Sorry about this chapter coming in a day late, my power went out for some time yesterday. However, I was ahead of schedule and was even able to write 12.5k! I honestly struggled a bit with this chapter, and I believe it shows. I don't think this is my strongest chapter.
As Bela watched two maids drag an unconscious Ethan out of the dining room and towards his room to sleep off the fight, she couldn't help but chew her bottom lip in worry. They had just witnessed something unheard of; an outsider directly fighting a Lord and surviving. Looking at her sisters, Daniela and Cassandra, were standing next to each other. Dani was still shaken up, and Cass was obviously standing close by in her own way to comfort her sister.
Turning towards her Mother, she could see her lipstick was smeared, her hair was a bit out of place, and the back of her dress was ruined. None of that, however, surprised her the most. What surprised her the most was the look of fascination on her face as she watched Ethan be hauled out. Deciding to risk it, she questioned her Mother. "Mother, may I inquire about the purpose of inviting Ethan to dinner, only to give him the one thing that gave him power over us?"
Mother breathed a tired sigh and explained, "I needed to see the extent of Ethan's powers given to him by the mold."
"Speaking of the mold, mother, do you know why the mold in the blood is causing such a reaction?"
"I do, Bela dear. I believe it's not the mold in the blood… as it's the mold in him." This made Bela confused, but Mother continued. "From what I gather, the people who rescued Ethan and his late wife also tried to remove the mold from their bodies. It would have been a liability not to, after all." Sitting down in her enlarged chair, Mother held her hand out as a silent signal for a cigarette. Within a moment, a lit cigarette was produced and she took a drag from it, allowing the chemicals to absorb into her lungs.
"It seems that the only thing they could do was just suppress the sub-colony of mold inside him." The scientific talk started to lose Cassandra and Daniela. "What is curious, however, is why wasn't he completely turned when he became infected with the mold during his first hour of exposure. If this 'Eveline' was as powerful as I am to believe, Ethan would have been nothing to subjugate with her own mold colony. Questions for another time. Anyway, I believe the colony within him is semi-dormant, only manifesting itself in his healing ability, and possibly stamina too. Taking in more mold, however, seems to ignite the colony and allows it to, for a lack of a better term, flare up, his body sort of biggy-backing on the foreign mold."
"If that is true mother, then shouldn't we try and remove the mold he drank just a moment ago?"
At this, Mother waved her hand lackadaisically. "No no, don't worry. The mold colony inside him and the mold colony in the blood are different; two different colonies can't exist together. They will try to kill each other, but because the colony inside Ethan has taken root firmly, it will not die. That's actually why he sweats during the episode; that's not directly from the mold, that's an actual fever from his body and his mold fighting off the foreign colony."
All Bela could do was mumble 'fascinating' as she too sat down and reached for a tipped-over bottle of wine, draining the last bit of its contents. Her Mother nodded in agreement as she also took another toke. Cassandra on the other hand didn't share the sentiments. "This is not 'fascinating'! The damned manthing thought he had the power to face us! Such insolence can't continue! We need to lock them back down in the dungeon. What the hell happened with feeding on him!? Why are we not done that in days!?"
Bela smirked at Cass, "Well, I don't know about the rest of us, Cass, but you were the only one actively avoiding him." Cass didn't have a reply for that, aside from crossing her arms and furrowing her brows. Glancing at Dani, Bela noticed that she was staring at the cracked table, obviously replaying how Ethan was able to surprise their Mother with his strikes. He had smashed Mother through the solid oak table, one that had survived many tussles with the Dimitrescu daughters, and Ethan had used Mother like a sledgehammer. Bela chuckled a bit. While she didn't process it at the moment, the look on Mother's face as she was raised into the air was humorous. It had been a long, long time since something surprised Mother in a fight.
Mother heard the chuckle escape from Bela and raised an eyebrow in a silent question. Chuckling a bit more, Bela decided to have some fun at Mother's expense. "Ethan was the first man you invited to dinner mother, and he only needed a few moments before he swept you off your feet and you gave him your first name. Moving quite quick, aren't we?"
Mother began to choke on the smoke and slipped into a coughing fit. Smoke blew out her nose with each cough as she scowled at her daughter. Even Daniela, still shaken up by the events, had felt the corner of her lip twitch upwards.
"Bela, please. The idea of the manthing just dining with us is revolting enough." Cassandra whined.
"Mother… what are we going to do about this? About Ethan, I mean." Daniela asked.
