Chapter 38

Back to normal

"Here we are," Klaus said while carrying me towards the garden. The sunlight hurt my eyes so much that I had to bury my face in his shoulder.

"What is wrong?" he asked immediately. "Should I take you back inside…"

"No, no," I muttered. "I need…some fresh air. The light…"

"Ah. I am sure your eyes will get used to it soon."

I was confused; he was acting really strangely, like all of a sudden he would be a nice and thoughtful man. After Joanne had examined me, he had helped me to eat and when I had said that I would like to go outside, he had arranged that immediately. What was going on here? I startled when he suddenly placed me on something soft, it seemed to be an armchair brought in the middle of the garden.

"Are you comfortable?" he asked while wrapping a blanket around me.

I blinked and tried to keep my eyes open, even though they were watering up. The light really hurt.

"Yes. Why…why are you acting like this?"

He raised his eyebrows.

"Like what?"

"Like…a nice person."

He smiled and wiped hair out of my face.

"You think I am not normally a nice person?"

"No," I replied immediately. "You are not."

For some strange reason I didn't care if he would be angry, I wasn't going to lie.

"Hmm, I suppose you are right," he said and touched my shoulder. "I have not always treated my little sparrow like I should have."

He ran his fingers over my neck, towards my cheek and touched my lips with his thumb.

"That will all change now."

I swallowed and looked at him cautiously, what was he talking about?

"What do you mean?"

He smiled and no more than a second later he had lifted me up, sat down and placed me on his lap.

"What are you doing?" I protested and tried to get up, but my body wasn't strong enough.

"It's alright," he said using this strange calming tone. "I held you like this all the time when you were sick, it made you feel safe."

I tensed and stared at him disbelievingly, was he serious? He had…held me when I had been unconscious?

"Please let me go," I muttered. "I am not comfortable…"

He frowned, but he stood up and placed me back on the armchair. I had no idea what to say, I couldn't understand what was going on. Did he think that I was some kind of doll?

"Do you need something?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"No. I…heard that your brother left," I muttered. I wasn't sure why I had said that, for some reason it had felt important.

"Yes," he replied callously and leaned towards me, lifting my chin. "Tell me something, when you were alone with him, did he ever act inappropriately towards you? Did he touch you?"

My eyes widened.

"What? No."

He looked at me sharply.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Why do you ask…"

"Never mind," he interrupted me and kissed my forehead. "He is gone now and everything is as it should be."

"What does that mean?" I managed to ask.

He smiled and touched my cheek.

"It means that you will get better and things will be back to normal."

Back to normal… I wasn't sure what his idea of normal was, toying with my feelings again? I hadn't really had time to deal with everything that had happened before I had got sick, the loss of Daniel and the future I had thought I would have with him. I couldn't understand why Klaus had done that to me.

"Daniel…" I muttered.

"What?"

I took a deep breath and looked at him.

"Is Daniel alright?"

Klaus seemed surprised, but he nodded.

"Yes, I kept my promise and released him; he cannot remember anything what happened."

"He…cannot remember me?" I asked quietly.

"If you want him to remember…"

"No, no, I… Thank you."

"I gave you my word, did I not?"

I bit my bottom lip; I started to remember the rest of that conversation. I had felt that I was about to die and I had forgiven him. My reasons had been completely selfish, I had wanted to save my soul from hell, but in that moment I had meant what I had said. Now… I really wasn't sure.

"Why did you do it?" I asked. "Why did you compel him?"

His expression tensed.

"I wanted to protect my little sparrow," he replied. "I did not want him to hurt you."

I stared at him disbelievingly.

"What? But…"

"I am sorry for what I did," he interrupted me firmly. "Now we will forget the whole thing and move on."

I was about to argue, but then I remembered that I had no vervain in my system, he could literally make me to forget if he would want to. The thought made me very nervous; I didn't want anyone to tamper with my mind. I pressed my lips together and looked at him.

"If I forget that, can I have something in return?"

He was clearly amused.

"Negotiating are we? What do have in mind?"

I tried to look as determined as I could.

"I want you to promise that you won't tamper with my mind."

His eyebrows furrowed, but he didn't seem angry.

"Well…that is a lot to ask. Why would I promise something like that?"

"Please," I said as calmly as I could. "That would be very important to me and I would be grateful. I do not wish to be an object, my mind belongs to me."

He was quiet for a while, looking at me curiously.

