that they have possible trained there whole life to be guarding Ryder and to be guarding me for Ryder. If anyone was to be nervous around the other, it’s me around them. “Where exactly are we going?” I ask quietly, begging to get nervous about being with Ryder again. Cyrus’ head turns to scan the other room as he answers. “Just down to the next level, it’s not far.” Nodding I move over to the door and I get a look at the other guard with him called Theo. He’s slightly taller than what Cyrus is but not as muscled and lean. His straight blonde hair is scruffy looking as if he couldn’t be bothered to even attempt to style it. His green eyes compliment it perfectly though. “Morning, Charlotte.” Theo’s voice is deep like the others but he is the first to give me a genuine smile as he lightly nods his head at me. “Morning, you can both call me Lottie. Miss, is too much.” I say my eyes moving over the windows, looking at the lush green grounds as I’m lead through the rest of the suite. Theo is a step behind me the entire walk and Cyrus is one in front of me as he leads me out of the room. We pass three maids on our way down the stairs and down the wide corridor on the right of the sitting room on the floor below, towards the back of the castle underneath where my room would be. The three of them run their eyes quickly over my body before they dip their heads at me. Not once did they look at the two guards though which made me that much more nervous. Theo quietly tells me to keep moving down the hall and its then that I realise that I stopped. My eyes had been continuously trailing over the ink that had been injected through all the layers of Cyrus’ skin on his bulging, strong arms. Up until now I haven’t fully questioned the reason why I’ve had the guards following me.