Cassandra scoffed, "What about them? The filthy manthing thought they were as strong as us and, of course, was easily defeated by Mother." Bela and Daniela shared doubtful expressions and even Mother seemed to not fully agree with Cassandra's statement.
"He thought, Cass? He was stronger than us. Stronger than you and me, at least." Dani spoke harshly. "You delivered a mortal wound to him and he just shrugged it off after he punched you in the face."
"I wasn't ready for his attack, I will admit, but that punch wasn't anything to worry about, I hardly felt it." The rest of the family called bullshit on that but didn't openly say it. It was very obvious Cassandra was in pain, even if she didn't admit it.
"Dani is right, mother; what are we going to do about this new revelation about Ethan?" Bela asked, actually curious about what their new plan of action was.
"Nothing changes. We still have his daughter, he won't risk her safety. I am also certain that he does not like having the mold take possession of him. He has seen what I can do when left unchecked, I doubt he wants to risk becoming like that. No, we keep going how we have been. The only difference is that he is stronger than we originally thought."
Cassandra turned and smiled at her two sisters, "See? No big deal! Now stop worrying about the damn manthing. Now, I'm going to bed. Good night everyone. See you all at breakfast."
"That is a good idea. I will also be heading off to bed." Mother stood up, also walking towards the exit. "I may not be at breakfast tomorrow, dears; Dragobete orders for wine are coming in faster than I can handle."
"Oh that is right, Dragobete is coming up! Tell me, Dani, do you have any special servant you plan on giving flowers to?" Bela teased. Dani reached for a dinner roll that was on the floor and threw it at a laughing Bela.
Mother smirked and came to Dani's rescue. "Now now, Bela, if memory serves; it's been quite some time since you have gotten flower yourself. Daniela here gets a good amount every year." Now the tables were turned; Bela was sulking while Dani laughed. "Good night girls."
"Good night mother!" Came the call back from the two. Bela also made her way to leave, but Dani reached out and grabbed her wrist to stop her. "Can we talk a little bit, Bela?" Usually Bela would say it had been a long night and she needed to rest, but given what transpired just minutes ago, Bela decided that maybe Dani really needed that talk.
"Sure, Dani, we can talk some more. How about we walk n talk? To your room?"
"I'm not tired yet, we can walk back to yours. I don't want to take you out of your way." Bela nodded. Dani's room was the other direction after all, and she was tired. The two walked out of the room and down the hall, passing by the occasional late-night worker, doing final rounds before the night.
"So, Dani, what is it you wanted to discuss?"
"What do you think we should do about Ethan?"
Bela sighed. "I am more inclined to agree with Mother; Ethan won't try anything as long as we hold his daughter. He is making a few friends in the castle too, we could leverage them if push came to shove. Don't forget, he is also weaker than Mother so he won't try anything out of fear for her."
Dani gripped Bela's shoulder and spoke nervously, "What about us, Bela? Cassandra may not want to admit it, but Ethan possesses the ability to kill us! He knows he's stronger than us, Bela, at least when the mold takes over. That's on top of him also knowing about our natural aversion to the cold."
"Then we must tread carefully, Dani. However, we don't have to worry about it much. Ethan does not seem like the man who would hurt us just because he can. At least, when he's normal. He is going to be upset that Mother drugged him, that much is for sure. I know one thing for sure, Dani… things just got interesting around here."
"Interesting is one way to put it. Confusing, worrying, exhausting, all other ways to put it as well."
"All those things, and more Dani," Bela said with a sigh as they stopped in front of her room. Giving her sister a quick goodnight hug, she walked into her room. Passing by the crackling fireplace, Bela entered her bathroom and placed her hands on the sink, looking at her face. She pulled the hood of her gown down, looked into her own eyes for a moment, and then let out a large sigh.
"...this just turned into a massive shit-storm. Why couldn't have you just been a normal manthing, Ethan Winters?" Bela spoke heatedly as she pulled her gown off, tossing it into her dirty clothes hamper. "No, you just had to be the one fucking person that can survive in this hell-hole village and actually be stronger than us! Fuck! Damn Dani, I love you, but fucking hell, why did you have to expose Ethan to that fucking blood! …I suppose I can't be too mad with her on that, she couldn't have known."
