"Here. Your acceptance."
The crimson envelope glided across the table, its journey ending right at the edge where the young woman sat, her eyes weary and filled with gloom. As it settled before her, a profound numbness seized her senses, extinguishing the chill in the air and diminishing the wafting fragrance of the candles. The room plunged into darkness as every single light source dimmed down till the shimmering silver seal that glistened upon the envelope was the only thing she could see.
"Hiln!"
The stern voice shattered her trance, snapping her back to reality. She lifted her head to meet her aunt's cross sneer, the epitome of disapproval etched on the old woman's face. Strome reclined in her plush seat, cradling a large pink snake against her chest. Wrinkled fingers trembled with vigour as she tenderly caressed the slumbering serpent's head.
Hiln was no stranger to her aunt's disdain. It seemed to radiate not only towards her father but especially towards her. Perhaps it was because she bore a striking resemblance to her deceased mother, whom she had never met. Or maybe it was the fact that her mother had chosen to create a family with such a 'measly' man. Much to Strome's disapproval.
Regardless, Hiln had no choice but to seek her help.
For years, her father had shielded Strome from their family's affairs, but now Hiln found herself at the mercy of this old relative. She blinked, closing her eyes tightly before reopening them as if trying to banish the fear that gnawed at her. Deep down, she knew she shouldn't have come here, but desperation had left her with no other alternative.
She had come crawling to the old woman's feet the minute she realised she would lose her father.
Hiln perused the brightly lit room from the corners of her eyes. Even though Strome's abode was on the outskirts of their small village, it was by far the best-looking despite its modesty. It surpassed even the pompous house of the village head's son.
Strome stood to her towering height, and the heavy chair dragging across the carpet caused Hiln to sit up and clutch the envelope in fright.
"If you are here to waste my time, child, I will feed you to the serpents this very instant," Strome said in a tone deeper than Hiln had ever heard her use, slowly drawing out each word to highlight the threat hidden behind them.
The young woman's blood ran cold.
By serpents, her aunt wasn't referring to the creature in her grasp.
Rather, that was a code word for the vile species that had invaded their civilisation centuries before and culled the human race.
Hiln swallowed the heavy lump in her throat and tore open the envelope to reveal the finest processed paper she had ever laid eyes on. With trembling hands, she delicately retrieved the white paper and unfolded it to peruse the thin cursive ink that lined the paper.
The reality of the decision she had just made set in with a heavy beat of her heart and time seemed to stop for Hiln.
She could do this.
There was no other option.
Her father's illness had pushed them to the brink of ruin. It had taken months to find a foreign healer who could provide a diagnosis, and even longer to discover that the incurable illness finally had a cure, but all that had cost well beyond their means… to the extent that even the neighbouring villages could not provide Hiln with any more loans. And even with a lifetime of work, Hiln knew she could never repay what she owed, let alone afford her father's treatment.
In her darkest hour, she turned to her aunt. The old woman was filthy rich, but despite all that was happening, Hiln very well knew that Strome would not let her have a penny.
But she did know how Strome came to have such wealth.
Her friend, Melody, a former servant of Strome's, came to tell her this herself, after all.
And so, here she was, mere days after she had grovelled and pleaded with the old woman for a position at The Castle.
While she had hoped for Strome's help with this, she could not conceal her shock when the old woman responded to her plea without much fuss.
It was suspicious, but Hiln had come too far to back down.
The letter, intended for her aunt's eyes, announced that Hiln had been appointed to take her retiring aunt's place at The Castle.
A silent moan escaped her throat, her eyes welling up with tears.
"Drink this."
The world came back into focus when the clink of glass against wood resonated in the room. Strome had returned, placing a small vial on the table before her. Hiln hadn't even noticed her aunt's departure. One moment she was standing there, cradling her pet snake and staring daggers at her. The next, the snake was gone, and the old woman was placing a strange vial before her, its contents shrouded in mystery.
Her aunt's intent stare locked with Hiln's, and at that moment, she noticed a raw hunger she had never seen before.