Beauty and A Beast

Part 4

Master was murmuring in his sleep the way his lips were moving, his body sweating, and he thrashed in his lonely massive bed. She moved from the book that she was reading under the lit lantern and moved to his side as she felt his face, then moved to use the cool rag on his damp skin.

He was saying something that she could not hear even with the hearing device and she could only see the way his lips were pursed in pain. She moved his hair away from his face further as she used the damp rag to wipe the excess sweat from him but he thrashed back and forth as she tried to wipe him. At some point he even batted her hand away as she placed the damp cloth to him. He was warm to the touch and she knew that the medication that was administered should be taking hold of him now.

Mr. Brinewald was sure to administer the medication to Master before he departed back to his family cottage and he left written instructions for her to follow. She had done what was asked of her and she took a seat in a chair as she watched him every few minutes, knowing she would not be able to hear whether he made a sound or not.

She didn't know she had fallen asleep until the early morning and there was a loud crash that resonated in her device. As well as something jerking her awake and she found master on the floor, his body laying uselessly as his mane of hair was spread beautifully over him.

Chidori rushed up, the device falling as she moved to grab him and she briefly felt him resist before he let her help him up. He was murmuring something but she could not see his lips to be able to know what he was saying. But the pathetic furious look on his face did not betray his feelings as she helped him back into bed and feeling his forehead.

He was saying something but she still had not caught what until she felt that he was still slightly warm. It was a far cry from what he felt hours before and she felt relieved to know that he was doing much better. "Yuh, feeel beddur" She said to him, looking around to where her device had fallen.

To her dismay, from her sudden jump, the delicate machine was not working as it was supposed to as she placed a piece into her ear only to hear a static noise. Chidori pursed her lips as she looked at Master who was watching her with hooded eyes. "Leave." He said and she was able to read that. "I shaw nawt. Yuh ned hep. Yuh're ill." She tried as hard as she could to say the words hoping that he would be able to understand what she was trying to tell him.

He stared at her blankly and she could feel her throat closing up as anger surged through her and tears threatened to blind her. She hated having her disability and it made it harder to convey what she was speaking of.

Master glared at her and he lifted up his hands moving them slowly in gestures.

Chidori's face lit up as she smiled at him and made a hand gesture. You can sign? She asked him in the movements of her hands. He nodded his head and she felt a sense of ease at being able to communicate with him, saving her from not being able to utilize her now broken hearing device.

I know very little and felt the need to learn to be able to communicate in a way not many people know. When will Mr. Brinewald be back? He asked in both sign and the movement of his lips that she was able to read. Chidori let Master know that the Brinewald's should be back by daybreak. And he nodded at that as his hair came over and shielded the part of his face he wanted to hide.

It was a shame that Master had been involved in a fire that burned half his face and neck, for he would have been a handsome man. Her heart felt pain for him in having to see the horrible parts to human nature as they were afraid of what they did not understand.

He accepted her answer and chased her out of his bed chambers with the dismissal look and she excused herself to ready supper for him.

Before serving supper, Chidori stopped by the bookstore while she was in town to grab a parcel. She wanted to see if they held a copy of a poem that she had been waiting for when she saw a book that had caught her eye. It was a book for learning to speak to mutes like her and she thought that maybe Master might find the book useful. After the war, many have become disabled and they had lost their voices, limbs, sight, and hearing. It was possible the book writer who was an intellectual knew of universal languages and writing to help those who needed it most. It included her who was a by product  

Purchasing both the poem and language book, she made her way back to the manor with not too much trouble and had supper ready. Edna may have dropped by as Supper was already made and Chidori was to serve the Master.

Quietly, she grabbed the tray with food and medication for the master as she made her way through the halls to where his study was located. She had become familiar with the halls and knew which room was what when she stood in front of the study.

Chidori had knocked on the door, and usually she would have waited for a response but because her hearing box was broken, she would not have known she was asked to enter or not.

Opening the door, she had her head low as she entered and did not say a word. It was bad luck that she had broken her hearing box, for when she glanced to the desk where the Master looked over his work and had his supper, she was taken aback by the scene that had greeted her.

The Master's mouth was moving and she could faintly hear him saying something to her as he was naked and a woman was bent over his desk. There was a cloak strewn on the floor and she blinked at the pair as his lips were moving and telling her, "Get Out!"

Chidori regained her senses and gripped the tray as she exited quickly and shut the door behind her. She hurried along the halls, her breath falling quickly as she tried to register in her brain what it was that she had seen.

Her heart was beating quickly and she tried to get her bearing when Edna's warning echoed in her mind. The Master kept late company and what she witnessed must have been his paid company.

Her chest hurt and ached as she realized that he must have felt so lonely. He, just like her had many that avoided them just because they were different. They either picked on or bullied the weak just so they could feel superior but Chidori knew they did it out of feeling inferior.

She placed the tray back into the kitchen and readied herself for bed, the book she was going to gift to him sat on the tray. If he needed supper, he could finish with his company and find it himself. She didn't feel the need to serve him this evening if he had guests and he was capable to come and go as he pleased as the Master of the house.

If the Master could have guests that could serve him late and night, then those same guests could see to it that he was fed. Oddly enough she was unfamiliar with the pit in her stomach and knot in her throat as she looked through her book of poems until sleep overcame her.