Bela kept ranting while she began to draw a bath and further disrobed. "What the hell was Cassandra about too!?" Putting on a macho voice, she mocked her sister, "'Oh what about that weak manthing? Ha, he couldn't even touch me if he tried.' He fucking put us all on our asses! We were lucky Mother was there with us! Fuck, we're lucky Mother only went as far as she did! We all know the stories of the fight she and Heisenburg had years back! That section of the forest still looks like a warzone, and she wasn't even fully transformed then! Only Mother Miranda knows what her complete form is."
Bela's blood ran cold then, as a sudden realization dawned on her. "Fuck, what if Ethan can transform like that, given enough mold? Out of all the Lords, Mother is physically the strongest. Even on her off days, she can easily overpower the other Lords and is Mother Miranda's right-hand woman. The hand of Miranda, so to speak. Fuck fuck fuck fuCK FUCK FUCK! WHY DO I ALWAYS HAVE TO CLEAN UP MY SISTER'S MESSES!" Bela yelled as she threw a glass container of bath oil, shattering it against the wall, tossing shards of glass and droplets of oil around.
Huffing and puffing, she recollected herself. She would ask a maid to come in and clean the mess up later, right now she needed that bath. Slipping in she felt the almost boiling water work its magic and soothe her tense muscles. The stress in her shoulders and back began to release and she let out a sigh. "I need to see if any of the maids can give massages, I need one…" Bela suddenly remembered she had to make the work schedule for tomorrow, something she put off earlier for the dinner. Balling her fist she began to shake in rage, trying to calm herself down, only for her to explode in a violent thrash as she punched into the air, throwing mass amounts of water out. "Son of a fucking whore! I got too much shit to deal with!" Deciding that she doesn't have time to soak, Bela quickly washes up and clammers out of the tub, only wrapping herself in a towel and begins to fill out paperwork, organizing the work rotations and the duties that needed doing for tomorrow. A knock on her door signaled it was a maid doing final checks for the night.
"You may enter," she called, not looking away. The door opened and the servant took a few steps in.
"Is there anything that you require, Lady Bela, before the staff turn in for the night?" She asked, tone even.
"Yes, I had dropped a bottle of bath oil in my bathroom, get someone to clean that up for me. Oh, and a bottle of wine and a glass; I'm going to be up late tonight, and I'd much rather not be sober."
"Of course, my lady, whatever you wish." The maid walked out and closed the door behind her. Bela normally wouldn't drink after dinner before bed, it made her feel groggy the morning after, but she didn't want to deal with all the shit of tonight sober. As she scribbled notes and orders down on papers, she heard another knock and called them in. A group of maids stepped inside and already knew their orders, heading straight towards the bathroom with cleaning utensils in hand. As they passed, one maid placed a smaller wine bottle and glass on Bela's desk and bowed her head as she retreated to join the cleanup.
Quickly uncorking the bottle, Bela poured herself a glass and quickly downed it. She poured herself another and this time, sipped it while she worked.
Bela didn't even register the maid's leave until she noticed how quiet the room was. The fire began to die down, causing the temperature in the room to drop a few degrees. Pushing herself up out of her chair, she tightened her bathrobe and threw another log onto the fire. She should slip into her sleeping attire, but she didn't feel like expending the energy. Looking at the clock in her room, its face read just a little past midnight. Groaning, it was already getting a tad late and she hadn't even gotten halfway through her duties. About to pour herself another glass, she grimaced at the cup, deciding it wasn't enough. So she took a swig from the bottle.
Bela decided to stretch her legs and exited her room, bottle in hand. While meandering through the hall, she would take a sip of the bottle and analyze the walls and floor, inspecting them to see if the cleaning crews did their job. She passed by the kitchen but did not enter.
'That is Dani's responsibility, not mine. She seems to handle it well, though.'
Bela decided to go to see The Duke, mostly out of boredom, but he did have interesting items sometimes. "Oh, good evening Miss Bela!" The Duke was the only one allowed to call her Miss. He was technically her superior. While Miranda did not like the large man, she did acknowledge his capabilities and allowed him to operate, albeit under close watch. He was also considered a pseudo-Lord by some of the others.
"Good evening to you as well, Duke. How has business been?"
"Oh, quite swimmingly! Between your sister and Ethan, I have had a good week! Oh- but I mustn't spoil the surprise…" Bela grew curious at this but didn't press it. Duke was good about secrets. "I heard you had an eventful dinner! I suppose that explains the bottle?"
Holding up the bottle, Bela swirled its contents around before drinking some of it, "It explains it a little. I am also just working late tonight. A bit stressed out, I am sure you can imagine."
