Blooms of the Empyreal

Chapter 3: The Duke Villafona

“My lady Mariana. It is good to see you awake.” The voice was deep and as smooth as silk, calm and controlled, and most certainly not Reece’s. Mariana blushed as she stepped out of the bathroom, her hand still resting on the door handle. The man before her was familiar; he’d been the purple-eyed man from the courtyard, the one that somehow reminded her of a cat. It must have been the color of his eyes or the slant of his cheekbones that gave the impression of a hunter. He sat in a chair next to Mariana’s bed, next to Reece.

“I- Forgive me, my lady, but what are you wearing?” the man asked, blinking at her.

Mariana glanced down, pulling the fabric away from her body. “Oh, these? They are scrubs; standard issue for doctors.” She paused for a second, then looked up at the two men. “Standard issue for healers where I come from.”

Mariana studied the two men and blushed as she did so. As before, Reece was dressed in rich fabrics and decadent robes, the fabrics and care taken of them evident in the delicate embroidery flecked with golds and reds. The other man, he was dressed even more extravagantly, a waterfall of extraordinary fabrics in hues of blacks and purples spilled over his lean body, matching the purple of his eyes and the milk-chocolate color of his skin. Mariana swallowed. Next to the two of them, she must look like gutter trash; her scrubs were the standard sort of dirty teal color that everyone wore, the fabric worn a little thin on the pockets where she normally kept her pens.

“I didn’t exactly pack for this,” she snapped wrinkling her nose in disgust at the expression of the younger man across the bed from her.

Reece smiled widely, but turned his head to hide it from the other man. “My lady, you seem to be walking better after soaking your leg.”

“Ahh, yes, I am starting to feel better.” She blushed again, but this time she was less sure of why. “Thanks, for- my bike, bringing my bike here. I would have missed it a lot if you guys had tossed it.”

The young man smiled, a real smile that reached up to and glittered out of those extraordinary eyes. “Of course, my lady Mariana. Anything that you wish to have within my power, I will grant you, but whatever this contraption is called would not be something I could procure for you. Is it a toy of some sort?”

Mariana shook her head, but said nothing. Anything she wished to have? Did he mean it?

“Well, my lady, now that you are awake, it is time for me to be heading back to the church and my duties. If it pleases your ladyship, however, I would be happy to continue to visit for as long as you remain here at Starlight Manor.” The old man pushed himself to his feet, and other, younger man stood to bow deeply to him.

“Elder Reece, it was an honor to have you as a guest at my home, and I would be happy to host you whenever you wish to visit Lady Mariana.”

“You’re leaving?” she asked, her eyes flicking back and forth between the two men. Leaving me alone with this guy! I don’t even know him.

“Yes; I’m afraid my duties will be held off no longer; the church requires my continued service. But I will visit, my lady. It is an honor to serve you, and an honor to be feel so wanted by such a lovely young woman.” Reece hobbled forward, a broad smile on his wrinkled face. He took hold of her hand, pressing her fingers gently to his lips before giving her a parting nod.

Fear doused her whole body with ice. Reece was going to leave her alone. With him. But she could think of nothing to say to make him stay; worshiped woman or not, Reece had a job to get back to, and he couldn’t spend anymore time playing chaperone. But Mariana quivered with the idea of being without him in this place. Reece slipped quietly out of the bedroom door, leaving Mariana wishing he would come back, her voice withered in her throat as she desperately tried to come up with anything to get him to remain.

But then, she was alone with that beautiful creature, one who looked at her with eyes that seemed to cut through down to her soul.

The silence was thick, and the purple-eyed man continued to stare at Mariana, his expression stoic and empty.

She swallowed again, glancing down at her bare feet, calloused and worn, looking out of place against the marble tiles and luscious rugs that adorned the floor of her chamber.

“Forgive me, my lady,” the man said, standing to bow. “I have yet to introduce myself. I am Duke Gabriel Villafona of the Starlight Court, and I am to be your guardian until you are properly settled in this world.” He smiled softly as he straightened from his bow, but he did not meet her eyes. “Anything you need, anything you desire I will do my best to grant you.”

“And what do you expect in exchange?” she said, her lip curling as she clasped both of her hands in front of her chest to keep them from shaking. No one gave away such things for free, and Mariana had a sinking feeling she knew what he wanted in exchange...

The Duke started a little, his eyes darting to her face then away. Mariana didn’t at all like the look in them, and flinched. “You have paid the price for my home and everything I posses by being pulled through that portal to our world, Lady Mariana. Since it is impossible to return you back to your world, we collectively decided that you should be made as comfortable as possible here at our expense.”

“And what happens to me if I am found to be-” Mariana hesitated, her throat tightening a little on her words. “Unsuitable for whatever plans you have for all the women you’ve collected?”

Duke Villafona opened his mouth and then closed it several times, looking a little like a fish out of water, gasping for breath. Drowning on dry land.

Mariana stared at him, unwilling to drop her gaze.

