A knock on the door. I didn't open my eyes and nestled deeper into the pillows. The bed felt so much more luxurious than normal.
Then the knock came again and my eyes flew open.
This was not my room. This was a much larger room, a much larger bed.
The events of the night came flooding back to me.
After Sennen had gone I had kicked off my stupid shoes, cursing myself for wearing them, for thinking something like that could ever make me feel confident. I realised that I didn't walk naturally in them and they only made my feet hurt. They made me more like a child playing dress up than anything else.
Barefoot, I had paced the room agitatedly for ages. There was no clock, I hadn't been wearing a watch and didn't even know if normal time was relevant any more.
My mind went over and over it all. Every detail, each word that had been spoken.
At some point, I thought about my parents and what they would be going through right now. Stopping my pacing, I had looked out of the window.
They would be furious that I had disappeared like that. Perhaps confused. There had been no way out of those grounds without going back through the pub itself. Not with there being a towering wall they would know I could never climb and the tunnel sealed off.
Perhaps they didn't care. Were glad I'd gone. Maybe they thought I was sulking over the things that been said and was trying to get attention. Even though I've never been one to like the spotlight or drama at all. I resisted being sent home from school ill several times in the past, because I knew it would effectively create the drama I hated. I suffered through the day instead.
It suddenly occurred to me, that most people would have demanded to be taken back home. Yet I hadn't uttered one word about it. Thinking about it, for a long time now, all I'd wanted was to get away. Somewhere quiet, somewhere safe. Get away from...everything. My life.
Effectively, that's what had just happened. Sennen hadn't kidnapped me. Led me away under false pretences, maybe. But it had been my choice to take his hand. My choice to step into this other world. I had done that, not just because of wanting to keep others safe, but because I wanted escape from my life.
Going back and facing what I had left behind, wasn't something I wanted to do. At least, not yet.
So, my only option, was to stay. Stay in this quiet place, and figure out why I had been taken there at all.
With that, I had rummaged through the draws and found some pyjamas. Then shed off my clothes and changed, discovering the night clothes were marvellously soft and warm. Finally, I had slipped beneath the covers of the bed, utterly exhausted, and was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillows.
Now, I was awake again in this room, realising how quiet and isolated they were. Maybe that was what I needed. Quiet isolation.
I want to pull the covers up to my chin and nestle deeper into the infinitely soft and comfortable pillows.
But someone had just knocked a third time on the door. A little bit unsure of what to do, I sat up and said “Come in.”
A pretty young woman entered.
“Excuse me ma'am,” a little curtsy. “Lord Sennen suggested I come and see if you require anything this morning.”
Lord Sennen? I sat up a little further and studied her a little more. She looked utterly human and normal. Dressed like an old fashioned servant of my own world. But I instantly liked her.
“You do have a name?” I asked her.
“Lucy, ma'am.”
My mind instantly flew to one of favourite adventures in children's literature. Of how a girl called Lucy stumbled upon another world full of magic.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty one, ma'am.”
She was younger than me. Her life was probably more together than mine would ever be.
“Would you like to breakfast up here this morning, ma'am? Lord Sennen has suggested you join him.”
“Suggested? Not demanded?”
“He says you are free to do as you wish. If you would prefer to be alone, he understands. But I think he greatly desires for you to join him so you may talk.”
Talk. About what? The night before he had duped me into coming to this place and only vaguely explained things. He made himself appear a threat to me and the people I loved, before simply acting moody, almost like I was a nuisance when we arrived. Then suddenly turned respectable, friendly host.
I needed answers though. I had to push down any fears and face him.
So I swung my legs out of bed and padded through to the bathroom. No shower here, just a luxurious bath. I hadn't enjoyed a bath in years.
“Would you like me to run it for you ma'am?”
“Oh, yes, please,” I said, starting to feel daft with the way she called me ma'am all the time. “We don't have one at home. So I'm sure I'd do it wrong.”
“It did take me a while to perfect something you'd think would be easy.” Lucy smiled slightly.
Having run a wonderfully scented and warm bath, Lucy left me to my privacy and I heard her moving about the bedroom as I shed my night attire and slipped into the water. It was heavenly. I felt I would have stayed there all day.
I knew a twinge of worry though. Of fear. If I didn't go down to breakfast, Sennen may very well march in. Despite Lucy saying it was a suggestion to join him, he was so difficult to read. How could I believe he would really just stay away?
So I stayed until the water just started to feel lower, climbed out and wrapped myself in a huge fluffy towel, then returned to the bedroom.
My clothes from the previous night were folded on a chair, my shoes tucked beneath it. As though Lucy had feared taking the things away for laundry in case it upset me.
On the bed were clean clothes. A simple red dress, rounded neckline, long sleeves. Dresses weren't my thing normally. Then again, neither was taking a strangers hand and walking into another world.
I had to let Sia take control and she told me to put that dress on. Red was my confidence colour, it simply made me feel stronger.
The dress flowed down from my waist to just below my knees, feeling light and silky. I studied myself in the mirror and realised how skinny I looked. It didn't feel like that long ago I'd admired my curvy frame. Even feeling there were too many curves. Now, I seemed much too angular. Pale, my face hollow.
Lucy knocked before re-entering.
“I can help you with your hair, if you like, ma'am.”
“Oh...” I didn't want to seem rude and say that I could do it myself. “Alright.”
She sat me down in front og the dresser and then gently combed out my still drying hair. The sensation was actually very pleasant, very soothing. It reminded me of being a child when my mum used to do my hair and when me and Fliss used to do each others.
Fliss. I wondered what she'd thought, when I had been no where in sight.
Lucy was carefully braiding my hair, starting on the top right side, she french braided, down around the back of my head, then created a braid that reached the level of my collar bone over my left shoulder.
“Thank you.” I said. “It looks lovely. So neat.”
“I've had practice,” Lucy told me simply, taking some shoes from the wardrobe for me to slip on. Simple black pumps. In exactly the right size. “Would you like me to show you the dining room?”
“Please. I've no idea where to go.”
I let Sia emerge as we left the room and walked back the way Sennen had taken me the night before. I'd thought it a very dark place. In daylight, it wasn't so bad. Lighter. The walls were grey stone, there were windows here and there. Not much in the way of decoration thought. No flowers, no paintings.
Lucy led me down the stairs and the corridor, but instead of going into the lounge we went through a set of double doors on the opposite side and into a rather moderately sized dining room.
This room was long, rectangular. Relatively plain with bare walls and a dark boarded floor. A window was at one end, a fire place on the other side to the door. Down the centre of the room, a table that could seat eight people but set only for two.
In one place, facing the door, was Sennen. Dressed in blue so dark it could mistaken for black, a shirt done up to try and hide the extent of his scarring. His facial scars looked even more terrible and terrifying in the morning light.
He looked like he was waiting, merely sitting at the table, hands in his lap. Covered platters in the centre of the table.
“Good morning Cassia.”
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