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I sat up with a jolt, sweat trickling down both sides of my face. I was panting as if I’d been running in the woods. My chest droned as hot and cold fought to fully take over.
“My apologies, Rook Flagfall,” a small voice said from the back of the room. It was Aurora, one of the servant girls. She had a poker in her hand and was standing next to a fireplace, which, from the looks of it, she’d been tending to.
“I didn’t mean to wake you,” she said, bowing low, her eyes set on the floor.
“It’s fine, Aurora,” I said, warily glancing around. “You didn’t wake me. Carry on with what you were doing.”
I stared at my hands, somewhat taken aback at how quickly I’d been able to go back to my old, mistress-like ways, even if I hadn’t had servants in a while.
Fighting the fogginess that weighed on me, I kicked off the covers and slid off the bed. An actual bed, not a cot. I’d stumbled into the Rooks’ dormitory last night, barely aware of my surroundings. Now, I took in my new dwellings with a misplaced measure of satisfaction—a feeling I tried to deny. Had these past months done nothing to rid me of my selfish nature?
“Aurora, actually, leave that. I’ll do it.”
I walked closer and took the poker from her hand. The girl jumped away from me, pulling her hand behind her back.
“Uh, Rook Flagfall, it’s my job. I’m here to... make you comfortable.” She spoke in a hurry, flustered, awkward and very afraid.
My stomach growled as if I’d eaten a wild cat. I pressed a hand to it and absently poked the embers. Their warmth felt wonderful on my naked legs and bare feet. I was wearing only a long shirt, my dark hair draping over my shoulders.
“I think I’m... hungry,” I said, putting away the poker and turning to face the room. It was dark, its only illumination a lone ray of sunshine that managed to slip through the crack between the shutters.
“Breakfast time has passed, Rook Flagfall,” Aurora said as I walked toward the window. “But I can bring you something from the kitchens if you’d like.”
“That sounds good,” I said, opening the shutters.
Light cut through the window panes. I screamed, turning away and covering my eyes as I fell to my knees.
Feet pattered across the floor. The shutters were drawn back into place.
“Are you okay, Rook Flagfall?” Aurora asked.
I rubbed my eyes as light seemed to throb in my vision. The painful assault passed slowly. I rose to my feet. Aurora stood to the side, her eyes wide with panic. She was a slight girl, several inches shorter than me. A sweet scent wafted from her. I glanced down at a pulsing vein on her neck. My stomach twisted. She took a step back, placing a hand on her chest and swallowing.
“I’ll... I’ll bring you some breakfast.” She rushed to the door, grabbed a coat from a hook on the wall, and left the room.
I sat on the bed, holding my head. What was happening to me?
It takes a few days for the blood to have its full effect.
Trying to remain calm, I glanced around the room. It was decorated in an austere fashion. There were no hangings to soften the stone walls and no color to liven the dark furniture. There was another bed across from mine. Rook Daciana’s. It had a night table and a clock on top of it, a mirror image of my side of the room. Had she spent the night here? I didn’t remember seeing her last night when I came in. Of course, I remembered little after my conversation with Ferko.
A sudden thought jolted me back on my feet. My bloodshade! It was still in the Pawn’s dormitory, hidden in my pillow’s stuffing. I needed to take it!
Carefully, I tried the window again, though this time I only peeked through the crack. I had to pull back as the light lanced into my eyes like needles. Gods, there was no way I could go outside. I wouldn’t make it two steps out of the room.
Covering my eyes and willing the pain away, I stumbled to my bed, begging that the vampire blood had really cured me, and I wasn’t a Trove anymore. If it hadn’t, I guess my journey here was over. Oddly, I felt comforted by that thought and before I knew it I fell asleep.
When I woke, it was dark. The fire had reduced to embers. I sat up. A dark figure stood in the middle of the room, observing me. My heart sped up like a chased rabbit. I squinted and found that I could tell the person’s features.
“Daciana,” I said.
She shrugged out of her jacket and walked to her bed. It seemed she’d just come in and that’s what had awakened me. There was a tray with food on my night table. Soup of some kind and a piece of bread and hard cheese, which I could smell as if it were pressed to my nose. I sniffed and turned away.
“What time is it?” I asked.
“After midnight,” Daciana answered as she removed her boots and pants. “Have you been in bed all day?” she asked.
“I have.”
She glanced toward the tray of untouched food. “You should eat,” she said curtly, then headed to the back of the room and disappeared through a door I assumed led to the bathroom.
I did as she said and ate. The soup was cold and the bread stale, but I felt much better when I was done. Daciana returned wrapped in a towel and got into bed naked. She pulled the covers up to her neck until all I could see was her shaved head.
“The light hurts my eyes,” I said. “How long will that last?”
Daciana pushed up on one elbow and watched me with interest. “Ferko didn’t explain, did she?”
I shook my head.
She barked a laugh, lay back down, and rolled over to one side. Silence filled the room. Great, I had to share the room with someone who hated me.
“You should be fine tomorrow,” Daciana said. “Make sure you eat. A lot.” She grabbed an extra pillow and put it over her head, signaling that she was done talking to me.
I had left the cheese on the tray, so I picked it up and ate it, wrinkling my nose at its strong smell. Vaguely, I realized that Daciana had acted normal, not picking up any Trove scents from me. It seemed I was truly safe from becoming a blood slave now. At least there was that.
When I was done chewing, I walked to the front door and opened it. It wasn’t locked. I was free to come and go as I pleased where, as a Pawn, I’d been confined to my dormitory at night.
Barefoot, I stepped outside. The stone steps were cold, but not terribly unpleasant as I’d expected. The mid-November night swirled with a chilled wind. I peered up at the clear sky, marveling at its beauty.
At the sight, I nearly fell to my knees again, though this time from awe and not pain. There were a million stars in the firmament. Bright pinpricks of all sizes, dotting the black, velvet sky.
The wind sang against the White Palace’s copper towers. I could almost hear a metallic quality to the sound. The pines swayed, impregnating the air with their fresh scent. It was nothing like I had ever experienced.
Before, my senses had been... deprived.
Nighttime was absolutely magnificent, and I had known nothing of beauty.