I did not stop, crossing the hall and running up the stairs. The upper corridors were empty. Whatever had happened stayed in the dining hall below.
Alina wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face in my shoulder sobbing. I stilled, checking the emptystaircases, but everything was silent around me. I took another turn and arrived at Alina's door. The door was not locked, I frowned, thinking about all the things that could happen if security measures were not taken seriously.
I stood in the doorway, scrutinizing the dark silhouettes of the furniture for a good minute, then I entered the room and carefully placed Alina on her bed.
My hand instinctively reached for the knife I always kept with me as I moved through the room, carefully checking every corner, peering behind the curtains, checking the washroom, and searching the closet.
Once I was certain, I sheathed my knife and lit the candles on the side table. As a warm glow filled the room, I returned to Alina, who lay curled in the fetal position. She was very pale, her large eyes full of tears. She stared blankly at the wall, motionless, silent.
“Alina.”
She looked up, tears rolled down her cheek.
“A child,” she said in a raspy voice.
“I know.”
“You saw it.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“I can’t. I can’t.” She shook her head, averting her eyes.
In two steps I was next to the bed. Kneeling by her side, I placed my hand on the covers, avoiding touching her.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Not this time,” I added and swore under my breath.
Not yet. Not like this. She is not ready to hear what I have to tell her.
Alina leaned closer and her arms wrapped around me. Her delicate, narrow, back shook with sobs. I talked about anything I could think of, just to calm her down. Surprising myself, I realized that I was describing Darragh, and how Frid, Victor, Sol, and I played as kids. I even talked about the times when we got in trouble together. Alina listened and slowly, her breathing turned measured and deep. I stroked her back, describing one of the pranks we played on each other.
“What did Grace say about that?” she suddenly asked, and my heart skipped a beat.
She knew who Grace was. She had seen the same vision I did. I cupped her face and looked into her eyes.
“You know about Grace?”
“Did I say something wrong?” Her face dropped, she appeared so incredibly lost.
“No, of course not.”
I got up, too affected to act as if nothing happened.
“Could you stay until I fall asleep? Please,” she whispered.
Her soft brown eyes pleaded with me. I took a deep breath and nodded. Slowly, I stretched out on her bed, then she placed her head on my shoulder and sighed. We just stayed like that, in a deep, comforting silence.
When she finally fell asleep, I carefully moved fromunder her and got off the bed, then covered her with a blanket. I moved to the side table and extinguished all the lights. I hated this place, all these people, and the way they treated her like a mindless doll.
I opened the door and immediately spotted a shape wielding a sword, barely lit by an oil lamp. It took me only a moment to realize that I just witnessed Mayer practicing swinging his blade with a determination I have never seen in him before. His curly hair dropped to his face as he jabbed the air with his weapon.
“Hey!” he greeted me.
I glanced over to the other side of the hall, searching if anyone else had seen me leaving Alina’s room. Thankfully, there was no one but us.
