NIGHTS OF HALLOW

”Greetings to you, My Lady,” Emily greeted with a bow as soon as Perdita opened the door for her.

”Greetings, Emily,” Perdita responded to Emily’s greeting, her heartbeat back to normal and her expression schooled in order not to give out the earlier flushed face caused by Sthena.

Perdita shifted to the side, her eyes staring at the silent Emily. She gestured with her hand towards the room and told the maid, ”What are you doing standing outside? Come on in.”

”Yes, My Lady.” Emily nodded and briskly walked into the room and Perdita closed the door behind her. She inquired from Emily,

”Have you had your dinner?”

Emily’s bent head slightly rose in surprise at being asked that question which no one had ever asked her since she came to work in the castle. ”No, My Lady, I haven’t.”

”Why?” Perdita frowned.

A small smile appeared on Emily’s face as she replied, ”I will eat with the other maids at night when all works are done. Don’t worry about me, My Lady.”

”No,” Perdita asserted with a disapproving look. ”You look sick to me, Emily. You should get something to eat.”

”You know what?” Perdita continued as she remembered maids cannot have their food at will. She went on to say, ”Go to the kitchen, tell them to serve you for me. They wouldn’t know you’re the one going to eat it.”

”But, My Lady, you don’t have to do that. It’s against the rules.” Emily protested with a shake of her head.

”It doesn’t matter. You are sick and a sick person cannot attend to another person’s needs. Go, Emily.” Perdita held the maid’s hand and walked her to the door. ”When you come back, you can tell me what is bothering you.”

”I don’t know why you keep bowing when you are with me. I asked you not to.” Perdita mumbled and held Emily’s cheek to raise her head, only for her to hear Emily wince in pain.

Perdita turned worried, her eyes already searching for the reason behind Emily’s cry. ”What happened, Emily?!” She probed and went to turn Emily’s face. That was when she saw the deep cut on her cheek.

”Oh my goodness, Emily!” Perdita shrieked in shock. ”What happened to you? How did you injure yourself?”

”It’s nothing, My Lady. It’s just a small cut, it’ll heal soon.” Emily smiled, though the pain was noticeable to Perdita in her light brown eyes. ”Let me quickly go and get the food, My Lady.”

”You go nowhere, Emily.” Perdita asserted and turned Emily to fully face her. Her green eyes narrowed in suspicion and as she saw the exposed hand of Emily which bore many scratches, her green eyes squinted in fury. She demanded,

”Who did this to you, Emily?!”

”I—I” Emily stuttered, her eyes averted from Perdita’s furious gaze.

”Is anyone hurting you, Emily?” Perdita questioned again. Her hands gently cupped Emily’s face so as not to hurt her, she gently spoke to the maid, ”You can tell me, Emily, and I’ll see to it that I report to the king and the person would be punished. Don’t die in silence, Emily.”

Emily’s eyes turned moist at the affection she got from Perdita. No one has ever cared so much about her. Everybody just seemed to ignore her existence. With a nod, an effort in trying to blink back the tears, Emily said,

”I will say everything once I come back, My Lady. I promise.” Emily muttered with a bitter smile etched on her lips.

”Okay,” Perdita agreed, finally releasing the maid. She further said as Emily opened the door of the door. ”Also get the medical kit when coming back. Ask one of the maids to assist you.”

”I will, My Lady.” Emily gave a small bow before leaving through the door.

Perdita watched Emily walk out of sight, her body looked so thin and fragile as if she had no flesh. That is bad. Perdita thought. Maybe she would bring up the conversation with Sthena next time so that the food and sleeping hours of the maids are increased with a decrease in the labor they had to do all day.

Some minutes later, Emily came back to the room with a trolley of food and another maid who walked beside her with the medical kit.

A knock on the door from Emily and Perdita’s voice sounded from the inside announcing for her to go in.

The other maid helped to open the door while Emily paused the trolley inside. She proceeded to dish out the food on the table with the help of the maid she came with.

Almost done arranging the food on the table, Perdita emerged from the door which served as the dressing room for her. She had changed her light blue dress to a black night dress which accentuated the deeps and curves of her body.

”You may leave us,” Perdita told the second maid, who was swift to bow her head, turn around, and leave.

