Deprivation- The Feast and the Famine

Chapter 31- The Lady's Choice

Claudia woke beneath silk sheets and stretched her arms over her head. She dismounted the bed and walked over to the window. The sun was already above the horizon. She rung the bell at her bedside and then sat back down on the bed.

She looked at her emaciated arms amazed at how pale they were without a layer of grime. The nightgown that pressed against her legs was white.

Eudora's bag rested on the bedside table, and Claudia reached over hold it. Palm first an then tentative fingers she caressed it. Carefully, she unwound the cord. Even knowing what she would find her heart ached when she saw the tiny bones pour out onto the bed. Lifting the skull in hand, her hand shook.

Claudia had known, who knows how long she had known in her heart what Eudora kept in that bag. Eudora kept her heart, which ripped from her body failed to survive. This was the reason Eudora was cast into the dungeon. She, unlike Claudia, had not been shallow and selfish. She was cast into hell because she dared ask to keep her child. The child she conceived with the man she loved, who she thought loved her.

A choked sob escaped Claudia's cracked lips. There was no resisting the images that rose. Proud and beautiful, Eudora faced Victor, swore she would care for the child that he need have nothing to do with it. Lost and alone, Eudora birthed a premature child to a cold deadly world and then broken she wandered.

With care she hadn't known she possessed, Claudia replaced the tiny bones. The bones of his son, but that didn't matter because they were all that remained of Eudora's shredded soul.

A maid came shortly thereafter carrying flowers in a vase. She helped Claudia dress. The clothes were all substantially too large for her, but she supposed it wouldn't be long until she fit them. The other woman left Claudia alone with flowers the color of sunshine.

It was impossible to remain in that room a moment longer. Claudia exited and descended to the dining room. Roderick was seated at the table across from the midget, Clyde. At the head of the table, Victor sat. She had not seen him since she emerged from the dungeon two days before and when he turned to her she wasn't sure she would find the words.

An angel had loved him, and he'd thrown her into hell.

"The hand was a bit too much, Victor," Claudia said.

Victor shrugged. "You are purified of your sin that is what matters. Don't dwell, dear one."

"I shan't," Claudia said walking across the room to him.

Victor laughed, it was an angelic sound. No wonder she'd mistaken him for an angel. "Of course, my lady. You are reborn anew, and I have a gift."

Victor waved his hand to Clyde who stood and rounded the table. He went and grabbed something from another room. When Clyde returned, Victor stood and walked down the room toward Claudia.

The rope in Clyde's hands rounded Roderick's neck trapping him against the chair. Roderick struggled and pulled at the binding. That was when Victor reached him and casually pressed a blade into the skin of Roderick's hand pinning it to the chair.

Too late, Roderick understood. He never was a bright one, just big. Claudia suppressed a smile at the fear and rage that mingled on his brutal features.

"Claudia, we cannot suffer this man to live, not after his sins against you. Shall it be a blade in your hand or mine?" They were the prettiest words Claudia had ever heard from Victor.

"Yours, what place would I have engaging in such filth? No it must be you." She longed to hold the blade and plunge it into this man, but it might upset Victor. Defending her honor was his duty after all.

"One last question and we can be done with this nasty matter. A knife through the breast, dear heart? Or shall I geld him for you?

"A quick death. Deliver him to God's punishment. That is not the place of man."

Victor plunged the blade with practiced ease into Roderick's chest. How many of the peasantry had his blade sent to their maker? Rather than keep hold of the dirty weapon Victor buried it in Roderick' eye socket.

"Tis actually long overdue. I have found his conduct reproachable for some time now."

"Yes, yes," sneered Clyde.

"Tell me, Victor, what comes now? Will you keep me here? You ought to marry me if you do. Lest old sins repeat themselves."

Victor came and took her hand. "It was always my intention to forgive you Claudia if you managed to learn. The ceremony will not be large. Please understand, I have already waited much longer than I intended for my bride."

"Of course," Claudia bowed her head. Her eyes caught her step-brother's body, and a girlish smile spread over her face. She half turned her head to Clyde and said, "He's bleeding on the table. See he's taken care of."

Victor retrieved a few plums from the spread, and after offering them to Claudia, they departed the room arm in arm.

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