The waning moon peeked through the small window of her room. The old woman sat on her bed adjacent to the window, staring at it. She crushed the letter in her hand, her eyes unwavering from the slice of the celestial body in the sky. Slowly, her gaze dropped down, resting upon the thick forest. Beyond it was the dungeon.
Someone knocked at her door.
Furrowing her eyebrows, she looked back at the door. She glanced at the clock. Half past eleven.
Who could it be?
If it is Mr Thompson—
Huffing, she swung her feet and dangled them at the sides of the bed. Getting up, she cursed under her breath as her knees cracked and pained. She opened the drawer of her table beside her bed and put the letter in it. Her palms massaged her paining joints as she went to open the door.
Misa and Sarah stood there.
"Mrs—" Sarah's loud voice reverberated in the dark hallway and Misa clamped her mouth shut in urgency.
The Head Maid sighed.
These two again.
"What is it?" She asked them, while Misa still struggled with Sarah to keep her mouth shut.
"May we come in, ma'am?" Misa whispered and looked left and right.
A firm "No" was at the tip of her tongue. She bit back the retort and sighed again in resignation. Moving to the side, she let them in.
"Break anything and I will break you two," she warned them when she closed the door behind herself. The memories of her broken lamp, torn curtains and these two smiling sheepishly at her bewildered face flashed in front of her eyes when she did so.
These two are nothing but trouble.
"We promise." Misa nodded fervently. She looked between the Head Maid and Sarah, who was now sitting on the bed and picking at the loose threads of the bedsheet.
"What are you two here for? It is way past your bedtime, young missies." Mrs Smith swatted Sarah's hand away from her poor bedsheet, earning a pout from her.
"Yes, ma'am." Misa scratched the back of her head, and casted a glance at Sarah.
"We—"
"It is tough to sleep when Ada is in prison." Sarah heaved out a deep breath dejectedly.
Ada. Mrs Smith winced. The tall trees beckoned her eyes to look at them once more. They curtained the large stone building where the poor young girl was thrown in. Composing herself, the Head Maid replied. "How sweet. But if you want me to sing a lullaby, I must inform you I am not a good singer."
"Absolutely not, ma'am!" Sarah stood up horrified. "Why would we wish such calamity as your singing upon our—"
Rest of her words ended up in a wheezing cough as her head was taken in a choke hold by Misa. Sarah tapped her friend's arm, trying to free herself but the girl only tightened her hold around the blabber mouth's neck. Albeit stronger, Sarah acceded to Misa's non verbal command to be quiet with a grunting sound and a deep frown.
Meanwhile, Mrs Smith looked at the two of them, tired and slightly offended.
Mr Thompson and Ada never complain about my singing. Closing her eyes, she pinched the bridge of her nose.
Whatever am I thinking?
Opening here eyes again, she asked, irritated. "What is it? I am tired and I wish to sleep."
"We deeply apologize for disturbing you at this hour of the night, ma'am," Misa started, relenting her hold on her friend's neck. Sarah coughed and glared, then sat back with a huff.
"And?" Mrs Smith prodded with arms folded in front of her chest.
"We needed a favour. 'Tis nothing but a humble request, ma'am."
Mrs Smith's eyes furrowed at the statement. "And it could not have waited till the sunrise? Do you not trouble me enough in the broad daylight that you have come here to haunt my nights as well?"
Misa scratched the back of her neck. One of finger fiddled with her dress. "Can we—" she stopped and cleared her throat. "Please allow us to see Ada."
Several seconds passed in silence. Mrs Smith's expression remained static. Eyebrows furrowed, lips thinned.
Misa fiddled with the front of her dress and the nervous tic grew more intense as the second's hand of the clock proceeded to complete rounds after rounds.
Sarah sat on the bed, impatient. Eyes jumping from Misa to Mrs Smith and vice versa, she wondered what is so much time consuming in giving a simple yes or a firm no. She could not wait to share the salted cashews she had taken from the kitchen with Ada and here they were, sitting in a room far away from Ada's while Mrs Smith took her sweet time.
"Do you not know how dungeons work, girls?" Mrs Smith sighed. "I can not allow you to meet her. It is not in my authority."
"But food service is," Misa promptly answered. "The food is prepared and brought to the dungeon under your supervision. Please, allow us to go there. We—"
"You would not be able to meet her."
Misa froze and then frowned. "Why— Why not? The captives of the dungeon eat together in the mess hall of the dungeon, don't they? We are often stationed to serve them there. Have the rules changed? They were the same up until last week. How—" Misa tried to smile, but ended up grimacing. "How inconvenient, isn't it?"
"Ada—" Mrs Smith raised an eyebrow and sighed. "You know the answers to your questions, Misa. Out of the three, you are the only one I expect to have an ounce of matter here—" Mrs Smith tapped her forehead with her index finger. "Ada does not get to eat in the mess hall. She is—" Mrs Smith stopped talking for a second and continued. "Don't make me say it."
Misa's breath laboured. She shut her eyes and bit her lips.
Then, wordlessly left the room.
Sarah followed behind her like a lost and forlorn puppy.
"What happened?" Sarah asked.
"They are isolating her."
"How can they!" Sarah exclaimed from behind her. Misa was too spent to admonish her for being so loud. However, her eyes met those of a half vampire guard standing in his position. A spear in his hands, a glare in his eyes. Misa dropped her head down and pulled Sarah close.
"Don't speak." She harshly whispered.
"I can break him like a twig." Sarah shrugged, but in a rare moment of sensibility and quick obedience, kept her tongue from wagging.
The rest of the way to their room was spent in a quiet mumbling of Sarah under her breath while Misa pondered in silence.
The silence was shattered the moment they shut the door of their room behind themselves.
"And why did they put her in there, anyway?" Sarah grumbled. "Because she spilled a glass of water—"
"Sarah, it was a whole bucket of muddy water—"
"It was water. A kind of water but water anyways. It dries." Sarah plopped down on the ground with a grunt.
"Just— We should sleep." Misa pulled out the worn out quilts. Sarah did the same and they laid down on them. The quiet of the night was constantly broken apart by the crickets chirping. At some distance, owls hooted occasionally.
A growl resonated in the surrounding.
Misa sat up in fright.
"What was that?" She whispered. The forest was the abode of predators. What if—
Sarah groaned beside her and rubbed her stomach. "I could not eat properly. My stomach demands something. Meat, maybe?"
Misa heaved a sigh of relief. It was Sarah.
"You drank two bowls of soup and ate three servings of rice." Misa shook her head.
"It is not enough."
"It is."
"Yes, for you, it is. You are a bird. I am a hawk."
"Hawk is also a bird."
"Yes, of course. Because you say so." Sarah rolled her eyes. Misa stared at her in surprise and then laughed in disbelief.
"Okay, okay—" Misa paused as she rested her head down on the quilt again. "We should really go to sleep this time."
Sleep took the two girls in it's embrace of ignorance soon. Their last thoughts were those for Ada before they lapsed into slumber.
A growl resonated in the surrounding again, much closer.
A/N: No Edith right now, but he will be there in the near future. In the next chapter, we get to reunite with Ada!
Thanks for reading XD