Stained By Sin

ELEVEN

Elara finished cleaning herself up, fatigue already taking a toll on her. All the fighting that she did just hours ago drained her stamina, and with all the healing her body had to do because of her injuries, she was already near collapsing.

She knew she had to stay on guard since she was currently a prisoner of her clan’s nemesis, but the familiarity of her old room was making it hard for her to stay alert.

As soon as she had finished bathing herself with the basin and towel Nero brought her, Elara decided to take some rest. It’s not like there were anything to do other that rest. If the Ivory were to torture her afterwards, at least she would have managed to regain a bit of her strength.

Elara took the basin and towel that was on her bed, and placed it on the writing table that was on the other side of the room. Her room.

Honestly, Elara was so surprised to see that nothing changed in her room. Nothing at all. Her table, the sheets, the curtains, the chairs, her bed… everything was hers. All the things she was forced to leave behind was still here. And she could tell no one was using her room, as well. Even though it was faint, the strongest scent that was present in the room was hers. It was faint due to the years of her absence, but it was undeniably hers. Her scent was just mixed with a few more, even fainter scent. These scents most probably belonged to the servants that was tasked to keep her room clean and tidy. Why the Ivory did it, she had no idea. She weren’t going to thank them for it though, that was for sure.

Elara sat on her bed, ready to lay down, when she heard a silent knock on her door. She immediately tensed, ready to fight whoever was behind the door, when she realized that the scent sifting through the cracks of her door was oddly familiar.

Could it be…? But it’s impossible. She’s dead.

But… Elara never really saw her died. Was it possible she survived?

“Come in,” she said, her voice shaking.

The door opened slowly, and from behind it came a female Elara never expected she would see ever again.

Her old personal servant and friend, Arren.

The petite female walked timidly into the room, fresh set of clothes in hand. She was looking at her with guarded eyes, as if she was scared of what Elara would do to her. Maybe she were expecting Elara to throw a fit because she was now serving the Ivorys?

As the Crow leader, that was probably the reaction she should give. After all, the Crow clan was known for their ruthlessness. However, before she was a leader, Elara was Arren’s friend. Her companion, ever since she was a child. Elara, Arren, and Somi were practically sisters.

All these years, Elara had thought Arren was dead. There was no reason to believe she survived, anyways. The last time she saw her was when she ordered her to hide in this very room, while she went to find her brothers. And now, they met again. In the same room Elara thought Arren had died.

“Arren…” Elara whispered, still unable to believe her eyes.

“My queen,” she responded, also in a whisper. Then, she knelt and bowed, her arms thrust in front of her as she held the dress like an offering.

Slowly, Elara stood from her bed. Then, she walked to where Arren was kneeling, motionless as she offered her the dress she was holding. After a few moments of Elara meekly walking towards Arren, her eyes never leaving the petite female kneeling on the floor, she finally reached her.

With shaking hands, she took the dress, placed it on the ground, then grasped both of Arren’s shoulders firmly, helping her stand up. Once Arren was back on her feet, Elara held the female’s gaze, and when the reality finally caught up to her wits, there was nothing left to do other than pull Arren into a tight hug.

Elara didn’t cry as she held Arren against her chest. She never cried in front of anyone other than Aki. But her heart was bursting with happiness once she finally realized that her friend was actually alive.

Arren, on the other hand, was already crying like a baby. She had always been a crybaby. She got scared easily, and she was never physically fit. Even by human standards, one could call her weak… soft. And that softness was very evident right now, as she clung to Elara desperately while she cried, as if she was drowning and Elara was a piece of of driftwood that would keep her afloat.

Quite a few moments had passed before the two started to calm down. Elara was once again composed and calm, while Arren started to hiccup from all her crying.

“Come, let’s sit,” Elara said, holding Arren’s hand in hers and guiding her through the bed.

They sat on the bed and faced each other, their wide smile plastered on their faces.

“Tell me… how did you survive? And why are you here?” Elara frowned and glared slightly at Arren. “And why didn’t you try contacting me during the past twenty years. I honestly thought you died that night, when I was forcefully chased out of my own home.”

“The Ivory let me live. The king, Nero, commanded all his subjects to treat me like how they would treat anyone,” Arren said, clutching Elara’s hands tightly as if in apology. “I wanted to reach out to you, my queen. To tell you I’m alive. But I am afraid they would view it as treason and kill me.”

