His Hidden Jewel

Chapter 3

I follow my new master, Lord Verdinin, out of the room, still reeling from the change of events. "You, servant," he calls to a nearby servant.

"Yes my lord?"

"Bring a fresh maid uniform to the servant quarters adjorning my room."

"Yes my lord."

Master turns to me. "Little bunny, you will be staying in the servant quarters next to my room. I don't require anything from you tonight except that you bathe and be at my room tomorrow morning, six o'clock sharp. There will be a uniform waiting you to change into."

"Yes master."

Master doesn't say anything for a moment, I wonder what he's thinking.

He then sighs, just quiet enoungh that I barely hear it. "You're dismissed."

I don't hesitate to comply.

I lay awake most of the night, thinking. This whole day has been bittersweet. A small part of me misses my old master, and I hate it; I've spent most of my life wanting to be away from him and when I've finally got my wish I'm stuck being a slave to someone else. I'm also plagued with curiosity and worry concerning my new master.

I'm going to have to learn the hard way again about what my master expects out of me. My old master had a lot of unspoken rules, and I’m sure that Lord Verdinin will as well. I’m going to have to go through that trial-and-error period again with my new master. Will his punishments be more severe than old master's?

Reality hits my sharply and I remember there's no point in worrying about it. Its not like I can do anything about it. There’s no chance of escape; and from the way the king and queen, no one would help a human. This is my life here, I'm going to be a slave forever, and I'll probably die a slave too.

The next morning I'm so exhausted it's almost painful to pull my tired self out of bed. But I dress and head to my new masters chambers on time. From the walk to servants quarters last night, its going to be hard memorizing this giant maze of a manor. I thought old masters manor was large, but this one puts his to shame. I’ll probably get lost eventually.

I knock gently on his door. “My lord? This is Charity, may I enter?”

I recoil with shock when the door slams open. “Get in,” master snaps and I hurry to comply.

I feel masters gaze burning into my back for a moment.

Master heads to a dining table in the corner of his bedroom, where a glass filled with a red liquid sits. It looks like blood.

“I expect you to bring my meals to me from now on, but for today you'll be excused of that.” Master drolls, swirling the cup of liquid. “And, for future understanding, next time just knock and come in already. You’re wasting my time and your breath asking for permission every time.”

The request confuses me; how will he know it's me then? Especially with how many servants they employ.

Master chuckles, "don't worry little bunny, I'll know its you by your smell. Your smell it quite unique." I blush.

“Yes master,” I bow, and store away information for later.

I discretely watch master drink that red liquid as I tidy up his room; my old master never drank anything like that. I really want to know what it is but I have a feeling I would rather not know.

“You're quite the curious bunny, aren't you?" Master says with of tone of amusement; I freeze, realizing he caught me staring. "What is it about my drink that fascinates you so my little Bunny?” My cheeks warm, and I shift my eyes away.

“I’m sorry for my rudeness master."

“No need to apologize, I don't care for an apology." I frown, what else could he want from me? ... am I going to be punished. "So what is it bunny, what would fascinates you about my drink?"

His heavy gaze feels similar to a way a predator watches prey. I don’t want to push my luck so I figure I should tell him the truth. I don't want to lie to him, at least not yet, not until I’ve figured him out just a bit more.

“I’m sorry my lord, you see my previous master kept me very secluded and I've never seen my previous master drink such a liquid before, so I was curious of what it was. I’m very sorry my lord, it was out of line-"

Master stops me, "think nothing of it. I sure hope you've never caught Lord Bezing consuming such a drink. This is blood."

My blood turns cold. He really is drinking blood.

"You see, my curious bunny, I am a vampire, and my kind drinks blood. It is how I can smell you as well; every creature has a specific type of smell, even humans. Vampire are the only type of creatures that drink blood and it is the only thing that we consume. You'll be bringing me a glass everyday."

I lick my lips, "I see, thank you master for explaining."

I start to tidy up once more but master stops me again. "Bunny, come here," he ushers.

I step closer to him.

"Look at me."

My eyes widen; he seriously wants me to look at him?

I slowly raise my eyes to meet his.

Masters face is as pale as the rest of his body. His eyes are blood-red, and he has long black hair framing his face. I feel my face flush; master is very attractive. Though maybe I'm being biased since the only faces I've ever seen before is my old master and my current master, but my current master is definitely more pleasing to stare at than my old one.

Masters eyes sweep over my face for a long moment, surprisingly not seeming disgusted by my horrible appearance.

But what shocked me even more, was when he suddenly reached for my hair. He runs his fingers through the ends of my hair for a long moment, to the point I start to grow more and more awkward.

Master suddenly pulls away and coughs, seeming to have pulled himself from a daze. I quickly drop my gazde again when he does.

"Ahem, we're going to the throne room where your old master met his doom the other day. Grab my coat."

He stands and turns his back to me, the back of his neck slightly red, I turn my back to him as well, feeling embarassed.

“Yes master.”

"Oh and bunny," I turn back to master, "when we're alone, always look me in the eyes."

Shock splashes over me. "But master-"

"Thats non-negotiable."

