I'm so sorry everyone! I had to focus on studying for my finals for a while so I didn't continue to write this until this summer and I wasn't able to finish this chapter before my family took our annual vacation to Colorodo to go camping. Turns out that the places didn't have Wifi to post an update. I just got home last night and did some final touches today before posting. I hope you enjoy!
Reviews & everything else!: Thank you so much for all the reviews and follows. Alot of them were really inspiring and if anything, it make me want to finish these chapters faster
Disclaimer(Which I almost forgot): I do not own Inkheart or any of its characters. The only thing that belongs to me is the plot and mentions of Yolanda and maybe a few more future OCs.
Chapter 9
Meggie
Meggie stared at the stone wall of the cell, trying to forget the events of that evening, but no matter what she did to forget, it still came back in full force. Yolanda begging to become a maid instead of being killed, Cockerell's knife driving into her stomach, and all that blood pooling on the floor. Yolanda's death was all her fault she thought with a groan before she clutched her head and considered banging it against the cold floor which was littered with straw.
But she was brought out of her thoughts when the dead bolt was slid out of place on the door. She whipped around to look at the door, glad that she had stopped crying a while ago and her eyes were no longer red and swollen. Standing in the doorway, was Basta, his face expressionless and unreadable. She glared at him, blaming him. "What do you want?" Meggie spat at him.
Basta raised his eyebrow sardonically. "Capricorn wishes to see you in his study. He said something about a change in living arrangements."
Meggie's temper flared. "Hasn't he done enough for today? Why couldn't he wait just one more day?"
Basta shrugged, as though it didn't concern him. "I don't know what goes on in his head. I just carry out his orders."
"Yeah, like you killed Yolanda by bringing her here." Meggie muttered.
At her words, Basta's face was no longer the unreadable mask that it had been just a few moments before. Now, his dark eyes were blazing and his face tight in anger, his hands clenched in fists. "Funny, because I don't remember killing her, hell, I don't even remember being in the same room. In fact, I do believe I was outside, taking care of the dead bodies of my students. Then again, perhaps I was mistaken."
'Yeah, cause you wouldn't have followed his orders if you were in the room.' But Meggie didn't say that. The truth was, she couldn't blame him for something that he hadn't done, no matter if he was a black jacket or not, and that look on his face when he had come back inside the church… She knew that he had been in quite a state when he had entered the church and the topic brought up his dead students, which clearly upset him. She made a mental note not to mention the topic around him again, in case he snapped. "No, you weren't." She said softly, but he still heard her and gave her a small nod, recognizing it for the apology that it really was.
"I'll take responsibility for my actions," He said still looking at her with such an intense gaze that Meggie felt that he was looking down into her very soul. "But I won't for something that I didn't do." She nodded and knew that the subject was officially closed. "Now, we should probably get going. Capricorn will not wait forever."
Meggie stayed quiet, but got up, her joints sore from sitting on the floor, and brushed some straw from her jeans that she had worn since the day she had arrived. Basta gave her a nod of approval at her cooperation and gestured for her to walk in front of him, probably so that he would have his eyes on her the entire time to ensure that she wouldn't be able run away into the hills. Not that she was stupid enough to try, at least, not yet. She would need a plan first.
Basta
As she walked past him, Basta resisted the urge to grab her arm and drag her to the church. It would honestly be pointless. She would only shake his hand off after a couple of seconds. She remained quiet as they walked, which was probably the best thing that she could do at the moment after that comment on him killing her red headed friend. That had angered him. She had blamed him despite the fact that he hadn't even been there, instead, he had been outside dealing with his own grief. He had really come to care for the boys and then she had acted as if her sadness was the only thing that mattered. But then again, she didn't know of his problems, she probably didn't even realize that her comment had stung him. But she had apologized in that clipped and unwilling way of hers that showed just how much she begrudged having to concede to his point.
She was an interesting individual and he took the time that her back was turned to study her. Her long, pale blonde hair was slightly wild and tangled and fell over her black clothes that she had been wearing when they had taken her. She was able to pull off the black clothes, and he could easily see her in a black jacket if her personality had been different, and she even pulled off the messed up hair, which made her look rogue and dangerous, something that he hadn't been able to imagine that tiny eleven year old girl looking like. Little Silvertongue's daughter had definitely grown up. Though one thing would never change, and that was the fact that she would always hate his guts, much like Resa.
He would have continued contemplating if he hadn't noticed that the blond was heading towards the church. He quickly placed his hand on her shoulder to stop her progress. She turned to glare at him before looking at his hand as if she wanted to tear it from the rest of his person. He quickly removed it, after all, he was many things, but he wasn't stupid. "You're going the wrong way." She looked at him, clearly puzzled. He jerked his head to his left towards Capricorn's house. "We're going to Capricorn's study, that's in his house, not in the church."
"Oh," She murmured softly. "Lead the way."