Arren hung her head down in shame. She knew very well how much Elara disliked cowardice, and she knew her actions wouldn’t sit well with her.

“Don’t worry, I’m not angry. I’m just happy that you lived. All these time, I was blaming myself for leaving you here, all alone and defenseless. I am just glad you are safe,” Elara said with a smile.

“Thank you, my queen.”

“By the way,” Elara said, letting go of Arren’s hands and then pointed to the dress that was crumpled on the floor. “Why on earth did you bring me a dress? You know I don’t like wearing dresses.”

“The king wanted you to wear it, I think. While all of your old clothes are kept here, and are all ready to be worn, he asked me to bring this to you, instead.”

“Well, there is no way I am wearing that. How am I suppose to fight and defend myself if I am wearing something as long as that?” Elara gritted her teeth in disgust as she looked at the fallen dress.

“Just humor the king, my queen. At least make it look like you are being obedient to him, so he can justify not throwing you into the dungeons,” Arren said, her eyes pleading.

“You know what, I don’t care. Just throw me into the dungeon and torture the hell out of me. I am not wearing that dress, and I definitely am not going to be obedient to my clan’s killer.”

“My queen,” Arren said, her voice desperate. “Please don’t let this opportunity to move about freely get snatched away from you. Even as a prisoner, you have the freedom to roam the mansion. Please use it to your advantage.”

“I do?” Elara asked, surprised. She was thinking that she will be held prisoner in her room. She was not expecting to hear that she had the liberty to walk around her old home.

“Yes. I heard the king commanded his men to let you walk around, and to just keep an eye on you. They were prohibited to hurt or attack you, unless you tried to do something funny… like attack the guards or escape.”

“Now, that is convenient. I wonder what’s running through that Nero’s head. Is he seriously underestimating my skills, deciding I wouldn’t be able to break out of this house even without restricting my movements?”

“My queen,” Arren called out to her again, reminding her with her voice what she had just told her.

And Arren was right. She should play her cards properly. The i***t king was trusting enough to think that she wouldn’t try to escape.

As if.

Well… maybe she could play the role for a while. Just until she could think of a way to escape before they could use her as leverage against her own clan.

Elara nodded, silently agreeing to what Arren was implying. She went to where the dress was, then picked it up.

“Arren, help me put this on, please.”

“Gladly, my queen,” Arren smiled, then rushed to where Elara was standing.

Carefully, Elara wore the flowing white dress, which hugged Elara’s body perfectly. The cloth seemed similar to light fabric of the dress Ava was wearing when she met Elara. The dress was probably hers.

Sure enough, only minutes after wearing the gown, Elara already felt uncomfortable. She began tugging and pulling on the dress unconsciously, wanting to take it off and wear her comfortable fighting clothes once more.

Bear with it, Elara thought. Just until you find your way to freedom, bear with it. 

With a sign, she looked at Arren, who was admiring her openly. When Arren realized that Elara was looking at her with a grin, she averted her gaze and blushed.

Elara laughed slightly, missing these adorable reactions of her friend. She never thought she would see it again other than in her memories.

“I should take my leave now, my queen. Please rest well for tonight. I will be your attendant while you are here. If you need anything, just call for me,” Arren said, bowing slightly. Then, she approached Elara, and in a soft voice, she whispered. “Also, allow me to apologize in advance. I can only address you as my queen when we are in private like tonight. Once I leave this room, I will be referring to you only as ‘my lady’.”

“Do what you must,” Elara whispered back.

With another bow, Arren turned, then left.

Alone again in her room, Elara walked back to her bed, clutching the fabric of her dress so she wouldn’t step on it. Sitting down on the bed, Elara wondered just how true Arren’s story was.

She loved the girl, she really did. And she was happy… very happy that Arren was alive. However, trusting her was an entirely different story. She had been with the Crow for twenty years. Maybe at first she really wanted to reach out to Elara, but after quite some years had passed, who was she to know if Arren’s loyalties had changed.

Before she could use Arren for her plans to escape, she need to first make sure that she would not betray Elara.

Tomorrow, she would do just that.

But for tonight, she need to rest. Her wounds were still not entirely healed. Although her jaws and ribs were mostly back to normal, the burns on her ankles and wrist were a different story. It was still sore and raw from the silver chains. She needed sleep to fasten her healing process.

With a deep sigh, Elara laid on her bed and drifted off to a dreamless sleep.