”Eat up, Emily,” Perdita instructed and went to the front of the dressing mirror to make herself comfortable for the night though it pained her to lose the hair Emily had beautifully braided.

”What about you, My Lady?” Emily inquired, still skeptical to move towards the table to eat such food which was only meant for the royal family.

”What about me?” Perdita questioned back. ”It’s about you this evening, Emily. If it worries you, I have had my dinner with Sthena. Ah...I mean the King.” It still felt weird calling Sthena by his name in front of another person. It always caught them off guard.

”When you are done, we will tend to your wounds and you won’t leave this room without telling me who injured you, Emily.” Perdita asserted, leaving no room for argument.

”Yes, My Lady,” Emily replied and slowly went to the table, her mouth-watering along the way.

One bite from the food had Emily wolf down the food in minutes, the sweetness of the food was never like anything she had the privilege to taste.

Perdita smiled in satisfaction watching Emily eat with so much appetite and voracity. Seems like she was really starving. ”Do you want more, Emily?” She questioned coming to stand beside Emily.

”Huh?” Emily’s gaze went to stare at Perdita, her green eyes filled with genuine care towards her. She shook her head and made to stand up while saying, ”No, My Lady. I’m okay. Thank you so much.”

”Sit down, Emily. Where are you rushing to?” Perdita spoke with a reprimanding look. ”We have your wounds to attend to. Also, I’m glad you finished the food.”

”Thank you, My Lady.” Emily appreciated it with a smile. She heard Perdita instruct her, ”Turn around.”

Perdita had already brought out the herbs she needed to use on Emily’s cuts. A small towel was already in a bowl of water she wrung before using it to gently wipe Emily’s cheeks.

”Tell me when it hurts, Emily,” Perdita said as she continued to use the wet towel to clean the cut. With her sharp sight, she could see the glass piece that looked as if it was embedded into Emily’s skin.

”This will hurt, Emily. We need to get it out.”

Emily nodded, silently preparing herself for the pain. She had only cleaned the blood off her face and arms, the glass piece remained inside her skin as she couldn’t remove it herself.

With extra carefulness, Perdita slowly but quickly pulled out the glass piece that left a sharp pain that struck Emily’s bone marrow.

”Deep breaths, deep breaths,” Perdita instructed and went ahead to apply the herbals on the wound where a faint trail of blood slipped from.

”I’m waiting, Emily.” Perdita cast a glance at the quiet Emily, reminding her of what she asked her earlier. ”Who did this to you?”

Emily swallowed a lump that had formed due to her nervousness. She took a deep breath and finally revealed, ”It is the doing of, Lady Rosamonda.”

Hearing the name of the Vampiress royalty who had shown her nothing but cruelty in the castle left a bitter taste in Perdita’s tongue. Her hands clenched as she went towards Emily’s arm to apply the herbal medicine. She quizzed, ”Why? What was the reason behind such punishment towards you.”

”Because I was not able to fulfill the task she ordered me to do,” Emily replied, holding her breath at the inevitable question that was to follow.

And like she had thought, Perdita probed, ”And what task is that?”

Emily’s gaze faltered, her shoulders slumped with a worried look on her face. She didn’t know what the outcome of her revelation might be.

Would Perdita get angry and report to the king, warranting her head to be on the scaffold? Or would she be merciful and accept her back? It was a case of attempted poisoning towards her which could have led to her death had she drank the orange juice. Anyone would definitely be petrified and in turn, kill the maid.

”Emily?” Perdita called the maid whose mind seemed to have traveled miles away. ”What task is that?”

”My Lady?” Emily’s eyes widened in shock. She had drifted away and didn’t get the question of Perdita.

”I asked what task were you not able to finish that made Lady Rosamonda punish you in such a manner?” Perdita repeated as she put everything she had taken from the medical kit back where they were as she was done dressing Emily’s cuts.

Emily stared up at Perdita with her light brown eyes. Her eyelids fluttered in search of hope in Perdita’s warm but curious gaze that all would be okay. That her head would remain intact after her revelation. She opened her mouth, no words coming forth for the first few seconds before she finally revealed,

”The task of poisoning you.”