Sorry about being a tad late. I had to work yesterday so I couldn't post, but I also wanted to write more than 10k words. I want to hit 120k words in my 12th chapter, so I need to make up the difference by writing a bit more in the 10th and 11th chapters. This chapter was a bit more interesting for me to write.
As he washed his hands, Ethan thought about Bela. While he didn't remember everything about last night, he remembered enough to know the woman was going through one hell of a time with everything going on. He was also a little worried about her because it just felt like this week was just the start.
Dani had woken him up this morning to lecture him about destroying her kitchen. If Ethan was being honest, he wasn't really listening to her. He knew what she was saying and knew he fucked up, but the pounding in his said took priority. He agreed to his punishment and followed her to the kitchen where he, while getting furious looks from the other maids, helped clean. He did his bit as quickly as possible to get out of there before a servant stuck a knife in him.
He also remembered knocking on Lady Dimitrescu's door. That was horrifying. He didn't remember what happened after, but it seemed to work out ok since he was still alive and in one piece. Now he was headed back to his room. Ethan then realized that he didn't have anyone watching over him. Normally a maid would walk him back, or one of the sisters, but they were all busy currently. It seems they have been getting a bit careless lately. Before, he would use this against them. However, this time, he couldn't even think of a plan. During the day, the castle crawled with people so he wouldn't get far sneaking around. That and surely someone would come looking for him soon and see he is not in his room.
It seems that the stars weren't aligned just yet, sadly. He thought about swinging by Bela's room and seeing how she was doing this morning. After getting lost a few times and knocking on the wrong door once or twice, he finally made it to Bela's, only to find out she was not there.
'That's a good sign, then. She's up and moving around. Oh, I should see Duke about that movie stuff we ordered. It should be ready, right?'
Only a moment later, Ethan was at Duke's shop. The large merchant greeted him as he walked in. "Oh-ho, good morning Ethan! I hope you slept well after last night. Thank you, by the way, for purchasing that cognac. I offered it to Lady Dimitrescu numerous times, but she would only reply that she couldn't justify such a high price for it. I heard it was one of the finest vintages in the world, yet you two drank the bottle in 2 seconds."
"...uh, who bought it, may I ask?"
"If you mean who forked up the money, don't worry, Lady Bela bought it. Drained her monthly stipend from her Mother, though. Anyway, what can I do for you, my boy?"
Ethan sat down across from the man, a bit tired from the cleaning still. "I came to ask about the equipment for Dani's little movie night plan."
Duke snapped his fingers and looked around for something. "Ah, yes! I almost forgot in all the excitement. The equipment is just through that door," Duke pointed towards a door that Ethan had yet to go through "It's all on either on wheels or in cases on wheels. All you need is for Lady Daniela to supply you with a room to prepare in. There is also a box filled with assorted candies and popcorn. No microwaves in this castle, so the stovetop will have to do. I have already charged Lady Daniela, so the equipment is all yours!"
Ethan nodded and smiled. At least one thing was going according to plan. Walking through the door, he begins to look through the boxes, taking stock of what has been added. All the movies he requested, plus some more, were in a small container.
'Insidious, The Conjurings, Sinister, …Frozen? What the-?'
Peaking his head back into the main room, Ethan held up the Disney movie and asked, "Uh, Duke, I think someone slipped this in here by mistake. Or maybe a joke."
Duke focused his eyes on the object, only to pull back with a wide grind. "Oh no, I requested that one myself! See, Lady Daniela told me she wished to help cheer her sisters up, and what better movie than that one?"
Ethan had to give Duke some credit; he had a point. Frozen was about the bond between two estranged sisters and the rekindling of their familial relationship. As long as the movie could survive the first few minutes of Cassandra, he thought it would end ok.
Packing the rest of the items up, he began to wheel the items out into the hall. He had to find Dani and ask her where they should take it. He would also bring a few maids to help with the transport. It was still roughly breakfast time, so Ethan checked the kitchen first. His hunch turned out to be right, as Dani was still inside, giving orders and checking work.
"Dani! The order for the movies came in, where should I take the stuff?" Ethan said, walking in and disturbing her work. At first, she was annoyed with him; first, he smashed up her workplace and then barged in like he owned the place. Though she quickly settled down once she processed what he said.
"Oh, I forgot about that stuff! You!" Dani shouted, pointing at an older worker, "Take over for a while! I have other things to attend to. If this kitchen isn't spotless when I come back, they will be cleaning your blood off the floor, got it!?" The frightened woman nodded. "You two, who aren't doing anything, come with me and be useful for once." Two younger servants nodded and followed Dani out the door past Ethan.
Catching up to her, Ethan informed her of what he has done already. "Good, I was hoping this wouldn't take long. I don't trust anyone running my kitchen for more than 15 minutes. I will take you to the room we will be using, you will stay there and set everything up. It should be more than enough for you. I will send Magda here to help when I leave. Will you need any more help?"
Ethan contemplated this for a moment but decided no. "I don't think I will need any help. Most of this stuff is plug and play- that means you just plug the stuff together, and it's ready. When were you thinking about doing this little movie night with your sisters?"
"I was thinking about tonight, possibly. I have nothing planned for after dinner, and neither do Cass or Bela. I just have to make sure Bela gets her work done tonight." Bela responded as she picked a cart to push. The other maids picked their own and began to push, following Dani's lead. "The room we are going to is empty but has a large, flat white wall and a nice open floor. I will swing by after breakfast is cleaned up and place down some pillows and blankets for us. Also, after this, you will follow Magda around and help her with her duties. Don't think you're going to weasel your way out of your punishment, oh Ethan, Destroyer of Kitchens, Drinker of Wines, and Smasher of Bottles."
He grimaced as he remembered his punishment for helping Bela destroy the kitchen.
"Oh, one more thing. I meant to bring it up earlier." Dani gave a wide, knowing grin. "When you two left Cass's door last night, she swore that she heard you call Bela 'Bel'. Care to explain that?"
Ethan, in fact, couldn't explain that. Well, he could explain it, but not well. He remembered faintly calling Bela 'Bel' a few points in his drunken stupor. He had made some excuse about how Daniela and Cassandra had their nicknames but not Bela. So he just gave her one.
"I, uh, don't really remember too much. I think I found it weird she didn't have a nickname, so I called her Bel. Nothing worth talking about, honestly."
"...but Bela is her nickname."
Ethan whipped his head to Dani, confusion riding high on his face. "Wait, it is her nickname? Then why does everyone call her by it?"
Dani rolled her eyes and sighed a bit. "Well, it honestly started as a nickname, but now Bela has adopted it as her actual name. We don't know the reason why, just that she told us that was her new name. Her actual name is Mirabela, though. She might be annoyed if you called her that, so be careful."
