SWNOVELS Chapter 8: Questions
It took hours for John to calm me down last night, and even now I am still frazzled. He's assured me that if the King wanted me dead then it would have happened by now, and that everything will blow over if I just keep my head down and stay quiet today. I don't know much I believe that though, my mind full of doubt and worry.
Hopefully the King will be gone all day and I won't have to see him. He's gone most of the time anyway, so it's likely that he won't be there today.
I've never been particularly fortunate though.
I continue staring at the door in an attempt to work up the courage to go inside. I'm sure that the guard will tell the King of my odd behavior, but even that knowledge isn't enough to get me to open the door any quicker. I contemplate running away- just leaving through the servant's entrance and disappearing into the woods.
I'd probably do it if it weren't for the fact that the Beasts often go out and run at night. They'd find and kill me by nightfall.
My thoughts are cut off by laughter coming from down the hall. It's followed by an angry shout from a voice I recognize immediately. My head snaps to the left just as the woman from yesterday comes around the corner, guards on either side of her holding her arms. She fights to remove their hold, but they only laugh at her attempts and continue dragging her down the hall in my direction.
Fear rushes through my body, scared of what she will do when she sees me. Realizing that I either need to face her or the King, I decide to pick the lesser of two evils and turn once more to the door. The handle feels smooth in my hand, and I only hesitate for a second before turning and pushing the door open and quickly stepping inside.
I look around the room in search of the King, relieved to see that it is empty. The room, on the other hand, is a complete mess. It looks as if a tornado ripped through here. Broken glass lies everywhere and almost every object appears to have been thrown onto the floor.
"Sorry about the mess."
I look up, immediately spotting the King standing in the hallway that leads to the office. His hands are shoved into his pockets, shoulders hunched over.
I back up against the door as I regard him, hesitant to do anything until I can better determine his mood. He continues to stare at me, but does not move. His eyes wander over my face, following the length of the cut I received yesterday.
He pauses at my neck, squints, and lets out a sigh.
"Your neck is getting infected." He states.
Frowning, I bring my hand up and softly touch the cut. It gets a bit deep on my neck, and stings as I poke it. I flinch at the contact before dropping my arm back to my side.
The King sighs once more, before turning and walking into the bathroom. I stay where I am, unsure of what to do. Should I just pretend like yesterday didn't happen and begin cleaning like normal? Am I expected to apologize for last night?
Deciding that the best course of action is to just begin cleaning, I tiptoe to the cleaning closet next to the kitchen to grab a broom and dustpan. It'll be best to start with the broken glass. The King exits the bathroom and I slow my movements, but continue with what I'm doing.
"Stop with that." I glance up at him, and he motions to the broom in my hand. "Sit down."
He gestures to the barstool underneath the kitchen island, and I cautiously do as he says. I sit on the very edge of the seat, watching him with narrowed eyes as I try to gauge his intentions.
The King lifts his hand, showing me the first aid kit he holds.
"I'm not upset with you. I'm just going to clean your cut, okay?" He says, pointing to my neck.
I want to ask why, but instead just nod my head in obedience. He walks closer to me, carefully stepping around the broken glass and stopping once his feet are only inches from mine. He sets the kit on the counter and pops it open, showcasing a multitude of products that I've never seen before.
Servants don't typically have access to any sort of bandages, and are often expected to clean up scrapes with body soap and paper towels. It's not the most effective method and often leads to infections, but it's better than nothing.
"Jade wishes for me to marry her, which is why she came in last night. She and her mother are leaving today, so you shouldn't reencounter her." He says, voice almost sounding kind.
I nod, eyes tracing the floor's wood pattern. The King sighs, and I feel his fingertips touch my face moments later.
His prodding is gentle, and after a couple of seconds I feel some of my unease start to leave. I couldn't tell you the last time somebody touched my skin, and it admittedly feels pretty nice. Sometimes I would give John or Vera a quick hug after a long day, but they were brief and often quite awkward.
John may have made a good point last night- if the King wanted me dead he would have either killed or had me killed by now. And given the King's kind attitude towards me today, I am starting to believe him when he says he is not angry with me.
"You can talk to me you know." He grunts. "It's not exactly fun having a one-sided conversation." His hands pause for a moment on the deeper part of my cut before continuing. "This is going to hurt."
As the words leave his mouth he presses a cold, wet cloth to my neck. Immediately my skin is on fire and I jerk away, hissing in pain at the sensation.
