'

Perhaps it was the running, or how restless her nights had been recently, or how angry then frightened she had been, or even all of the above, but she was feeling odd; somehow floaty and dizzy and overwhelmed and Lord Ren's presence next to her was doing nothing to settle the sensation.

He had pulled her hand through the crook of his arm, holding it with his opposite hand and for a brief moment she had panicked as it was similar to how Snoke had held her, but then she relaxed, feeling an odd certainty that he wouldn't hurt her - somehow, she found she trusted his word.

It didn't make her comfortable though, she was more than painfully aware of their hands touching, of his warmth, the way he smelled...

At first he had walked too quickly, his long strides meaning she had to trot, but he had soon noticed and kindly adjusted his pace to hers.

They didn't talk, she didn't know if conversation would be more tolerable than the silence was, or worse, so she held her tongue, trying to keep a level head and stay as calm as possible.

Her cheek still stung, she had no memory of wounding it, but her escape was all a bit of a blur in her memory. It had been a nonsensical action and she had no idea why the situation had made her run like that, mindless and reckless - like a rabbit running from a fox rather than sensibly retreating to a burrow… almost like she was prey and had thought Lord Ren a predator.

She shook her head slightly at how foolish she had been behaving lately - it must be lack of sleep. Her crimson visitor was almost gone now and she felt a bath this evening was in order, she could even try putting some crushed lavender in the water to help relax her and aid a restful night.

"Why did you think I would hurt you?"

Lord Ren's sombre voice made her jump a little, he had been silent for so long.

How was she supposed to answer that? She chewed her lip as she thought, then shrugged mentally, "That's what usually happens."

The grip of his hand on hers tightened briefly. "It shouldn't."

Rey almost laughed, how could he be so naïve? And she had deserved it, she had struck him first, him, a Lord, stuck by her, a servant!

"Do you think insubordination should go unpunished?"

Again his grip tightened, relaxed, "Are you asking me to punish you?"

For some strange reason, she felt her colour rise, she had to swallow before she could answer him. "Well… wouldn't you, if it had been Poe or Dopheld?"

There was a faint huff, "Yes, but they are fully grown men."

It was perhaps silly of her to be arguing for punishment, but for some reason, it felt somehow... dishonest, not to experience consequences for her actions. "I don't think that would be fair, to punish them and not me for the same misdeed. And," she added, somewhat affronted by his implication, "I am nineteen, so also fully grown."

"Nineteen?" he repeated, then made a considering noise, the sound low and vibrating, it made her feel warm. "Very well, you will have no afternoons off for a month, is that fair?"

Well now she had gone and done it - she could hardly argue with him about it, it would make a nonsense of everything she had just said. With a heavy sigh, she nodded, "Yes, Lord Ren."

They walked in silence for a few moments and she began to recognise where they were. After briefly chewing on her lip, she bravely steamed ahead, "What explanation ought I to give - to the others?"

"Just tell them I frightened you, there's no need to tell them anything else and there is no visible evidence to the contrary."

But, wasn't that lying? Hadn't he vehemently told her he did not tolerate liars? One rule for them and one for us. She supposed if the others knew it may encourage them to take liberties, and in all honesty, she was thoroughly embarrassed by her actions and didn't wish people to know how flimsy her reasoning had been.

"Besides," he murmured, more to himself than to her, she thought, "I am good at frightening people."

A strangely protective urge rose up and tried to make her tell him that wasn't true, but it absolutely was. She wondered if he had ever tried not to frighten people, made a conscious effort not to glare and stalk and slam doors, but it really wasn't her place to ask, so she said nothing.

Again she wondered why he had never taken a wife or why he wasn't looking for one - surely every man wanted companionship? Or at least noble men must want children to carry on their line. A wife would temper his explosive disposition, smooth his rough edges and lighten his dark moods.

"What are you thinking of?"

Rey blinked, surprised and not a little disconcerted by such a question, "Nothing of consequence, I assure you."

He took a breath, hesitated, then spoke, "You seemed sad suddenly."

What an odd thing to say. Before she could even begin to wonder how to respond to that statement, he let go of her hand and arm and pulled away a little. They had reached the garden proper.

The loss of closeness made her heart do a pathetic little flop in her chest. Shaking her head at such nonsense, she followed him back to the house.

"Come and read to me," he commanded, "You never finished the Lady of Shalott."

That had been while he was ill, though, why would he want reading to now? Wasn't he sick of the sight of her? How could one person go from one mood to a completely different one so many times in one day? Didn't he find it exhausting?

"Should I not finish in the billiard room?"

He glanced back at her as they arrived at the back door, "No, you can do that later. Make some tea and bring it up," a faint curve pulled at his lips, "Are there perchance, any saffron buns remaining?"

It was oddly charming, the hopeful cast to his countenance as he asked.

"I believe so, would you prefer it buttered?"

It was definitely a smile and even if very faint, it made her feel a little weak in the knees.

"Yes, please." With a nod he strode ahead and up the stairs and Rey cautiously entered the kitchen.

"Rey?" Dopheld exclaimed loudly as he shot to his feet along with Poe, Mr Hux, who had already been standing, paused to glance over her, gave her a nod, and hurried upstairs.

"Are you all right? What happened?" Poe demanded as they rushed over to her, both glancing her over as Mr Hux had.

"I, ah," she bit her lip, (for the final time that day, as she felt it tear and begin to bleed). "I am quite well, thank you. Forgive me if I worried you all, I'm afraid I rather overreacted."

Poe folded his arms and raised a sceptical eyebrow, "I'll be the judge of that - Dopheld says you ran out of here like the house was on fire, then the master comes down, tells him and Hux to stay here and goes after you! What did he do?"

