Page 19 of Indentured Companion
“Truly?” My mother’s seriously concerned tone draws my attention back to the screen. “You think if you don’t give her the choice to have your blockers removed, she will withdraw her consent to feed from her entirely?”
“Yes.” I lie, and I’ve never lied to my mother. “I do.”
“…I see.” My mother was thinking as my Queen again as she mulled over the ramifications of the first feeding companion in a century rejecting the Dynast, and how the Theskian Empire would take that. I quickly work that angle.
“If anything, they’d use the failed companionship as an excuse to revoke Korvis presence in Theskian space. My mission will utterly fail, if this companionship does.” I swallow the lump in my throat and wait for my mother’s verdict. I can see she is conflicted over my request. My mother wants to say no. It’s too soon. She likely worries how willing I am to go through with this for Valerie, after only a month of living with her. My Queen feels the burden of our people, desperate and unable to be sustained long term for much longer on Regen and synthetic blood. She has read my reports, so she knows how well Valerie and I are getting along. If she decides it hurts too much to go through any more feeds, I won’t be allowed in Theskian space. The chances of another agreeing to become a feeding companion once the Anti-K movement realise what happened, is worryingly slim. “My Queen?”
“Fine, but!” She holds up a yellow silk clad finger to the screen to stop me from interrupting. “You must explain itallto her, everything, and shemustsign a waver so we have on file her full consent. If she declines, she must sign an agreement not to discuss the nature of a Korvian feeding with anyone else.”
“Yes, my Queen.” I bow my head to her and purse my lips to suppress the smile lurking beneath. I’m a jumble of anxiety for how Valerie will react to what I’ve been withholding from her. I’m nervous about how she will wish to proceed. Will she be angry with me? Will she be upset? Will she forgive me and understand the need for secrecy? Will she…say yes?
Chapter 17
The Amendment
Valerie.
The sound of knocking at my bedroom door makes me wake and wince. I was in so much pain last night from the last feed, that I only managed to weather the pain long enough to use the toilet. The rest of the time I remained bundled up in bed as a throbbing mass of misery. I was certainly not about to call my sister in that state. All I would have done is worried her. I made sure to pop all my Regen pills to help my recovery, since it was the only medication I could take. Even so, I’m waking up to the usual gripping ache in my neck.
“Miss Stone?” I hear Vrajan’s voice through the door and he sounds apprehensive. I hiss through my teeth and push my hands down into the mattress to sit up in bed. I look at the door and sigh. Here we go again. Sweet and sensitive space Dracula is going to have to feed on me to survive, and I’m going to have to let him, and then we’re both going to feel like shit about it. Especially now that I don’t even get the reprieve of being unconscious through the worst of the pain. God, even crying into my pillowhurt.Honestly, I feel a little sick with dread that I’m about to go through it all again. I experimentally stretch and feel heavy and lethargic. My neck is bruised and sore to touch, but Ihaverecovered a lot from last night’s feed. As I usually do. Only, knowing the full brunt of what I’m going to experience is making me reluctant to answer Vrajan when he calls out to me again. “Miss Stone?” Especially from his nervous tone and the fact he isn’t calling me Valerie anymore. “Are you awake?” I gulp, agitating my sore neck, and sigh. I can’t put this off forever. I slide my legs over the edge of the mattress and stand. I stall a tad longer as I brush my hair and tie it into a low ponytail over my right shoulder, and eye the bedroom door. “I…have left you for as long as I can Miss Stone. I can hear your heart beat. I know you’re awake. Please may I come in?” I steel myself with a deep breath and walk over to the bedroom door. I press the button and look up into his lilac eyes.
Vrajan is wearing another of his long chiffon robes, blue today, and has forgone his Dynast crown. His chiffon hood and veil are firmly in place, and he’s holding two silver tablets to his chest with folded arms. “G…good morning.” I searched his diamond-shaped pupils, and I can’t recall ever seeing him this nervous. He’s even hunching slightly like he does with strangers to make himself seem smaller. He’s speaking softly and with a higher pitch than usual. He doesn’t usually do that withme? Man, he’s pulling out all his non-threatening techniques here. He’s even struggling to look me in the eye. “M-Miss Stone? May I come in?”
“Yeah. Itisfeeding time.” I sigh. Fuck, I’m not emotionally ready to go through that living nightmare of pain all over again. Not so soon. Yet, there’s no avoiding it. I don’t want Vrajan to starve, and I’m contractually obligated to let him feed off me as his feeding companion. “I just need to use the bathroom first.”
“Of course.” He seems to sink into his frame even more and nods at me with encouragement. “I will wait. Please, take your time.” He doesn’t move from the doorway even as I walk away to head to my ensuite. I relieve myself, take a longer shower than usual to stall just a little longer, and emerge with my brown hair in a damp braid down my back, and my body wrapped in a towel. I dried myself in the bathroom just to put off this moment a little longer, and contemplate fussing over my wardrobe for the day as well.
I check myself as I catch Vrajan’s eyes. He’s still stood outside my open doorway. He’s hugging those tablets to his chest and his eyes have a shimmer like he’s become tearful. As soon as I catch his gaze he turns his head and looks down towards the ground. I hate seeing him like that. I can tell he hates seeingmelike this too.
“I wish I didn’t have to do this. I hate hurting you.”
