Victima

by K R Leikvoll

  Chapter Seven

  I was relieved to discover the bathroom was on the eastern side of the castle—or at least the room that had an in-ground tub. It’d definitely been unused for a long period of time, like most of the eastern quarter. There were layers of dust on every surface of the marble room. I'm sure it would've been gorgeous if it was cleaned thoroughly.

  "I will send someone to assist you. In the meantime, I need to see what Codd’s obscure summon is about. Please keep your clothes together; that's what you'll be wearing for a while," she said before leaving me alone. I mean, at least these clothes were better than a dress.

  A small gleam of light peeked through heavy white drapes, catching my eye from across the room. A covered window was positioned behind the bath. I crossed the marble and compulsively yanked the dirty curtains away. Light poured into the bathroom, highlighting every shadow. Outside, the nebula was dancing in the sky. Why would someone want to cover up something so beautiful? Damn, the room was dusty, though. I could feel it shooting up my nose.

  The door creaked open slowly behind me. The reflection of two women through the glass entered hesitantly as if they were unsure. One was the brunette from the night before. The other was a girl with olive-colored skin and dirty-blonde hair. Both wore the same linen robes I had seen on the occasional passing feminine individual. I wasn’t sure whether that meant they were servants or if clothing variety was lacking. Women in general seemed to be few and far between. I was actually relieved to see the brunette still alive.

  "Danielle's old bathroom?" the blonde asked the brunette softly. The brunette set down some towels.

  "Guess so," she replied to her, trying to keep their conversation private.

  "Um... hi? I was going to take a bath, but—" I started saying as I gestured to the empty tub. There were obviously no nozzles for me to turn. The blonde nodded and brought over a massive silver vase. She dumped in steaming water that looked inviting. The brunette started untying my corset.

  "Do not worry, Divinus. We will take care of it," the brunette said, motioning for the blonde to get more water. She left and returned very quickly, so the source had to be close. It took several trips before it was filled completely. I know being a guest means you get preferential treatment, but it was weird to watch someone do extensive physical labor just so I could take a bath.

  Meanwhile, the brunette had helped me out of all my clothes. It was supremely awkward as they blatantly stared at me up and down. It was way worse than a damn locker room. It was probably because I was the equivalent of an alien to them. They noticed it was making me uncomfortable too late and busied themselves with other tasks. The blonde left to go get me something to "lounge" in.

  The other girl instructed me to get into the bath before it cooled. I complied with her and stepped into the piping-hot water. It could have been heated by magic or something, but it felt amazing on my aching body and skin. For some reason, you never know how sore you truly are until you’re soaking in hell-heated water. The bath was big too; long enough for me to stretch out in. I was thankful for that at least as I lowered myself all the way in.

  "This is so nice," I groaned as the water hit my shoulders. The heat made me feel almost not broken. The brunette pulled my back toward her. Unsurprisingly, it shot adrenaline straight into my heart. I was still a bit traumatized. I awkwardly let her guide me until my back was braced against the edge of the tub. A second later, warm water was poured over my hair and face.

  "So who is Danielle? Hasn't been here in a while, I'm guessing. This room looks pretty unused." I wanted to fill the uncomfortable silence. She started lathering my hair and shoulders with some kind of soap. The handmade kind, I assumed.

  "No, she hasn't been here in some time," she said with hesitance, almost as if she wasn't allowed to talk about it. Maybe it was some other woman Kirin had killed in a bloodthirsty rage.

  "Doesn't Kirin scare you? He could make you his food at any second," I said, switching topics randomly. Probably not the most appropriate thing to say to her, but I say stupid shit when I'm nervous. She was quiet as she washed the soap from my hair.

  "I'm not kidding! You gotta be careful," I told her seriously. How could she be okay flirting with death?

  "I would live and die for our Lord if I was called upon to," she replied in a whisper. "If my death means hundreds can live, so be it."

  I wanted to slap her and tell her to wake up. She had to be some kind of mind slave.