"So I gave a woman whose name is a nickname… another nickname?"
"Yep."
The group made it to the room that Dani chose and pushed the equipment inside. Parking the carts in a group, Dani put her hands on her hips and turned towards Ethan, "Alrighty, manthing! Your time to shine! I will check in with you later, sometime after lunch, to finalize a few things. Have fun doing… whatever it is that needs doing. Let's get back to work, girls." With that, Dani and the two maids left Ethan to his own devices. Literally.
Unpacking the chests and boxes, Ethan pulled out a nice projector and a stand to mount to. Placing the projector on it, he also put the disc player on a shelf on the stand. The sound system was two main speakers, and four smaller ones; surround sound.
'Nice pick, Duke. I am going to have to sneak in here at some point and watch a few movies myself.'
Most of the work was 'plug a cable in here and there, lay this cable out, focus the projector'. It only took 15 minutes, and Magda still had yet to arrive. Deciding to further test the system, he popped a random movie in and pressed play. He fiddled with the sound settings and display modes to find the perfect combo. After everything was perfect, Ethan turned it all off and sat down on the floor to wait. It was another 10 minutes before Magda showed up, muffing and puffing, race red from exertion.
Placing her hands on her knees, she sucked in a breath. "Sorry, sorry. I was busy and- oh, you're already done? I'm sorry."
"Yep. It wasn't much, don't worry. I didn't need any help. Well, let's get going. What do we need to do?" Ethan said as he picked himself off the ground and dusted himself. For a moment, Magda was confused.
"Wha..? OH! Oh yeah! I forgot, you have to tag along with me for a week for trashing Lady Daniela's kitchen. The rest of the staff found that hilarious, by the way. Except for the kitchen staff themselves, that is."
"Hardy har har, yes it's funny I trashed the kitchen. Can we move on from that?"
"Aww, are you embarrassed? Fine fine, I won't bring it up again…" Magda snickered, "...for the rest of the day, anyway. We have work, and it's not sitting around doing nothing! Let's get to it."
Ethan and Magda were off. They started taking the laundry of the other servants to the washing room, where a small group of servants he never knew existed was hand washing other garments and linens. "Here we wash all the clothes of the workers, and all the other towels, rags, bedsheets, pillowcases, and the like. If you're wondering, the women of the castle get their clothes washed by the most experienced folk here, done in a different room. They require different detergents and care. That, and the blood stains unsettle the other younger workers." Magda informed Ethan. "Let's go, this wasn't even part of our official duties, I was just doing someone a favor."
Ethan followed Magda around with a broom and dustpan for a while, sweeping any room that needed it, dusting any piece of decor that collected some, or removing cobwebs from an unused room. Eventually, Magda decided that Ethan could trade this in for a mop and bucket, going to different bathrooms or washrooms and cleaning the floor. She took pity on him and told him she would clean the servants' bathrooms, but he had to clean Bela's and Dani's bathrooms. She would get Cass's, as neither was sure he would survive walking into her room. It was almost like walking into a lion's den. Cass still gave him the death stare every time they passed. He didn't crumble under the pressure, though. It was going to take a lot more than just some mean look to make him break a sweat.
Ethan took the mop out of the bucket and began to drag it over the tile of Dani's bathroom floor. It was pretty much clean already but it was still a routine Magda followed. "So Ethan, I heard through the grapevine that you organized a bit of a movie night for the Dimitrescu daughters tonight. Any truth to that?" Magda inquired curiously.
Ethan coughed into his fist and bit and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, kind of. It was mainly Dani's idea, I just made it possible. She wanted a way to spend some quality time with her sisters. I said a movie never hurt, and we went down a rabbit hole of what a movie is. Long story short, she thought it was perfect."
Magda looked slightly impressed. "That's actually a good idea. It's been a long time since I've seen a movie." Ethan turned to look at the woman, a bit confused and also too curious for his own good.
"You've seen a movie?"
"...uh, yeah? My favorite movie is Grown Ups with Adam Sandler."
"Wait wait, I am confused. First off, Grown Ups is not that great of a movie." Magda took offense and was about to retort, but Ethan cut her off. "And you've watched movies? Modern ones at that? How? I haven't seen a damn bit of modern technology in the village nearby."
"Oh, that's because I'm not from the local village. I'm from the city. I was hiking through the woods around here a few years ago and a lycan attacked me. Luckily, Lady Bela was close by and they were short-staffed then. She smelled my blood and 'rescued' me." Magda air quoted, obviously not too thrilled about her means of rescue. "They healed me up, stuck me in this outfit, and threw a mop in my hands. Ever since, I've swept dust and blood off the walls and floor… and ceiling sometimes."
"What about your family? Didn't they come looking?"
"Nope, they were all dead." Ethan's eyes widen in shock and tried to apologize, but Magda just waved it off. "It's nothing, I promise. My family wasn't big to start with, and we weren't close. An only child, parents were only children too. My mother and father grew to dislike each other over the years. They remained on polite terms, so that was good at least. I knew they didn't love each other anymore, it was clear. When I was 19, I moved up. My parents split after and went their own ways. Dad went to the States, and my mother went to Germany, leaving me here in Romania. I kept in contact with them, but… it all waned. We would talk every day, then every other day, then once a week, once a month- you get the idea. My mother died naturally from a heart attack, dad died in a car crash. I was sad, obviously, but I wasn't devastated. I got their bodies back here, cost a lot of money though. Turns out, you need a whole of special permits and things to transport dead bodies."
"So you've been alone for a long time then, I take it?" Ethan hesitantly asked, afraid he would offend her.
Magda's face "Sort of. The other workers, and even the Dimitrescu family, keep me from going insane, but only just."
Deciding the liven the mood up, Ethan flashed Magda a smile and said, "Well, I'm your friend now, so you're not alone anymore."
Magda stared at Ethan for a moment before smiling and nodding. "Thank you, Ethan. That means a lot to me."
The two continued their work in peaceful quiet. Ethan actually never hated cleaning, it was always sort of relaxing to him, so helping Magda wasn't much of a punishment if he was being honest. It got him out of his room, gave him company, and allowed him to keep himself and his mind busy. It could be a lot worse, honestly. He could be fighting off lycans in the village or moroaică in the dungeon. Magda was also made for good company.
Deciding to learn more about her, Ethan asked a question. "What was your life like back in the city?"
"Well, it honestly wasn't anything interesting. I worked in a library sorting books and lived in a tiny apartment, just a little bigger than this bathroom." Magda replied.
Ethan wanted a bit more than just that, though. "What, no pets? Boyfriend… girlfriend? Roommate?"
"No, not really. A few one-night stands, but not often. I hardly even went out in public. No to the roommate as well. The rent was cheap, and I didn't mind being alone."
