The Transcended: My Lord

Chapter 16

At lunch, Meya was relieved to see that Gail was seemingly unharmed. Not in the mood to talk to her, she sat down elsewhere and Nina joined her soon after.

"Well, I had a chat with Kadeem despite him not being very talkative. He seemed rather confused as to why I found it odd that bodies in the dungeon would be mutilated, and he has a point there." She chuckled uncomfortably. "He said he has disposed of bodies before that had been drained of blood, some without even a drop on the ground. I tried asking what he thinks the blood is used for, but he just shrugged, stating it wasn't of his—of our—concern." Nina sighed. "And that was the end of the conversation, really."

Meya sipped from her cup. "Well, at least we know it has happened before." She thought for a moment then continued in a hushed tone, "I heard several rumours on my way to Tristanja. People said that Lord Deminas uses the blood of his enemies to mark the borders. Maybe he drains the captives, collects the blood, and uses it for that?"

Nina swallowed the contents of her mouth. "Well, I often hear the soldiers talking. I know they do that on the battlefield. They take the corpses and line them along the border, with their throats cut so they bleed out."

Meya stared into her drink. "I've seen some of those corpses, but that's not what I saw."

Nina raised a brow. "Oh? What then?"

"Mangled and beheaded bodies would be lined up... And the heads..." She closed her eyes as memories of the horrific sight flooded her mind. She remembered the stench and her stomach turned. "The heads would be on pikes, facing away from Tristanja, their eyelids cut off."

Nina remained silent for a while, playing with her food. "I always thought they were exaggerating... You know, like boys would always do to impress one another." She sighed. "I guess we should just be happy we're living inside the castle, away from all that violence."

Meya stared at the cup between her hands. "Are you sure we're safe from that violence though?"

Nina looked up at Meya and blinked a few times in confusion. "I'd hope so! Alright, so the lord can be cruel if we misbehave, but you can't compare that to the slaughter that happens on the battlefield." She lowered her voice. "Or the raids that happen to villages in the dead of night."

Meya's heart ached. "You're right." A surge of sadness washed over her, and she could feel tears prickling her eyes.

Nina noticed and placed her hand on Meya's. "Hey, look at me."

Meya moved her focus from the cup to Nina. The sweet smile on Nina's face soothed her a bit.

"Trust me: you're safe here. What happened to you before won't happen again. The lord even went as far as to punish that pig." She squeezed Meya's hand. "Don't worry. Just be a good servant, make sure the lord never has a reason to discipline you, and you'll be fine."

"I hope you're right." Meya sighed, fearing what Lord Deminas might do to Gail.

~⚜~

Meya was busy dusting off the cabinets when Lord Deminas entered the room. "Good day, my lord," she said as she continued her work.

"Come here for a moment, Meya."

Anxiety instantly took hold of her, but she did as she was told. Standing in front of the lord, she felt small, fragile, weak. 'If I wanted to kill you, I could do so with my bare hands,' his words echoed in her head.

It took her a moment to get her tongue to function. "Y-yes, my lord?"

There was a glint in his eyes, accompanied by the corners of his mouth inching up ever so slightly. "As you're roommates with Gail, I want you to tell her to go down to the dungeons tomorrow after breakfast."