Prickly thorns, tender roses

Morbid curiosities

She did not sleep a wink the remainder of the night. Ravenna tossed and turned until daybreak, when she hastily dressed and crossed the many flights of stairs through the castle down to reach the kitchen. She hoped to find water and use it to rinse her throbbing wrist, where the creature had sunk its teeth into flesh.

But she found Adrian. A damnable blush of both guilt and unease spread across her nose and cheekbones at the sight of his turned back, and Ravenna thanked the high heavens she had time enough to regain her composure before he turned to her. The happening—sensations included—of the previous night was yet fresh in her mind, and meeting his eyes was now an onerous chore.

"Well met," the woman greeted, her gaze flitting to the place where she thought the water containers were.

"What do you seek?"

Ravenna noticed the bottle her host held in one hand. She placed her arms behind her back. "Water," she murmured. "And I would also need use of your supplies..." She lifted her gaze to his. It was yet blank, void of emotion. Not like last night, unguarded and aflame. It was not him. That was nothing but your own troubled mind under dark enchantment. Not him. And there is work to do here.

She nearly jostled out of her skin when Adrian spoke again, finding him much closer than before. "How so?"

"The incubus. It bit me," she managed.

"May I?"

Ravenna froze. Slowly, she dared meet his eyes, appearing blissfully ignorant of the fresh memory those words evoked. Then they were narrowing, eyebrows lifting in question, and Ravenna gathered she'd been wordlessly gaping at him for too long. She retrieved enough of herself and gingerly produced her wrist, showing it to him.

Adrian made no movement, but his gaze lingered on the sight of her pierced skin. "It is not as grave as you'd think. Water is over there," he pointed to the buckets.

Ravenna wasted no time heading to grab a smaller container to fill. Something irked her, ever at the back of her mind. "How did you find me last night?" she asked with her back to him. "...how did you know?"

Adrian was retrieving a dark satchel from a cabinet. "Both I and the castle sensed a foreign presence."

"The castle sensed?..." Ravenna faced him, her curiosity ignited.

"This is not just any castle, Ravenna," Adrian lifted his gaze to hers. "It has my father's magic rooted deep within. I had grown wary and went on a swift inspection of the grounds. I spotted the creature... as it was carrying you away," he added in a darker tone.

"It was my fault—"

"Yes, it was," Alucard chimed.

"—and I will ask before I act in the future. But you could have mentioned this was a problem," Ravenna could not help but add, irritation rising at his statement.

"Forgive me, Ravenna," his voice gained that scornful edge she loathed, "I am not quite so accustomed to housing maidens here, to remember all and anything that wants to either defile, eat or kill you."

Her face went beet red, but the sudden pain in her wrist was distraction enough, and she had to make haste in its tending.

"Do you wish to eat today?" the question came.

"..." Ravenna blinked, now holding an ewer full of water. "Yes?..." she added with reluctance.

"Then you may want to join me later," Adrian said. "I assume you do want to know how to forage and find your own food?"

Her belly tightened, feeling hollow. A muted, dizzying spell of hunger gave her the answer. "Of... course, yes..." Ravenna was already walking away. Why would the image of him standing on his knees before her not fade from her mind? His lips, against her skin—