"It sounds like you've been alone too long, Magda. That isn't healthy. You should have at least one friend in your life. Did you get along with your co-workers, at least?"
"...I suppose? We hardly spoke, honestly. I never really had to interact with them."
"What about those at the library? Surely you talked with them at least."
"Nope, avoided them."
Ethan stopped working for a minute to look at Magda. She was living a loner lifestyle her entire adult life. He knew a guy like that from the dorms he stayed in during college. They thought being alone wouldn't bother them at all and avoided all interactions. Last he heard they had flunked out and became a hardcore drug addict. The poor man also had a whole host of other issues he never let anyone know about. Just another reason Ethan felt like he needed to pry just a bit further into Magda's life…
"What were you hiking out here for, anyway? Didn't look like there wasn't really any nice natural formations or forests around." Ethan inquired.
"I just felt like I had to get out of my apartment for a few days. It was starting to feel like a coffin instead of home. I felt… drained whenever I saw the walls, or when I remembered to had to go to work. It just felt like I was living a life someone assigned to me instead of one I picked or made for myself." Magda replied in an exhausted tone.
All Ethan did was nod. He knew exactly what she was talking about. Everyone telling you that you should do this, or do that, but not that, or you have to do it this way. It was annoying and exhausting. "I know exactly what you mean. My father, before he drank himself insane, wanted me to become a mechanic. Thought working with computers wasn't a real man's job."
"You work with computers?" Magda asked, a bit surprised.
"Yeah. Huh, I guess I never told anyone that yet. I am- well was, a systems engineer. Basically, I would maintain computer systems and find solutions for problems they were having with them. I pretty much lost that job after Lousiana though." Ethan explained while wringing the mop out.
Magda kept trying to speak but kept stopping herself. "I assume that your relationship with your father wasn't good?" She finally asked a bit awkwardly.
"'Wasn't good' is one way of putting it. Others are 'shit' and 'toxic'. He never hit me or my mom, but he wasn't exactly a great father. He was hardly ever there at first. He was always out late somewhere. Bars, friends' houses, with other women. Sometimes all three in one night. My mom did her best but eventually, the stress of everything caught up with her and she became distant. She became more of a roommate to me than a mom. She died of a stroke when I was 15. That was the final nail in the coffin between me and my father. He became a drunken mess, 24/7. Got hurt at work and just started collecting disability. He just drank and smoked all that money away. I had to get a job part-time just to pay the rent and buy food. Somehow managed to keep my grades up, too. As soon as I was accepted into college, I moved. Left him in the dust. Never heard from him since, and a part of me wants to keep it that way."
"A part of you? That means that there's another part of you that…" Magda left the rest of the sentence hanging in the air, letting Ethan piece it together himself.
"I mean… at the end of the day, he's still my father," Ethan said tensely, struggling to articulate the way he was feeling. "I know he wasn't a good father at all, but he was still mine if that makes any sense."
"It doesn't make any sense, yet at the same time, it does," Magda replied with a chuckle. "I know what you mean, Ethan. One of the only friends I ever had back in school said something similar. I asked him why he lived with his aunt, and he told me about his parents. How they pretty much dropped him and his siblings off there and said 'you can do a better job than us and left. He said to me that his family was great, and his aunt and others gave him the parental roles they needed, but at the end of the day they still weren't his parents and he would feel that. I never knew what he meant, and I still don't He just said that whenever he thought of his aunt and the word 'mother', the two would never connect."
"It's a hole that can't just be filled by a replacement parent. I know what your friend was talking about," Ethan said sadly. "I felt the same way about my mother. I felt like she was gone too soon, and I found myself looking for a sort of pseudo-mother figure. I found her in Mia's mother. She treated me like I how thought all mothers should treat their children. She loved me, helped me, and gave me advice when I needed it. I miss that woman."
"How did she die, Ethan?"
Ethan was confused for a moment before he laughed. "Oh no, you misunderstand. See… some wild things had happened years ago, and Mia's family thought she died when the ship she was on crashed. They also think that I died as well. Sad to say, it's safer for them this way."
"Oh. Well, that's good to hear… I think. Anyway, we should move on now. Onto the next floor." Magda said while she collected her things, heading to the door. Ethan put the mop into the bucket and followed after her. They quickly moved from room to room, floor to floor and mopped every tile. It wasn't easy work, but it was nice to be busy.
Magda looked at Ethan for a moment, then smiled. "It's good to see you in good health Ethan. When I heard how much you and Lady Bela drank last night I thought for sure you would be sick as a dog today."
"It's most likely the mold," Ethan replied off-handedly. Magda, however, was very confused. Faltering in her steps for a moment, she turned to him.
"Mold? What do you mean?"
"I was infected with mold some time ago. It's why I can heal so fast. It most likely healed my headache."
She took a hesitant step back from Ethan. "W-wait. You're infected with mold?"
"You didn't know? I thought you did… but yes. I am infected with mold, but it was treated. Don't worry, I am 99% the same person I was before. I just heal a bit better."
"Still the same, huh? Then what happened during dinner last night?" she asked heatedly. "I heard the rumors. You really transformed and fought Lady Dimitrescu, didn't you!? I thought it was all bullshit! Wait, is the bit about you drinking a maid's blood true too!?" Magda all but yelled as she looked into his eyes. Ethan didn't answer her. He couldn't. He had wanted to forget that part of the night.
"...oh my god, it's true." Magda looked terrified now. Ethan tried to assure her that it was all ok.
"No, it's ok, I promise. I wasn't myself. I couldn't control it-"
Magda only became more panicked. "You don't have control!?"
"No- yes- well, it's hard to explain. Magda please, it's ok, I promise! I don't change like that normally. They had just drugged me." Ethan took a step towards Magda, but she just took a step back in return.
"Stay away! You're just like them, aren't you!? Are… you even human?"
That stung Ethan. "What? Of course, I am! I swear, Magda."
"Then why? Why did you drink that poor woman!? She's still unconscious!" Magda screamed, tears in her eyes. "You are one of them! Is that why you have been spending time with Bela and Daniela? You find their company better than us humans?"
"Magda! Stop it! I told you, I am human! I've just have some mold in me is all-"
"That's not just something you shrug off, Ethan! You're infected with some crazy thing that changes you! I don't think… I have to go!" she said as she dropped her things and began to run away.
"Magda! Magda! Damn it… MAGDA!" yelled Ethan. She didn't turn around though. She kept running and turned around a corner. The sound of her foot stomps faded away, too. Ethan was left in the hallway alone and astonished. He had just been having a heartfelt conversation with her just a few minutes ago, and now she just yelled at him and ran off.
