NIGHTS OF HALLOW

Inside Perdita’s room, after taking a relaxing bath with the help of Emily, she now sat in front of the dressing mirror while Emily helped comb her long black hair.

Perdita would constantly stare at Emily’s reflection in the mirror while Emily on the other hand would try as much as possible to keep her eyes on Perdita’s hair she was combing.

Emily was too scared to speak, unlike other days when she was always the one who usually went all in to ask Perdita how she was fairing.

Unable to hold back the curiosity that had been on her mind since Sthena asked Emily to keep the glass cup in the library for him, Perdita decided to question the maid.

”Emily,” Perdita called, prompting the eyes of Emily to look up at the mirror to stare back at her lady.

”Yes, My Lady,” Emily struggled to answer as the weight of what she did seemed as though it would break her fragile self. Perdita noticed this action of hers thereby confirming her doubts.

”Are you all right?” Perdita inquired in a concerned voice.

Emily forced a smile on her face that didn’t reach her eyes as she weakly responded to Perdita’s question. ”I am fine, My Lady.”

”Are you sure?” Perdita probed, wanting to know what was bothering the girl.

”Mm-hmm,” Emily nodded in response.

A frown subtly appeared on Perdita’s face. Something was going on for sure. She had noticed how Sthena had subtly deflected her question earlier in the library room, but she wanted to know what the glass cup was all about. Was there anything in the cup? She asked herself as she couldn’t come up with any answer to any of her questions.

Perdita cleared her throat, thinking of the best way to deftly bring up the topic.

”About the glass cup earlier—” She drawled, hoping to get the attention of Emily to the topic she was bringing up.

Emily’s hand stopped midway into pinning Perdita’s hair with the hairpin she had in her hand, her heartbeat slowly quickening its pace.

Perdita continued, ”Is there something I should know of?” Her green watchful eyes keenly stared at Emily through the mirror, watching her every move. She detected the faint change in Emily’s heartbeat. ”Feel free to express your thoughts with me, Emily. I would really appreciate it if you did. I won’t judge you.”

”Ehm—” Emily contemplatively began to speak, her voice laced with uncertainty. She looked as though she wanted to say something but then decided against it. Instead, she said in a careful tone void of suspicion, ”I don’t think there is anything, My Lady. I am also surprised as to why, His Majesty took it.”

When she left to get Perdita another drink from the kitchen, she was informed by another maid that the King and her lady left the library room which made her come looking for Perdita. She had been shocked to see the king unaffected by the poison and her first thought had been that perhaps, it didn’t affect him, the warmth of relief washing over her. Emily thought.

Was that all? Perdita wasn’t satisfied with that answer, but she decided to let go for now. Not totally, but in trying to get the answer from Emily. Perhaps when she would ask Sthena again, he would be kind enough to tell her.

Just as Perdita remembered Sthena, she remembered what he had done and her face was quick to turn into a scowl. That arrogant vampire hadn’t even tried to apologize to her, instead, he had indirectly called Mark’s smell a foul scent.

”Your hair is done, My Lady.” Emily bowed and stepped aside to allow Perdita to admire her new hair in the mirror.

Her hair had been combed to the back, and the sides braided halfway to stop in the middle of the hair. The remaining strands of hair from the half-done braids were folded into a rose bun. A golden pin held the rose bun in place and several other small pins were used to decorate the sides of the braids.

Perdita loved how Emily made her hair look so beautiful and it complimented her light blue colored dress. Her green eyes shone in gratitude towards Emily and a small smile graced her lips.

She touched her hair, careful not to destroy the work of Emily, she expressed, ”Thank you, Emily. You did a wonderful work.”

Emily returned Perdita’s smile, happy she loved her hair. She bowed and replied, ”I am glad you like it, My Lady. It’s a pleasure to serve you, My Lady.”

”I wish I had someone like you as a friend, Emily,” Perdita stated with a soft sigh. ”I wish to have you as a friend, but I still feel insecure about such things, I’m sorry. Please, always be honest with me, I would really appreciate it if you do.”

The sincerity in Perdita’s voice touched and warmed the heart of Emily, her eyes threatening to spill tears when she thought of how the order from Lady Rosamonda had destroyed the connection she was trying to build with Perdita.

In that instant, Emily made up her mind to speak. It was better she spoke up than die in silence with her name appearing as the vile person

Emily’s lips quivered as she called after Perdita, ”M—my Lady.”

”Yes?” Perdita who had gone to select the accessories to wear answered with a hum. She reached out to the earrings and necklace placed on the table that was a matching color of her dress and wore them.

”T—there is something I want t—to tell you. There’s something you should know.”

Perdita’s head was quick to turn around to stare at the maid. She skeptically questioned, ”There is something I should of?”

”Yes,” Emily vigorously nodded her head. She was going to tell her Lady. Since the king knows what Rosamonda did, then Perdita might probably hear from him later. It was better she heard it from her point of view than another person telling her.

”Go on,” Perdita urged, her ears piqued to know what happened. ”I’m all ears.”

”The glass cup—” Emily began with a pause. She took a deep breath to calm her jittery nerves as what she had done weighed heavily on her shoulders.

Meanwhile, Perdita didn’t say anything, she allowed Emily to make up her mind before telling her what the glass cup was all about.

Another intake of deep breath made up the mind of Emily as she opened her mouth again to speak.

Simultaneously, as Emily said her first word, a knock on the door interrupted them, and before long, they heard the voice of the visitor.

”My Lady,” The voice called from outside and Emily went to open the door. Three maids waited outside with their heads bowed as one of them relayed their message.

The maid said, ”His Majesty has called for your presence in his Chambers, My Lady.”

In his Chambers? Perdita wondered.

”I’ll be there shortly,” She replied.

”My deepest apologies, My Lady,” The talking maid slightly raised her head with a perplexed look on her face as she continued to say, ”We are ordered to escort you now, My Lady.”

Perdita pursed her lips in displeasure. Of all times to call her, it was now Emily wanted to tell her what was bothering her. She turned to Emily, a sad smile on her face as she said to her, ”We will continue our discussion later. You can get some rest while waiting for me.”

”I will, My Lady,” Emily complied with a bow. She nervously bit her lower lip, feeling her anxiety and anxiousness grow with each passing second. She watched as Perdita left the room with the maids trailing behind her. Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears. Not long after, the tears threatening to spill from her tears fell in drops as her legs went limp and she slumped to the ground.