Basta studied her, trying to see if she would try to make a run for it. Apparently, she picked up on her thoughts because she gave a little snort of exasperation. "I won't run away. I'm not that stupid. This time, there's no one to help me escape if I got in trouble."
He looked at her for a couple more seconds before nodding. "Don't make me regret this, because I won't be a happy camper, I'll tell you that right now."
"Don't need to tell me that." She muttered under her breath were she probably thought that he couldn't hear her, but he did, and it warranted a slight twitch of his lips. Not enough that it would be considered a smile, but enough to show that he was amused, to those that were paying attention that is, so she missed it before I turned my back and walked away, expecting and hoping that she would follow. Basta couldn't help smiling when he heard the soft footfalls behind him.
Meggie
Meggie followed behind him at a slow pace, studying him. When Basta had first put his hand on her shoulder, she considered ripping it off, but she hadn't had to decide considering he had removed it directly afterwards. He seemed to know that it had ticked her off. In fact, he hadn't even tried to grab her arm. The Bastard was learning, and if he kept this up, she might even consider not glaring at him once in a while, though that would take some trying.
Despite her present company, Meggie couldn't help but feel anxious about what lay for her inside. She had never been inside of Capricorn's house before, and wondered what it would be like. Would there be skeletons hanging from the wall, or perhaps the smell of rotting corpses? But, when she entered the house, Meggie found a completely different scene. It could almost be mistaken for a normal house. Perhaps, this house could have belonged to a wealthy man, with his wife and children playing outside in the sunshine, laughing with utter contentment. But it was not to be. These pale walls, which might have seemed soothing in a different situation, only reminded her more of the milky white eyes of the man who held her captive. As Basta led her up and down the winding hallways, butterflies fluttered in the pit of her stomach. Would this be the last time she walked down these hallways? Had Capricorn finally decided to be rid of her? She could only hope it would be a merciful death, because, under no circumstance, did she wish to be fed to Capricorn's dogs or even, God forbid the old Magpie's snakes.
In the middle of her contemplation of her death Basta stopped in front of a pair of large polished, wooden doors. As he reached out to grab the doorknob, Basta leveled a glare at her. "Do not speak unless spoken to and be nice. Your life hangs on the line at the moment, so don't mess this up."
Meggie only gave him a glare of her own before the black jacket opened the doors, which opened without a sound. Meggie stepped inside and looked around. The office could have seemed ordinary, had the walls not been the same hue of blood. Capricorn sat behind his desk, speaking in hushed tones to Cockerell's bowed head. When he heard the door open, the red haired man raised his head to look at her. "Well, hello blondie, fancy meeting you here. You come here often?"
It took all of Meggie's willpower to keep a straight face. Snapping in front of the man who held her life in her hand was not exactly the best idea, even if Cockerell was a complete ass hole. Not to mention the fact that Capricorn's milky white stare unnerved her to no end. "Ah Basta, there you are." The man said in his frustratingly calm voice. "I was beginning to wonder if you had gotten lost." His gaze never left Meggie. "Ms. Folchart, have a seat. We have much to discuss. Cockerell, leave us. We'll continue this at another time." Meggie refused to meet the red head as she sat in a large plush chair, no doubt smirking at her, believing her to be pathetic, because that was what she was, pathetic.
Basta
When Cockerell left, Basta's eyes traveled to the little blond woman sitting in the chair. She looked smaller than usual, defeated. She sure didn't look like the same girl who had come into the camp just a few weeks ago. The same one who had made him laugh when she kneed Cockerell in the balls. Though he knew that beneath all that, she was still as she always was, strong.
Capricorn looked at her critically, as if looking over a prize pig. The silence was deafening while his master studied her. After a few moments the pale man broke the silence. "Ms Folchart, how are you enjoying your stay? I hope that it's not too cold in your cell. I've heard that it can get below freezing in there."
"It's fine." She growled shortly as she crossed her arms across her chest.
"Good, we don't want you to get sick before we move you to your new room." He said as he reopened the book her had been reading earlier.
She cocked an eyebrow at him in surprise. "Really? You're moving me somewhere else? Is there a dungeon I haven't heard of yet?" She asked sardonically.
Capricorn looked up at her briefly. "Actually, there is a dungeon." Meggie's face paled considerably. "But that's not where you're moving." He said looking back down to his reading. "You'll be moving into my house with the other maids."
This time both her eyebrows shot up. "Other maids?"
"Hmm? Oh yes, you'll be putting yourself to use rather than just sitting in the cage and being another mouth to feed. This way, you'll actually be working off all the debt you owe to me. It was Cockerell's idea actually." He said nonchalantly.
Basta heard Meggie grumble something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like "The day just keeps getting better and better."
But he had to agree with her. Almost every idea that Cockerell came up with was something that benefited him. Capricorn turned the page before looking back up at Basta. "Go ahead and take her to her new quarters.
Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review. Remember what I said above! All your reviews make me not grumpy, and lets face it, none of you want a grumpy teenaged girl on your hands.