Finding the nearest maid and asking her what to do with the items, he put them away and slowly walked back to his room, until Daniela stopped him.
"What are you doing? You were told to clean with Magda, weren't you? I am pretty sure I did…"
"I told her about me being infected with the mold. She didn't like that. She ran." Ethan said in an emotionless tone.
"Ah. Well then. That is understandable. Her loss, let's go. Breakfast is almost ready. You need to eat something." Daniela said as she grabbed Ethan's arm and gently led him to the dining room. He was a bit reluctant to enter, given the events of last night, but he went in anyway. Cassandra wasn't there, but Bela was, and Lady Dimitrescu too. The setting they were in had a much more casual aurora than last night. Bela was eating some eggs and bacon while Lady Dimitrescu was taking small bites of a biscuit and reading a newspaper. They both turned to the new arrivals and both raised a brow. They turned and looked at each other. Bela gave a shrug and went back to her food.
"Good morning, Ethan." Lady Dimitrescu greeted, giving a much too polite smile.
"Uh… Good morning to you as well, Lady Dimitrescu-"
The woman chuckled a bit forcefully, "I told you last night to call me Alcina. Please."
Ethan was a bit unsure about calling the Lady by her first name, but he also figured it was disrespectful if he didn't. "Good morning to you as well, Alcina." Ethan may have been a little out of line, but he wanted to bring up last night to her. "Thank you for dinner last night, it was rather exciting."
The pleasant but forced smile on her face slowly turned into a teasing smirk. "Ah, indeed it was! It has been quite some time since I've been so entertained during a meal."
"Oh, I'm glad I was able to entertain you. I aim to please Miss Alcina." Ethan replied, a little bit of anger in his voice. The look in Alcina's eye told Ethan she was enjoying this back and forth a bit, though. "I hope it's ok I join you all for breakfast this morning as well. I am sad to say I won't be having any wine, though. Had my fill last night."
Bela snickered a bit while Dani shot both of them an angry look. Alcina herself simply nodded and returned to her paper. "Well, Ethan, we are having a relatively simple breakfast this morning. Daniela's kitchen was… preoccupied earlier today, and didn't have the time to prepare a more excellent spread. Though I am sure you are used to this. I hear typical American breakfasts mainly consist of eggs and meat."
Ethan hated to admit it, but the giant woman was correct. Mia and him hardly ever had large breakfasts. They were either eggs and bacon, biscuits and gravy, or oatmeal. Neither of them was much of a morning person, so cooking anything more than the basics was rare. "Oh, it's more than fine." Alcina nodded a signaled a maid. She brought over a plate and put some food on it for Ethan. He sat down at the spot and did his best to remember basic table manners.
'This is weird…' Ethan thought. 'There's so much tension in the air, at least between me and Alcina. Surely the others feel it too.'
Ethan felt someone staring at him. Looking around, he saw that the daughters were engrossed in their own meals while Alcina was furrowing her brow at something in the paper she didn't like. He started scanning the maids in the room, and finally find the one looking at him. Her face spoke of anger and fury, and he was sure his head had started to smoke from her intense gaze. He looked her in the eye, and she instantly averted and schooled her expression to be neutral.
Ethan decided to just ignore her for now and confront her later. "So, where is Cassandra?"
The doors to the dining room flew open.
"...speak of the devil." he muttered.
"What-" Cass pointed to Ethan, "-are they doing here?" Her mood had instantly soured when she registered that Ethan was sitting at the table.
It was Bela that spoke up. "He has to eat as well, sister, like us."
Cass huffed and gave them an annoyed look at her sister. "Yes, but it can eat in its own quarters! Why are they here?"
"I allowed him to eat with us, dear." Alcina said tensely. "Do you have a problem with that, Cassandra?" she dared her daughter. Cass looked furiously at Ethan and her mother but shook her head no and sat down with anger. She sat there in silent rage and bored a hole into Ethan with her eyes.
Much to his horror, when a maid came over to place a plate down, Cass grabbed her by the hair and clamped down on her throat, and began to suck the woman's blood. Ethan shot up and wanted to help the woman, but the glare shot at him from Alcina told him to sit back down and mind his own business. He reluctantly did so. The woman tried not to fight the pain and tried her best just to let Cass do what she wanted.
Eventually, Cass released her bite and threw the woman to the side. The woman's neck was gushing blood and another came over with a rag to staunch the bleeding. She picked the woman up as best she could and left the room, most likely to take her to the healer. Everyone else, including the maids, didn't even bat an eyelash. All except for the woman looking at Ethan earlier. She was still staring at him hatefully.
Looking at Cass, he blanched when she gave him a cocky smile that was caked in blood. Streaks were running down her neck, and her teeth were red. He placed his fork down and reclined in his seat a bit. While the sight of blood no longer made him sick, it still wasn't great for his appetite.
Deciding to try and shift the mood in the room, Ethan looked at Dani and said "I set everything up in that room, by the way. It's all ready."
"Oh, that's good! Thank you." Dani responded while not looking up from her food.
His comment though piqued the curiosity of everyone else, including Alcina. "What did you have him set up in a room, Daniela?" the mother asked.
It was then Dani realized what Ethan just said. Looking around, she noticed Bela and Cass also giving her a questioning look. Gulping her food down, Dani figured now was the best time to explain. "Well… I felt like we need to do something. Together. As sisters. Since we can't go on a hunt yet until spring is here, I asked Ethan if he had any ideas. He said we should have a movie night."
Alcina pulled back a bit in surprise. "A film? Interesting. What type of films have you selected for this little event?"
Dani looked to Ethan for him to answer. "Oh, I had picked some horror movies. Some are gory and have good effects that make the murders look real. Some of the movies have great stories, while others are just excuses to make something with blood in it. The Duke did throw in one movie that will be unexpected for them, though I did have to admit it fit our needs perfectly."
"That's good to hear then. I assume this will be taking place after dinner tonight?"
"Yes. Right as soon as everyone is done with their choirs for the day. There are quite a few movies so they need to start right away."
Alcina looked up at the ceiling as she thought for a moment, before turning to Bela. "Don't worry about writing up a new work schedule for tomorrow, dear, I will handle it. Dani, serve dinner a little earlier tonight, maybe an hour or so. I want you girls to enjoy tonight, you deserve it."
It was weird to Ethan just how much Alcina acted like a mother. It was like watching a tiger lick its kittens. You know the tiger is dangerous and that it spends the majority of its life hunting, but it does have a soft side for its young, and can't be a hunter all the time. Alcina was no different. She obviously had to have moments where she was an average mother of three that wanted her children to be happy.
She turned to look at Ethan and addressed him. "I am assuming you will be running this little event yourself? Who else could run the machines needed to play a film in this modern era, I suppose. If you want, I can have a maid assigned to you for the night; assist you with anything you need."