  "How does letting him make murder porn with your body help you save hundreds of people?" I asked, genuinely enthralled. The girl didn't seem to understand what I was saying, but she got the gist that it wasn’t positive.

  "You'll have to excuse me, Divinus. My family was killed by the demons. Our Lord keeps the demons at bay. He protects the last of us that have managed to survive this long. I know letting one feast upon you is a sin, but it keeps my son safe behind the walls," she said in a mournful tone. It was almost as though she was begging me for forgiveness. My usual social disorder was starting to show.

  The blonde returned just in time to save me from the oncoming uncomfortable silence. Both girls took their time drying me off, which was probably done to help me relax. Instead, it felt rather devious. Each spot of my skin was pressed against the towel for a moment and softly massaged. The thoughts of their touch distracted me enough to remain silent in my mild distress. I’m sure it was the usual treatment of royalty, but I wasn’t that much of a fan. The blonde helped me into a loose fitting, wispy white dress. It was weird not wearing a bra underneath clothes. The definition of my body clearly showed straight through the thin fabric. They must’ve all been dying without some sort of support. The dress was a halter top that exposed my back and shoulders and formed a "V" in the front. It clinched at the waist, leaving the rest of the dress to hang loosely. It dragged on the floor, giving me the impression that I was unusually short compared to everyone else.

  "Lux Eterna," they said in unison before leaving me alone in the bathroom. Well, what the hell do I do now?

  I exited cautiously. The eastern quarter was super confusing. There weren't any decorations or furniture on this side and the halls twisted endlessly into abandoned rooms. I ran my hand along the stone wall as I walked. How long had this place been empty? I thought to myself as I wandered. It was far more stunning in the eastern side, in my opinion. I imagined what it would look like completely cleaned out. There had to be some sort of reason they’d leave it isolated from the west side.

  After a while, I tried a random door, but it led to yet another empty room. I happened to get lucky enough to catch a crowd of men that looked like they were returning from outside. I followed a safe distance behind, but that didn't stop them all from glancing back at me. A few nodded kindly; some stared blatantly at my chest. It gave me enough creeps to slow my walk even more. As we passed a giant, adorned door, I stopped. I was getting some weird déja vu again.

  It was made of heavy stone with geometric lines carved onto its surface. The door handle was a deep russet color, sticking out suspiciously from the gray tones of the entire castle. I ran my fingertips along the deep engravings. It looked like it was incredibly old; maybe it had been there for hundreds of years. As I got closer, I heard murmured voices on the other side.

  "And what if it doesn't work, Alex? She can't have a child and nobody else can bear the ring. Your plan is based on a lot of assumptions, the biggest being that the old man isn’t dead. The other being that the girl isn’t entirely useless," I heard the low hum of Kirin's voice say.

  "It's the only way. We don't have the manpower for a frontal assault anymore without Evyan aid. We couldn't wait for another Divinus, even if she could reproduce. She will have to do," I heard Alex's voice respond. I put my ear against the stone. "We have to end this."

  There was some silence, then Kirin asked, "What of everyone else? Who will protect them when I'm gone? What if the corruption is so deep everyone is purged?"

  "I cannot t
ell you the answer to that. Eve made me swear to her that we would stop this madness...even if we are the sacrifice," Alex's voice said, barely audible.

  "You don't need to remind me. I carry her mistakes on my shoulders every day," Kirin replied. The door handle near my hand twisted slowly. I threw myself from the door and ran as fast as I could down the hall.

  "Oh! Valentine!" Alex called from the open doorway. I pretended to be startled and turned around.

  "This place feels a lot bigger on the inside," I said as casually as I could to her. Kirin exited the room behind Alex, letting the stone door fall closed on its own. His presence (and ego) filled all of the empty space around us.

  "We were going to go get something to eat," Alex stated. She meant she was just going to get something to eat. "Come with us." I didn't really have a choice. I was self-conscious in another dress; I wanted to go back to my room and change, but all I could do was wait for them to catch up. Alex led the way, walking a bit faster than usual. I followed closely behind her, practically tripping over my stupid clothes. Kirin, for once, walked behind me. I hoped they bought my act. There probably wouldn’t have been a repercussion for eavesdropping, but the thought of being caught still felt panic-inducing.

