NIGHTS OF HALLOW

The break of a new day was welcomed with the falling of fresh snow that started again in the early hours of the morning after it had stopped during the time of midnight.

The night before had stretched longer than the days before as though it didn’t want the break of dawn to arrive again, and with this, it added to the weary and heavy heart of Perdita that didn’t experience a moment of peace since she retired to rest.

Her green eyes had been wide open and the food that was brought by the maid was barely touched even though the maid had panicked for her to eat having been ordered by the King to make sure the Lady ate her dinner. The food now lay on the table cold, just like how the weather and her heart felt nothing but numbness.

Perdita stretched her arms while she lay on the bed. Her body felt stiff and sore due to the lack of sleep and the stress of the ordeals of the day before. Today, she didn’t feel like doing anything or even getting up from bed. She just wanted to stay in bed and perhaps never get up again, but she needed to rescue Marco. She had to. He was the only person she called family, the only one she could trust in this cold and soul-wrecking world.

Perdita stood from the bed and dragged her unwilling body to the window. Swinging the heavy curtains aside, she opened the glass window, welcoming the cold wind that rushed in and fanned her face with its numbing coldness. Looking at the verse space of the castle where everywhere appeared white because of the never-ending falling snow, she felt her eyes prick as tears threatened to fall from her eyes.

A soft knock on the door had her turn around, her once shinning green eyes now looking dull and emitting coldness from them. Having locked the door to avoid anyone from coming into the room the night before, she made her way toward the door and opened it with a soft clicking sound.

Outside the door, the maid, Emily stood with her head bowed as she greeted, ”Good morning, My Lady.”

Perdita with a stiff smile on her face responded to the greeting of Emily while stepping aside to allow her in, ”Good morning to you too, Emily. Come in.”

Closing the door behind her, Perdita watched as Emily went about making the bed and cleaning the room without uttering a word.

”You are quiet today,” Perdita pointed out as she went ahead to discard her robe and wearing on her nightgown. If it had been before, Emily would have asked how her night was, but today she was quiet and avoided meeting her gaze.

”My Lady?” Emily’s voice held a questioning tune in it as she turned to face the Lady who had spoken to her.

Perdita did not immediately speak as she regarded Emily for a while. She walked forward and stood in front of her and asked, ”Are you alright, Emily? You appear weak.”

Emily’s eyes subtly widened in response and she quickly responded, ”I am alright, My Lady. Please don’t worry about me. Let me quickly draw the bath so you can head to the dining room for breakfast.”

Emily bowed and hastily entered the bathroom while Perdita’s watchful eyes stayed glued on her. Perdita exhaled and slumped to the ground, feeling her body grow more weak. Here she was asking after a maid’s welfare when she herself could barely stand. Perdita thought to herself and let a small weary laugh.

Done dressing up with the help of Emily, Perdita finally stepped out of the room with a strong vigor which was boosted by the zeal to bring Marco back home, safe.

The double doors of the dining room were swung open by the guards stationed outside when they saw Perdita approach. They bowed heads in greeting and Perdita returned it with a bow of her own.

Everyone was already seated around the table with the exception of the King, the Princess, and Marco. The realization that Marco was not there to eat beside her hit Perdita as she fought hard to stop herself from crying, instead, she bit on her lower lip to stop her quivering lips.

Not long after, the door to the dining room swung open again and Princess Sarah walked in followed by Sthena. Everyone promptly stood and offered the king morning greeting before taking their respective seats.

Unlike other days, Sthena signaled everyone to start eating without him joining them. He only took his glass that was filled with blood and slowly took small sips from it, his dark glacial red eyes silently watching Perdita as she forced herself to eat.

”Is the food not your liking, Perdita?” The king’s question suddenly came at Perdita who had been acutely aware of Sthena’s gaze on her since he stepped into the dining room. The memories of yesterday night and Sthena’s confession were still fresh in her brain.