Ethan only stared at Alcina for a moment before coming back to and shaking his head no. "Thank you, but that won't be needed. The technology now is fairly self-caring. I am just there to switch out the movies and start them. I just hope this goes well."
Throughout the entire conversation, Bela and Cass were silent. While Bela was more familiar with films than Cass, she still didn't know what to expect. She wasn't one to turn down a good reason to have a free night, though, and even spend it with her sisters. Cass, on the other hand, was peeved. She didn't want to attend anything the manthing put on or spend time with her sisters. She just saw it as a waste of time that could be better spent doing… anything else. Like hunting down a sorry maid. Or torturing. Or both.
"Will you be joining us during this little event then, Ethan?" Bela asked.
Running his hand through his hair, Ethan thought about how to word it. "Well, technically, yes? I will just be there to switch the movies and make sure everything goes well. It's your ladies' night together, not mine."
"That makes sense, I suppose. Promise you won't spoil any of the movies for us. Dani here is the inquisitive one when it comes to a good story, always trying to ask what happens next, trying to ruin the surprise." Bela smiled as she looked at the sister. Dani looked away bashfully.
Cass, on the other hand, did not like this tidbit. "Do you really have to be there? Surely you can just teach one of us the basics and leave."
Ethan thought about it for a moment, about how the player worked and how to adjust the volume and focus of the projector. "I mean, I suppose I could, yeah. It's not difficult, but it could be a little overwhelming for anyone here as you are not used to such modern technologies."
Bela nodded her head while Dani pretty much just ignored him, but Cass was annoyed. "What do you mean 'overwhelming'? Remember who you are talking to, manthing. I am more than certain we could handle such a trivial task."
Ethan shrugged his shoulders. If Cassandra were so confident, he would teach one of them. "Bela, you seem like the one with the most aptitude for that. Would you like to learn?"
"I don't see why not." she accepted, "I am sure it won't be that difficult."
"It's not. The only thing I am worried about is if you get lost on what to do, you might easily get confused and mess something else up."
She rolled her eyes but smirked, "Well, if I do, I will make sure to send it for you since you are apparently the resident expert."
"But… I am the resident expert!" Ethan laughed. Cassandra scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"Anyway, now that breakfast is out of the way, I must be off. Have a good day, my daughters." Alcina said as she waved to the girls and left the room. Dani also stood up.
"I must get back to work as well. Bela, let's go. I've decided that you had long enough to recuperate, and you no longer look sick; you start cleaning the kitchens now." Bela only stared at her sister for a moment, her left eye twitching once before sighing and standing up. "It seems I am also going. Good day Ethan, Cass."
That left Ethan and Cass in the dining room. Ethan was desperately looking at everything else up to her. He felt her glaring daggers at him, and he was afraid if he made eye contact, it would trigger a predatory response from her. Luckily for him, she stood up and left without a word. The moment she left, the maids sprung into action. They collected the plates and began to wipe the table down. Standing up, Ethan looked around for the maid who was giving peeling the skin from his body in her mind.
It took a minute before he found her furiously cleaning a section of the table. He approached her without a preamble and spoke with authority. "Why were you staring at me like that?"
She simply stopped her task and stood straight up before looking at him. "You hurt my friend last night. She is still unconscious. You are just like them…" she said before spitting at his feet and turning to walk away.
Too bad Dani was there to stop her. Her face was twisted into a sick grin and the sickle in her hand shook with anger. "What was that you said? 'Just like them'? You wouldn't happen to mean us Dimitrescu, would you?" Daniela said with a certain excitement that made Ethan's hair stand up. Without waiting for a reply, Dani grabbed the woman by the neck and slammed her down to the floor.
The bloodthirsty grin that twitched on her lips promised the maid's death. "You know, Ethan is a guest here. A guest of the Dimitrescu is to be treated like a Dimitrescu. Yet here you are, addressing him as if he is your equal…" Dani's expression then contorted into a viscous snarl "and you spit on our name as well!?" Ethan could only slowly retreat as he watched the display. All the other maids did so as well.
"P-please, Lady Daniela, I meant no disrespec-" and just like that, Dani had reached into the woman's mouth with her bare hand and ripped her tongue out. The woman gave an unbridled scream of pain and flailed around, trying to get away from the pain. Her mouth instantly began to fill with blood, turning her screams into gurgles.
Daniela looked at the tongue in her hand with a bright, wide-eyed smile before devouring it. Ethan lost his nerve and puked on the carpet. A few maids behind him also followed his lead. Ethan looked back at the woman and felt as if this was his fault. The woman was angry with him for what he did last night to her friend, and he understood that. She was well within her right to be angry.
Daniela looked back down to the woman and became annoyed with her screams. Standing up, she raised a foot to stomp on her head, "Stop whining and die!"
Ethan couldn't let her kill the woman. He charged and tackled her to the floor. Without the moroaică in his system though, he was unable to do enough damage to keep her down. She stood up with a furious growl and snatched him up. As a last-ditch effort, Ethan tried slapping Daniela across her face to try and snap her out of her rage.
The resounding clap echoed off the walls, and Ethan's hand stung a lot, but it seemed to cause Daniela to freeze, her head slightly turned to the side from the strike.
Dropping him, she balled her fist and coughed into it, and began to look around. "I apologize about that. Seems I let my emotions get the better of me." Daniela turned to a maid and pointed to the woman on the ground trying to crawl away with blood pouring forth from her mouth. "Get her to the infirmary."
Ethan was on his behind, looking up at Daniela with a mix of bewilderment and horror. "What do you mean your emotions got the better of you, Daniela!? You mutilated and almost killed that woman just because she was angry with me!"
She turned to look down at him with a look of mild surprise. "She spit on you. I will admit trying to kill her was a bit much, but she deserved her tongue being ripped out."
"She was mad at me because I hurt her friend last night! She had every right to be mad at me! I'm even mad at myself from last night, Daniela!" Ethan rose to his feet. "You not only punished her for speaking her mind, but something I also asked for, but you also punished her for being a good friend! Do you have any idea how that makes me feel, too? Knowing innocent people around me keep getting hurt just because they trust me that I'm human? Magda is afraid of me now that she knows about the mold. What is she going to think when she hears you ripped the tongue out of someone's head, ate it, and were also gonna smear their brains across the floor!? My only real friend in this fucking hell-hole ran away from me!"
Daniela looked ashamed and lowered her gaze. "...we're friends, aren't we-?"
"NO! We're not! You are my captor! This is just some Stockholm syndrome shit! The only reason I am still alive is that your Mother Miranda has ordered it! If she didn't, I would've already been dead!" Ethan was huffing and puffing now, slightly exerted from yelling. He was red in the face and was staring at Daniela. She just looked at her feet and fiddled with her hands.