  Alexandra walked past my door toward the room where you know what happened in. I tried to swing back to my room to change, but I was blocked by Kirin bumping into me. I attempted to move around him.

  "You have to be hungry. Let's go," he said as he put his hands on my bare shoulders. I opened my mouth to protest.

  "Come on, Divinus!" I heard a few different voices yell. Kirin turned me around. Alex was waiting impatiently next to a few people I recognized from the table the night before. Ugh, I was humiliated. I hated these stupid dresses. Especially this one. Please don't make me go in front of all of these people and embarrass myself again. Just let me go back to my room.

  Kirin put his entire arm around me and started manually pushing me toward the dining hall. That stupid asshole! I dug my feet into the floor as subtly as I could—which was not at all. I wanted to throw that smug jerk’s arm off me, but my expectant new aunt was giving me a look that was begging me not to fight. When we reached the door, he almost pointedly kept his arm around me and guided me to my seat. They probably didn’t want me running off alone again. It’s not like I was a damn child.

  Inside the dining hall, a few tables had been added and filled with occupants. Even though there were more people than the night before, they all seemed to be of a higher stature. Most looked like they had at least bathed and had decent clothes. I didn't think my anxiety included crowds up until that point. People were unashamed of staring at me, even if I noticed. Their stares were more often than not only curious. Did they expect me to turn water into wine or something? Speaking of which…

  I stopped caring when Alex put a large jug in front of me. Oh, sweet water. It was the antidote to my hangover headache. I carefully drank most of it, trying not to spill the damn thing on my sheer dress. I could hear muffled conversations around me. Alex was requesting food and wine from across the table. A few people were asking Kirin about the demon fight. I could hear my name on everyone's lips in passing. It made me dizzy.

  "It was too big for a sword. I had to use something that would cut a little deeper," Kirin said with a devilish smile. People laughed and slammed their cups. I was finishing off my water when a bread bowl filled with soup was set in front of us. My stomach compelled me to eat it in as few bites as possible. It was really only my second meal in... I guessed a week? I wasn't sure how long I had been unconscious before I woke.

  I managed to stay on the sidelines as I ate my food. Everyone was preoccupied with their own conversations. Thankfully, it had taken the focus off me. I gratefully accepted another jug of water and drained it. A cool hand brushed my arm as soon as I set it down. I angrily looked over to Kirin.

  "Do you want some wine?" he asked, placing a goblet in front of me. The thought made me want to puke.

  "No, I'm fine," I replied, trying to keep my cool.

  "Don't have liquor where you're from?" a man at the table asked curiously. The entire goddamn room fell silent and looked at me.

  "Uh… we do. It's just not as... strong." I said it delicately. I didn't want to give everyone the chance to laugh at me again.

  "Are there demons where you're from?" another person further down the table called to me.

  "No, the only monsters are human," I replied thoughtfully. I hoped that would be the end of it, but people started randomly yelling out their questions and comments. There were so many that the room became a chaotic mess.

  "How can you tell them apart?"

  "Maybe you cannot see them!"

  "Have you killed many humans?"

  "No demons? What do you do for fun then?" Codd's voice called. Everyone seemed more interested in his question and fell silent. I wanted to say something easy, but I wasn't sure how much they would understand. Both Kirin and Alex were waiting for my answer as well. Alex was trying to encourage me with her eyes; Kirin was smiling like he enjoyed my discomfort. He even tried to touch my shoulder again for some stupid reason. I knocked his hand away. I had to stop myself from punching him in the face. The two-second ordeal felt like a slow-motion eternity. The whole room was still staring at me. Us, rather. Kirin chuckled and drank from the goblet he had placed in front of me as if that’s what he meant to reach for in the first place. Maybe I was just being defensive and overreacted. It was embarrassing to say the least.

  "Study. Drink. Watch TV," I said with a flushed face. Even my chest was flushed.

  "TV?"

