The Fear I Loved

chapter 8.

"You two know each other?" Henry asks from the kitchen, slowly peeling the potato skin off.

"Well, more like kindergarten classmates. It's been a very long time since we haven't seen each other. Who'd knew we would cross paths like this." Lliy responds.

Ailiseu was staring off into the distance, specifically at the entrance door. Birds were chirping right by the opened window, perched on the frames. She could feel the throbbing of pain faintly poke her limbs. 

Last night's horrific events and twists of confusion were replaying in her mind. She had wanted to help the old lady and her child to escape, but the guards were already on her tail. Then, her mind travelled to Caspar's whereabouts. She wanted to find him. She wanted to check if he made it back home alive. 

She gripped tightly on the cup, her knuckles almost turning pale at the thought of the red eyes. They were not the comforting type. It sent a chill through her limbs, goosebumps forming on her skin. 

Lily noticed the shaking lass. Henry was already preparing breakfast. She stood up and approached the tranced woman.

"Ailiseu, drink that tea before it gets too cold." Lily said, placing her palm gently on Ailiseu's shoulder as to not alarm her.

Ailiseu slightly flinched at the touch, but soon registered the contact as someone she knows. She glanced up at Lily, briefly studying her familiar features and comparing her to when she was just a kid, to when they were just children. She nods in return and lifts the cup up, angling it slightly to touch the brim of her lips. 

"Rest well, dear. We'll talk in a while." Lily reassures and meanders to help her husband. 

Ailiseu finishes the drink in a few large gulps. She'd been thirsty ever since the start of the party and running for hours didn't help the situation. The tea was warm and soothing in her throat, but it didn't really alleviate the worry in her heart. 

Where was Caspar? Did he make it out alive? What had happened back in the castle? Why were they targeted? And who was the man with the red blazing eyes?

She was beginning to feel afraid if she'd question more about the man with the red eyes. She thought it might've been her fatigue that caused her to see strange things. Maybe, the red eyes were merely her imagination. Maybe the moonlight was reflecting its light directly on his eyes.

Ailiseu puts the glass cup on the table, her hands shaking in the process. She pushed the crumpled blanket away and pulled her legs over to the floor. The wooden floorboard was cold, like last night's horror. 

She breathed in deeply, carefully listening to the white noise of Lily and her husband cooking. She wanted to do something in return, as she was lucky enough to be found by them. 

Ailiseu attempted to stand up, but a wave of throbbing agony surged down her spine and legs, inducing the lass to collapse back on the couch. 

Her limbs, without a mistake were shaking uncontrollably. 

All she wanted to do was to see her younger brother. She didn't want any harm to come upon Haru. That would drive her sanity downwards, if anything bad happened to him. 

Breakfast had later come by in a set of warm chicken mushroom soup and a plate of heavenly garlic bread. The sour yet sweet scent travelled up her nostrils like a hungry prey. Ailiseu's mouth was salivating at the sight, although her mind was somewhere else for now. 

Her whole body was still throbbing and she couldn't sleep well. Even if she wanted to pass out for hours, the responsibility and concern weighed her heavily. The worry and sadness was obvious on her face.

The three of them took their breakfast. Most of the time, Lily assisted in feeding Ailiseu as she was quite weak to lift anything. She felt abashed at being served, but Lily didn't mind it. It was as if she was taking care of her younger sister. 

Once breakfast was consumed, Henry went to wash the dishes and peeled some oranges. Their stomachs were happily filled to the brim. It was supposed to brighten the mood for Ailiseu, yet she still felt concerned. 

Lily, too, was also worried about the silence in Ailiseu. If she recalled correctly, she knew Ailiseu to be the lass as a cheerful girl back in the days. They haven't interacted that much in the past, but they saw each other's face almost every day for almost a year. There's not much of a change in the features, except for their accentuated eyes.

"Tell me Ailiseu, how did you end up unconscious in the middle of the stream? And how did you get yourself injured like this? Is someone after you or something?" Lily asks. 

She had a lot of questions about her situation, but these ones were important as of now. 

Ailiseu did not know where to begin. She could've started exactly where all the servers in the town were invited to cater to the lords in the palace. She could cut out the unnecessary stuff about her being chased by two unknown figures, then a guard. She could avoid mentioning a lot of things that may or may not get Lily and her husband involved.

For the love of god, she did not want to harm anyone.

It took her a moment to think about and a few deep exhales. She needed to think of a way to go around this. 

"Actually, I can't remember that much. Everything passed by in a blur." Ailiseu said, in a slow pace that wouldn't further damage her chest. 

It was restricting to breathe in deeply, as the throbbing pain may intensify on her chest. 

"Do you remember where you went, at least?" Lily inquires, slowly caressing Ailiseu's back up and down.

The gesture was warm and lingering, a longing that Ailiseu wanted from her Mother. 

"I went to the Lord's palace, alone. It was around 6 in the evening by the time I arrived. They gave out invitations to all servers working in bars to work in their ball party for a night. It was a once in a lifetime chance, I suppose."

"A ball party of the Lords? Why, that's the first I've ever heard. Why would such lords go to such lengths to do all that?" Lily questions the thoughts.

Both ladies had no idea why and Ailiseu could only assume that it was to cover the whole acre of the ball party and millions of guests that were invited. Maybe, the lords just wanted to show off their generosity to the community. Perhaps, they were about to select a handful of servants before things escalated in a massacring accident. 

"Beats me. The front entrance was almost filled to the brim. I thought I'd be lost amongst the river of people." 

Ailiseu almost revolted at the growing stench of rotting flesh from last night. She held herself from throwing out the breakfast and kept a steadfast reaction. 

"So, then, do you remember how you were in the stream? You know, it's a long way down for you to get here from the palace." Lily sighs. 

There was bound to be another lie from her tongue, "The moment just became kind of lost. I felt the coldness seeping through and around my limbs, but I don't recall the reason for it."

"Well, that's too bad. We could've reported a file to the police about this."

Ailiseu's eyes almost widened in alarm, but they settled down quickly to rest. She didn't want to file a report about anything, but she did want to know Caspar's whereabouts. 

"It's alright, Lily. I'll come to remember it someday. Perhaps, I just need some rest."

"Yeah. You should get more rest. I'll prepare some peppermint tea for you after you awake."

Ailiseu was settling to fall back asleep when she suddenly remembered a significant occasion, Haru's birthday surprise. 

. . .