Hade's Rose

Chapter 19: First Conversation

"Mum?" I called out as I woke-up, breathing rapidly, "Edna?".

It was dark; I couldn't see the room I was in. A firm, comfortable mattress was beneath me, and my limbs were tangled in a thin sheet. My skin felt sticky and warm, but my clothes and bedding did not feel or smell soiled. In fact, they smelt of lemons and butterscotch. Cleanliness and comfort.

The forceful pitter-patter of feet could be heard, then a door was rapidly pushed open from across the room spilling in a little light from the corridor. Not enough for me to see much by. A tall, masculine figure stood in the doorway surveying the room in a panicked motion before settling his gaze on me.

By now I was sat up, feeling my surroundings in panic. I felt incredibly dislocated and confused, as I swiped at unfamiliar blankets and pillows. Furthermore, my limbs felt like wet sand, tingling and floppy as if unused for some time.

The figure at the door turned and commanded someone out in the corridor, "Wait in the other room." Leaving the door ajar, he walked slowly towards me, with his hands raised up as if trying to soothe a frightened animal.

"It's alright Rose. You're safe," the man came round to my side of the bed, his frame still hidden by shadows. Cautiously, as if not to alarm me, he sat down in a chair close to my bedside and reached across to the bedside table's lamp.

"Close your eyes," he told me.

Without hesitation, I shut them quickly, instinctively obeying the softly spoken authority within this man's voice. A flick of a switch could be heard and my eyelids flickered pink and yellow at the sudden influx of light. My visitor settled back in the chair; I could hear the faint creaking of leather as he pushed his weight back.

I felt like I'd been asleep for a long time. A very long time. Dim memories swirled in my head, causing a headache to form behind my temples: days of cleaning the King's quarters, a hospital and my running away in the rain and a lovely old lady called Birdy.

The sudden realisation of where I was triggered in my mind. My muscles tightened, and my eyes flew open. Across from me, in a high back leather chair (dragged in from the library, I knew it because I had dusted it every day) was Alpha King Hadrian. King Hades, who was sat staring at me so intensely that I could feel my face flush pink in response. His face unreadable. The top of the Wolfpeople's hierarchy: my mate.

We both sat studying each other intently and shamelessly. Never had I had the opportunity to look at Fate's pairing for me in such detail. He looked surprisingly shaggier than I expected, a few days of beard stubble and his face looked slightly thinner than it probably should be. Concern and guilt raced through me – was his dishevelment because of me? I knew I looked little better. My eyes flicked down to my arms, which looked thin and pale; the skin had patches of rash and flaky skin from when my immune system had been so low, a bandage also covered part of my left forearm. Attractive... I thought wryly.

To break the silence, I asked "How long have I been asleep?" although it came out as a hoarse whisper, my voice box was still waking up as well. I didn't bother pretending to be confused as to why I was here.

A quick hardening of his eyes and then it was gone, the only clue that something lay behind King Hadrian's impassive mask, "a week if you count from when you arrived here. You were in the hospital for three days as well." His tone sounded detached, yet I was not fooled. Shivers travelled down my skin at the sound of his voice. What I thought were pins and needles from having been laid down for so long, changed into the warm tingles of the mate bond. A bond both of us seemed to be ignoring for now. I bunched up the bed clothes in my hands, worrying them with my bony fingers, afraid to break the silence again.