The next day, Shalei finally met someone else other than Sebastian or Meagan. It was Patricia, Meagan's 12 years old daughter, a sweet girl with freckles over her cheeks and a curly mess of ginger hair. She also inherited Meagan's honey brown eyes. Shalei became fond of Patricia within the first few minutes. She was cheerful, loud and had an adorable gummy smile.
There was just something soothing about a person who could babble on and on about everything mundane and make them sound so interesting, even more someone who understood Shalei's silence and didn't take offense to her lack of response. Patricia was a chatterbox and she definitely could carry the conversation on for two people.
Shalei knew that sometimes, she could be too much and other times, she could be inadequate. It had always been the two polar opposites, never finding a balance.
She grew up to be mindful of the words she was going to say and calculate what the other would respond before she even threw the question out. The skill had rescued her from many unpleasant situations before and it had grown to become a second nature.
Yet in front of Patricia, Shalei could relax. She didn't need to probe, didn't need to be cautious that her words would backfire somehow.
She also had the time to revisit the earlier event of how she woke up in Sebastian's bed with the man sitting on the floor by her bedside, an arm propped on his bent knee as he dozed off. As soon as Shalei stirred, his eyes abruptly snapped open, alert and sharp before he finally relaxed after he took in the surroundings.
"Morning," she had said. She didn't know whether it was truly morning as the sunshine was too murky and golden to be one. The sun had either not risen yet or Shalei had overslept until dusk. Anyway, the sight of Sebastian as soon as she woke up certainly wasn't good for her heart if she wanted to live until a hundred. "You are… there the whole night?"
The corner of Sebastian's lips lifted up so slightly that when Shalei blinked, it had disappeared without a trace. She was stunned. Was it only her imagination? "It's nothing," he answered, which was a yes, he had indeed stayed there for the whole night.
Shalei grimaced and hastily sat up, combing her bird nest of hair with her fingers all the while. She envied those women whose hair still looked smooth and flawless after a night's sleep. How could that even be possible?
"Sorry, I didn't mean to occupy your bed—"
She stilled as Sebastian reached out to tug a strand of hair that had gotten into her mouth and tucked it behind her ears. The man's steel fingers brushed against her earlobe, a ghost of the touch lingering for a second before he pulled away and stood up with one graceful movement that reminded Shalei of the predator on top of the food chains.
"I will prepare some breakfast. Meagan will be here in a second to help you change. Please excuse me." After leaving that one sentence, he walked out of the room as if he hadn't thrown her heart into disarray so early in the morning. She didn't even have the time to be mortified of how disorganized her appearance must be.
"...so that's why I have been telling Mama that we should save the food! It's no use to make potato stew if everyone is not even here!" Shalei's attention was pulled back to Patricia's bubbly chatter. The girl was talking animatedly with her hands gesturing around and she was so lively that she seemed to be expressing her emotions with her whole body. "It's such a waste and I can't even take more than necessary!"
The girl had offered to tour her around the place but because of the sweltering weather, Shalei reluctantly decided to call a stop after they had only explored the first two floors. As much as Shalei would like to know the ins and outs of this place, she wasn't interested in fainting due to the heat, thank you very much.
Her guesses had mostly been confirmed. This was indeed an abandoned house — or mansion, to be exact, judging from the foyer, wide living room and the antique chandelier on the first floor.
Other than that, the mansion was bare save for the kitchen, the only place that seemed to contain all signs of living. The second floor had nothing except for rows of closed doors.
"Everyone is away! They are busy bringing us food and keeping us safe so all I can do is to clean the house!" Patricia told her excitedly.
Right now, they were lounging on the second floor's balcony that directly faced the garden. Although there was no garden worth looking at as all the plants and flowers had withered, leaving a patch of land with tall, wide grass that was undoubtedly uncared for. But at least, Shalei knew that she really wasn't expected to stay in her room all day. She could explore, and she could even do it alone if she had gotten familiar with the area.
…How weird. Sometimes, they really made her feel like an esteemed guest rather than a hostage.
In response to Patricia's complaints about potato stew, Shalei let out a brief chuckle and dapped Patricia's sweaty forehead with a handkerchief. "Then you should use the opportunity to eat more. You're too skinny, you know?"
"Y—Your Excellency…!" She ducked her head, embarrassed at the affectionate gesture. Shalei had to suppress a sigh, here came another person that was influenced by Sebastian. "I am okay, there's no need to worry about me! Moreover…" Patricia's face turned serious. "We shouldn't be greedy. Everyone has their own portions so if I take more, then someone else will have less."
It was unsettling to see such a young girl to worry about the future. Shalei tried to think of what she was like at twelve and found that her memory was already fuzzy, even though it had only been five years ago. Well, she probably did nothing other than going to school and following the schedule of various lessons down to the T.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Shalei offered in distress. "I will see what I can do for all of you later on."
Patricia's eyes sparkled. "Really? You know, your presence has been an immense support for all of us, Your Excellency! Especially now that you are here, all of us can finally breathe!" She was so excited that she coughed hard as soon as she finished speaking. Her little face reddened like a tomato.
"Are you okay?" Shalei asked in concern.
"I am — cough cough cough — okay!" She took an exaggerated deep breath and stroked her chest. "Sorry, Your Excellency. I was too excited."
Shalei couldn't resist patting the girl's head. "It's okay. I understand how you feel."
Patricia beamed widely. "You're truly the best, Your Excellency! Now that you are here, I don't have to pray everyday anymore!"
"Pray?"
"Uh-huh. To the Moon Goddess!" Patricia leaned in, eyes narrowing as if telling a secret. "Everyone said that Moon Goddess is very, very angry. That's why she is punishing all of us. We have to be obedient if we don't want to die." Her eyes mellowed in sadness. "Death is not good. Death has taken Papa away."
"Oh, I am very sorry to hear that, Patricia," Shalei said sincerely. But the Moon Goddess? Of all people, Shalei couldn't have imagined that the people in this group, Meagan and Sebastian included, were those who believed in Gods. Just like Shalei's father. Maybe it was easier to explain the concept of death to a child if one was to say that it was the God — or in this case, the Goddess' wrath. "But what do I have to do with you not needing to pray anymore?"
Patricia grinned cheerfully. "Of course, because Your Excellency is someone who is closest to the Moon Goddess! With you here, all of us can be saved!"