Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
“ V espera, I don’t know what you are talking about.” Arthur grunted. We had been arguing for nearly an hour.
“The tonic you administered me when I was in bed. It was sheer relief.”
“It is the same as the one I just administered you.”
“No. It is not,” I snarled through clenched teeth. “The one I had earlier gave me no pain!” Falling back into the abundance of pillows on my bed.
“It is!” He exclaimed. His arms thrown wide with exasperation before storming out of the room.
I withheld my scream. This was torture. I was like a prisoner in my own bed. After my fall earlier, Arthur had taken it upon himself to lock me in here until I was healed enough. I had been in here for three hours already and I was already prepared to be taken to the asylum. This was madness.
Mary spoonfed me soup and even she was told to leave me be. They believed it was safer to have me alone in my room whilst someone guarded my door. I rolled my eyes. The attacker would get past them easily. He was not human. He was a beast. The sound of the door creaking open caught my attention from my self loathing. I sat slowly, my eyes meeting Maaier’s as he entered the room.
What was this stranger doing here? Was this even safe?
“I thought it best to introduce myself. I am Lord Maaier of Contsa Manor up North,” He announced, standing beside the bed. Peering down at me with his hands clasped in front of him, eyes lingering on my bandaged chest.
He couldn’t have waited until I was dressed could he. And not in this ridiculously thin nightgown.
“Pleased to meet you, Lord Maaier.” I managed, not wanting to come off as impolite.
“Pleasure is all mine.” He smiled, the expression causing my heart to race.
I watched with curiosity as he lowered himself to the chair. Now dwarfed by his large frame. Why was this stranger in our house?
“Your grandmother hired me to watch over you,” He said as if reading my thoughts.
“And you are what exactly? My protector?” I wanted to snort. The only way to keep me safe is getting me far away from this manor.
“I suppose you can call me that.” Maaier smirked, his tone grew teasing.
“What else would I call you?” I cocked my eyebrow. What was I even saying? Why did my mind wander when this man was near? Maaier’s smile widened into a grin.
“You can call me what you like, little bird.”
“Why am I a bird?” I narrowed my gaze. I hated the birds. Such noisy creatures.
“Would you prefer bloom?”
“I would prefer if you addressed me as my name.” I snorted. What was this stranger playing at?
“As you wish, Vespera Florian.” He smirked before leaving the room.
My hand collided with a pillow. Why could I not be left alone to heal? And where was Arthur with my tonic?
I sat at the breakfast table alone.
I had hardly slept. The thought of the attacker coming back plaguing me like a hound. Even with Arthur and Victor protecting me, I now had Maaier to contend with. As I watched the sunset rise over the treeline beyond the large window, I allowed my mind to wander.
Images of a hooded man flashed through my mind. Reaching his hand out to me. Gentle words reminding me it was safe to come home. Wherever that was. A loathsome part of me wishes I did join him. Maybe it was my time to leave this life. Who knows, it may have just been divine timing.
The steam of the teacup tickled my nose as I held it to my face. My legs propped up on the dining table as I leant back on my seat. The only sounds were my breathing and the birds awakening outside. My eyes fluttered closed, relaxation willing its way in despite the past week's events.
“Is this seat taken?” A low drawl sounded behind me. I stiffened slightly before gesturing to the chairs opposite me, keeping my legs on the table. My skirt full enough to still cover them.
Maaier slid into the chair directly across from me, pouring himself a tea before mirroring my posture. He placed his own booted feet on the edge of the table. Leaning back as the sun shone over his skin, he inhaled deeply. The portrait of utter bliss in the morning. His thin white shirt tight on his frame. The man was strong that much was certain.
“It’s rude to stare.” He raised a brow but kept his eyes closed. I rolled my own and faced the window, sipping on my tea.
“You’re up early.” I noted, wiping away the excess tea from my lips with my finger. Maaier lolled his head to the side, watching the movement.
“Couldn’t sleep,” He muttered before looking out the window once more. I don’t know whether it was the lack of sleep or the relaxation of the sunrise but something drew me to speak to him.
“Do you go to London often?”
“No.” He smiled.
I nodded, accepting his simple answer. A beat passed before he spoke again.
