CHAPTER 10

LYDIA’S POV

My eyes were shut, but not too tightly. I focused on the steady drum of my heart and even more intently on my breathing. It was important to keep my body relaxed and not too tense; otherwise, my reflexes would only fail rather than aid me in the upcoming seconds.

My heart was racing a mile a minute, a light burning ferociously inside me.

I had not meant to look. Truly, I had not. But my wretched eyes had been far too slow to look away.

And what a sight I had seen!

I tried to calm my nerves, but it seemed that the more I tried to forget what I saw, the more clearly I remembered everything.

Lady Marithyda, the Senior maid, had ordered me to clear the room down the hallway. I was met with two doors when I reached the end of the hallway, so I decided to go with the one on my right. I opened the door and walked into the almost-dark room. I smelled a familiar scent in the room, and it pulled me in.

I began to scrub the floor, even in the dark. "Don’t touch anything!" Lady Marithyda's voice rang in my head. I would have loved to roll up the curtains to let the wind into the room instead of being choked by this familiar scent. 

Then it hit me, Derek! How can I forget how he smelled like herbs, probably Echinacea, and how he tried to hide the smell with musk? For someone like me who had knowledge of herbs. I blushed at how I could still remember different herbs just by their scent.

I wonder how he was going to react to seeing me clean his room—would he want me in his space so close to him? Probably not; I need to hurry up and leave. I began to scrub the floor harder. Then I heard the door open and then close, and I knew I had missed the opportunity to run away without being caught. I chose to feign ignorance, like I didn’t know he was in the room with me. I kept scrubbing the floor while he approached me slowly, then he finally stopped. Why did he stop? I turned to face him. 

When his eyes landed on me, he did not appear angry; instead, his eyes were pulling me gently. My eyes then trailed down his bare chest, where trails of water—droplets from the ends of his damp hair—raced down his shoulders, down his torso, and over his non-existent wounds. His eyes followed mine, then they changed, and he growled at me, causing me to stammer. He then told me to leave; his voice was so harsh, it hurt. I didn’t even know when the tears started falling. 

I had wanted to please him by scrubbing the floor harder. I am such a fool; why would I have thought I could please him. After all, we are enemies. 

Melody entered the room; since we are all maids, we share the same room, which is something I am not quite used to, and she wasn’t making it pleasant at all, she snores loudly and doesn’t clean her own side of the room. I miss Mel. 

The room suddenly became the last place I wanted to be.

DEREK’S POV

My eyes snapped open, and I jerked away. My chest hitched up and down as I tried to catch my breath again, and I could feel my entire body dampened in perspiration.

I pulled the weight off the bed as I sat up. As soon as I sat up, a soft, careful knock came on my door, and without wasting any time, Athena walked in carrying a cup of tea in her hand. I looked away from her as I took in a deep inhale and exhale. I felt Athena’s weight join me softly on the bed, sitting next to me. 

"Hey," She whispered to me softly, "I made a hot cup of tea for you; it would calm your nerves." She stirred the cup of tea in her hand before handing it over to me. Hesitantly, I retrieved the cup from her, but I did not consume it immediately.

"Go on. Drink it immediately before it gets cold; it’s a Chamomile tea." She whispered to me again, and I took a deep breath before taking a sip of the drink. She watched quietly, then finally spoke again.

"We have to do something about your nightmares."

"Hmmmmmm, how about we do something about those sharp ears of yours? One will think the walls are so thin and your bedroom is close to mine with how fast you run to my room when I am having a nightmare. 

"Derek, this is getting serious!

I played my fingers around the rims of the mug, plunging into deep thought. Athena was right. The nightmares were beginning to occur too frequently, and I had begun to get scared to shut my eyes every night. The scariest part about the nightmares was that they were always as vivid as reality. 

"So tell me, how do you know when I am having a nightmare?" I asked Athena.

"It’s a ladies thing. When a lady loves a man, she can sense when he is in pain or danger." She answered as her cheeks turned pink.

"Oh, I didn’t know. I need to sleep."

"Okay, I would leave you now." Her face dropped as she stood up from the bed. I watched as she took little steps to the door of my room, then she turned, and her eyes suddenly shone the way they do when she has an idea. A wild one.

"How about we go hunting tomorrow in the woods? You, me, Scott, and Laura."

"I want to rest now, Athena. I will think about it later."