Are you okay?

Three days had passed since that unfortunate encounter Dahlia had with Azriel and luckily for her, she hadn't seen him since then. However, she made more effort to make sure she avoided him and the stables at night. 

It was supposed to be a perfect solution but for some reason, his absence made her more bothered than his presence did. It was a lose-lose situation for her either way.

"You seem a little out of touch these days, is everything all right?" Lydia asked Dahlia as she approached her.

"Everything's fine, I just have a lot on my mind."

"You know you can always consult me if it gets too much to bear on your own."

"I know." Although she was smiling at her, Dahlia knew she wouldn't be consulting Lydia anytime soon. She did seem trustworthy and she'd been nothing but kind to her since they met but Dahlia was the type of person to never open up no matter how hard things got for her. An expected result from her not having a true confidant to talk to about every matter no matter how little as she was growing up.

"I almost forgot!" Lydia exclaimed, "Lady Analice asked me to call you to her room."

"Me? Do you know why?"

"I just ran into her on my way here and she asked me to call you, she didn't say why though."

"Alright, thanks for telling me."

Dahlia left the stables immediately after talking to Lydia and headed straight for Analice's room.

"Come in." A sing song voice could be heard from inside the room moments after Dahlia knocked on the door.

"Dahlia dear, how have you been?" Analice excitedly greeed her as if they hadn't seen each other just a day prior.

"I've been well, thank you for your concern, my Lady."

"No need to be so stiff around me… Come, have a sit." Analice patted to the empty space beside her on the red fluffy couch adjacent to the large window.

With much reluctance, Dahlia took a few steps foward and sat beside Analice. 

"I wasn't always like this." Analice wiped the invisible tears on her face as she spoke.

Dahlia nearly rolled her eyes at Analice's melodrama. "What do you mean?" She managed to ask.

"I'm sure by now you know everyone here thinks I'm too strict and harsh on them,"

"Yeah…" Dahlia furrowed her brows in confusion, unsure of where the conversation was headed.

"The truth is I am strict- too strict in fact, for the last two decades I've been unable to feel any normal emotions so I end up treating people terribly but-"

"The last two decades?! How old are you?" Dahlia asked the only thing she picked up from all Analice said.

"Darling, I'm forty five,"

"What?!" Dahlia flung her hand to her open mouth in shock, "I thought you were only two years older than me at maximum,"

"Oh, you flatter me too much, I might not look it but I'm an old woman."

"But how do you look so young?" Dahlia eyed Analice up and down, checking out every inch of her body for a single sign of ageing but she found none, not even a single frown line. Analice was as perfect as a porcerlain doll.

"I can tell you my secret if you want." Analice mischeviously smirked and raised her brows simultaneously.

"I do- I do." Dahlia excitedly replied like a child eager to learn a new trick from her parent.

"Oh dear, your're so excited," Analice threw her head back in a fit of laughter, "The story of my beauty secrets is for another day, for now lets finish what I wanted to tell you."

"Oh, right." Dahlia was back to being serious.

Clearing her throat and straightening her posture, Analice continued, "As I was saying, I'm unable to feel basic emotions so I unknowingly end up treating people poorly but that all changed when I saw you. There's just something about you that makes me want to feel things-."

As if the weight of what she was saying was too much, Analice paused and downed the glass of wine by her side before continuing, "When I see you, I feel compassion, care, sympathy, pity, and most of all I feel the need to protect you in a way I haven't felt in years. I'm sure as you've noticed, I give you better treatment than anyone else here and that's because there's something about you that makes people drawn to you, they feel an inexplicable urge to protect you and keep you happy if that makes sense."

"How come the only urge most of the people here feel is the urge to bully me and taunt me at any given opportunity?" Dahlia ranted.

"Analice's gaze softened as she gave Dahlia a warm smile, "It's just jealousy darling. They're jealous that they're not you so to make themselves feel better, they're trying to put you down."

"I guess so…" Dahlia muttered, still not fully convinced.

"Besides, I'm not the only one who feels that pull towards you, take the king for example, I've seen what he's been doing and I'm sure he feels something too."

Dahlia's face heated up instantly at the mention of Azriel, her most recent forbidden fruit, sin in human form.

"Ooh, what's with that reaction on your face," Analice squinted her eyes at a now fidgeting Dahlia.

"Ehem," Dahlia cleared her throat, "It's nothing, continue what you were saying."

Analice wasn't convinced by Dahlia's half assed reply but she ecided to ask about it another day, "Anyways… Where I'm headed with this conversation is I know you were unfortunately sold here, I know how badly the others here are treating you and I know you're trying so hard to bottle it all in so my question is… Are you okay?"

Dahlia was thrown aback by Analice's question, she wasn't expecting to have such a deep conversation with her or have her ask her such a question and yet there they were, speaking like they had been friends for ages. "I'm okay." She gave a short reply before looking away uncomfortably, not wanting to open up old wounds- wounds that never healed..

"That's not want I want to hear," Analice turned Dahlia's face back toward her, "Close your eyes and channel the answer from here," She placed her palm on Dahlia's chest and tapped it rhythmically, "The heart never lies, so with your eyes closed, think deeply once more, feel all that you decided to seal away and let yourself go, loosen up those chains you used to guard yourself and don't hold back, Dahlia… Are You Okay?"