  "It's a magical box that lets you see things happening across the world," I said in a flat voice, physically facepalming at my own stupidity. There was some excited murmuring and more questions.

  "Let the girl eat," Kirin said, holding a hand up to quiet the crowd. There wasn't any food in front of me (freshly devoured), but everyone went back to talking among themselves. Alex pulled Kirin's head toward her and whispered something in his ear. They spoke back and forth in a hushed conversation without looking in my direction. They might've been arguing because Kirin turned his body toward her and started debating in whispers. What a perfect opportunity to leave.

  I ducked out quickly and quietly. Some people saw me flee from the table, but they kept their mouths closed. I shut the door behind me carefully to keep it from making noise. The hall was dead silent and completely empty. I couldn’t help practically running back to my room and slamming the door. The first thing I did was rip the white dress off and toss it on the bed. I shoved the surviving sheets off. I looked underneath the bed. Where were my clothes again? Everything was coated with ashes; it stained my hands. I'm pretty sure I saw a tiny scrap of my Dockers in the mess. I hadn't bought them on sale...

  Oh, right, my clothes were in the bathroom. Could I even make it there without getting lost? I reluctantly pulled the dress back on. The ends of it were stained from the cinders on the bed. I pounded my head on the wall from frustration. I didn't even want to see Alex. I didn't want to be dragged around and gawked at.

  As stealthily as I could (I tried to think like a ninja), I opened my door and ran down the hall. I followed the path I had semi-memorized back to the bathroom. As I passed into the eastern wing, it grew even more eerie. It was empty as well. They were probably all eating.

  I passed the engraved stone door from before and couldn’t help stopping. It was barely cracked. Kirin hadn't closed it all the way. I should close it, right? I gripped the rustic doorknob. It felt really warm in my hand as if it were near a fire. Through the crack I could see faint glowing. Curiously, I pushed the door open and walked through the threshold.

  To my left was the source of the glowing. A roaring fireplace was devouring huge logs, creating incredible warmth in the room. It was overwhelmingly soothing in this dampness. To my right was a bed of massive proportions. Maybe a king and a half? It looked like it could hold four full-sized people.
It was covered in a giant, black fur blanket and dozens of silver pillows. It matched the long black drapes that kept the light out similarly in the rest of the rooms. In the corner sat two stuffed armchairs next to a small table. There was a map with a dagger stuck in it.

  Looking at the map, the knife was stuck in a place called "Kaeda." It was across the ocean from the place Alex had told me we were (Naadea). The continents were both broken into several borders. There were more, smaller countries on the other continent with confusing names. On the continent of Naadea, I saw the words "Empire of Lux."

  I heard faint voices coming from far away. Shit. I probably wasn't supposed to be in here. Panicked, I ran toward the open door. It felt like it was ten million miles away as I tried desperately to flee. My vision grew black the moment my fingertips touched the handle. A heavy headrush caused me to stumble into the door onto my knees. Unlike a headrush, the darkness didn't recede. Instead, I was greeted with a white light. It glimmered like a tiny star a mere foot away from me. Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed it.

  The star glowed in my hand, sending light rays out between my fingers. Impulsively, I crushed it like it was made of sand. The light shot out in an upward beam from my hand, traveling endlessly. Gradually, it created a half-sphere around me. Strange...

  The room I had been in previously materialized from nothing, but the decor was slightly different. It wasn't empty anymore. Instead, two people were having a hushed conversation near the fire.

  One of them was Kirin, but he looked a little different. He was younger, though not much younger. He carried less stress on his shoulders, and the space around him seemed to radiate with his presence. His silver eyes reflected in the light, full of concern.

  The other person I could only describe as angelic. It was a woman, dressed from head-to-toe in white robes. They were laced, covered in tiny silver sparkles that cast miniature rainbows around her. Her hair was whiter than snow and it fell almost down to her knees. Her eyes were solid blue, the same shade as the ocean. Her belly protruded from her form, heavy with pregnancy. I could see the same exact ring on my finger clinging to her thumb only a few feet from me.