"Oh, I can imagine. I've heard exciting mutterings in the hall just in the past day or so. Apparently, Ethan Winters is causing a bit of a stir, yes?"
Bela huffed, "Ha, you could call it that. More like causing a giant fucking migraine- excuse my language."
"It's alright, dear, I am not averse to hearing the more emotionally charged vocabulary. I agree with you, though. This all has been getting rather intense as of late. I am worried Ethan might be overplaying his hand.
"Not if his hand beats ours. Seems we have been dealt a bit of a wild card, hm? It appears to be the only other person playing with a winning hand is Mother. Yet we still have an ace up our sleeves with Rose. He won't gamble with her."
The Duke looked at Bela for a moment with a quirked brow. "...did you mean to make that many references to cards? If so, that was quite impressive."
Bela chuckled, "Yes, but I've run out. Wordplay isn't my strong suit."
"Had to get that last one in, didn't you?" The Duke laughed. "Anyway, what can I do for you? If you are having trouble sleeping, I would offer some sleep aids, but I am unsure what mixing them with alcohol would do."
"Actually, I could use some advice about Ethan." The Duke leaned back a little surprised, rubbing his chin in curiosity.
"Of course! What is it that you would like help with?"
"He has demonstrated that he is stronger than us, at least under the influence of the mold, and if he so chooses to… he could run amuck in this castle and the only one who could stop him is Mother. He could quite literally tear this place apart looking for his daughter. Daniela is nervous, she is secretly afraid of him. Hell, even I am a bit weary now. Cass is… well a strong-headed bull that thinks he still isn't a problem. I am just confused. How the hell did this happen… I am panicking because there isn't much we can do."
Throughout Bela's talk, The Duke nodded in affirmation and rationalized where Bela and her sisters stood concerning Ethan now. "Well, Miss Bela, if I had to offer some advice… respect Ethan. He is not the type for random bouts of violence, nor is he a spiteful man. He knows he is still under the Dimitrescu family's thumb, and will still follow your orders. He seems rather comfortable around Miss Daniela, at least he did until she threw him to the wolves, so to speak. Given what else has happened though, he might just be used to that sort of treatment now. I don't think, as of now, you have much to worry about now."
Bela sighed, relieved that The Duke could give her some news that put her mind at ease. However, he grunted to get her attention, and his face was serious. "Be warned, though. Your family's safety net is gone. Ethan knows what can kill you three, and has demonstrated he is more than able to overpower you. If you were to engage Ethan and fight to the death, I dare say your flies are the only thing that would keep you alive; but from a little rumor I've heard, even that has been subject to failure in Daniela's case. Heed my words, girl; be careful and tread lightly."
Bela was convinced now. Ethan was to never be allowed near moroaicǎ or their blood again. She stared at The Duke, his intense gaze telling her he was very serious about her having to be careful now.
It dawned on her, finally, just how big of a powder keg they were sitting on with a hair trigger. They had his daughter. They had him imprisoned. They treated him like a blood bank and stabbed him. They talked down to him. His wife was murdered just a few days ago, and he had yet to process it.
Ethan was a ticking time bomb, whose killing power had just been increasing exponentially since his arrival.
She bit her lip and huffed. They would actually need to start appeasing Ethan. Treat him with respect. Bela reasoned that with everything he's been through and had kept going, he did deserve respect. It honestly was one hell of a feat to beat both Cass and her in even combat. On top of that, his will and determination rivaled most others she knew. If she had to describe Ethan, she would use words like;
Unyielding
Indomitable
Unconquerable
Unrelenting
Steadfast
Unwavering
Unrelenting
She could keep going, there were numerous words she could continue to list. Bela finished off her bottle of wine. The alcohol helped soothe her nerves, but now she was a bit tipsy. Normally bad ideas sounded, like ok ideas. Like, for example, going to see the manthing.
"Ok, Duke, I'm going to go and try to get some sleep," she lied, "don't stay up too late."
"Good night, Miss Bela!" The Duke waved as he got back to his merchandise.
Bela drunkenly swayed down the hall, in an erratic pattern. Her flies were also a bit on the uncoordinated side right now. A few would lose their cohesion and fall off, and try to fly back to their host but bump into everything along the way. She checked his room first, but Ethan was unsurprisingly not there. Bela turned quickly and stumbled a bit, having to hold onto the wall to keep upright. "God damn wine. Why must Mother brew it so strong? Oh, wait… I had a full bottle." Bela sighed. "Of course I'm drunk."
