I glare at her back until she leaves the room. Then, I turn my hard gaze on Maya, who stands next to the door.
“If you get me another shard or a knife, this time I’ll not fail,” I say darkly.
Maya doesn’t react to my words.
Not too long after, Mathilde comes back with two young maids. They go into my bathroom, and a moment later the sound of rushing water reaches my ears.
“What do you want from me?” I ask Mathilde. “Why are you doting on me?”
“It is my job and duty to care for all members of this household, miss. I’ve done it for decades now.”
Members of this household. Talbot’s household, she means. I cringe internally at the thought of it. I hate it. Everything about it.
“Your bath is ready, miss. Do you need my assistance?”
She offers with no malicious intent, but I sneer at her still. It’s an instinct to recoil. With shaking legs, I get out of bed and shuffle towards the bathroom, where two maids wait for me by the bathtub filled with steaming water.
They watch me patiently, in silence, as I climb into the damn bathtub after refusing their assistance. Slowly, I submerge myself in the hot water. A sigh escapes my lips once I’m fully in, my body relaxing into the soothing embrace. Oh, it feels so good despite the circumstances.
The maids are swift and professional as they wash my body and carefully tend to my braids while I simply sit and let them. What’s the point in fighting women who are simply doing their job? As far as I know, they may be just as much a prisoner as I am.
Once I’m clean, they help me out of the bath and use fragrant oils to lather my skin and hair until I’m fully pampered. When they wrap me in a plush towel once they’re done, I thank them both.
Mathilde looks up at me from her knitting with shining eyes once I return to the bedroom. “There you go. Feel better?”
I wanna argue and say that I don’t. But that would be a lie. A warm bath and tender pampering does make me feel better. At least a little. So, I simply give her a weak nod and go to find something to wear.
When I open the closet, I only find my tailored suits. I stand there, staring at them for a long moment. Years ago, I chose to exclusively wear tailored suits because it was something nobody ever wore. Caetras were decorative, elaborate. Beautiful creatures to please House Dzuni’s and the Order of Ezkai’s eyes.
Once my name was known in all the important circles, I had no need to look like others. Wearing minimal, structural suits was a way for me to stand out in a crowd.
I have no desire to wear those suits. Not here, not right now. So, I turn to Mathilde.
“Can I have something else to wear?”
Mathilde blinks at me, but quickly recovers. She nods and rises. “Of course, miss. Give me a moment.”
When she leaves the room, I sit on the edge of the bed still wrapped in my towel. I look at Maya, who stands straight as a bowstring, eyes focused ahead of her on nothing specific.
She wanted to help me back in the cell. She knew what was coming for me.
I break the heavy silence between us. “Were you forced into servitude, or was joining Caligos a choice?”
Her gaze flicks to mine for a second. At first she doesn’t answer, so I assume she will ignore my question. But then, she says, “It’s always a choice…between bad or worse.”
Right then, Mathilde returns with a bunch of clothes in her arms. Humming a tune under her breath, she sets them out for me to choose from. I pick simple linen pants and a matching shirt in a light brown color. Once I’m dressed, I sit in one of the armchairs by the fireplace.
“Would you like to go for a walk, miss?” Mathilde asks me.
I glance at the grey mist that lingers outside the window and shake my head.
With the cloudy sky,night falls quicker. Once it’s dark outside, Mathilde brings me dinner. I’m tempted to resist, but it would be childish of me. If I refuse, she will either feed me or get the two Caligos to intimidate me into eating.
I refuse her help and eat by myself sitting near the fireplace. Days spent locked in here are long. If Reizei’s goal is to drive me out of my mind, then he’ll soon succeed.
I’ve never spent so much time doing nothing in one place. It makes my skin itch.
“A light walk after dinner is good for digestion, miss,” Mathilde says once I finish eating.
