Stone Cold

Chapter 20

She held her head in her hands as the raven stream cascading down her shoulders curtained her face from the view. Her quite stature seemed to merge with the darkness of the room, appearing as a single entity.

She found comfort in the shadows of the dark room. Seclusion had never scared her. It had been her only companion through the difficult years of her life but things had started to change since his arrival. He was always there to help her in the hour of need, as if she were a delicate damsel in distress. His damsel in distress.

The world had been cruel to her, like it has always been to its loyal tenants. She had become accustomed to its fierceness over the years but then came a cold medieval Lord turning her world upside down. He unveiled her most vulnerable pieces to him. He made her feel at home. He made her experience things she had never felt before. She didn't even realise how, in such a short period of time, he became her salvation. 'How do I leave him?'

A knock on her door made her sit upright. She hurriedly wiped the dried tears away from her cheeks.

"Come in." She croaked in a hoarse voice.

The door opened without making any sounds. She looked at it expectantly hoping it'd be him standing on the other side of it.

Her face dropped seeing Henry standing at the entrance of the room. "Milady."

"Yes?" She asked looking down in her lap.

"I'm here to escort you to your apartment in the city as per Milord's orders."

Her head shot up at his statement. Her lips trembled as she called out his name in a small whisper, "Henry..."

His emotionless facade broke into a worried frown. "I can't do anything about it, Milady."

She stared at him with glistening eyes for some seconds before breaking the eye contact, "Go. I'll come out in a minute." He immediately did as she told her.

She gripped the bedsheets in her hands, wrinkling the expensive silk. 'If this is what you want,' She thought as she stood up, grabbing her bag and phone, 'I'll respect your wish.'

Walking out of the room, she stopped for a moment, gazing longingly at the end of the dark hallway.

He didn't come to say goodbye.

                                              ~*~ 

They shared a mutual agreement of staying silent during their journey. Both of them lost in their own thoughts revolving around the same person.

Henry glanced sideways at her Lord's beloved. He had been reluctant to perform this job. He knew about his Lord's deteriorating health. He had been insisting for weeks on bringing Faith to the castle to live with them. His Lord, on the other side, was adamant on staying alone. Henry believed everything would be better once the girl arrived there. The bond would force them to put their differences aside. But things didn't go as planned. His knuckles tightened on the steering wheel thinking about the messy situation.

"Henry!" Faith's voice brought him back to the present.

Through the windscreen, he saw a big log blocking the road before them. He pressed the brakes immediately,  merely avoiding a collision with it. The car came to a halt with a screech, jolting them forward in their seats.

'Why is there a log in the middle of the road?' He climbed out of the car walking towards the big stump.

He was bent over it, about to move it out of the way, when he sensed something wrong. He tried moving away but it was already too late. He was thrown to the side with a sheer force that left him gasping for air. His back hit the ground with a heavy thud knocking the breath out of him. Blood dripped down the side of his mouth as he lay there motionless, absorbing the impact.