Nothing At All

6.1

Oh shit.

I followed the sound of the voice and eyes landed on the horse's stable. In the back, away from the sun, was Mircalla, clad head-to-toe in her usual goth attire. Her face was covered, but the stern glare radiated out to me.

I glanced at Andrei; I wasn't about to let him take the blame for this. "I can explain!" I yelped.

She folded her arms and leaned against the stable wall, her clothes rippling like a mirage. "I thought I told you that you were never, under any circumstances, to leave castle grounds."

"Uh..." I realized pretty quickly no excuse was going to be able to circumvent her rule, so there was no point in trying. I hung my head. "Yeah, you did. It wasn't Andrei's fault. I'm the one who climbed into the wagon; he didn't even know I was there."

She turned her veiled head to Andrei, who was whistling and unhitching the horse like nothing was wrong. She looked back at me. "I doubt that, but I shall give you both the benefit of the doubt. Regardless, what you did was stupid and impulsive. Did anybody see you?"

"No," I huffed, crossing my arms. "Believe it or not, I was careful."

She snorted. "If you were stupid enough to sneak out, then you were stupid enough to get caught. If you go into town again, you will have the misfortune of hearing me raise my voice. I am furious at you right now, but I am taking into account everything that you have been through."

I was taken aback by her words. I dropped my defensive posture and walked closer to the stable to see her better. "You're seriously not going to yell at me?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Nope!" I held up my hands and flashed her a grin, relieved to be off the hook.

She sighed and turned her attention to Andrei. "I was coming to bring you the shoe that you asked me to repair." She tossed him a bundle of old leather before stepping out of the stall so that he could bring the horse in. The sun was on her for a brief second before she darted into the safety of the kitchen door's shadow.

"Thank you." He stuffed the shoe into his coat pocket and locked the stable gate. "Now if you two ladies don't mind, I will take my leave."

I waved at him as he left the stable through a door on the opposite wall. "It really wasn't his fault," I said.

"I shall take your word for it. Have a good day." She made to close the kitchen door behind her.

"Hey!" I sprinted and caught the door at the last second. "I'm so bored. Is there anything interesting to do here?"

"Go garden. It is what you did yesterday."

"How do you know about that?"

"The study room overlooks the garden."

"Oh. Well, anyways, please give me something to do," I pestered, following close behind her as she left the kitchen. "I only went to town because I was going stir crazy. You may be able to live here for centuries, but I can't. Not without Wi-Fi."

Now that we were in the safety of the shadowy corridor, she took off her hood. Greasy black hair unfurled and rolled down her back, almost to her butt. She refused to look at me as she glided down the hallway. "I neither know nor wish to know what that is. It is not my job to entertain you. I have a busy schedule."

"Don't you have any books I could read?"

"None in your language."

"Do you have a translator that would work for books?"