Blood Lust

Chapter 5

Selene had knocked Eleanor out soon after trapping her against the wall. When she came to and the fog cleared from her mind, Eleanor blearily took in her surroundings. The chamber was lit once again, but the woman was nowhere in sight. She didn't want to leave. She wanted to complete her quest and bring back a cure for her father, but she couldn't do that if she was six-feet-under. Or if she was served with potatoes on a silver dish and filling a golden chalice. She shivered at the very thought, pushing herself off the floor and standing on shaky legs.

She'd come back, with a plan.

Eleanor took one of the torches off the wall, and tried to remember the way she came in. The fire from the torch cast shadows that took on a life of their own, (or maybe it was the vampire playing tricks on her mind). Winding her way through the cave in what she believed was the right direction, she reached a dead end. Turning back around, she nearly jumped out of her skin when the woman apparated soundlessly behind her, with darkness tangled in her hair.

"Tsk tsk tsk, my pet. Now where do you think you're going?"

"Um..." Eleanor ran a hand through her hair, eyes dancing across the cold and empty hall. (where did her gauntlets go?) "Home?"

"Mmm, I don't think so. You think I'm going to allow you to leave and send word to the kingdom? Have the king come after me with a fleet of hormonal men? I am truly exhausted with those pretentious pricks..."

"Don't you sleep?!" Eleanor tried changing the subject. "It must be the middle of the night."

"I don't sleep actually. Not for it being a cliché where I rest in a coffin. I do tend to enjoy shutting my eyes and dreaming of a happier place, filled with puppies and rainbows while I bathe in the sun," the woman waved her hand noncommittaly, cocking a hip out and lazily taking her eyes over the peasant. What was her thing with watching me?

"My mind has the scary capability of being dark and demented, so I do as little of it as possible, if you must know. I applaud your attempt though, you're not leaving. I'll make you comfortable; far be it for me not to give my guests a comfortable bed to sleep in."

"I'm not a guest."

"Fine, hostage." She said with a roll of her eyes. "That doesn't sound as nice, does it?" The vampire gestures with her head, beckoning Eleanor to follow her, and reluctantly, she does. In her quest to leave, it became clear that the woman could bend the cave walls to her will, and she wouldn't be leaving if she herself didn't allow it.

It was truly sad, she mulled. The loneliness of solitude for, what? A hundred years? Probably more?

Arriving back at the main chamber with much more ease than she had left it, the raven woman stalked down one of the fire-lined corridors that split off from it. They arrived at a door that looked more like the entrance to a dungeon than a guest room. She opened the door, and Eleanor was pleasantly surprised with what was behind it.

There's something delightfully sinful about enjoying the fruits of an evil vampire queen's reign. But the vampire gave her no other choice. There was a bathtub set up with steaming hot water, begging her to sink into it's depths, and a bed that was gloriously large and silken-sheeted, and after all it had been a very long day.

Reluctantly, Eleanor made her way into the room. "There's no windows. How do I keep track of the days?"

"How I do." Selene said, already leaving. "Days and nights mean nothing. Sleep until you're not tired, then wake up. And don't worry, I'm not going to kill you in your sleep. I prefer a chase to my meals."

Eleanor rolled her eyes. "Comforting."

* * *

Eleanor woke up an unknown amount of time later. Strangely, no nightmares had plagued her. After taking a bath, she had climbed into the soft sheets, the mattress softer than anything she had ever felt. She sunk into the feathery bed, engulfing herself within the large fur blanket and drifting off to the soft winds blowing in and around the cave. The clothes laid out for her were a shift garment she'd only ever watched Joan sew for the upper class. It hadn't even been an entire sun cycle (she thinks), but the fact that she didn't know day from night was already starting to do take a toll on her. Walking over to the wardrobe, there were fancy dresses and riding clothes, and while she couldn't be sure that they were left for her, the colours were oddly her favourite shades of ivory green and rich purples. it quickly became evidently clear that her armor would be no use against the woman, and she had no desire to put the clunky material back on.