Keepers of the Moon

Chapter 10. Mo Bhean (1)

Indigo

I caught myself humming when sweeping the corridor. Erin was also in a particularly good mood after she found Brian in bed with a massive hangover. We had cleaned the room very silently, though Erin couldn’t refrain from drawing the curtains to let in some daylight. Brian had moaned and cursed, but then dragged himself out of bed murmuring something about breakfast. It was four in the afternoon.

Tomorrow at this time I would be on a boat! With Hlér! Out on an actual date. Something fluttered in my stomach and my face flustered. There was a tiny voice in my head that warned me not to go, since he was still Einar’s son. But all my heart was saying that Einar wasn’t looking for me, to him I was either dead or hiding in the sewers in Nova. He didn’t expect any of us here, he would never know. And I would never tell anyone. Besides why not make the best of my short time with Hlér? He was going home soon and I wouldn’t be joining him. I was just a cleaner, he was a Prince and heir to the throne of Nordlys, we would never get any further than dating. I was fine with that, there was still enough to be done about my future and my search. I didn’t need him with that, he would just slow me down. But I was at least having some fun, which was more than I could’ve hoped for when I came here. Even the fear of being discovered and the fear of Einar couldn’t stop that.

Erin was now cleaning Maev’s room and after she went in a very red-faced Ben came stumbling out. He squeaked out a ‘Hi’ and  then disappeared into his own room. I had noticed that his shirt was on backwards. A quiet calm had set over the castle. Only the necessary work was done, such as cleaning and tidying up. Fergus was looking very dishevelled though when we came into the kitchen with a bunch of lost and found cutlery and cups. He apparently had been doing the dishes along with six others for nearly four hours. The poor guy just couldn’t see any dirty dishes anymore.

I kind of liked it this way, the silence after the storm had passed. People murmured a good afternoon in the hallways, but didn’t hang around to talk. There were a lot of tired eyes and white faces, some even still had their make-up on from the previous night. Even inside a castle people were just people, who did questionable things when intoxicated. Such as Ben who had clearly made the best of his night.

The corridor was not as dirty as I thought so I moved on to cleaning the living spaces. My hopes of meeting Mo Bhean again made me start at her room. I gave a soft knock on the door, which was as usual slightly ajar. But there was no murmur coming out, nor any kind of other noise. She probably was already up and helping along in the castle. Or outside where I had run into her a few times, she was, surprisingly, always dripping wet.

However as soon as I entered the room I knew that something was very wrong. A nauseating feeling of pain and sadness overwhelmed me, it nearly knocked me out. The feeling was not my own and I wasn’t sure how I picked it up. But Mo Bhean was sitting on the floor, a blanket tightly wrapped around her body. She was leaning against the side of her bed, but didn’t respond when I entered. She stared right through the wall, her face as white as paper and eyes wide with fear. I could see her shaking, but couldn’t determine whether this was because she was scared or cold.

‘Mo Bhean?’ My voice was small and shaky. A reflection of her feelings. I slowly approached her, waving my hand in front of her face.

‘Mo Bhean, are you all right?’ Of course not, that was a stupid question.

‘Saoirse? Can you tell me what happened?’ Still no response, she hadn’t even blinked.

Then there was a commotion in the corridor and suddenly loud voices filled the room. No one other that Kind Domhnall came storming in, followed closely by Sir Macintosh and a greying lady with dark brown hair whose name I’d forgotten.

‘So here you are! Hiding in your high castle! While we are left to pick up the pieces! You should’ve been there!’ His face was red and ugly, he had bloodshot eyes and his hands were clenched into fists. He looked like Abi throwing a tantrum. Sir Macintosh’s face also betrayed a good amount of rage, but as soon as his eyes fell on Mo Bhean this was suddenly replaced by confusion and worry. The lady was still focussed on the King.

‘My King could you just calm down?’ Her voice was pleading, but this seemed to have the opposite effect on Kind Domhnall since he started yelling again. He didn’t even acknowledge the fact that I was standing right in front of him.

‘Calm down? She was supposed to keep an eye on Einar, except she decided to dance with the enemy and forget all about us. It is her fault we are in this situation in the first place! And now? Look at her, she’s even got a hangover! Well suck it up buttercup! Because you can leave my castle! You betrayed me, your friends and your entire kingdom! I will banish you from ever setting foot on royal ground again and there is no law to keep me from doing this. No matter what they tell me! Do you hear me?’

With those last words he took a step towards Mo Bhean, who was still staring at the wall. Though some of the words seemed to come through because she was getting more and more upset. I could feel it in my own stomach. Domhnall kept on ranting when she didn’t respond. It was just more of the same empty angry threats, until his voice even went up and he was full blown screaming at her. Sir Macintosh was now just staring at Mo Bhean the disbelief visible on his face. He didn’t think she betrayed them right? She would never! Even though I didn’t know this girl, I was certain about this. The King’s yelling was getting on my nerves and the overwhelming feeling of Mo Bhean’s earth shattering emotions broke me.

‘SHUT UP!’ My voice boomed through the room and everybody suddenly fell quiet. They all looked at me in bewilderment. I was somewhat embarrassed by the fact that I just yelled at a King, but he was acting like a lunatic and Mo Bhean clearly needed help.

‘Can’t you see? There is something wrong with her!’ I kneeled down at her side and avoided all the stares. Mo Bhean wasn’t moving, just shivering in her blanket, staring into nothing. Her hair was still in the bun of yesterday evening, her floral crown was gone though.

I put a hand on her shoulder, but still no reaction. Now that I was close to her, there was a distinct metallic smell in the air. It was blood.