episode 5
706 Words
I thought the man standing in the doorway was him my husband.
But no. He wasn’t.
He was older, bigger in the shoulders, wearing the same dark suit as the two men from the car. He looked at me once, then looked down at the floor.
Just another worker one of his men. Maybe a guard, maybe a servant,
Not the man the blood chose for me.
Husband still felt like a strange word , It didn’t feel real.
The Keepers said I was matched, but where was he? Why wasn’t he here?
The two men from the car stayed close as we walked inside.
The door shut behind us soft, quiet, final.
The house was huge ,marble floors shone under bright lights.
Tall ceilings. Walls with long silk curtains. It smelled clean, like flowers and expensive wood.
It looked like a palace.
Maids appeared from the sides young women in dark dresses and white aprons.
As I walked past, every single one bowed her head low. Eyes on the floor, hands together in front , no one spoke ,no one looked up.
They just bowed.
My heart beat faster.
What is this place?
Am I a wife… or did they bring me here to work as a maid?
The thought made my stomach hurt.
The blood was supposed to give me a husband, not a job.
But all these bowing women, the perfect silence, the huge empty halls it felt wrong , like I didn’t belong as a person here. Like I belonged as one of them.
One maid stepped forward. She was older, with a little gray in her hair. She didn’t bow as low as the others. She looked calm and in charge.
She opened her hand toward the big stairs.
This way,she said quietly.
I followed her up.
The two men stayed at the bottom of the stairs and watched me go.
The hallway upstairs was long and quiet,many closed doors ,she took me to the last door on the right and opened it.
A bedroom.
A very big, very beautiful bedroom.
A huge bed with white sheets and many pillows. Tall windows looking out to a dark garden. A fireplace that wasn’t lit. A table with a silver brush and fresh white flowers , everything clean. Everything perfect.
It didn’t feel like a place for me.
The maid walked in just far enough to turn on one small lamp. Soft yellow light filled the room.
Rest, she said Your husband will be home soon.
Husband.
There was that word again.
She said it like it was normal. Like it already belonged to me.
I wanted to ask so many things.
Who is he?
Why isn’t he here?
Why do all the maids bow?
Am I really his wife… or something else?
But the maid’s eyes met mine for only a second. Then she looked down again.
He travels a lot, she said softly. But tonight he comes back.
She turned to leave.
Wait I said quickly.
She stopped in the doorway.
What is this place?I asked Who is he?
She held the doorframe a little tighter She thought for a moment before she answered.
This is the east wing of the Spire family house,she said carefully. Your house now.
As for him… She stopped, then continued He is the one the blood chose.
That is all I can say.
Then she bowed her head lower this time and left.
The door closed softly.
I stood alone in the middle of the huge room.
My white robe still felt thin and dirty compared to everything here. My bandaged hand hurt a little.
The bed looked too big. The flowers looked too perfect. The quiet hurt my ears.
I walked to the window and pressed my forehead against the cool glass. Outside, I could hear a fountain, but I couldn’t see it. Everything was dark.
Home soon.
Husband.
The words went around and around in my head.
I didn’t know if I was more afraid of him coming… or of him never coming.
All I knew was this:
This palace was not built for love.
It was built for something different.
And the blood had put me right in the middle of it.
- Writer