Bela continued swaying and tripping down halls until she reached the infirmary. Cracking it open slowly, she poked her head inside and saw Adina sitting down, looking over a book. Stifling a chuckle, she crept into the room and slinked up behind the oblivious woman.
"Boo!" Bela shouted as she pushed Adina gently.
"Jesusfuckingchirst!" Adina shouted as she jumped a foot out of her chair and onto the floor. Covering her heart, Adina looked at her 'attacker' with wide eyes and heaving breathing. "...what the hell!" Adina was very much confused. She and Bela were never close. Cordial, yes, but not close, nor friendly. So why the hell had Bela just startled her like they were best friends?
"What are you doing here, Lady Bela?"
"I was a bit worried about Ethan, so I decided to look for him and see how he was doing."
Adina looked up at Bela with an incredulous look. Stunned silent for a moment, Adina shook her head and climbed up to her seat. "What the… never mind, I am too tired to care. Ethan is asleep in a bed. He wasn't nearly as sick this time as he was last time. Try not to wake him, he is just in a deep sleep."
Bela looked over to the beds and saw Ethan was indeed fast asleep. He was shirtless and a blanket had been pulled up to his stomach. She could make out different types of scars spread across his body, from burns and stabs to slashes and knarled ones. Motioning to him with her empty bottle, "I didn't know he had scars. He has a lot."
Adina nodded her head and looked back over her book, "Yes, his body is largely scarred up. Quite literally from tip to toe. Strangely, there are no scars from when he was attacked during his molden state. I suppose that just might be his healing ability being boosted. He was mostly awake when the maids brought him in. He was a bit incoherent at first, but some water on his face fixed that. He said he remembers dinner but it was a little fuzzy. Almost as if he had been drunk during it."
Bela laughed, which slightly frightened Adina. It was rare for a Dimitrescu to laugh. Aside from Daniela. "Funny manthing. Anywho~" Bela said in a sing-song voice. "I wanna closer look at those scars. I promise to be quiet." Adina just rolled her eyes but motioned toward Ethan to give permission.
Bela quietly approached the sleeping man and examined his scars closer. The spider web of twisted flesh spread across his body like a piece of modern art. The scars looked extremely old, though, most likely just a product of mold healing them quicker than the body normally would. Bela felt a little sad that Ethan went through a lot of pain to get those scars. Some of them looked like they were extremely deep.
She wondered just what happened to Ethan in Louisiana. Grimacing, Bela took a seat on the neighboring bed and sighed. It might've just been her drunk self, but she felt bad for Ethan. He had been through so much, lost a lot, and just kept going. Adina getting up caught her attention. The woman carefully approached them and leaned in to whisper to Bela. "I am going to bed, it is getting late. You can stay here, just please don't wake him up, he needs to rest."
Bela resigned herself to just simply nodding in understanding. She turned back to look at Ethan and watched his chest rise and fall as he breathed in, deeply but slowly. It was a bit peaceful watching him, she could almost forget about everything that was going on and what he was capable of. It was strange looking at him resting peacefully. It was probably the only time Ethan wasn't being accosted by them.
"You know, I thought having a woman watch me sleep was cute… turns out, it's fucking creepy." Bela was startled out of her thoughts and looked at Ethan's face. Both his eyes were cracked open, lids still drooped, exhaustion evident in his eyes.
"Ethan! I hope I didn't wake you up. I am sorry if I did. I can leave and let you sleep." Ethan woke up a bit more and had a confused expression.
"...no, you didn't wake me up. I have to piss, to be honest. I was startled a bit when I saw you looking at me. What are you doing here, anyway? What time is it even?" Ethan grunted as he sat up and looked around for a clock of some sort. Finding one, he read the time and looked at Bela with a curious look. "It's damn near 1 AM, what are you doing here?"
Bela stood up and tried to assist Ethan as he tried to rise from the bed. "I had some work to get down, but I got bored. Decided to walk around a bit." she said. Ethan's nose wrinkled and he looked to Bela again. "And drink some wine, apparently. Your breath reeks."
Bela's face fell into an annoyed expression. "Aww, such a charmer," she said sarcastically, "You're a real lady killer."
"Apparently I've been too literal with that this week."
Bela sort of froze a little bit at that comment, but just smiled and softly spoke. "Well, I'd say it's only fair. We were going to kill you first."
