CHAPTER 57
Waking up, I find I am still in the same position I fell asleep in. My face heats up when I realize I drooled on him.
“Sorry,” I mutter, and Silas laughs softly as he wipes my drool off.
“Where did they go?” I ask in panic, they left me with him, left me in bed with him alone?
“They went to the caves. They’ll be back before you know it,” he says, sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed.
I watch his muscles shift as he stretches, his back cracking loudly, making me wince.
“Next time wake me,” I tell him.
“You mean you will let me sleep in here again?” he asks, looking down at me, making me realize what I just said.
I say nothing realising how stupid that was to say.
“It’s fine Lora, come on you must be hungry,” he says holding out his hand.
I am hungry but my need to pee is greater than my hunger.
Climbing off the bed, he sighs when I ignore his outstretched hand and walks into the closet. I waddle to the bathroom to pee.
When I return, he’s gone, but he left my dressing gown and slippers on the bed. Slipping them on, I head to the kitchen, hoping I can keep something down today.
It was always an odd feeling walking into the kitchen and expecting to see Marian scolding everyone, or busily rushing around the kitchen.
I miss her and this place just doesn’t feel the same without her.
What is more shocking though, is finding no cooks in the kitchen, only Silas as he rummages through the fridge.
“Where is everyone?” I ask looking around.
“I told them they can have time off till after the baby, they left this morning after the storm,” Silas answers when suddenly, Peter walks in behind me.
“Hey Silas, Elora,” he says, giving me a nod. I watch as Silas passes him the teabags down off the shelf and Peter makes himself a cup of tea.
“Didn’t know you drink tea Peter,” I tell him.
“I used to drink coffee, but Silas reckons I talk too much when I do. So, tea it is,” he says, and I see Silas smirk at what he said.
I am more shocked to find out they actually have spent time together and how comfortable Peter seems to be around him, because when I first came here, Peter would run at the mere sight of him.
“Can you help me with stables, doors blew open overnight, one is broken, and hay is everywhere?” Peter asks.
“Yep, need to remove the tree from the back rooms too,” Silas tells him, and Peter shakes his head.
“Nah, Pluto and Ares did it this morning and put some boards up,” Peter answers him.
“Okay I will finish up here and come over, have you eaten this morning?” Silas asks him. Peter nods.
“Yep, Pluto made a damper on the fire. It was so good, although I feel like shit now after eating too much,” he says, sipping his tea while walking out. I go to follow him out and go in search of something to do when Silas stops me.
“Breakfast first,” Silas says, making me turn around to look at him. Silas walks over and I step back, worried with how quick he moved. He grabs my hips, putting me on the same counter that functions as his chef’s table. “You like omelettes?”
“Yes, but…”
“But no cheese,” he says with a chuckle and I nod. I watch as he cooks, he isn’t a man of many words unless we are arguing, so the quiet is nice, even if it was tense at first.
Silas walks over to a kitchen cupboard and grabs something down. He takes two cups and fills them with orange juice, handing me one along with two white pills.
“Your nausea tablets from Victor,” he says, flipping the omelet. I take the pills and sip my juice as he finishes cooking.
Silas lifts me off the counter, setting me on my feet, then nods toward the small table in the corner. I sit, and he brings our plates over joining me. We eat in silence—awkward, heavy silence—while I avoid looking at him, though I can feel his gaze on me.
“What are you doing today?” he asks as I take my empty plate to the sink.
I shrug. “Maybe check if the cradle is done, read… not much else to do.”
Silas nods.
“How long will Matitus and Dragus be gone?” I ask.
He tenses slightly and turns to wash his plate.
“They will be back when they can,” he says, turning the tap off and facing me.
“What?”
“A couple days Lora, then they will be back”
“A couple of days?” I ask, and I feel myself start to panic. They left me with him for a couple of days?
“It will be fine, you have me here,” he says, reaching forward but I step back. He drops his hand with a sigh. “It will be fine, you will be fine,” he says as I shake my head feeling tears well up. “Lora?” he asks as I turn around leaving and heading for my room.
I’m pissed, unable to believe they would abandon me—this far along and with Silas of all people.
Stepping into my former room, I find a huge wooden board covering the hole where the tree crashed through. Rocks from the stone walls litter the floor.
Frustrated, I head out to grab a bucket and broom, spotting Silas slipping through the front doors as I reach the cleaning cupboard. Grabbing what I need, I return to the room, ready to clean up the mess myself.
It takes a couple hours to clean up the mess the tree made.
We have to keep running buckets back and forth outside to discard the rocks.
When I finish, I go find some logs for the fireplace.
Stacking them in, I then change the bed linen.
The day passes by quickly when I decide to go look for something to read.
Walking in the study, I freeze when I see Silas sitting at his desk.
He looks up when he notices me walking in.
“Where have you been?” he asks, watching as I rummage through the bookshelf for something I haven’t read yet.
“In the room,” I tell him. Grabbing one off the shelf I walk out heading back when he calls out to me.
“Have you had lunch?” he asks.
“Yep,” I lie, quickly walking off before he realizes that I’m not telling the truth. Honestly I am afraid of eating with my stomach doing backflips all day.