“I’m a friend of the family. I used to come down often throughout my youth to visit the manor.’
“You knew my mother then?” I felt the corners of my mouth lift ever so slightly at the memory of her.
“Yes.” Maaier smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “She was a beautiful woman from what I can recall.”
I smiled into my teacup. She truly was. My heart ached for her.
“I’m sorry for that loss. It was a deep one indeed,” He said, his voice low.
“Thank you.” I managed, turning my attention back to the sun. The silence filled the air as we sipped our teas. Content in the company of another. I should have been terrified. I should have called for someone else to join. But a small part of myself won over, telling me to trust him just this once.
“Do you…” we spoke at the same time. A warm blush coated my skin as Maaier chuckled.
“You go.” I nodded, facing the window once more. Silently hoping he couldn’t see the flush of colour that warmed me. What was happening to me?
“I was going to ask if you made plans for today.”
I slid my legs off the table, twisting to face him fully as he did the same thing.
“No.” I admitted as I placed my teacup down. Running my finger over the edge of the rim.
“Good. I think it is a good day to stay inside,” he nodded “your body will still be trying to recover.”
I snorted. “Are you a doctor too?”
“No.” He smiled. The expression lighting up his entire face. “But I do care deeply for the Florian’s.”
I sucked a tooth. Noting the strange sentence but saying nothing. Instead choosing to nod and pour another tea.
Maaier stood slowly, walking over to the window. His expression wistful. As if remembering a simpler time. A happy time judging by the smile gracing his lips. A time I secretly longed to know more about.
The dining hall was freezing as I entered later that evening. Maaier was right, it had rained all day. The once beautiful sunrise, now tarnished by endless dark clouds. The tall vast windows covered in a thin layer of condensation. My steps boomed like a drum with each step of the bare room.
When my mother was young, Grandfather had made it mandatory for her to learn the piano. A skill she thrust upon me.
I was not overly creative but I did love to press the keys and produce a sweet melody. I glanced at the piano in the corner. The dark wood dull with age.
My fingers ran gently across the dust ridden surface. The smile tugging at my lips more genuine than I had felt as of late.
Lowering myself to the padded bench, I traced the last keys mother ever played. My eyes fluttered closed as I was thrown into another world.
The dining hall was full of people of all sorts. Mixed dresses and fabrics swaying to the melody playing. I wove through the crowd like a wraith. Drifting through each couple to where the masses gathered, pure joy decorated their faces.
I turned to where the musician sat on the bench. My mother’s smile beaming back as her long fingers pressed into the ivory. Notes swirled through the air. Beautiful and full of life. Just like her. She was young, only a few years shy of myself. She grinned once more, looking at the congregation before her. Each reflecting the expression. My gaze drifted over them. Hoping to see my father amongst them. Maybe this was the night they fell in love. That blessed night they would tell me about often.
My mother’s gaze finally stopped on one single person. Her spine stiffening the only tell of her hesitation. Who was she looking at? I moved forward as the song ended. Each person clapping and cheering a near deafening applause from every corner of the room.
The crowd shifted slightly, preparing for the next song. Bodies moved as I made my way to mother, careful not to touch as I traced her line of sight. I looked up to find an oddly familiar face. Dark hair and intoxicatingly dark eyes. His hands slowly clapping. His stare fixed on mother. I gasped quietly, taken aback by his hungry expression. The man’s eyes drifted at the sound of my gasp. His stare meeting mine. I opened my mouth to call his name. To ask how he was here too. Only to be cut short by the feeling of being yanked back to reality.
“Do you play?” Maaier’s velvet voice crooned from behind me. I spun to face him. My hair swiping wildly over my face at the force of the turn. The breath caught in my chest as my heart thundered within.
“How did you get here?” I said. My voice tight with emotion. “I just saw you…” my hands trembled by my side.
“I walked through the door,” Maaier said after a moment of silence. Amusement in his features.
I exhaled finally. Shaking my head.
“I apologise, Lord Maaier. I think I haven’t been myself as of late.” I turned back to the piano. Looking down at the keys.
“That is more than understandable. You’ve been attacked twice.”