I pinch the brow of my nose and check myself for a moment. This would be so much easier for me to handle if he was professional about this. Instead the urge to comforthimand tellhimit’s okay is giving me conflicted feelings. I want to go to him and tell him it’s okay, like I did last night. I also want to cover up my neck and protect myself. I frown and walk into my walk-in wardrobewithoutstalling. I decide I want to be comfortable since I’m going to be wallowing in bed in a pit of agony, awake to it all once he’s finished. I therefore put on comfy white underpants, grey sweatpants, and a shoulderless black top. No bra. No socks. Once he’s finished feeding I’m going totryandprayI can pass out, or sleep my way through the brunt of my recovery. At least to lunch time. I find Vrajan isstillhovering outside the door and waiting for me. “M-may I come in?”
“In here?” I raise a brow at him. Normally we go to his room for the feed. He carries me back to my bed to rest afterwards. Then again, I suppose that if I’m already on my own bed, we cut out the painful jostling I’d recieve in transit.
“Yes.” That soft wispy voice he’s using is really annoying me. He edges into the room slowly and hesitates before sitting on the far right corner of the bottom of my bed. I eye him and see he’s on the very edge, like he’s going to leap away at a moment’s notice, and is really uncomfortable in here. His arms are still folded over his chest with those tablets as his cargo, and he doesn’t look at me. Vrajan is just…sitting there. Tense and silent.
Now he’s pissing me off.
“Look, if you’re freaking out because I told you to get out of my room last night, cut it out.” I’m afraid I don’t do subtle at the best of times, and right now I’m stressed, anxious, and quite frankly getting pissed off too. “It clearly upset you to see me in pain, and I didn’t have the energy to keep reassuring youanddeal with my recovery. I’m not refusing to feed you or anything, so stop acting like you’re afraid I’m going to go back on our contract.” Vrajan finally turns his head to look at me and sees I’m giving him my ‘cut that shit out’ glare. My hands are on my hips and my head is cocked to the right. This is showing off my bruised neck, but I don’t give a fuck at this stage. “I am not going to apologise because I needed some time to deal with my new reality, but I’m not going to break the deal. So stop pussy-footing around me like I’m some sort of injured animal.” Of which, I totally am. “Sit up straight, talk to me normally, and look at medamn it.”He hesitated for a moment, and then slowly lifted up in his frame. His back was straight, he raised his chin, and he looked me right in the eye.
“I apologise.” His deep gravely voice was back. Good. That whispery shit was freaking me out. “I was…not sure how you would react when you saw me again after last night. We have never…parted like that before.” I fold my arms subconsciously and my heart rate raises a little. He’s not wrong. Before last night I’ve never been afraid of the feed before. Not during our companionship, at least. He scared me for a short spell when we first met, but then he turned out to be a 7ft cinnamon roll, so I parked that ignorant wariness to the back bench of my mind. Now though? Shit me, I can feel the adrenaline coursing through my body and putting me on edge even now. I’m trying so hard not to think about his fangs in my neck and the mind splitting terror of feeling like I’m dying when he feeds…but I’m only human. No matter how practical and badass I consider myself, Iamafraid. Not of Vrajan, of course…but the pain. “Miss Stone?” I blink and realise I’ve stared off to one side as my fear drew me into my mind, and hope he hasn’t noticed the reason for my sudden distraction. “Could we talk for a while first?”
First.
Meaning, afterward he would need to feed, but first we’ll talk. I gulp, my nerves already on edge, and wondering if I want that. Talking first put off the agony, but it also allowed me to think about it and become more anxious. Should I ask him to just get on with it? “There is something I would like to discuss with you.” He clears his throat and shifts his arms to hold a tablet in each hand.
“What do you want to talk about?”
“An amendment to our contract.”
“An…amendment?” I don’t know why, but my stomach has twisted into a worried knot at the sound of that. “D-do you want to change the duration or the pay out?” Shit, I can’t afford for him to decide he doesn’t want to keep me on for my contract. “Because I refuse to agree to a reduction in either.” I fold my arms defiantly. Icannotafford for him to ask to terminate the contract early. He won’t pay out the full amount we agreed if we do. Not to mention, if I go home now, my father’s imminent bankruptcy will pull me down into destitution with him. If he becomes casteless now while I’m protected under contract, my caste is protected under the terms indentured servitude contract. Even if he pays out the full amount now, my father’s debtors would be able to petition for it to be used to pay offsomeof what he owes, and then I’m in the same position as I was before. On the verge of living in the perilous streets with the other casteless. “Look, there’s no need for an amendment. Come on. Let’s do this.” At the risk of being homeless and casteless I find the resolve to march over and straddle Vrajan’s lap. The pain of his feed still fills me with dread, but it’s only for a year. 11 more months. Iwillsurvive this. Iwill notbecome casteless.
“Oh -w-wait?!” He flusters as I grab his hood with both hands. “M-Miss Stone I want to-” I throw his hood back and yank his veil down. His white and black face doesn’t scare me, even if his four fangs I see between his black lips do. “Wait?! N-no stop!” I hold his shoulders and bump my bruised neck against his mouth.
He squealed.
Vrajan’s closed mouth bounced away from me like he was repelled from my jugular and he landed on his back on the bed. He moved the two tablets up to make a protective barrier in front of his lower face and stared up at me like I’ve gone mad. I’m still straddling his lap and I look athimlike he’s the crazy one.
