Chapter 9 - Him

Ch.#9
**Recap: (with humor)

An orphan girl(Aldreera) who's family unknowingly dies and leaves her with her godmother. And unless you're a fairy then, godmother's always seem to hate the world and take it out on everyone else but, her godmother punishes her and leaves Aldreera to rot in a cell for over a month before selling her off to a magistrate. In this cell she meets a very peculiar being who bites her and then vanishes. (Vanishes kinda like my dad did.) after she is bought the magistrate then, has her delivered to a place where the main character always seems to end up at an ominous castle and finds herself talking to strange but devilishly handsome men. What more could you ask for, really. This is where the story continues. Here we go!**

The pounding in her chest was so loud in Aldreera's ears that she was afraid that it could be heard across the castle. Her fingers twitched and her arms wrapped themselves around her bosom trying to give some comfort to her shaking body. The tips of her fingers froze cold as her blood circulated her vital organs and nothing else. A coping mechanism.

Her mind went blank. As the door revealed a dark hallway into a small room a gust of air came to touch her feet. A type of air that was made cold by slowly crawling itself over the concrete floor; a type of air that Aldreera knew all too well.
If she didn't know any better she would've thought this man a hermit; whoever he was. The way he lurked in dark rooms, enjoyed the cold; festered in the unknown. Aldreera's thoughts broke like the last thread of a woven string as the dark man began to speak. Plink…

"Come closer." The voice was harsh with a raspiness that came with age. "Step in front of me so, I may see you clearly." Aldreera tilted her head down meekly as she took a step further into the dark room. Once her foot crossed the threshold of the entryway the room became less of a mystery and more of a wonder. Shelves covered with books lining the walls, orbs hung from the ceiling like little silken moondrops falling to earth. Each wonder had its place in the room: each book, paper and trinket and there sitting at the epicenter a man; cloaked in robes of fur and leather. His hands sat delicately but ferm atop the perfectly aged desk. His hair, black like the starry night. His eyes lingering on the fresh body that just entered his quarters. Searching her up and down.
"What is your name… girl." He paused, adding emphasis on the word. Aldreera took a small step closer to get a better look at who was speaking to her.
The man behind the desk lifted his hand abruptly.
"Do not come any closer. No need for your smell to infect any more of this room."
Aldreera was stunned and almost forgot to pick her jaw up off the floor before speaking again.
"My apologies." Tilting her head down in a small curtsy before speaking again.
"My name is Aldreera., sir"
"And your background?"
Aldreera paused for a moment.
"None, sir."
"No family to speak of?"
"They are all… dead."
The man across the room behind the table stood to his feet. Grabbed a kerchief from his pocket and motioned for Sir Ambrose to come forward.
"Is that so…" His words seemed to be emotionless and without empathy.
Sir Ambrose hastily came to his master's side and grabbed the kerchief to hand to Aldreera.
"This is for you, girl. You are expected to wear this around your left wrist at all times. If you remove this kerchief, the outcome will be severe."
Aldreera was handed the kerchief.
"That is all." The master flicked his hand in the air, motioning for them both to leave.
As Aldreera was leaving, she quickly swiveled her head to ask a small, but important, question.
"How would you like me to address you, sir?"
The bear of a man turned his shoulder in her direction and gave a small smile.
"Whatever is most appropriate for the occasion." And with that, Aldreera was pushed out of the room and into the hallway