Rey looked to Dopheld for rescue, but he was looking as serious as Poe, "You looked terrified, Rey," he told her, mouth turned down at the sides, and she felt a guilty clench in her gut.

"He just… he startled me and was angry, really angry and…" she had to refrain from chewing her lip and instead twisted her hands in her apron, "I didn't understand why and then he got a bit too close and I just sort of panicked?"

They both looked at each other, then back at her, "Did he hurt you?" Poe asked in a hard voice she had never heard him use before and was rather surprised by.

"No, no, not at all, I assure you."

"Then what happened to your cheek, Rey? What happened to your lip?" Dopheld asked.

"My cheek?" thoughtlessly she patted her cheek, then shook her head, "I think I caught as I ran through the bushes, nothing more, and my lip is a bad habit, sometimes I bite it when I'm nervous."

They exchanged another loaded look, it was like they were communicating without words, though what they were saying, she couldn't tell.

Dopheld sighed and nodded, Poe frowned and shrugged and patted her on the shoulder, "Alright, pet, sounds like you need a sit down and a cup of tea."

Tea, of course, "Thank you, but he wants me to take tea up and read to him for a while." she went to make her way to the kettle but was stopped by Poe's hand on her shoulder again.

"He wants you to what?" he asked incredulously.

Rey shrugged, "I read to him the other day when he was convalescing and I didn't finish because he fell asleep."

"You don't have to, you know, that's not part of your duties."

Their apparent… protectiveness? While nice, was a little silly. "I know," she smiled, "But it's an excuse to sit down in a nice chair."

It was the truth, after all the excitement, she was weary - sitting down with a cup of tea and reading would be welcome, even if it was in Lord Ren's confounding company.

"Do you think he will mind if I have a cup of tea, too? Or should I wait till I am finished?" she wondered.

Dopheld firmly shook his head, "No, have a cup of tea, he owes you that much for alarming you so."

It was rather a daring opinion for Dopheld, Rey smiled at him and squeezed his hand, "In that case, I will, thank you." Poe had gone back outside and it was just them, "I'm truly sorry if I worried you, Dopheld."

The normally nervous man, squeezed her hand back and smiled, "I'm just glad you are all well, no need to apologise, Rey, goodness knows I've almost run away from him several times, especially in the beginning." His smile faded at the last and he went and busied himself at the sink, looking nervous once more.

Rey quickly scoffed a bun before taking Lord Ren's up with their tea - drinking in front of him was one thing, but she felt eating in his presence would be a presumption.

Mr Hux opened the library door just as she arrived in the hall, his normally neat hair looked as if he had run his hands through it, more than once. His eyes softened when he saw her, "You are quite well?" he asked seriously, and she nodded, he sighed, nodded, and opened the door wider for her, "He is waiting for you."

For some reason that sounded ominous, or portentous or something… No. she was being a silly goose again. Straightening her shoulders, she walked in, carefully carrying the tray.

Lord Ren had been standing gazing out of the window, but turned once she had set the tray down on the occasional table nearest to his usual chair, and came to sit down, gesturing at the chair opposite and the book on the table.

"Page sixty seven, I believe," he told her as he sat, unbuttoning his jacket and crossing his long legs, "The paragraph starting, 'No time hath she'."

His face was strangely blank of expression, and she felt nervous all over again, awkward as she took a sip of her tea to wet her lips.

It was a very different experience to last time, Lord Ren was upright, watching her intently as he sipped his tea and buttered his saffron bun. It was harder to take in the words she was reading and a few times he asked her to slow down as her anxiety had made her unconsciously speed up.

From what she was able to understand, this did not seem to be the sort of poem a man would like, though in truth, she had never considered if men enjoyed poetry at all.

It was still beautiful, but melancholy, and the ending when it came, was rather bleak and cheerless. No wonder Lord Ren always seemed miserable, if this was the sort of thing he favoured reading.

It left her with questions she had hoped to be answered, what was the Lady's curse? Who had she been cursed by and forwhy? It was all very unsatisfactory.

"You did not care for it?" Lord Ren's curious voice snapped her out of her musings.

Rey decided to be honest and shook her head, "No, I do not. It was miserable! Why didn't she try to break the curse or be rescued by someone - a Knight or even a farmhand?"

Lord Ren gave a somewhat bitter chuckle, "Some curses cannot be broken."

He said it with finality, as if there were no argument to the contrary.

Rey didn't particularly believe in curses, but she thought if they did exist, there must always be a way to break them, surely? Otherwise would they really be curses, wouldn't they just be... circumstances? And generally, a curse was meant to be done to you by someone, but people didn't really have that sort of power, did they? She thought of Maz and wondered if she should revise that opinion.

"You may go about your duties."

Once more she had become lost in her thoughts and had to be reminded. Blushing at her blunder, after a day of so many, she stood, collected the tea things, and left Lord Ren.

After another quick cup of tea, she went back up to the billiard room to finish up her tasks.

'

The day seemed to move very sluggishly, and she was more than happy when it finally ended and the others retired so she could bathe.

The first bath after her crimson visitor always felt a little celebratory, she even remembered to throw some crushed lavender into the warm water, which turned out to be very pleasant indeed.

'

Clean and fresh, she tumbled gratefully into bed, swiftly plaiting her damp hair before she closed her eyes and almost immediately slipped into a deep sleep.

'
'


A/N: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single werewolf in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a mate ^_^

Also, Happy Birthday to Rainbowrain! And shoutout to Leomae2.0 - yes, I did steal the ink in the tea idea from The Patriot XD