"I promise to consider your request," he finally said. "Perhaps we can work something out."

I nodded; this was all I would get right now.

"Thank you…master."

He smiled.

"Oh, I believe you can call me by my first name when we are alone."

"What, why?" I blurted out.

He chuckled.

"Why not?"

"Alright, sure…"

Apparently we were best friends all of a sudden. The whole thing was getting weirder and weirder.

"What happens after I get better?"

He frowned.

"As I said, everything will be back to normal. You will continue your lessons and we will celebrate your birthday, as I promised, even if it was two months ago. There are many interesting people I want you to meet."

That sounded like fun… For some reason my fingers touched the lily necklace, somehow it made me feel calmer as weird as that was. My body felt weird as well and not only because I hadn't used it for so long. Something felt different, although I wasn't sure what that something was.

Bridgette stayed out of sight and looked at the three people in the parlor, Liliya was sitting on the sofa with Klaus, Rebekah was on the armchair in front of the fireplace. Everything seemed to be in order; Liliya seemed to be fine, although she hadn't completely recovered yet. Klaus had been watching her like a hawk the whole day; Bridgette knew that she wouldn't have a chance to talk to her. Not that she could anyway right now, it was time to perform her duty to her "master".

The whole thought made her furious, but she didn't have a choice. Of course things could have been worse, but still she hated this. At least he hadn't made her completely his puppet; she still had her own will. And she was alive, that was the most important part of their damn agreement. Tensely she walked to his door and knocked.

"Enter."

She opened the door and saw him sitting on the sofa with some papers, just like almost every night.

"My lord," she muttered carelessly and curtsied.

He didn't look up; he merely waved his hand towards the table, instructing her to get herself something to drink. As always, she poured herself some wine and sat down on his bed.

"Anything special?" he asked absent-mindedly.

She pressed her lips together, although she knew it wouldn't help, she would still have to tell him everything she had heard.

"One of the servants is stealing food," she muttered reluctantly. "He does not earn enough in order to feed his children."

"Hmm. Anything else?"

"One of your sister's maids is pregnant; she has had an affair with your brother's valet who is married."

"Hmm. Is that all?"

Bridgette huffed and took a sip out of her goblet.

"As always, I can give you very detailed information about what kind of lover your brother is, his mistresses love to talk about that."

"And as always I do not think that will be necessary. Anything else?"

Bridgette hesitated; this night seemed to be as good as any.

"I have a personal request, master."

Finally he looked up; his face was as callous as usually.

"What do you need? Clothes?"

She shook her head.

"I have more than enough of those. This is about Liliya."

"Yes, I spoke with her earlier; she told me that you had been with her when she had waked up."

For a moment he seemed almost amused.

"It was nice to hear that you are happy with me."

Bastard.

"Did you think that I would tell her the truth?" she asked coldly.

"You could have," he replied calmly. "No compulsion is stopping you."

"I am not that selfish," she muttered tensely. "This is my burden to carry."

He didn't comment on that and his expression didn't change.

"What is this request of yours?"

"I would like to know what your brother is planning to do with her."

He frowned.

"Trying to get her better, I believe."

Bridgette looked at him tensely.

"You know what I mean."

He turned his eyes back to his papers.

"I am afraid there is no other information I could give to you."

Of course there wasn't. Bridgette gritted her teeth and placed her goblet on the bedside table before lying down on the bed. She would have to stay here at least half an hour; surely she had to think about his reputation. He had made no attempt to touch her after finding out what she was; a man like him probably found a filthy whore like her repulsive. Well, she couldn't have cared less about what he thought of her, he could just go to hell. Patiently she waited until enough time had passed, then she got up and let her hair down. She also bit her lips until they were swollen and pull her other sleeve down, making her neckline wider.

"Good night, my lord," she said coolly before walking out.

"Good night," he muttered without looking at her.

She was tired when she headed towards her own chamber; it was in the same part of the castle where Klaus' mistresses stayed. Bridgette got along with them, but they really didn't have much in common, most of them were foolish girls who were honored by the fact that Klaus had chosen them. They really couldn't understand how expendable they were.

Bridgette certainly did, especially since she wasn't even good enough to be a real mistress. The whole thought was humiliating; no matter how much she tried to deny that. No, she didn't care, so what if some man was repulsed by her. She would be his little slave for now, until she would find a way to get herself and Liliya out of this place. She would find that way, no matter what it would take.