"I… I'm sorry, Ethan. I didn't think of it like that. Perhaps I- no, I definitely overreacted. If I'm being honest…" Daniela looked around before leaning down to whisper in his ear. "I… don't even remember how I got here. I just… remember looking over a bleeding maid and tasting iron and flesh. I connected the dots…"
Ethan pulled back in complete shock. "What was the last thing you remember?" he asked in a hushed voice.
"The last I remember was hearing the woman talk to you… after that, it's black until you smacked me." Ethan sighed. Of course, Dani would actually block out the memories of her psychotic episodes.
"Just… just go back to work, Dani. We will figure this out later. I am going to go and check on the woman from last night and the woman just now." Dani nodded and left. Ethan left the room and began walking toward Adina's infirmary. There was a small trail of blood that was left behind that some maids were cleaning up.
With a little bit of haste in his walk, Ethan reached the infirmary and saw Adina feverishly working on the woman on a bed in the back, curtains pulled partially around. She took a quick glance away from her patient to see who arrived. "Ethan! Good. You can help me! Hand me more gauze." Rushing to help her, Ethan grabbed as much gauze as he could from her cabinets and ran over.
"Is she going to live, Adina?" Ethan hesitantly asked.
Adina nodded casually. "Yeah, this happens enough for me to know how to treat it. I'm just trying to ensure she doesn't drown in her own blood. The tongue is relatively fast healing, so the bleeding will stop soon and will begin to seal up. The only downside is the recovery and rehab from this take time. She will need to relearn how to talk and eat. She's lucky; only the front portion of her tongue was removed. She will still have the ability to speak pretty clearly, given her new condition. Eating won't be easy, but she can still swallow. The maid who brought her in said you were involved. Care to explain…"
Ethan looked at the woman, she was now in a sort of delirious state and couldn't even focus on anything around her. "She didn't like me. Spit on my feet. Daniela was standing right behind her. She didn't like that her 'guest' was disrespected."
Adina looked at him and back to the woman and frowned. "She didn't deserve this, but I will agree it was a stupid idea on her part."
Ethan helped Adina work on the woman, and they finally got the bleeding to stop. The woman was now unconscious from blood loss, but Adina told Ethan she would awake in just a few hours. She put the woman on an IV drip to rehydrate her and deliver painkillers.
Ethan looked at Adina and asked, "Did you go to medical school?"
"I did," Adina replied. "I was almost done with it too, but I was in heavy debt. During a break, I came home. I heard rumors about the castle needing a healer, so I sent a letter saying that I can work there. I didn't know the exact truth of what lay behind these walls, though… One day, a swarm of flies busted into my home and whisked me away. Been here ever since."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, Adina."
"Bah! It hasn't been too bad honestly. At first, it was, but after a while, the women of the castle treated me a little better. Besides, it could always be worse. I could've had my daughter kidnapped and wife killed…" Adina said, giving Ethan a look of sadness.
He had to agree with her. His situation was still rough. Dani and Bela seemed to like him well enough now to actually be friends with him. Cass was still hostile, even more so now. Alcina was the weird one. He could tell she still didn't like him around and that the moment Mother Miranda said he could die, she wouldn't be upset about it. All that, and he still didn't have his daughter.
Magda spoke, pulling Ethan from his thoughts. "This woman still has one more hurdle to get through, through. Due to the time it takes to recover and learn to live without the majority of one's tongue, she will be bedridden for a few weeks. She will either have to recover faster than that, or return to the village."
"Wait, why would she have to leave?" He asked.
"Lady Dimitrescu doesn't allow people to just stay here without some form of payment. She will see this woman as a waste of resources here. If she didn't leave, Lady Dimitrescu would have her pay in blood."
"What if I picked up her slack?"
This made Adina stop and think. "Technically I suppose you could, but this woman was dining room staff, was she not?" Ethan nodded. "Then I am sad to say that won't be possible for you. Dining room attendees require some special training, etiquette, and all."
"You said payment? Could I pay Alc- Lady Dimitrescu compensation with Lei?" Ethan desperately asked.
"Yes? No one has ever done that but it does fall under the category of payment. That is something you will need to discuss with her directly, however."
Ethan was up before Adina could even finish. Heading towards the door, he walked out and located the nearest maid. "Excuse me, I need to speak to Lady Dimitrecu. Where could I find her?"
The maid looked at Ethan with wide eyes for a moment… before saying something in a language he didn't understand.
'Ah. Right. I am still in Romania after all…'
It took Ethan a minute to find someone who spoke English, and they told him his best bet was going to Alcina's room. She tended to work there most days. Following their advice, he made his way to the room and knocked. A moment later, he heard a reply.
"You may enter."
Walking into the room, he saw Alcina become surprised a little as it was he that entered and not a servant. "Oh, Ethan? I must say, this is rather unexpected. What is the purpose of your visit?"
"Daniela injured a maid because she insulted me, but the maid had every right to be angry with me." Ethan started. "Now, the maid will be in recovery for a few weeks. Adina told me you do not allow maids to stay here without payment."
"That is true, everyone must contribute to stay in the castle. I will give her a week. After that, there are no promises." Alcina explained.
Ethan took a deep breath in before speaking once more, "That is why I wish to offer payment for her- namely, Lei."
"Ha! I do not require Lei; the Dimitrescu is quite wealthy-"
"You also wouldn't notice a single maid missing for a few weeks. It's a matter of principle, right? So what difference is it that I am contributing Lei in her stead?"
Alcina looked at Ethan for a moment before reclining and smirking. "You are fairly smart, you know that Ethan? Strength and intelligence are a dangerous combination. I might just have to keep my eye on you." She said mockingly. "I suppose I can accept this. I won't bill you for the first week, but after that, you will be billed every day she isn't back in service."
"Thank you, Alcina." Ethan turned to leave. As he did though, he caught a glimpse of a crib. He froze and stared at it. His first reaction was to rush to the crib and grab Rose. Alcina must've sensed this because he could hear her quietly speaking.
"Don't, Ethan. She isn't there."
Ethan turned around to her as quickly as possible, ready to demand answers. He was stopped as she raised a hand to silence him. "She will be… back tomorrow. She is safe and healthy, still."
Ethan tried to press his luck a bit. "When… when she's back, may I see her? Please?"
He could tell that he had struck a chord within Alcina. As a parent, she couldn't bare hearing someone ask desperately to see their own child, but Rose was a key to something larger than them.
"You are asking a lot, Mister Winters. I suppose that… this once I could entertain such a request. I will send for you after dinner tomorrow tonight, that is when- and only when- you will be able to see her."
Ethan began to cry a little. "Thank you! Thank you so much."