Perdita subtly gulped to calm her heart from giving her away while she slowly turned to look at Sthena. She replied, ”It is to my liking, Your Majesty.” She offered a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes while being surrounded by the brooding gazes of the royal family.

Lady Rosamonda rolled her eyes and continued eating while an evil smile played at the corners of her lips which Sthena noticed and knew the cause of it.

Sthena didn’t bother Perdita with his questions, instead, he started to put food on his plate and began to cut it into tiny pieces. The first piece, he took with his fork and brought it near Perdita’s mouth. He said, ”Eat,”

Perdita’s eyes widened at the gesture Sthena was displaying at the table for everyone to see. She quickly and hesitantly refused, ”Y—you don’t have to do that, Your Majesty. I can eat by myself. I’ll eat now.”

Seeing Sthena not respond to her, Perdita slowly tried to bring down Sthena’s hand but he refused to budge. He repeated himself, ”I said eat, Perdita.”

Left with no other option, Perdita hesitantly opened her mouth, and Sthena didn’t miss the way her tongue peeked out to wet her lips before they enclosed the fork and took the food into her food.

The feeding from Sthena’s plate to Perdita’s mouth continued for a while before Perdita raised her hand indicating she was okay. Sthena proceeded to push the glass of water to her side to drink, his focus entirely on the only green-eyed woman in the room.

As Perdita drank the water, she couldn’t help but question the display of affection he showered her in front of everyone. Was he already courting her?

In response to Perdita’s internal thoughts and questions, her heart skipped a beat when she brought down the glass in her hand and saw Sthena’s unwavering gaze on her.

”Thank you,” Perdita muttered, unable to hold up to the smoldering gaze of Sthena. She heard him reply as her heart continued to thump silently in her chest.

”You’re welcome to eat this way again,” Sthena replied, a small suggestive look on his face. He dropped his fork and knife and resumed drinking the blood in his glass. He saw how Perdita was trying hard to conceal the beating of her heart and the flushed look on her face. His goal for feeding her was to make sure she had something in her stomach since he knew she hadn’t eaten well last night when he inquired from the maid this morning. But since he was greeted with this view, he decided to capture every moment of it.

Perdita looked up at everyone to check the expression on their faces. Her gaze fell on the Princess who was already looking at her with curiosity and also another expression she couldn’t discern what it meant.

Suddenly, she heard the Princess question her, ”Where is your brother?”

Perdita’s hands became clammy as she didn’t know what to reply. She had thought that nobody would care about the whereabouts of her brother and thus hadn’t thought of what to answer when faced with such a question.

She had thought that questions would have arisen because of the actions of Sthena in feeding her, instead, she was being directed with a question she didn’t anticipate. When did the princess suddenly care about Marco?

”I, I mean he is—” Perdita began, only to be cut off by Sthena’s voice.

He said while enjoying his drink, ”Why don’t focus on your food, Princess? Unless you want the answer to your question to bother you.” His warning was clearly understood by the Princess who immediately resumed eating her food without another word unknown to her what had transpired the day before.

Lady Rosamonda from her seat smiled with an evil glint in her eyes as she cast Perdita a knowing look.

At the same time, the doors of the dining room swung open and Daemon walked in. He bowed at the king and said, ”Milord, the church members are here and they have requested to have a brief word with you.”

’The church members?’ Perdita questioned herself while panic began to play at the back of her mind as the fear of being discovered sipped cold into her body. Her body immediately became stiff when she heard the next words of Sthena.

Sthena gulped the remnants of the blood in his cup, and while casting Lady Rosamonda an innocent look, he said, ”What a fortunate time to have the church members in the castle when I didn’t invite them. Send them in so they can join us for breakfast.” His red eyes narrowed at the end of his words as his evil gaze swept past Prince Regan and Lady Rosamonda.

Thank you everyone for your unwavering supports all through last year, and I hope this year will be more fruitful. Happy New Year dears!!!