Edrich’s Place

(From Ella's Perspective)

"Now now, Your Highness, where have you been all the time?" Jed asked sarcastically.

"God, I'm so sorry. I needed to... my hands got stuck in a gap. It took me time to free them. Mostly because I cried for a long time thinking that my hands would need to cut off from the wrists to free them," I said, managing to get a bit of apologetic tone in my voice which was a bit hard considering the fact that I was never sorry.

"Where?"

"There are two shelves placed beside each other and there was a little gap between them. So I thought... I'm so stupid. I shouldn't have done that," I mumbled. "Look..."

I showed him the red marks on my wrists. I was trying to keep a sad expression on my face to make him believe what I said.

"They look painful," Jed said.

"They are."

"You shouldn't have done that. Really, Leora- you are seventeen now. You still behave like a kid."

"I know," I said. "Have you cleaned the roof?"

"Yeah. There was blood there."

"What?" I asked, shocked.

"Animal blood, a maid said. But I'm sure it was human blood. It was clear by the look on the maid's face. She was behaving as if she was going to burst into tears at any moment. Then I heard that two servants have been killed. One was hanged and the other one was beheaded," he said.

"But why? Did they do something wrong?"

"Do humans have to do something wrong to die here?" he shrugged.

No. It was like a rule here that if the shifters wanted they could punish and kill any human. I kind of appreciated the ones who were planning on killing the shifters. But not about killing Leandro. He was, at least I wanted to believe, different.

"The library was not too dirty. I mean, there was only dust here and there and that's all. No blood or poop. But the library is so big. That's why it took me a lot of time to clean the whole place," I said.

Jed and I worked the whole day to clean the other rooms and bathrooms. It was fifteen minutes past nine when we were finished. Both of us were exhausted.

"Let's go home. I can't bear to stay here any longer," Jed said tiredly.

"Yeah. You better go. I'll meet you out of Edrich's house," I said.

"Why? What are you going to do?" he asked.

"Just go. I'll explain later," I urged.

Jed did not want to leave me alone here. But I kind of forced him to go. There were not many people inside the castle. It was a relief. Most of the time, we did not need to worry about anyone else finding out that we were running in the long corridor without cleaning the rooms.

I made my way into the library and went through the secret passageway. This time I did not dare to put both of my hands in the gap. I had had enough of the fun of getting my hands stuck.

I reached the narrow alleyway. It was dark, even the moon seemed reluctant to shine in this way. The air was not too strong and not weak either. It was just enough to give a chill run over my skin.

I went inside the house where I had hidden the book earlier. As I was sure, no one had come inside the place.

The book was a bit heavy. It took me a bit of difficulty to carry it. I walked ahead of the ally, keeping my eyes on everything for any sign of movement, my ears waking for any kind of sound.

After some time, I came across another gate. It was not locked. I pushed it open and went outside. After walking for five more minutes, I saw the baker's store. I sighed in relief. At least, I was not lost.

Yes, it was true that I did not know if this path would lead me here. I did not know anything about that way. But I still listened to my gut and kept walking. If there was God, He was probably laughing at me or sighing thinking what kind of girl he had sent down here.

Jed had shown me where Edrich's house was. It was a bit more inside the market, right beside a pub. Edrich went to drink there, but that night he was supposed to go to the brothel. The brothel was a bit away from here. Jed said Edrich was going to spend the whole night in the brothel, as he usually did almost every night.

I made my way to the pub. I had never gone inside Edrich's house. I had just seen it from outside when Jed and I returned from the castle. Jed had pointed it from afar to me. It was inside an alley where I did not need to go in to go the forest.

Jed was there waiting for me. He waved at me, but I saw that he was not smiling much. He was looking suspiciously at the book I was holding.

"What's that?" he asked.

"A book, of course."

"Yeah, but where did you get it?"

"An old man gave me this. Well, I asked him if I could get a book on the history and information of here. So he gave me this," I said.

"You could take me with you," he said.

"Well, I got out of the castle from the back door. He lives there. But he doesn't want anyone to be there. I had helped him get up once when he fell, so he did not mind me. He mentioned this, particularly that no one else should go to him. So..."

"Oh ok. Come on in then. By the way, the man you live with has arrived. You didn't tell me he was this..."

"Hot?"

"Yeah," he chuckled. "He has brought food for us. Such a responsible person!"

Huh, responsible! I wanted to tell him that he was doing that only because he made a deal that he could kiss my throat. I still did not understand why he would want to kiss my throat. There was nothing there. I was sure that I was not going to get any reaction from his kissing me there. Yes, I had read on the internet and some books that kissing in the throat turned people on. But there might be exceptions. And I had a feeling that I was one of them. Honestly- what was there in someone's throat?

"Is he inside?" I asked.

"Yeah. He is... not so friendly, is he?" Jed asked in a whisper.

"No, he's not. He is a bit cold. But he is a good person with a kind heart," I said.

"Good to know," he said. "You really like him, don't you?"

"Shut up!" I slapped him playfully on the shoulder.

"What? I'm just pointing the truth out," he said, grinning.

"Whatever. But it's not about me today. You said you'll show me your crush," I said.

"After dinner. He doesn't sleep at night. He draws all night. I haven't seen his drawings, but I bet they are great," he said.

Jed took me to Edrich's house. It was not so big, kind of like a forest cabin. Things were kept here and there with no sign of arrangement. I almost tripped over the torn heavy carpet, but Jed caught me by the waist in time.

If I fell, I was sure I would be in an Olympic position. Jed knew that as well. We both started laughing loudly thinking how weird I would look.

"I would have to carry you up the stairs then. Thank god, you're so slim," he said, laughing.

"Stop laughing. It's not like I fell. I almost fell, but I managed," I said, pressing my lips together fighting a laugh.

"Only because I was here. I caught you in time. Or mother earth would be the one to catch you," Jed said.

He cleared his throat. It was not Jed. I looked ahead and saw that Leandro was there, his jaw set, and something was going on in his eyes. He was looking at Jed's hand that was still wrapped around my waist.

Jed perhaps felt his burning glare on his hand as he pulled back quickly. "I'll get the plates," he said and hastily left the place.

"Hi," I said to Leandro whose expression did not change.

I wondered what was wrong with him. Sometimes I felt as if I could understand him, but now it felt like he was once again behind the mask of secrets, covering himself up fully without letting anyone enter.