A Prisoner No Longer

Chapter 3

I sat on a stool in the kitchen as the women of the house fussed over me.

"Whatever happened, Meridae?" Evelyn asked as she held my hand.

Evelyn was the closest thing to a mother that I had. She watched over me when I was younger and helped teach me to read. She kept an eye out for me when I needed it.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I was peeling the apples for the pies and then I woke up on the table." A tear escaped from the corner of my eye. "He saw me in the woods yesterday. I was hoping he wouldn't catch my scent. I figured since he didn't find me last night I must have been safe."

"Dinna I teach you to track the scents around you before you go running off?" She asked with a bite in her tone. "Have you lost all your senses girl?"

"I..." I was not ready to tell her that I had been distracted by the wondrous new scent I had smelled at the falls. " I was so excited to be outside during the day, I wasn't paying attention." My head sagged in defeat.

"Well, it doesn't much matter now, does it? All we can do is keep you safe until that mongrel leaves again."

"At least you got him good with that knife. He might even have a scar across his face. Wouldnt that be perfect!" Harold, one of the older male staff interjected.

Harold had been on Bruxum's hit list years ago. He had caught Bruxum using one of the house sheep as target practice. When Harold told the alpha what Bruxum had done, he sent him away to Killian St. James the very next day.

On his first visit back from his 'alpha training', Harold's house burned down. With him inside. He was lucky to have escaped out the back door before the building collapsed.

"We will keep you safe until he leaves," Harold said as he laid a scarred hand on top of Evelyn's. "Why don't you come to stay at the house with us? Surely he won't look for you outside the keep?"

"I will be fine. I can defend myself, and he wouldn't go into the basement looking for me. Plus, there are so many old smells down there, it's difficult to pinpoint any one scent."

I knew it wasn't safe in the keep. But I'd be damned if I gave that monster another reason to try to kill Harold again.

"It will be fine. I will keep myself busy in the keep until he leaves."

"Maybe you should tell the Luna?" Evelyn suggested. "She knows her son, and may be able to persuade him to leave you alone."

"No," I said sharply. "I don't think she would help me." She knew exactly what was happening, I thought to myself, and simply encouraged him to not kill me like the others. "Like you said, she knows her son."

I stood up from the stool, squeezing both of their hands. I gave them a simple smile and walked back to the apples I had been peeling. Without thinking, I grabbed an apple to peel. I realized the knife in my hand was covered in blood. I couldn't help the shaking that had taken over my hands. I dropped the knife on the floor and rushed over to the sink to clean his blood off my hands.

Evelyn handed me a cloth to dry my hands on.

"Maybe you could just stay near the kitchens? So I am not alone here?"

"Of course I can!" She whispered. "Here, clean your face and let's get back to work." She took a fresh towel out and held it under the cool running water.

The cold wetness of the washcloth dragged me out of my stupor. It would be fine. He was leaving in just a few days. I can stay out of the way until then.

Evelyn stayed in the kitchen and ushered the others back to work. Harold was uneasy about leaving us alone, but eventually Evelyn convinced him she would call out if Bruxum came back.

Apple peeling was mindless, and since we were making 20 pies for the next day's feast I had a lot of time to think and ruminate on all the ways Bruxum could come after me. When we started making the dough for the pie shells, I took my anger and fear out on the unbaked crust. Kneading and punching the dough was the perfect way to vent my frustrations.

We spent the next hour rolling and cutting the dough and filling the various pie plates. As the smell of the baking pies spread through the keep we had several visitors to the kitchen.

"Smells delicious ladies!" Harold said as he strolled through toward the dining room.

"You always make the most amazing desserts, Meridae!" Grace, another housemaid, said as she walked in to wash her hands.

" I can't wait to try those tomorrow night!" Nigel, a member of the guards said as he casually poked his head in.

Darryl, who was the local barber, stopped by and asked if I would ever consider giving him my recipe.

It wasn't until all the pies were out of the oven and cooling on the counter that Evelyn added her own comment.

"You know they all love you?" She said.

"Who?" I asked as I scrubbed the tabletop.

"Everyone who came in here to tell you how good the pies smelled." She smiled. "You don't think they just went out of their way to stop their work to compliment a smell that rolls through this house often, do you?"

"Well..." I said.

"They love you. They were checking on you. By now I am sure word has spread to the entire pack about what that kreaton tried to do to you."

I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say.

"You may not have grown up with a mom or dad," Evelyn continued. "But you have family here."

I finished scrubbing the tables and yawned loudly, stretching my arms up above my head.

"You better get to bed." Evelyn said, peering out the window. "Tomorrow will be an early morning."

I walked over to her and gave her a small hug. "I will see you in the morning." She gave me a small squeeze and watched me walk out the door.

It was late. Most of the house should have been in their own beds, but each room and hallway that I walked through had people working. They were sweeping and straightening frames, dusting the doorframes, or washing the walls. When I got to the musty basement, there were two familiar faces seated outside my door.

"Darryl? Nigel? What are you doing down here?" I asked.

"I am guarding the basement," Nigel replied.

"and I am going to give Nigel a haircut while he works." Darryl said with a giant grin.

I smiled too, knowing full well that they were not just there to work.

"Well," I said. "Someone needs to guard the moldy boxes, they are very important. And Nigel could really use a good cut - the shine on his bald head is slightly faded."

"There are some very important things in this basement, but the boxes are not it." Nigel said with a small smile. "Get some rest, Meridae. Someone will be outside your door all night."

I did not know what to say. I nodded as I walked into my room and shut the door. As I lay my head on my pillow, the soft scent of cinnamon and firewood sang me to sleep.