Moonlight streamed from the open window, red velvet covers reflecting blue white light, harmonizing with the silence that surrounded the sleeping child.
The light caused her to stir a brief moment, before settling back into her plush mattress. (h/c) tresses fanned across the pillow, slightly tangled form last nights bath and shifting in her sleep. Once again her soft breathing was the only sound in the quiet bedroom, no other signs of life in the world, save for the snowy owl outside the open window.
It watched the girl intently with its radiant golden eyes, intelligent and mysterious, its gaze hardly straying from the child only to look out towards the gardens of the estate. This strange bird had been watching the girl every night from dusk until dawn, never gliding away to hunt or drink, only leaving at the very crack of dawn.
The child stirred again, and her once serene complexion twisted into one of agony. A whimper immediately caught the attention of the owl outside, who after a short moment of listening to the child's soft cries, flew away hastily.
Not long afterwards, a woman crept silently inside, gliding to the child as she started to croon and wake the girl. "Wake up My Lady, are you alright?" The woman asks in a motherly whisper.
With a start the child's eyes snap open and she hurriedly sits up, looking around in a crazed panic. As soon as she catches sight of the woman she calms, and throws her arms around her, crying softly.
The woman shushes the girl and brings her onto her lap, stroking the girls hair and consoling her as she rocks her back and forth. A while later her crying allays into sniffles and shuddering breaths.
"Was it another night terror?" The woman asks delicately, her soprano voice tinkling like a bell. The girl nods and draws away from the woman's embrace, collecting herself.
"Can you promise me something Seraphina?" The child asks timidly, soft (e/c) irises meeting gold. The woman raises an eyebrow, but nonetheless complies, inclining her chin.
"Never leave me alone. I'll do whatever you want. I'll do whatever God wants. You can't leave me alone, even when you have finished here, I rely on you too much; and I don't know what I would do without you here." She pleads Seraphina, grasping the fabric of her uniform.
Seraphina gives the child a sympathetic smile, unraveling her fingers from her apron, she lays the child back down on her bed. "My loyalties are not mine to give, you know that. But I will try my hardest --and then some more-- to stay with you as long as I possibly can. That I can promise." She says, kissing the child's forehead.
Finally the girls eyes flutter, and she fights a fawn, looking back up to the handmaiden. "On your word?" she presses anxiously.
"On my word as a Servant of God, I promise," The woman confirms.
Satisfied, the child curls back into a fetal position, (e/c) eyes slowly closing back into a deep slumber. Once again, the only sounds in the room were the child's breathing alone, not one sound came from the handmaiden as she stood slowly, crossing back to the door, taking one final loving look towards the child before closing the door behind her.
A few minutes passed, and the owl returned to its previous perch on the window, watching over the child vigilantly as the night progressed.
YOU ARE READING
L'Appel Du Vide
Romance"There will always be balance, cruelty and kindness, pessimism and optimism, demons and angels; there is no way around that," - Seraphina Evangeline. ⚜⚜⚜ When (Y/N) Victoria Mithridates' family is completely wiped out by a mysterious infliction -sav...
