I had finally made my way up the stairs. I paused for a moment. I didn't know the exact way back to the kitchen, and I would be in complete darkness again.
But the wall slid away, and I stepped back into the secret passage. "Hello, anyone there?" I called out.
Instead of hearing an answer, someone bumped into to. "Lady Maria?" they asked. I couldn't see their face, but only one person would call me lady.
"Mason, is that you?" I asked.
"Indeed. The others and I managed to escape this twisted place, but when we heard you were still in here, we came back to search for you. Where have you been?" Mason asked me as he pulled me along. "And why are your clothes damp?"
I wasn't sure how to answer. This was Mason I was talking to, it didn't seem smart to give away the presence of a safe room. But I couldn't think of a believable lie.
"I got lost, and took a fall down a waterfall."
Mason stopped. "A waterfall? We've scourged this entre tunnel system, and there was no waterfall, where were you really?"
"I did indeed fall into a waterfall, you must've missed it somehow."
"That's a lie. If this waterfall is real, then you are hiding where it is." Mason said he started walking again.
"Well the, I guess you'll have to find out."
Mason grumbled something I couldn't understand, but I doubt it was anything pleasant. We stopped, and he pounded on the wall.
It slid away, and instead of the kitchen I was expecting, it was a bedroom. A servant's bedroom, by the looks of the cheap furniture and drab decoration.
"This is my bedroom. I wish I was told about this secret passage leading to it, I'm sure I could have used it for my job." he said as he hopped down the. He held out his hand for me to take, but I ignored it.
"I'm sure you would've found a useful in your assassination attempt." I said
"Oh most definitely, if one of the passages lead to your bedroom. But it sadly doesn't, so protecting you will be much harder now." he said leading me out of his room.
"Protection? I don't need or want your protection. Why can't you go try to murder someone else and leave?" I said angerly.
"My lady, you might not want it, but my protection is invaluable to you. The other's could put up a fight, and you are surprisingly brilliant at times, but you have no ideas about all the other threats out there." Mason said.
I was about to say more when he abruptly stopped. "Now my lady, I will call for some maids to help clean you up, and I will bring you dinner once it's done." Mason said before pushing me into my bedroom.
Before I had time to think about our conversation, my nanny Mary and a new maid came running and lead me to a bath. "How did you get wet Maria?" she asked.
"Oh well," I didn't want to tell my nanny a lie so I faked a sneeze.
"Oh no, she must have a cold what will we do?" said the new maid, as she poured more warm water into the bath.
"She'll be find, she get's over these things fast." Mary said, then whispering "That is, when she has them."
I blushed, but the new maid, I need to learn her name, didn't hear what Mary said. "Will we need to call a doctor, will we in trouble if she's gets sick?"
Mary and I both shook our heads no. "We already have a healer in the manor." Mary said as washed my hair.
"And you wouldn't get in trouble, I'm the reason I have this cold." I said. "Also, I don't recognize you, what's your name?"
"You-you want to know my name?" she asked.
"Of course, it would be rude not to." I said as I closed my eyes. Mary was rinsing my hair, and I didn't need my eyes to sting again.
"My-my name is Linda, your lady." she answered as she handed Mary a towel.
"Well then, Linda, please don't be afraid of me. The only scary ones in this house are my parents." I said with a small smile as I got out of the bath.
Linda just nodded. Mary ushered her out as I begone to dress. It might seem to be a bit odd that I'd let someone bath me and then make them leave when I was changing, but I had gotten used to, plus it wasn't that different from my life on Earth in the hospital.
Though I didn't want to be completely dependent, so I pulled on my dressing gown, and walked back to my bedroom.
"Maria!" someone yelled, and I was bumped into again. "Why does this keep happening to me?" I thought.
"I didn't know you were out of the tunnels, where have you been." Author asked me.
"Oh, I've been out for a while, did Mason not tell you?" I asked.
Author shock his head no. "We've been searching for you for hours, and we only stopped now because of of dinner." he said. "Will you be joining us?"
Before I could answer, Mason appeared around the corner with a tray of food. "I am sorry for not telling the others about finding Lady Maria, but I need to make sure she was taken care of first." he said.
Author blinked, and then said "I'm sure you could've found a way to tell us. Now Maria, let's get going to dinner." he said, grabbing my arm.
"I'm afraid that I already brought dinner to Lady Maria, so she won't be joining you in the dining hall." Mason said with a small smile.
Author again said nothing, but he did let go of my hand. "Alright then." he said to Mason before turning to me. "I hope I'll get to see you at tomorrow night's dinner, right Maria?" he asked,
"Of course I will. I'm thinking since you've spent so much time in the secret passages, you could show me around them tomorrow." I said with a fake smile.
"I would love to Maria!" Author said, back to his usual self for a second. "Goodnight Maria!" he called over his shoulder as he walked away. Before he disappeared completely, he shot Mason a glare.
Mason ignored him, and just walked into my bedroom with me. "Why do you two hate each other so much, you've only met today?" I asked as I sat at my desk.
"This our first official time meeting, we've seen each other when I worked at the Miller's manor. They were the ones I was warning you about. You would be surprised at how wretched they are. " Mason said, putting down the tray of food in front of me. It was a bowl of delicious smelling soup, but I didn't reach for it.
"I requested they make you some soup to make you feel better." Mason explained. "And no, I did not poison it, if that is what you were thinking."
I grabbed a spoon, and hesitantly tasted the soup, and just like he said, it wasn't poisoned. In fact, it was delicious, and I then drank straight from the bowl.
Mason chuckled, and I turned to glare at him. "Sorry, it's just that . . . I just didn't expect that."
he said.
I rolled my eyes, and finished drinking my soup. "And what do you mean by that?" I asked.
"There was no hidden meaning Lady Maria, I was just surprised that you would do something so unbecoming of someone of your status." he answered.
"I've been told that before." I said, "Is that why you haven't killed me, because I'm different?" I asked
"A little bit. When I first accepted the job to kill a young noble girl from a political rival, I thought it was easy. But it wasn't and you just made me rethink somethings." Mason said.
"What things?" I asked, propping up my head with my arm.
"Well like . . . I'm not sure really. Just that I don't want to just kill anymore. Instead I would like to understand. Understand what makes you so different. Understand what makes people want to protect you. And to understand . . . why I want to protect you."
I didn't respond. I mean, what else could I say after that. He has done a lot to help me today, and he sounds genuine, and I want to believe that he is. But still, I can't completely trust him, at least not yet.
"Well Mason, I am off to bed, so you can get going now." I said, standing up from my desk and going to my bed.
"Of course my lady, sleep tight." Mason said as he picked up his tray and walked towards the door. Before he closed it I called out.
"I still don't think I need your protection, but . . . I wouldn't mind if you taught me more ways to defend myself."
He looked shocked for a second, but quickly recovered. "Of course I will teach you Lady Maria."
"And also, you don't have to keep calling me that, just Maria is fine." I said with a small, but real smile.
"Alright then Maria. Good night." Mason said, shooting me a warm smile before closing the door behind him.