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“And I will repeat my answer. I do not know. She had overstepped her bounds anyway and stupidly painted a target onher own back by antagonizing you. She knew more than anyone where she lived. And yes, I will still investigate to be certain.”
“I can’t believe this.” I sighed. “Was she from the slums too?”
“When I met Diana, she was going by the name Reya. She had snuck to the upper levels and tried to rob me. I caught her and told her that if she could sneak into the school and pretend to be a servant in training, then I would hire her. She did it even though she was deathly ill. I brought her into my house, treated her sickness, and she had served me ever since.” He was still for a moment and heaved a sigh. “Maybe everyone in this house is destined to die.” He sat down and ran his hand over his face.
I wanted to rebut, but I couldn’t. I was set up and sold, and then shot at, and almost drowned. “I don’t want to believe in that type of fate,” I muttered weakly.
“I doubt fate cares. Do you believe we’re destined to die soon?” He didn’t look me in the eyes when he asked. His voice no longer carried confidence with it. “Of all the titans who arrived here, you a dwarf is my fated one. I know this will lead to my ruin and even death, and yet I can’t stop myself from wanting to touch you and hold you near. Perhaps it’s fate guiding me to my end—”
“Cut that out!” I exclaimed, worried about where his head was at. “There is no such thing as fate or destiny. I wanted you to take me because I think you’re attractive. I hope you think I’m attractive, too. Your people created a stupid rule so they could look down on anyone who isn’t them. They could just as easily say the rule was false and rethink it. You don’t need some cosmic fate for all that. If they punish us, then it’s because they wanted to reinforce their own prejudices. And Diana isn’t dead now because of fate, it’s because she just couldn’t—”
“Stop talking.” He turned to me, the light going out of his silver eyes. He gathered me in his arms and held me close, burying his face in the nape of my neck. I wrapped my armsaround him. I didn’t know the right words to say to him to make him feel better. I know now that I will be far more careful with my words and actions going forward so that this never happens again.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
KAL
One Month Later…
Hannah became the new head servant, and Thorsten made no mention of acquiring any more servants. No one spoke of Diana, not even a whisper, and it was perhaps the most peaceful time I’ve had since coming to this house. My face and eye were healed, but my vision was too blurry out of my right eye. The dark green color was now a very pale green. I kept a patch over it. The chemicals left a burn scar from the corner of my right eye to the edge of my hairline that was now missing a small patch of hair like a one-sided widow’s peak.
The acid singed most of my hair around the patch and my hair was too short to cover it, so I cut my hair to match the length. I now had very short hair with a stupid bald patch near my forehead. I never in my life thought I cared about my looks. I thought I was above it all. That fancy clothes and perfectly clipped hair were for vain stuck up playboys, yet here I was usingmy subpar makeup skills to patch up the scarred, discolored skin on my head. It didn’t work all that well.
Hannah entered the room with a cart of small chocolate desserts. Like the others since that day, she barely said two words to me, attentive yet quiet. It pissed me off, but I also expected it.
“Can you fix this makeup?” I asked, trying my best to extend the first olive branch.
“Yes, Sir.” She took the brush timidly in her hand and began to go to work on my skin.
“I heard you went out to the market this morning, how’s the weather?” Ugh, I cringed at such a generic topic, but I had nothing else to go on. I haven’t set foot out of the apartment since I got here. No trips to the places where thralls mingled. I didn’t know how to ask, and I was afraid of meeting the other thralls as if it would solidify that I too was one of them. Did I look down on them?
“It’s gloomy, but the sun is shining.”
“Ah.” Silence was an easy path, but I wasn’t interested in the easy route. “Hey, why don’t we have like a get-together or something. Invite all the servants here to the thrall room, and we can raid the kitchen and shoot the shit.”
She didn’t reply, which I guess meant a hard no.
“Speak, dammit!” I demanded with a slam to the vanity, causing her to jolt and drop the brush.
Regret engulfed me. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to say anything. You can go.” I stood and straightened my tunic and walked out of the room. Just what the hell was happening to me? This place was driving me crazy, that’s what. Sitting in this damn house day in and day out with nothing to do was driving me insane. When was the last time I was able to swim? I wondered if Jaxon was okay, and I missed my father. I finished my lessons with the old woman, and there was no need for her to come back.Whether I was good at showcasing what I had learned remained to be seen. Thorsten didn’t tell me much about this debut, just that I was to have it. He avoided all discussions about it, preferring to resort to kissing me or asking me questions about far-flung topics to throw me off. Truth be told, I didn’t think he was looking forward to it at all himself.
Zane chopped up an array of vegetables in the kitchen, only stopping when I arrived.
“Carry on.” I gestured before opening and closing the fridge. “Need any help?” I asked, hoping this would be a good ice breaker that would lead to busying myself.
“No, Sir.” He replied and continued to work.
“I’m a decent cook, and I know some recipes I used to make.”
“If you tell me what you like, I can make it for you.” He replied, at least his tone was more natural than everyone else’s.
“Or I can make it and let you try it out, and maybe you can imitate it…” I hated this.
“If that’s your wish, Sir.”
Gio’s entrance saved me from this conversation. “I knew I saw you come in here.”
“Yeah…” I tried avoiding this one as much as I could.