I huffed, stifling a dark laugh. That was one way to phrase it. Maaier’s gloved hand brushed against the nape of my neck. His touch ever so gentle, like a ghost kissing my flesh. I shuddered under his touch. My body coming to life. What was happening to me? A man had never caused me to feel like this. The fingers brushing now gripped my neck, pulling me back to look at him.
His deep stare boring into mine, searching for something. Did he see that strange vision of the past as well?
His gaze finally fell lower to where my chest was now heaving with restraint. A quirk of his lips the only readable part of his expression. My tongue darted out despite myself, licking my lips almost on reflex, as I watched him do the same. His hand snaked from the back of my neck to my throat. His grip tightening. My heart began to pound, nerves subsiding to excitement. Maaier’s thumb reached up. The pad of flesh pulling at my lip.
“Soon,” He muttered to himself.
I furrowed my brow. He lowered himself. His breath warm against my ear.
“Soon, you will find yourself enough to know.”
I stiffened, disgust and confusion roiled through me. Before I could retort, he was gone. Leaving me more confused than I was before.
The next two weeks passed quickly. I was able to walk again with little to no pain. The wounds on my lower abdomen and chest both healed. Nothing but a scar lining the flesh. A scar so close to resembling my mother’s. I had told the police that. Their only input being that the attacker could be simply copying past methods. My mother had been dead too long for the attacker to be the same. Or so they thought. I wasn't disregarding anything.
The police hadn't found any trace of the attacker and no threat had come to pass again.
Maaier had become a walking pain in my behind. His eyes never straying too far. He would watch in silence as I would read in the library or sketch at my desk. The worst always being when I was in the garden.
“You should have gloves on.” He huffed as if the dirt under my nails offended him.
“Why? So can I be just like you?” I cocked a brow staring at Maaier’s gloved hands. The man never went without them. A strange part of me longed to know what lied beneath them.
“Ha.” He jeered. “You will be like me soon enough Vespera.”
I chuckled at his words. This man was a damned fool if I would become as arrogant as he. Maaier’s smile broadened. As if my small laugh was the greatest sound in the world. I shifted on my feet. A rose between my fingers as I looked at him. His gaze was solely fixed on me. Something about him simultaneously thrilled and terrified me. Like there was more to his story.
That was a week ago. The sun had finally come through the clouds after days of being lost to the clouds. Nothing but roses dared to blossom in the harsh cold. I knelt in the dirt. My hands packing soil around the trunks of the rose bushes. The small warmth from the sun bringing a genuine smile to my face.
I stood quickly, ready to face the heat on my face. My hand caught on a stray branch. Thorns pricked into my flesh. Small beads of blood pooling from the wound. Hurried footsteps moved toward me. Maaier’s gloved hands holding mine.
“Are you alright?” He said. His worried gaze falling to my eyes.
“I’m fine.” I tried to assure him. I was used to it. Gardening was my favourite hobby. Maybe someday I will be able to see the colour they brought to the earth.
“But you could have hurt yourself worse.” His concern wafting from him like waves in the ocean.
“Maaier. I am fine.” I laughed. The strange man’s eyes widened at the sight. Horrified by my tiny cut. I was only glad it wasn’t as red as I had seen it that fateful night, only a slight hint of the colour amongst my grey skin.
Part of me wanted to know who the strange man was who brought the slightest hint of colour to my world. The other however was terrified of seeing a world in colour. I was content in my shades of grey.
The moment registered slowly. This was the only time Maaier had dared to touch me. His gloved hand covered mine. My mind wandered to what his bare hand looked like. If he hid them due to an affliction or something worse. What would they feel like against my skin? Warmth flooded my cheeks. A shiver ran down my spine. My tongue ran over my lips. By God. What was happening to me? This man was a stranger and here I was in turmoil of whether I distrusted him or not. This man could very well have killed me but here I was alone with him, fawning over his touch.
I shrugged Maaier off, withdrawing my hand. Maaier straightened, clearing his throat.
“I apologise, Lady Vespera. It was a misjudgment on my part to touch you without consent." His voice was thick. As if now embarrassed by showing his more tender emotions.
The man was hard in all aspects. Mind and body. He truly was a wonder to study.