Queen of Ashes │ Season 1 │The Journey

15 │The fourth companion

Leaving Freya's room Leander felt his jaw tight. Gods, that woman was something else... Watching her in that fragile state did some odd things to his hoary heart.

She gracefully kicked him out the door, but his hearing caught that silent sound of a hard-shelled demeanor cracking—that protection she had painstakingly donned around herself. He wasn't sure what that pain inside him meant, but surely he could at least suspect that he somehow became quite empathetic after all this time.

Maybe it was the mere fact of developing such an odd quality for a vampire that pushed him to support her to this extent. But he was being genuine—he wanted to help her, and he wanted her to see him as a friend in all of this—not an enemy.

Seeing her falling apart made him hate his brother even more. She didn't deserve this. He couldn't tell if anyone did, but when it came to her, she was truly an innocent woman. He already could see how the role of the vampire queen fitted her perfectly. Maybe she wasn't one of his kind, but he had a feeling that her way of seeing things would make a great deal of changes in that society. The only one standing in the way was his brother. The King-fucking-Cassius himself—with all of his greed, pride, and injustice.

He didn't deserve her.

Leander understood her behavior. He already noticed she used to play tough, but on the inside she was as scared as any human would feel at her place. Strangely, he felt lucky to be the person she decided to open up with a part of her doubts, even if just for a brief moment.

He knew she needed some space now. Some insecurity got to him that she wouldn't take his offer of help, but a rational part told him to wait and see.

Fuck, it was the first time he wanted to be in somebody else's good graces this much... What was happening to him?

He had a hint that maybe he should be honest with her from the very beginning. Tell her about the danger and explain his brother's motivations. But seeing her just a moment ago, with those carefully hidden emotions... He didn't feel strong enough. Perhaps it was better for her not knowing... At least for now, until she accepted her fate as the vampire queen. Then, he would tell her everything and maybe even be able to present her with some solutions.

Standing inside his room, he felt tremendously tired thinking about all of this. One glance outside the window told him he should better get some rest.

So he took his shirt off and, with a loud creak, landed on the bed.

⋄⋄⋄

"My Lady, wake up." A soft voice echoed around her, filled with warmth and an odd sense of familiarity. What was that? Was she dreaming? "Freya, wake up."

Hearing her name, she started to stir. One moment of blur, the next she was sitting face to face with her longtime friend and the only trusted maid, Giselle.

What the fuck?

"Giselle?!" She shouted, almost falling from the bed because of the sudden movement.

"Shush, my lady. No need to scream. My butt is already aching like after that good shagging incident, not need to make my ears trouble me as well," she said, smirking wildly.

Freya couldn't believe her eyes. What was her maid doing here? With her? After days of her departure? Did something happen at home? She decided to ignore Giselle's shagging comment though. Freya truly did hope that her pain was strictly horse-riding related.

"Giselle, what are you doing here? How did you find me?" She managed to utter.

Her maid became sullen all of a sudden, giving Freya an angry look.