"Get out of my room before you soak my carpet!" She said a bit awkward at seeing Ethan get emotional. He couldn't blame her, either. He was an ugly crier.
Gently closing the door behind him, Ethan wiped his tears and began to walk down the hall. It was at that moment Ethan remembered…
'Shit. I don't have access to my Lei. Oh fuck.'
He began running down the halls looking for Bela. If anyone in the castle knew where his stuff was, it was her. Running around, he checked the kitchens, her room, and any other room that was unlocked, but no sign of her. He asked any maid he passed but all said something in Romanian or told him they didn't know where she was.
Eventually, though, he found her overseeing some work being done to a wall with deep cravings on it. "Damn, someone ruined that wall." Bela flinched, turning around to look at Ethan. "Bela, what did you guys do with the Lei you took from me?"
"Your Lei? It was locked in a chest along with your other items, why?"
"I need it." Ethan rubbed the back of his head, trying to explain. "A maid got hurt by Dani and I feel responsible for it, so I want to pay your mother to allow the woman to stay here while she recovers."
Bela was curious about this. "Owning up to a mistake?"
Ethan shook his head no, "Not entirely a mistake on my part, but it involves me and I want to help her as much as I can. It's only right."
"I will get you your stash of Lei if you tell me what happened," she said, crossing her arms.
"Ok fine," Ethan huffed, "She was angry at me because it was her friend who I attacked and drank from. She was just expressing her anger towards me and… Daniela ripped her tongue out. She was also about to kill the woman, but I stopped her."
"Hm, interesting. Anyway, I will get you your Lei. I am sure Dani will help you with the payments if it isn't enough. She most likely feels guilty for overreacting."
"I'll try that. So… what happened to the wall? It looks like someone carved it to hell."
Bela grimaced and huffed. "Nothing, don't worry about it! Go away. I'm busy."
Ethan walked off, laughing at Bela's reaction. He knew she did it, he just wanted to tease her.
Arriving back at the infirmary, Ethan saw the woman still unconscious. However, another woman who he failed to notice at first, had just woken up and was trying to sit up. Rushing over, he helped her and handed her a cup of water. She downed it desperately, spilling some down her face. When she drank the last drop, the woman looked at Ethan, and then promptly punched him in the face. Stumbling back and clutching his nose, he tripped over a bed and clattered to the floor.
"Ow! What the fuck!?" Climbing up, he saw the woman staring at him with a terrified look. She was hyperventilating and saying something in Romanian. He recognized her now. She was the one he attacked.
He tried to hold his hands out in front of himself to try and calm her down, but she was becoming frantic and starting to cry. She tried to stand up and flee but her legs were still weak, so she just collapsed. He crossed the distance swiftly, but touched her gently, trying to help her up. She was still confused and frightened but was too weak to really resist. He was able to get her back on her bed. He slowly backed away, trying to show her that he wouldn't hurt her.
'Where the hell is Adina!?'
Sitting down in the doctor's chair, he silently stared back at the woman. She was still staring at him wide-eyed and breathing heavily but had stopped screaming and thrashing. Ethan felt some blood trickling out of his nose, so he rummaged through the supplies to find some packing and shoved it up his nose.
Ethan only knew a few sentences in Romanian, mostly ones to tell others he was lost and needed help, but he tried to apply what he knew here.
"Imi pare rau(I am sorry)." He said while motioning towards his neck, then to her. She quickly said something in response, but he couldn't even understand the words she said she spoke so fast. "Umm, No- Nu? Nu vorbesc romaneste?(I don't speak Romanian.) Engleză?(English?)" Ethan said, unsure if what he said was even correct.
"Nu Engleză(No English)." She replied. Ethan could understand that, just because he already used those words before. She took a moment before giving a small chuckle and said something else.
While Ethan didn't know what she said, how she said it was very much an insult. He was about to reply in English when someone spoke.
"She said your accent is fucking terrible."
Ethan turned and saw Adina standing there with a smirk on her face. "Your accent is horrible and you even said a few words wrong, but it got the message across. What are you doing here? What happened to your nose?" Ethan pointed toward the woman.
"She happened. She decked me." Looking over to the woman, Adina laughed and said something, and she replied back with a smirk too.
"She said that you are a pussy, if she could break your nose that easy." The woman spoke again. "She also wants to know why you're here and why you tried to apologize in your butchered Romanian."
"I was worried about her friend over there. When I got there, I saw she was awake and tried to assist her. I wasn't myself during that and I would've never done it if I was in my right mind." Adina was translating while Ethan spoke. After she was done, the woman looked worriedly over towards her friend and said something. She and Adina have a quick conversation and she obviously became distressed. Ethan surmised she learned what happened.
"Tell her I made sure personally that her friend will be staying in the castle. I talked to Alcina about it and she agreed to a deal with me." Adina translated again and he saw the woman visibly relax and lean against the wall.
Adina looked to Ethan, a bit shocked. "...did you just call Lady Dimitrescu by her first name?"
"Yeah, she asked me to refer to her by it. Said I earned the right or something."
"Wow. I've never even heard anyone actually call her by it. I doubt the majority of staff even know it. The only reason I do is because of old medical records. I dare say you're the only one outside of the Lords and Mother Miranda to call her that. You truly must be special."
"I wish I weren't, then maybe all this shit wouldn't happen with me. Maybe I could've still been at home with my daughter, and my wife would be alive. I'm going back to my room, I am tired. If you see Magda around, tell her to see me. I need to talk to her."
Leaving the room, Ethan took the route back to his room and walked in. The fire in the fireplace had long since died out and his room was a bit on the cooler side. Lucky for him though, they kept the items needed to start a fire. Positioning the kindling and hitting a piece of flint with some steel, he got a few sparks to rain onto it and it began to smolder. A few blows and it was a small but strong flame. Stacking some larger pieces on top, he began to get to the main body of wood to ignite. The radiant heat was already feeling good.
Ethan kicked his shoes off and lay on his bed, content with taking a nap…
The knocking on his door roused Ethan from his much-needed rest. Quickly swinging out of bed, Ethan went over to the door and opened it. Much to his surprise and relief, it was Magda. "Please don't run! I need to talk to you."
"I heard, that's why I'm here." She said uneasily. She was still wary of Ethan.
Ethan stepped aside and motioned for her to come in. "Please, sit down. I would offer something to drink, but I am afraid this is a bit outside my capabilities at the moment."