"I'm sorry for all this Bela, really. I have no idea what's going on with me. I can't control myself when-"
"It's fine. Please." Bela interrupted. Ethan wanted to counter, but her glare told him not to. "You should go to the bathroom before your bladder explodes, Ethan."
As if suddenly remembering, Ethan bolted up and raced off to the bathroom door in the infirmary. Bela leaned back on the bed and sat her empty bottle down, the alcohol was starting to wear off and she was feeling exhausted. Hearing the door creek back open, a shirtless Ethan walked. It was now she also realized that he was in his boxers. Giving a slight blush, she looked away and spoke. "You should probably put on more clothes next time." Ethan looked down and blanched. Quickly grabbing a pair of pants, he pulled them on and sat back down.
"..hey, Bela? I just want to say-"
"I'm sorry!" Bela blurted out, her voice desperate. Ethan was stunned silent. What the heck was she apologizing for? "I am sorry for everything that's been happening, Ethan. I know my apology doesn't matter to you, not really, but I do feel bad that you've been through so much, and I just…"
"Jesus that wine surely did a number on you. You normally drink that much?"
Bela became quickly embarrassed and averted her gaze. "...no. I've actually never had this much to drink before."
"Ah shit. A little tip, don't contact any former love interests. A lot of people try that their first time getting drunk."
"Don't worry, I don't have any, but thank you for the advice." Bela nervously chuckled.
"Bela, can I ask you something?"
"Hm?"
"Why are you guys treating me nice? Well, nicer than before. You guys were drinking my blood and stuff and now Daniela is being nice to me, and you're here apologizing- even if you are just drunk."
Bela thought this over for a moment and much to her surprise, he was right; they were being nicer to him. At least she and Dani were. Mother was… being tolerant. Cassandra was being respectable, too, before she and Ethan 'sparred'. The answer sort of came out before she even thought about it. "I think we are just seeing you as more than just a manthing." Ethan cocked his head to the side, a bit confused. "You are the longest outsider we've ever been around, Ethan. Until you, any male we caught, we just killed in a few hours. Bled them dry, ate their flesh, you get the idea. You, though, we were forced not to kill you. I think Dani is starting to see you as a sort of equal. She is the most approachable out of all of us, even with her reputation as a bloodthirsty horn dog."
"What is with that, by the way? I heard from a few others to avoid Daniela, and yet she has been nice to me."
"That's because she now sees you as an acquaintance, or maybe a friend. Trust me, if another manthing walked into this castle and it was open season on them, we would be finding chunks of flesh in weird nooks and crannies for weeks. Though she has been doing better about controlling her blood lust, too. She's not oblivious to her tendencies, she doesn't exactly like the reputation of an uncontrollable sadist. I assume you heard about Dani's accident a few years ago?"
"Sorta? I only heard that she got shocked and woke up changed."
Bela huffed in amusement. "Understatement of the fucking year. Tell you what; you escort me to the kitchen and we get ourselves a big ass bottle of wine, and I will tell you the full story."
'I really shouldn't drink anymore, though. I need to finish those reports and get some sleep. I don't have time for any more wine. Fuck, I hope he declin-'
"Ah fuck it, I ain't got anything better going on. Let's go get fucked up."
'Damn.'
"Wait, it has human blood in it. Did you forget?" Bela's attempt to persuade Ethan failed, as he just shrugged his shoulders.
"At this point, I've eaten worse and in your defense, the blood was sourced fairly ethically, I suppose. Besides, I need a fucking drink and a bit of blood won't stop me." Ethan and Bela then headed out in their quest to secure booze for the night.
Ethan decided to forgo a shirt as they padded down the halls of the castle. His excuse was that the rooms were always so damn warm, which he admitted made sense given their weakness. "So tell me, Ethan, all things considered, how has your week at the castle been?"
"Well, the first two days were absolute dog shit, big shock there, but honestly? Things have relatively been decent. That is, compared to the last family I spent time with that had your uh… unique characteristics."
"Even if you've been fighting moroaicǎ or one of us every day?"
Ethan smirked, "To be honest, moroaicǎ ain't shit. They are pushovers. A big group of them is a bit different, but still nothing too crazy."
"Oh, and what about us? Are we not much of a challenge for you either?" Bela teased. Ethan tensed up and his eyes darted to her before he spoke.
"I plead the 5th."
"What?"
"It's one of the bases for the American government. Part of it basically says you have the right not to answer a question if it incriminates you."
