Page 123 of Eldritch
Lips pressed together, he slowly nodded, wearing a look of disappointment.
From the wall, I lifted one of the stone sconces and knelt in front of the fireplace to light the small bit of kindling at the top of it, then carried it like a torch out of the room. My heart pounded in my chest, while the longing to lay with him, soothe him, pulled at my hair, beckoning me back to his room, but I kept on.
Aleysia hadn’t yet returned from the kitchen, but I could hear the distant sounds of her cursing and rifling through drawers, clanging pans and silverware.
I lit the fireplace in the room across the hall for her, then headed to the room adjacent to Zevander’s. A cold breeze danced over my feet before I’d even opened the door, and when I stepped inside, the temperature nearly stole my breath. The windows had been knocked out, the curtains blowing in the breeze as rain pattered across the stony floor. “Absolutely not this room,” I muttered to myself.
After closing the door, I made my way farther down the hallway to the next room, opening it to find much smaller and simpler quarters. Perhaps the subordinate clergy rooms, which held nothing more than a simple cot and a much smaller fireplace. “It’ll do for the night.”
I crossed the small space toward the fireplace, but paused mid-step at the sound of ahoo-hoo-hooat my back. Slowly turning around brought two glowing eyes staring down at me from the rafters there. I gasped and lifted the torch to find an owl perched on the wooden beams overhead. How he’d gotten inside, I didn’t know, seeing as the window and door were both closed. Instead of pondering it too long, I exhaled a shaky breathand tiptoed back toward the corridor, closing the door behind me.
I’d just have to share a room with Aleysia. Her bed would easily fit the both of us, anyway.
I told myself the decision had nothing to do with how the corridor seemed colder and darker, the further I went.
I ambled quickly back to Aleysia’s room and found her sitting in front of the fireplace with palms outstretched.
She twisted around, regarding me with a frown. “Not a single speck of food. Place must’ve beenentirelyransacked. I’m just going to bed at this point. It’s the only way to keep my mind off the incessant grumble in my stomach.”
“Mind if I share a room with you?”
Her brows furrowed deeper. “Are the two of you not …”
“We’re not. I mean, we are, but. Not.”
“Oh, good grief, Maeve. You’re ridiculous. Just sleep in his bed.”
“Are you refusing to let me share a room with you?”
“What if I am?”
I rolled my shoulders back. “That would be incredibly rude.”
She snorted a laugh. “Then, share a room with me, if you’re so insistent. I’m too hungry to argue.”
“Thank you.” I stepped inside, noting the bed was a little smaller than I’d originally visualized, but good enough. We’d slept beside each other on a much smaller bed before, though Aleysia had a tendency to flop around quite a bit.
Like Sacton Crain’s room, this one, which must’ve belonged to the head Red Veil, boasted a beautifully carved stone fireplace and a tub. However the small closet held only robes and shifts.
As hesitant as I was to change out of my dress, on the chance that something happened in the middle of the night, it was still soaked. From beside the closet, I tugged an iron rack closer to the fireplace and slipped out of the clingy garments, gratefulwhen the blazing heat touched my bare skin, as I hung my wet clothes on the rack.
A prickling sensation at my hand reminded me of the strange, scaled glove there, and its sharp metallic nails caught the firelight as I held it out in front of me.
“That is positively revolting,” Aleysia said, while I continued to examine the finer details in the light.
“I just wish I knew what purpose it served. Or if it was harmful in any way.”
“I can’t begin to imagine.”
Sighing, I lowered my hand and kept on with my undressing. The rain had soaked the damned cammyck, and as I peeled it away, an echo of my annoyance from earlier flared as I was reminded of its open crotch. I quickly changed into one of the shifts, swimming in the much larger garment.
Aleysia sat chewing on her nails as I passed her to the bed.
“They won’t make much of a meal, you know.” I peeled back the thick, velvet blanket on the bed, and a small spider scampered across the mattress. I slapped my hand over my mouth, smothering a quiet squeal, and carefully reached for one of the decorative pillows that lay within reach. A quick smack of the pillow sent the spider scampering away over the edge.
“Was it one of them?”
“It isn’t getting bigger. Or coming after us.” To be sure, I rounded the bed to the other side, and on finding no sign of it, I yanked away the blanket in search of more. “Looks to be the only one. Perhaps just a simple spider.”