The Duke finally found his voice again, after a few tense moments. “I am not sure for what purpose you thought you were brought here, but it is as Regalia said at the presentations, you have been brought here through the will of the God of Wisdom, and you are to live your life here.” He glanced down at the floor, then pressed his hand to his chest. “It is hoped that the majority of the women will find suitable men to match with while they reside here, to marry and have children with, to help our species survive. However, it is not required.” The Duke looked incredibly uncomfortable, and Mariana wondered how much of what he’d just spouted had been lies.

“If it pleases your ladyship, the house of Starlight wishes to have proper clothing made for your new rank. May I summon the tailor? If you feel your leg can handle it, of course.” The Duke looked around the room, then glanced at Mariana again, but only briefly.

“Sure, I guess I can handle that.” Mariana was willing to do just about anything to get out of being alone with this man.

The Duke stayed as his manservants, all dressed almost as ornately as the Duke himself, bustled around the room. One took a ribbon with knots tied at regular intervals and wrapped the ribbon around every part of Mariana’s body. Another servant took notes on her measurements, and Mariana watched in awe as the swarm of servants, all men of course, changed the sheets, cleaned the room, and performed a variety of small chores around the room. The Duke of Starlight smiled at them with a kind of amused and affectionate tolerance. It took Mariana longer than she cared to admit that the swarm of servants moved in and out of the room, some dusting the same places those who had come before had already done.

The Duke’s expression gave it all away: the men came just to see Mariana, wanting to catch a glimpse of what must have been their first female in decades. For some of them, ever in their lives.

She blushed. What a disappointment she was, with wet hair wrapped and braided around her head to keep it out of the way of the tailor, her body in bulky, unflattering and slightly oversized scrubs. Not that she owned these men a single thing. Not looking pretty or makeup or stylish hair. Their idiotic ritual had robbed her of her life on Earth, her hospital and her patients. Robbed her of her lonely days off spent in her pajamas on the couch eating leftover Chinese food, robbed her of her slowly dwindling savings in the most expensive city in the world while she finished her final residency at the city’s largest hospital.

Took away the long shifts and the longer hours, swaying on her feet and limping from one room to the next, an exhausting blur of pained faces. But at least on Earth she was helping someone, even if she couldn’t do much for herself. Here, what was she to do?

Live in this house and do what exactly?

Sighing deeply, Mariana glanced down at the tailor as he took the last of her measurements. “Thank you for your patience, Lady Mariana. I have completed your measurements. I believe that we have some dresses left in storage that may suit her ladyship for now. Would you be adverse to us bringing them to you?”

“Uh, sure, uh, Mister-,” she said. Mariana couldn’t remember the last time she’d worn a dress, and if Duke Villafona’s outfit was any indication, Mariana was not going to like anything they brought her to wear.

The tailor bowed. “Collins, my lady. You may call me Collins.”

“Thanks, Collins.” Mariana smiled, not sure exactly what to do next. Was she supposed to bow or what?

The tailor helped her to a seat close to the Duke where a small table of cakes, tea, and what looked like decorative sandwiches were laid out. Two chairs were brought to her so she could sit and put her injured leg up, and one of the very young and blushing servants brought her a wrap and an ice pack, which she took from him rather than let him touch her.

Mariana ate in silence, her tongue wandering over the strange palates of this world with curiosity. Few of the foods were familiar, and some tasted familiar but looked wrong to her. To be completely honest, Mariana had never had much skill or interest in anything culinary, but she at least had a basic understanding of Earth’s foods and flavors.

Valora was real, then. And she was stuck here. There was no way that her mind had come up with new food flavors, no way that this was just a dream. She tried to breathe deeply as she ate, hoping to stop the flow of tears that threatened the corners of her eyes.

The Duke Villafona watched her carefully, his eyes seemingly locked on her every movement. “Is- is the food not to your liking, my lady?” he asked, swallowing sip of tea like it was too thick for his throat.

“No, it’s fine. It’s just- ahh- different, I suppose. I don’t normally eat anything so fancy.”

His Grace smiled a little, though the smile seemed forced. “Do they not have such things where you come from?”

She shook her head. “Earth has plenty of fancy restaurants and things, but I’ve never been a fancy food kind of person,” she answered, picking up another small cake from the table. “I’m more of a eat-to-live kind of person.”

The Duke nodded. “My father was much the same way,” he smiled, his gaze slipping off of her face and passed her, into some memory. “We usually ate basic, hearty soups when he was alive, and only brought out this type of thing for guests of import.”

“Oh, and am I considered a guest of import?” Mariana took a sip of the tea. It had a rich, earthy flavor, sweetened slightly with something that tasted like honeysuckle. It was much lighter than the black tea she was used to, but it had a similar flavor and was absolutely delightful. 

“Of course, my lady.” Duke Villafona nodded once at the servants with a smile. At that signal, all of the men picked up what they were doing and disappeared without a sound, closing the door behind them.

Mariana was alone with the Duke.

“I have had a fairly full education on what the women of Earth like, but if you do not prefer fancy foods, we would be happy to provide whatever kind of meals would better suit your pallet.” He slid to the floor next to the table, his gloved left hand reaching to rest on her uninjured leg. “I have also been told that women of you planet have all sorts of-” he paused, pressing his mouth to the fabric of her scrubs immediately above her knee. She gasped. “-interesting ideas of pleasure.”