It was dusk when I got home, and all the servants were bustling and hustling around us. Word had gotten home that Adriana was missing, and everyone including her father, mother, her sister and her brothers were waiting outside worriedly. Her mother, a pretty middle aged woman whom Adriana looked the spitting image of even had tears in her eyes.
Almost immediately, her elder brother Darian took her out of my arms. "Is she alright?" her father asked in a deep but pleasant voice. "She'll be fine sir. she was kidnapped by slavers." I replied. "And the slavers?" He probed further. "I took care of them sir." He nodded in approval and joined in the small crowd conveying Adriana to her room for treatment.
Halfway to her daughter's room, Adriana's mother stopped and came towards me. "You... saved Adriana my child?" she asked. I nodded. "I was just doing my..." I began before Adriana's mother drew me into her embrace, sobbing even more. "Thank you. Thank you so much." She drew away shaking a little, but then she noticed that the skirt of her dress was stained with blood.
She tentatively traced it to the injury on my lap. Her eyes went wide with concern. "You're wounded!" "It's nothing." I replied bluntly. "Nonsense!" she replied in a stern motherly tone. "We'll have it cleaned immediately."
She asked a serving girl to fetch someone called Priscilla immediately. I guessed that was the physician of the manor. A few minutes later, a girl with long cropped hair made her way towards us. I recognized her as Mera's friend. "Take this young man away and help him get his wound cleaned this instant!" She said to the girl before she made for her daughter's room.
**********
It'd been twelve hours since I rescued Adriana and after I had gotten my wound cleaned, I washed and changed my clothes. Now I was more relaxed. I would have gone to see Adriana immediately, but my position in the manor was merely her bodyguard and I didn't want to overstep my boundaries. I was also worried about Gaius. He didn't turn up for the night, and we hadn't heard any word from the servant we sent to look for him this morning.
As I continued to think, the door was pushed gently open, and a small feminine face peered at me. We stared at each other for a while, then she finally spoke. "The young miss is waking up, so I was told to inform you." "Thanks.'' I said flashing her a smile. She took a second glance at me before her small head disappeared through the door again, a shy smile on her face.
i hurriedly got up from my bed and half ran towards Adriana's Chamber. There was a spare chair next to her bed. I sat down on it, and held her hand. Her eyes fluttered open almost immediately and I could see a smile playing over her lips. "Bren?" "How's your head?" I asked noting that the bruise had faded. "Throbbing." she said sitting up, and we both chuckled.
"I'm sorry." Adriana said biting down on her lower lip as she noticed my bandaged lap. "For what?" I said amused. "I know this is all my fault. I mean, if I'd just let you protect me, instead of wandering off like a brat, you wouldn't have gotten hurt."
"What?! No! I'm the one who should be sorry. I put you in danger." I said. "Those men, the slavers, they wanted me. And that is why they took you. Honestly I don't think I can ever forgive myself for...". "Shhh." she said placing a finger on my lips. "It's not your fault. Don't ever think for a second that it's your fault." she continued.
We froze for that moment, and then she took her finger off my lips. To my bewilderment, Adriana then leaned forward and kissed me gently. I felt my brain shut down at that moment, and I just stared at her like a zombie. "This isn't the first time I've been in dangerous situations. I'm the governor's daughter after all..." she said. "...I'm just grateful you saved me in time." She continued.
When she saw how dumbstruck I was, a hint of pink splashed over her cheeks. I reached out and combed through half the length of her thick, soft red hair with my hand, then lowered it to caress the fair white skin of her face whilst leaning forward to kiss her at the same time. Adriana barely hesitated before kissing me back. She tasted of mint and apples and when we finally stopped to give ourselves time to breathe, her hand was resting lightly on my shoulder.
"That girl from the market, what did she want from you Bren?" Adriana asked with a more serious look on her face. "She was one of the first people I met when I got here. I don't know why, but she wants me to meet her at some temple tommorow at noon." I said.
"And will you go?"she asked. I nodded. Adriana looked perplexed now. "Please don't go Bren. I have a bad feeling about this." she said. "Silvia said it was urgent. She could be in trouble and might need my help." I insisted. "Are you sure you don't want to go for some other reason?" Adriana said, a jealous glint in her eyes. Now l laughed. "I do admit that Silvia has a thing for me, but I have no feelings whatsoever for her."
The corners of Adriana's mouth twitched in a shy smile. "she's just more or less someone I happened to meet when I got here." I said fiddling with her fingers. I kissed her fingers gently and stood up. "I must go now. You need rest." I was about to step out of the room when Adriana called after me. "Take care Bren." I turned around to give her a reassuring smile before stepping out of the room.
*************
Ever since Adriana had gone missing, I felt like I was losing my mind. The longer I felt her absence, the more I felt that I was going crazy. I had followed the tracks of her foot to a wild forest beyond the river, and found two fresh corpses to my horror.
Could Bren have found her? I wondered. I was certain that I would not be able to forgive myself if anything happened to her. And so far, all the signs that I had gathered all pointed to the fact that Adriana was in danger. I stood fuming by a side of the road when a delicate hand cropped my shoulder. I turned immediately in alarm.
It was Priscilla, the physician of the manor. She had long cropped blonde hair, nice grey eyes and a charming smile. Priscilla was a gentle, considerate lady who hardly ever was at odds with anyone, but I was in a bad mood and the least bit concerned about how she felt. "What are you doing here Priscilla?" I asked coldly. She flinched at my tone, which was a whole lot different from the soft spoken manner with which I usually conversed with her.
"I was sent to inform you that the Lady Adriana has been found."
"Really?! Oh thank goodness!" I said obviously relieved. "You have also been ordered by the madam to come home immediately." she added. "Thank you." I said with a little warmth before I started running towards the manor. I got there quickly, the least bit bothered about Priscilla, and turned towards Adriana's Chamber. I didn't care how she'd been found, but I knew I wanted to be the first person to see her early this morning.
On getting to her door, I halted so quickly that my boots made a loud 'screech!' on the floor. I patted down the strands of my hair that'd gone wild when I was running, and inspected my uniform. I had somehow managed to keep it neat all this while, and full of smiles, I eased the door open a bit.
What I saw shattered my heart.Bren was in Adriana's room, sitting next to her, both of them lips touching In a kiss. I managed to close the door, but I spun on my heel towards my room. I sat down dejected on my bed, feeling a lot of emotions, rage being the most of all. There was a flower vase on my reading table, and I pushed it off angrily at the same time screaming in pure rage.
I sank to my knees, burying my face in my hands when Priscilla came in. She looked at the flower vase which had now become a scattered mess all over the floor, and back at me with pity. Cuddling me to herself, Priscilla whispered soothing words to me as I sobbed gently. Then, for some reason I lifted up my head and looked into her eyes. She gently wiped my tears with a soft cotton handkerchief that smelt just as nice as she did.
Then, leaning in softly, she kissed me, in that simple act expressing all the emotions she'd been holding in.