"Then that's suspicious you pleaded it, manthing." Bela teased again, in a mock accusatory tone. Bela being a little more friendly was very strange, but he gave her a pass because she was drunk, and he was just going with the flow.
Ethan had a friend in college that was the oldest of 7. He could see how being the oldest sibling was sometimes a curse, and they had to put on a mask and take care of their family. He figured she needed this and he didn't want to question it. Anything to get in the good graces of this family, too. The more sway he had over them, the better his chances were.
Of course, if things went south, he still had the nuclear option of the stash of moroaicǎ he had in his room. If need be, he could take it and make his way to the dungeon and go to town. He wouldn't know what would happen, but it was bound to be a start.
"Here we go, the kitchen finally! Be careful, don't trash the place, Dani will be pissed." Bela warned Ethan as she pulled him into the kitchen. "There, the wine fridge! That's where all the bottles that are ready to be drank are stored." Tip-toeing for no reason, she ripped the fridge open and rummaged through the bottles. "Different vintages have different flavors, different grape mixes, with slight variations to adjust the flavor. Even the blood from the maids can change the flavor, now which one should we-" Ethan reached for the nearest bottle, grabbed a corkscrew, and ripped the cork out with a swift tug.
Smirking, he raise the bottle up and said, "Cheers!" and began chugging it. Bela was humored by his antics, but that quickly changed to astonishment as he quickly drained the bottle.
"My god, man, you're not supposed to drink the whole thing!"
"Hey, you are already a bottle ahead, I am just playing catch-up." Ethan removed two bottles and handed one to Bela. "Now, we drink."
She gave an incredulous look between the wine and him. "Just how much are you planning on drinking?"
"Enough to not remember it. Now drink it or I drink it for you. Either way, two bottles are getting drank."
Bela looked at the bottle, uncertain.
'What the hell are you doing, Bela!? You should reprimand Ethan, go back to your room, and get your work done! Why did you even go to see him? What is wrong with you. WHY ARE YOU LIFTING THAT BOTTLE!?'
Bela decided to drown that little annoying voice in wine. Taking big gulps, she quickly swallowed almost a quarter of the bottle before coming up for air. "Atta girl!" Ethan cheered as he uncorked his new bottle and took a gulp of wine. "You owe me a story about Daniela, Bela."
Taking a seat on the counter, Bela smiled fondly at the memory. "Well. Dani was trying to kill a maid with a large electrical cable. The maid, in all honestly, was innocent, but Dani was convinced she insulted her. The maid was mute, so I have no idea what she had imagined. Anyway, Dani had thought it fun to try and electrocute her. Surprise surprise, Dani has no idea how that stuff all works. She ripped a conduit from the wall and split the wires by hand. As soon as she touched the ends, BAM! She was shot across the room! She was all smokey and black. At first, we all lost our collective shit and thought the dumbass killed herself. The next two weeks were hell. We could tell she wasn't dead, but outside of that we didn't know her health status."
Bela sucked on her bottle some more and sloppily set it down, spilling a bit. "She woke up different. We could see it in her eyes. They were clear. Focused. Dani used to have chaotic eyes, always looking around, darting to and fro, looking for blood. Now? They actually seem to take in the sights and analyze things. For a while, she was cold. Didn't feel anything. I think she had lost a large number of her memories and personality. It slowly came back. In a few months, she was coming back, but there was something… off. Well, off is the wrong word. Maybe just different."
"She was less insane?"
"Yes. She had leveled out. She still slaughtered some maids every now and again, but they weren't because of her delusions or psychosis. I love my sister, Ethan, but even I have my limits. There had been times I thought about locking Dani up because she was too much of a liability. She could've very easily pissed off Mother Miranda… Does that make me a bad sister? Wanting to lock her up, I mean?"
"I don't think so. There are limits to what is expected of a sibling, I think. I think you're a great sister, honestly. Cassandra and Daniela appreciate you, I am sure. I never had siblings, Bela. Never had much of a family at all. Rose and Mia were supposed to be my shot at a family and-..." Ethan cut himself off and quickly drank some wine.
"And it was ripped out of your hands. Your wife was murdered and we kidnapped your baby girl. I'm sorry, Ethan. I wish there was something I could tell you to make this all better. I don't even know what purpose Rose has here. Not even Mother knows."
"...from what I was told from Duke, there was some ceremony she is to be a part of."
"Ceremony? What does she- wait The Duke told you? When the hell- never mind, the less I know the better. I have heard something about a ceremony here and there and how it wasn't going according to plan, but that's all I know." Bela and Ethan both quickly drank more of their wine.