The King's free hand loops around the back of my neck, squeezing gently to hold my head in place. I look up at him in anger as he brings the cloth back to my neck.
His eyes are zeroed in on my wound as he bites his full bottom lip in concentration. I try to jerk away once more, causing his hand at the base of my neck to tighten further in response.
"That hurts." I finally murmur, continuing to try to move my head away.
His eyes snap to mine, and I see what looks like pity in them. "I know, but I'm almost done. Whoever cleaned your cut last night did a shit job."
I frown, embarrassed at the fact that it was me who cleaned it last night, and had felt that I did a pretty adequate job too. He continues rubbing the disinfectant on my neck, the stinging slowly mellowing out.
Smiling, the King pulls the cloth away as he releases his hold on my neck.
"There! Not so bad, was it?" He questions, sounding smug.
I huff, not justifying his question with an answer. He doesn't seem to mind, and I watch as he sets the cloth down and reaches back into the first aid kit. He pulls out a tube and squeezes some clear gel out onto his finger.
He brings said finger to my neck, intent probably to apply it to my cut, but I pull away before he can make contact.
"I'm fine. I don't need all that." I say, scared that it will sting.
The King looks between my neck and his finger, before understanding flashes in his eyes.
"This part won't hurt." He assures me.
He seems sincere in his tone, but I'm also not great at being able to tell when people are lying to me.
He's the King, though, and I'm not really in a place to refuse his help. Giving in, I tilt my head to the side, giving him better access to my neck. I tense up as he brings my hand to my throat, relieved to discover that he wasn't lying when he said that the gel doesn't hurt. In fact, it feels cool and brings instant relief to the scrape.
He's tender in his movements, and I watch his face as he works. His eyebrows are furrowed in concentration and eyes focused on my wound. Up this close, I can see light freckles smattered across his cheeks and gold flecks in his eyes.
I heard once that all Beasts have gold flecks on their irises, and that it's their inner beast watching through their eyes. It's probably just folklore though, humans having made it up as a fun story for their children.
The King looks up suddenly and makes eye contact with me before focusing once again on my neck. He grabs a large bandaid from the kit and puts it over the deeper part of my cut.
No Beast has ever been so kind to me before.
In fact, I don't think I've ever heard of a Beast, let alone a King, being so kind to any human before.
My mind wanders to all the rumors I've heard about him, and I wonder how much truth is in them. All the talk about him being a crazed, evil monster seems wildly exaggerated given how nice he's been to me since I've arrived.
"Did you like the pasta the other week?" He asks casually, striking up a conversation.
I nod my head, eyes widening in surprise at the question.
"Yes, sir. It was very delicious. Thank you for giving it to me." I answer truthfully, mouth watering at the memory.
The King smiles, seemingly pleased with himself. "I enjoy cooking. I will make you something as an apology for your neck."
He suddenly steps back and evaluates his work, nodding in approval at the bandage on my neck.
"What do you want me to make?" He continues.
I frown, not sure how to answer his question. I've never eaten anything else, and to be honest I don't really know what I like. There are hundreds of dishes I've always dreamed of trying, and I worry about picking the wrong thing.
"I've always wanted to try meat." I answer honestly.
King Heloix nods. "Noted."
I smile softly, wondering if he will actually follow through with cooking me some food. I won't be surprised if he doesn't, but a small part of me hopes that he does.
"I need to get going, but don't worry about getting everything cleaned up today. If it gets late, feel free to leave and finish up tomorrow." He says, turning away from me and quickly heading to the door.
I watch from the stool as he moves around the apartment to grab a couple of things before leaving. The door slams shut behind him, and I stay put for another couple of minutes trying to make sense of what just happened.
I gingerly poke at the bandage on my neck, surprised by the lack of pain I feel. With a sigh, I hop off the chair and go about my cleaning.
The glass takes a while to do, and I end up pricking my fingers a couple of times while trying to pick the pieces out of the rug. The rest of the apartment takes just as long, and before I know it it's gotten pretty late.
I look around the space, eyeing all the work that still needs to be done. Was the King being genuine when he said I don't have to finish it all up today? He seemed sincere, but for all I know he could wake up tomorrow and think differently.
It'll take another two or three hours to get everything completed though, and it's already so late that by the time I finish I'll be lucky to get even a couple hours of sleep.
Deciding to take the risk, I put away all the cleaning supplies and leave the suite, not so frightened at the thought of seeing the King again.