I stand still for a moment, flabberghasted by masters order. I quickly return the present, pushing his odd order to the back of my mind as I help master put on his coat.

Master and I head back to the same throne room as before, the king and queen are already there, standing by an open balcony. Master and I stand hear the opening of the balcony, but stay far away enough to be seen from the balcony.

The queen and king brighten when they see master. “Marcel, just on time,” King Volkari greets.

"Aunt, uncle," master greets back with a polite nod.

“Citizens of Silvonya, thank you all for coming. There has been some recent discoveries that need some announcement. The first human in centuries has been found, in fact she is here in the castle. She is a rare type of human, therefore I decided to allow her alive to be my nephew, and successor, slave.” King Volkari announces loudly; many voices murmur in response to the kings announcement. “And so here, she is.”

Master gently urges me forward, "I'm sorry my curious bunny," he murmers quietly, just before I step out on the balcony in front a huge crowd of creatures.

"The human slave," the king finishes. I hear many whispers from the crowd but I cant focus on them because all I focus on it the embarassment I'm feeling being shown off this way like I'm here to entertain them.

King Volkari continues on and eventually, master pulls me away. I've been experiencing a lot of "for once's" recently because for once in my life I can wait to do my chores.

The chores never came though.

Instead, I end up following master around the castle for most of the day; I keep expecting him to send me away at some point to do but he never does.

Currently, master is chatting with another vampire lord whom I've already forgotten the name of and once they finish, a female humanoid creature approaches with a sly smile. She has a random splattering of feathers growing from her skin all over her body, with pointed ears, and long black hair mixed with black feathers. She’s very pretty, and seeing another new creature peaks my interest.

When the other vampire excuses himself, she steps in front of masters sight.

“Lord Marcillian Verdinin! I’m so pleased to see you, I’ve been meaning to catch up with you. It’s been so long.” She smiles coyly at master. Master tenses.

“Ah, Lady Peta Norin, how unexpected to see you,” master greets; though his voice is always stoic, it holds a cold tightness now. “While it’s been a pleasure, I must be on my way for the night-”

“Wait Marcel! Uhm I heard the announcement earlier, congratulations on your new pet! You are quite lucky to now own human blood bag,” the female grins maliciously my way, but I listen emotionlessly; even if her words hold meaning and master plans to use me as food, there’s nothing I can do about it. All I care about is when I can go to bed.

“Peta, while your sudden presence is quite the surprise, I have no time today to entertain you.” Master snaps.

Lady Peta seems hurt by his words, and flounders for a moment.

"I understand. Maybe we could enjoy some drinks together some time soon, when you're available?"

"Hm, we'll see. I'm often too busy to enjoy simple leisurelies. Maybe you should invite other nobles like yourself that have plenty of time on their hands."

Lady Peta flinches, and I cant help but feel bad for her. But master doesn't, in fact, he seems pleased to have hurt her.

My master is odd; my old master never cared for mind games, and didn't have a sharp tongue or wit, which I played to my hand a time or two when I was younger. I was much bolder then, and when I would word things just right I could get away with small stuff. I was never too bold, normally it was just sneaking a piece of food here and there (never with the fruit he sells though). But after a few near-death punishments from the few times I slipped up, I stopped doing stuff like that. The consequences started to outweigh any selfish desire I had.

My master now seems to enjoy hurting this woman with his words, like shes a nothing like me.

Lady Peta fumbles for a moment. “Well, er- everyone needs a break every now and then, how about taking a walk together in the gardens later? It’s quite relaxing during the evening time.” She tries again, the hope appearing again in her voice like she thought that those words would finaly be the ones to convince master.

Master laughs but it’s empty and cold. “Lady Norin, I lived here my whole life, I’ve walked these gardens many times enough that I would know what they look like by now. So while I appreciate all the time you’ve wasted with your useless chatter, I really must be going. Good day Lady Norin.” He gives suddenly places his hand on my shoulder and leads us away.

I can feel Lady Peta Norin glaring daggers at my back as we pass. I dont understand why shes upset at me when it was master who was so cruel to her just a moment ago.

OoooooooooooO Marcillian Verdinin

I dismiss the little bunny for the night, watching her intently as she shuts the door behind herself.

I rub my forehead and sigh. The image of her soft brunette hair flashing behind my eyes, accompanied by those dazzling purple eyes of hers, framed by long, brown lashes. She is the most gorgeous creature I have ever seen.

I hadn't looked at her face fully till today, and I was instantly mesmerized and wishing I would have looked at her a long time ago. I can understand why Lord Bezing hid her for so long, it would be such a shame to send a beauty like her to her death.

But to name her Charity... fury builds up inside me. While to name in itself is quite pretty, everyone who hears it and knows of the bunny's station would know he's calling her a charity case, an unfortunate being in need of help.

I don't understand why I'm getting so worked up about it. I've only known her for two days and she's my slave, but those innocent, wide purple eyes keep flashing in my mind. And the memory of the fear and uncertainty she stared at me with curling in my stomach. Normally I wouldn't care if I made someone fear me, but the thought of her fearing me is unsettling.

Maybe it's just because she piques my interest, being the curious little bunny that she is. Yes, I'm sure thats it.