Magda didn't find the joke that funny. She carefully walked and sat down. Ethan quickly shut the door and sat on his bed. "I should explain everything. When I had to rescue my wife in Louisiana, me and her became infected with mold. With me, however, it didn't take as well. It hardly affected my mind, if at all. Once that nightmare had ended, though, we were treated. The mold was more or less weakened wasn't an issue anymore. However, the blood from moroaică seems to cause a flare-up. The first time it happened, it was an accident. The second time, during dinner. Lady Dimitrescu slipped some into my wine. She wanted to see the results. I had lost all control. I wasn't myself. Please. They drugged me. I don't like being like that. If I can help it, it would have never happened."
"...that's pretty much what Lady Daniela told me." Magda said with reluctance. "She said what had happened wasn't your fault; it was Lady Dimitrescu."
Ethan was at a loss for words for a moment. "She talked to you?" He asked.
"Yes, after breakfast. She had this… saddened look about her, as well. She asked me to speak with you."
"Magda, I know this mold inside me scares you. Hell, it scares me, but I am not going to let it control me. Not now, not ever. I don't want the only real friend I have here scared of me."
"You still think of me as your friend even after the things I said to you?"
"Of course." Ethan gave her a gentle smile to reassure her.
Magda stood up and smiled a bit too. "Thank you, Ethan. I must be getting back to work, though." As she was about to leave, she turned back around. "Come on. You still have a punishment to carry out."
Following her out, Ethan assisted with her duties about the castle until lunch was about to be ready.
"You should come eat with me in the servants' canteen. While the food isn't as great as what's served to the Dimitrescu, it is still very good." Magda said.
Ethan, a bit hesitant to accept, tried to say no. "I don't know. I'm not exactly on good terms with the rest of the staff. I did attack one and Dani attacked another because of me. I don't believe I would be welcome in there."
Magda waved those concerns off. "Don't worry about that. They don't take you attacking them as personally as you believe it would. It might sound morbid, but most of the staff are used to it. As for Lady Daniela's attack, most will be over it in a few hours. Stuff like that happens here, we workers don't have time to dwell on it. So, will you be joining me for lunch or not?"
"I suppose I am. I just hope you're right." Ethan replied.
The two made their way towards the servants' wing and into the canteen. It honestly looked like a dining room from a nice hotel. The food was self-serve from an open buffet-style of spread. Pick what you want and move on. A few of the other workers stared at Ethan in resentment, but the vast majority just went on with their business.
"It smells good in here, right? I always love coming in here after work. The smell of food is also so relaxing to me. Come on, I'm starving." Magda grabbed Ethan's wrist and took him to get food. They went down the line, plates in hand, grabbing anything they wanted; fruits, eggs, cheese, meat, something Ethan wasn't entirely sure was but smelled amazing pastries.
Finding a seat, they sat down and began to eat.
"So Ethan. You say we are friends, yet I don't actually know that much about you. Tell me a little about yourself." Magda asked, genuinely curious about the man sitting across from her.
"Well, what do you want to know?"
"Hmm, let's start easy. What did you do for work?"
"Ah, I was a systems engineer for a small tech company. It was challenging work, but I liked it. Before that, I held some summer jobs. Nothing interesting, sadly. After I moved to Romania though, I had to find something else to do. Luckily for me, I had also dabbled in programming, so I would freelance doing that."
"Oh, a computer nerd!" Magda laughed. "I'm joking, don't get offended. So tell me, Tech Support, what was college like in America?"
"If I'm being honest, I didn't pay that much attention to it. Outside of my studies and Mia, I kept my nose to the grindstone. My teachers were good. I liked them a lot. My roommate in my dorm was also not the party type, so that made living with him easy. Other than that, those four years went by rather quickly."
"Oh, that's good! So… how did Mia and you-"
A loud buzzing caught the two off guard. Ethan turned around to face the door and saw a swarm of flies head straight for them. Out of the haze, Dani stepped out.
"Oh, here you are! I was wondering where you had gone to when you didn't arrive for lunch. Dining with your friend here, Ethan?" He could only dumbly nod yes. "That's good. Say… you two wouldn't be… upset if I joined you, would you?"
"Join us… here?" Magda asked, completely forgetting who she was talking to for a moment. "Are you sure, Lady Daniela? This place isn't appropriate for someone of your standing, Lady Daniela."
Dani gave Magda a look but relaxed after a moment and gave a genuine smile. "I simply wish to join Ethan here. He and I need to talk, but you are also aware of the issue I wish to speak to him about, so it is fine you are around. I also do not wish to impose on either of you, so I simply ask if it is alright if I joined you."
At this point, the entire canteen was silent and still, watching this bizarre spectacle. Some maids even left their plates and silently slipped out, afraid of being in the same room with her. All Magda could do was motion for Dani to sit, and she did.
"Thank you, both." Dani adjusted in her seat next to Ethan and looked down at the man. "Ethan. I want to apologize again for what I did to that woman. I also heard from Bela a few minutes earlier you wish to pay for her stay while she recuperates. I want to help."
He was a little taken aback by her bluntness. "You want to help?"
"Yes. I suppose you were correct about her having the right to be angry with you, and removing her tongue might have been an overstep on my part. A smack would have been better."
"...Lady Daniela, forgive me for being so bold and a bit rude, but… why are you caring all of a sudden." Dani bristled a bit at that. "I mean no disrespect at that, my Lady. I just mean… before, you never gave us a second thought after administering reprimands for our behavior."
Dani sucked in a breath to calm herself down a bit. "That is true. Normally I would have just committed to action and walked away, never to think about it again. I know my reputation, Magda." Having Dani call her by her first name was a bit of a shock to her. "I honestly hate it. I love stories, books, and novels. When I read them, I find more in common with the villain of the story than the hero. I don't like the idea of me being a villain. I just want to be… Daniela." She took a breath and continued. "When Ethan pushed me away from the woman, it made me think about what I was doing. At first, I couldn't have cared. I was about to kill her and to me, it was just like stepping on a bug. At that moment though, I saw how you were so concerned for her and protected her. It made me think 'why!?'. Then when I looked at her again, I didn't see a bug that needed stepping on. I just saw a scared woman who was in pain…"
Dani looked at Ethan one more time, with a bit of sadness in her eyes.
"I don't want to be the villain anymore."
I honestly thought I was going to get to the movie night in this chapter, but I was happy to see I was able to extend the first portion of the chapter all the way.
I was watching a few videos about writing from George R. R. Martin and he had some interesting things about killing characters off, but also about reading comments and guesses about the future of the story. He says he does not because he will either feel as if he has to change the story to keep the audience guessing or overthink his story in general.
I believe he has a point with that, but I also like chewing on the ideas of others and mulling them over. This story is very much being written by the seat of my pants so things are subject to change on a whim, but I also feel like if I try to write with others' ideas instead of mine, I feel like it's their story and not mine. So I am stuck on the duality of it all. I like seeing and readings other advice for the story, but yet I also want to keep it mine and write my own story.