Eternally Luminous

Chapter 2

The grand chandelier, which hung delicately above her from the stone roof, stung Ana’s eyes when she had first entered. She found herself having to squint but as her eyes adjusted to the brightness the room became clear and visible. It was an incredible sight, for the furniture was even more amazing under the glow of the chandelier than it was in daylight. The light reflected off the wooden chairs, which were embedded with a gold lining and had a royal purple cushions. The table was large, covered in food that Ana had never dreamed of. Her mouth flooded with saliva. When she had sat at the table, the Master stood and proudly said in his deep, husky voice, “Ah, there’s my prized possession”, while raising his golden goblet towards her. He had taken her by surprise as she had forgotten how handsome and glorious he was for she had only ever seen him once. The first time she had gotten a glimpse of him was when she was ten years old, and he, only eighteen at the time. He had ventured into the servant quarters drunk, she stood pressed against the wall, like many other servants as they were stunned. Ana still remembered the stench of his breath as he passed her, not acknowledging anyone. He forcefully broke down the door next to Ana’s room. He was furious as had demanded that another servant girl, Chloe, whom was seventeen at the time as well as was one of Ana’s closest friends, to start bearing his children for he wanted to extend his family at a young age and have many children. Chloe refused to bear his children as she did not love him and was also pure, scared and uneducated of child carrying. The Master lost his temper and Chloe unfortunately had to suffer the consequences. She was kept in the medical quarters for some time, broken and bruised. After recovering, Chloe was sold to a man in need servants. He apparently owned a small village in Copper, the land west of Ashen.

The Master had frightened Ana and the rest of the younger servants from then on, but this man sitting here before her did not seem threatening. He was twenty-six now, and had developed larger muscles, his skin had been sun-kissed and he had a healthy brown tan from his many trips to the docks in the northern area of Netherlile as well as from his travels to the markets north-west of here, in Deliah. His auburn hair was neatly tamed, and was past his shoulders. The ends, curling slightly towards his chiseled jaw. Ana looked at his eyes and found herself mesmerized by the deep blue colour that they were, for they were bluer than the Borand Sea. He was extremely handsome and Ana felt ambivalent about this man because of the horrible tales and stories she’d heard about him.

Ana nibbled at the food placed on her plate while she listened to the Master ramble on to his three companions. He told stories about fending off great bears and wild animals single handedly while in the Eastern forest. His guests gasped and stared at him in awe as he described how he killed the various beasts. Ana listened intently when the Master started to talk about rumors of people emerging from their subtle lives who claimed that they had abilities. They were regarded as insane until an elderly female farmer in Northern Tustille, the land directly below Ashen, could reportedly manipulate the ground and the earth underneath her feet. She was caught by the king’s men from Fort Greene using her so-called ‘ability’ speeding up the growing process of her crops. She was filed for public execution, but before she could be executed she escaped, with the guards at Fort Greene finding a huge hole in the ground, with the floor of her chamber missing. Ana had heard the speculations that floated around the servants quarters about these people with abilities, and was intrigued by them but disregarded the possibility that it were true.

Out of the corner of her left eye she noticed one of the Masters guests glancing at her. He sat at the far left end of the table, surrounded by greasy mountains of food. She saw him lick his lips once or twice at her before readjusting himself in his seat. He was a larger, older man with little hair and resembled the pigs that were delivered regularly to the estate to be slaughtered for food. He had a hefty chin, with excessive rolls underneath. Each breath sounded like a struggle, probably because the amount of lard within his body squeezed on his lungs. Ana looked away feeling uncomfortable, trying to ignore and forget this mans attention and actions towards her. She peered over to her Master, being struck again by his beauty. He sipped from his golden goblet filled with wine, talking in hushed whispers to the young man across from Ana. This man looked around the same age as the Master but differed, as he was not as masculine. He had sandy blonde hair, trimmed neatly and short, with the front being combed over to the side. He sat next to a woman, whom was of around the same age. She appeared to be bored. She was to marry the sandy haired man but was not an attractive woman and kept glancing at Ana as though she wanted to kill her, this was because the woman was frustrated as her husband-to-be had not shown much interest in her for he kept staring at Ana and was too involved in the conversations he shared with the Master. She stared at Ana and then started to question her regarding which part of Borand she had come from and whether her parents were well known and respected within the kingdom. Ana’s heart sank as she knew none of these answers and wished she did. The Master suddenly turned to the woman and said, “She’s been here her entire life. My father bought her when she was only one month old. Halleys helped her grow into the beautiful woman you see sitting before you”. Ana absorbed the compliment from the Master but was also puzzled at the statement about being bought. “I was bought?” she asked the Master timidly. “That’s a conversation for another time, darling.” He quickly replied attempting to change subject as there was a sudden mood change. He then resumed to his conversation with the young man.

 ***

After the guests had left, Ana found the silence in the dining foyer hard to break. The table was cleared and the Master sat drinking his wine, staring curiously at Ana. “You know you are very beautiful”, he said to her placing his goblet onto the table. She felt shy being alone in the presence of such an astounding man because of how handsome he was and with him giving her compliments like these. He moved upright in his chair, slowly swirling his finger around the goblets rim. He seemed to be deep in thought, now staring at the wine within the goblet. “I’d like to show you the library Ana. Have you ever seen it?” he questioned her, taking her by surprise. “No Sir, I have not seen the library nor the upstairs at all”, she replied to him fingering at the seams of her gown. He pushed his chair back, with the noise of the legs scraping against the marbled floor, echoing within the room. Walking over towards the large staircase, he turned and motioned for her to follow.