Page 31 of Mushy Stuff
“One of the Guardians…the ones that your mother held as prisoners. One of them killed her. She went into his cage one night, for her…activities, and he killed her. Her glamour over him must not have held. Glamours don’t work as well on Guardians, and maybe he grew to resist it.”
“Good.” I have known how cruel my birth mother was for my entire life; I would never mourn her death. I am glad that whichever Guardian it was that killed her was able to get his revenge.
Nanni gives me a cautious look, then gestures to the child that has been quietly watching us. “Wold…this is Pampa. She’s your sister. Most likely by the same Guardian.”
With that, Pampa steps forward and softly says, “Hello.”
I reply, “Hello, I am Wold.” I look to Nanni. “I have to get Lydia out.”
Nanni smiles. “Let us help you.”
***
Nanni’s plan is to sneak up to the main house while Lord Varik is at dinner with Lydia. Lydia’s rooms should be empty at this time. Pampa will sneak into Lydia’s roomand unlock one of the large windows so I can crawl in and hide until the servants leave Lydia for the night. Then I can come out of hiding and rescue Lydia by crawling back through the window. If all goes well, we should be able to sneak back off the estate grounds the same way that I came in.
Chapter 23
Thetwoservantstakeme to a grand dining room. If I thought the entryway and bedroom were extravagant, they are nothing compared to the dining room. Everything is gilded and shines. There is a long table with so much food laid out that it resembles a buffet for a huge party. Orbs of magic light float above the table and are scattered throughout the room. It makes the space look magical.
At the other end of the room is a large golden table, and sitting at the head of it is Lord Varik. He stands when we enter the room, then walks toward me and says, “There now, kitten, don’t you look lovely. You cleaned up very well.”
He reaches for my hand, and my first reaction is to step back from him. When I do, I see a dark look cross his face.Then he begins giving me a strange look. He’s intentionally looking me in the eye and holding my gaze. He must be trying to glamour me, so I feign that it’s working. I smile sweetly and say, “Thank you, my lord.”
His face relaxes and he takes my hand and kisses my palm. Keeping a hold on my hand, he guides me toward the table where he had been sitting. As I approach the table, I count the chairs. There’s twelve of them. All but two of them have statues sitting in the chairs. Gleaming, golden statues. They are in various poses that make it look like they are enjoying a dinner party. One of them even has a golden fork raised to its mouth as if it’s about to take a bite of something delicious. Lord Varik draws my attention away from the statues when he says, “I’m so glad you could join me for dinner tonight.” He pulls out a chair for me and tells me to sit.
I sit like the good girl I’m pretending to be. I try to be all sweet smiles on the outside even though I am all rage and disgust on the inside. How many women or females has he done this to? How many people has he glamoured and forced into doing something that they didn’t want to? I wonder if you remember everything while you are glamoured…
He pours a dark wine out of a bottle and into two sparkling crystal and gold glasses. He sets one in front ofme, then he says, “Now, dear kitten, tell me, how are your rooms? Are they to your liking?”
I smile vapidly and say, “Oh yes, my lord. They are perfect.” Then I go back to sitting quietly in my spot.
He gives me a wolfish grin. “Good. How about we eat? You must be starving after that dreadful wagon ride. I hope you know that I meant nothing bad by it. I just needed a way to get you here. It was merely a little bit of suffering that you needed to endure to make the later pleasures all that much better.”
Without thinking, I say, “Oh.”
He gives me a slight frown. “I do hope that you don’t hold that against me, kitten.”
I smile more brightly and say, “Of course not. You were only doing what was best for me.”
That seems to appease him. “Let us eat.” He picks up a small golden bell and rings it to signal to the two servants, and I have to fight to keep from rolling my eyes. Seriously, a bell? The two females were still in the room, he could have just said he was ready to eat. The two servants walk over to the table of food and each pick up a large, heavy-looking platter and bring them to the table. The lord points to the foods that he wants, and they put it on his plate. One of the servants looks at me expectantly and I point to a couple of foods that look mild and like I might be able to stomachthem. They then carry the large platters back to the table. Once they have deposited their platters, they stand on each end of the table, waiting to be called upon again.
We eat mostly in silence. Lord Varik doesn’t seem to be all that concerned with making small talk, and I’m not sure if someone that was under an Elven glamour would talk a lot. Somehow, I doubt it, so I decide staying quiet is the safest idea.
I make it through dinner, and then Lord Varik wants to take me on a tour of his home. All of it is just as extravagant as everything else I have seen. I try to gasp and feign awe at all the appropriate times.
There are several sitting rooms. There is a huge ballroom complete with a large staircase and balcony that looks exactly like what you would expect in some kind of princess story.
All of the rooms have at least a few of those same strange golden statues. They are all posed as if they are enjoying a party. It’s a bit creepy. I guess if he can’t make real friends, he can buy some golden ones.
He leads me to a large corridor and explains that his rooms are down there, and I am not to go to his wing of the house. Yeah…he doesn’t really need to worry about that. I’m definitely going to stay as far away from him as possible.
He goes on to explain, “Once you no longer smell of…that Guardian, I will come visit you in your quarters. And if you find you are suddenly in need of me, you can always send one of the servants.” I smile at him as one of the female servants appears at my side.
“Now, if you will excuse me, I have something I must…attend to before I retire for the night. It has been a lovely evening, and I look forward to spending tomorrow with you. Maybe I can take you on a tour of the grounds.” He lifts my hand and kisses my palm again. “The servant will return you to your room.”
I try not to shudder at the weird palm kiss. Why would he kiss my palm instead of the back of my hand?
I thank him, and then he strolls down his corridor to his rooms. Gods only know what he has to run off to do. I’m just grateful that he’s leaving me alone for the rest of the night.
