Yes. I did say I desired to leave the village and maybe go out of Kerva. But one place I never fancied being in was the castle estate of Kerva. Why? Because that was where the Dark Lord lived.
One should always be careful of what they wish for.
"The Dark Lord wants to see me? Why? I thought he'd want to kill me?" I asked the steward, Gilbert.
The man laughed like he had heard the funniest thing on earth. "You must be mistaken, milady. The Dark Lord has no intention to harm you." After gaining composure, he replied.
"Well, I wouldn't put it past him, seeing what his men did to my father." I scoffed.
"And a tragedy that was. Horace was one of the finest physicians in the land. Apologies milady on your father's death."
I rolled my eyes. This butler guy was apologizing on behalf of his master who would never change. The Dark Lord wouldn't be the Dark Lord if he suddenly changed his ways.
"Why does he want to see me?"
The steward shook his head in regret. "I'm afraid I do not know the answer to that. But I'm sure that he will meet with you soon, to answer your question."
"How long will it take till he's ready to see me?" At least I should know how long I would be in this place for. I still had to go back home and check the state of things. To see if the patients in the infirmary were okay. To see if Papa had been buried. Oh Papa, I thought as tears misted my vision again.
"I'm sorry, milady. The Dark Lord has important affairs of the kingdom to run. He might not see you right now, but soon." The butler told me.
Well, for a steward he wasn't helpful at all. Did he really not know when his master would come and see me? I sank back into the bed in despair.
"Don't feel bad milady. I'm sure his majesty will see you soon."
Oh he had better, I thought.
The girl who had come with the butler dropped the tray she was holding beside the bed and bowed a little.
"Your breakfast, milady." She said in a high pitched voice.
"Please eat and make sure to let the guards outside know if you need my help." Gilbert bowed and he left along with the maid.
Now I was all by myself again. I looked around the room I was in. It was very fancy. The fanciest I have ever seen. My room back in the village had only by bed and a rack for hanging the few dresses that I own.
But in this room, there was a spacious bed on which I laid and it was quite comfortable. There was also a changing screen and a huge closet beside it. There was also a large vanity mirror and a very comfortable -looking plush sofa.
A comfortable prison was a prison nonetheless. I would wait for the Dark Lord to tell me whatever business he wanted me for.
A lot of crazy ideas ran through my head as I thought of what the Dark Lord could possibly need me for. Did he bring me here to torture me into telling him where Rowland was? I only know he was at Vidiya and nothing else. But if he brought me here to question me and torture me, he would take me to the underground dungeon where I couldn't see the light of day.
He might not have brought me here for torture then.
Did he bring me here to make me his slave? Maybe he had the intention of adding me to the workforce of the castle estate because of my medical knowledge. That seemed like a plausible one.
But then if I was a slave or a servant, there was a servants quarters for that. And I bet the Dark Lord servants aren't treated with such luxury.
Then what was it?
One thought made me gasp. Did he bring me here to add me to his harem? There were lots of rumors going around in the village that the Dark Lord had hundreds of beautiful ladies to satisfy his urges and they dared not say no to him.
I ran to the mirror and examined myself. There was nothing about me that stood out really. My eyes were as grey as wood ash and they didn't sparkle like Adeline's. My skin was not as pale as nobleman Umbridge's daughter, Jeanette.
My hair was just brown and lacked sheen. It has always been tied in a plait because when you run an infirmary side by side with your father, beauty is not really your first priority. Especially when the patients were in so much pain. Me looking extra pretty won't make their illnesses disappear.
I had nothing that the Dark Lord would seek in a woman, except of course...my womanly parts. Flopped unto the bed with a cry.
Why would he want me? He has probably never met me before. So why, why, why?
I took in a deep breath and sat up on the bed. All this thinking was making my head hurt. Maybe I was over reacting. Maybe the Dark Lord had a legitimate reason why he brought me here.
Oh please, who was I kidding? The reason he was called the Dark Lord was probably because he didn't ascend the throne legitimately.
My stomach grumbled. And my eyes darted to the tray the maid had dropped. If I was abducted from my village yesterday evening, it meant I hadn't eaten anything since yesterday morning. All this tears, thinking and mystery has got me hungry.
I moved closer to the tray and opened one of the dishes. It was a bowl of diced fruits. Apples, pears, strawberries, peaches and other exotic fruits I didn't know of. In the other bowl was pudding. In the third plate were scones and they appeared to be freshly baked.
I debated whether to eat it or not. What if they were poisoned? But then I thought again, if the Dark Lord wanted to kill me, wouldn't he have ordered his men to do it back at the village? Why go through all the stress to abduct me, bring me to the capital, throw me in a lavish room and then poison me?
Before I could stop myself, I ate a piece of fruit. Then another, and another. And another until the whole bowl was empty. I checked to see if I felt any discomfort but there wasn't any. I was feeling normal. Maybe there was no poison in the fruit. I'll just eat the pudding next.
I took a teaspoon and tasted the pudding. It tasted divine! There was no way a delicious pudding like this could be poisoned. Soon enough, to my utter dismay, the pudding was gone. And I wasn't even able to savor it because I had wolfed everything down.
I munched on a scone when I started feeling pain in my lower abdomen. I tried to ignore it, but it wasn't a pain one could easily ignore.
At first it didn't hurt so bad, but after a while, the ache came in waves and each more painful than the last. The pudding was really poisoned. I should not have trusted that butler. I held my stomach in pain and moaned. My hands began to sweat and I began to feel chills in my feet. Was this how it feels to die?