The drink was already working its magic on Ethan. He was feeling warm, fuzzy, and relaxed. Deciding that one is not enough, he drained the bottle as quickly as he could and went for another. "Ethan, no! We can't drink the entire kitchen!"
"The hell we can't. I don't see anyone stopping us except for you. You that big of a square?"
Bela bristled at that comment. She wrestled with her muffled logical self. It was saying something about work, responsibilities, and a mess.
'To hell with that! To hell with everything!' Bela thought.
Quickly draining her bottle in record time, she tossed the empty glass over her shoulder, letting it shatter somewhere behind her, but she paid it no mind. She reached into the fridge and withdrew a new bottle, broke the neck off with her bare hand, spilling about of cup in the process. She began to chug the bottle. She forced herself to finish the drink, ignoring the slow burn of her lungs for air. She felt a few pieces of glass enter her throat, but her flies would carry it out later.
After finishing that bottle, she tossed it too and grabbed another. She gave a look at Ethan and his half-empty bottle and smirked, almost taunting him.
Never one to shy from a challenge, Ethan slugged the rest and followed it up with another bottle, albeit slower than Bela. He threw his empties to a random corner of the room too.
"We are so totally fucked you know that right?"
"And why is that, manthing?" Bela teased.
He chuckled. "Because the wine hasn't even hit us yet, and we just drank three bottles each. We might not even be able to stand in an hour."
Bela blanched.
"You never really drank hard before, have you? Oh wow, this is going to be fucking interesting."
"No, I've never drank this much before! I have no idea what I am doing! Just what did you do to me, manthing!?"
"Don't worry, it won't be that bad. Just… try and enjoy it?" It was at this point Bela stumbled a bit and fell on her ass. "Ow, that looked liked it hurt."
"It did."
"I forgot you were already a bit drunk when you visited me. You will be far drunker before me."
"When was the first time you've been drunk, Ethan?"
Ethan blinked a little bit. He looked down at the sitting vamp and decided to join her. "Well, it's a bit embarrassing, but why not. It was a few years after I graduated high school-"
"High school?"
"Secondary school 'round these parts. Anyway, after high school but before I moved on to further education, me and a girl that I had been dating for almost three years broke up. I was very serious about her, and I took the breakup rough. One night though, I found a bottle of tequila in my cupboard. I forget where I got it, but I drank it. Tequila, by the way, is a harsh liquor."
"What happened between you and this girl?"
Ethan laughed at Bela's bluntness, but he could see in her eyes that the wine was causing havoc in her head right about now. "Well, to be honest, I don't know. We had been arguing one week, some things had happened, but nothing serious. Then she just said it's over pretty much. I thought that it was that petty thing we would do where we would get back together after a week, apologize, and fix our mistakes. That didn't happen. I tried to contact her once a little over a week since the breakup, but nothing. Then I got drunk as fuck… and tried to call her. A few weeks later, I learned she already had a boyfriend by that night…"
Bela slammed her bottle down and Ethan thought the poor thing would shatter, but it somehow held strong. "WHAT!?" Bela screeched like a banshee, "She already had another partner that quick!?"
"Yeah, that was my reaction too. I was beyond furious. If I'm going to be honest… I wanted to slap her and beat this mystery guy half to death, but I quickly calmed down. I had reached out to a mutual friend, and I confronted her through him. Now that I look back on it, it was so petty and childish, but I wasn't thinking straight. Anyway, I was fucking furious and wanted answers. I was basically asking if I even meant anything to her? How could I if she just replaced me after a few weeks? It honestly shot my self-esteem to shit for a while. I finally asked the big question; why? Why and how could she move on so quickly? Want to know the answer?"
Bela frantically nodded.
"She had apparently said, 'I don't want to be alone anymore'. From a certain standing, I could understand what she meant, and it completely took the wind from my sails. I lost all my anger. I knew what being alone was like, and it was terrible. I loved that woman with everything I had, but I know I made mistakes. I made many, in fact. I took her for granted too, and I know there were things I failed at, on my end. I should've been better, but it was too late for that. She asked me to not go around and spread the news about how she moved on so quickly, and I said I would if she answered me honestly; if she ever cheated. She said no. I trusted her, I never thought she did anyway, but might as well be safe. I told her that while I was feeling angry, felt betrayed, felt like I was cast away with disregard, I also was trying to be respectable. Trying to be a man- a real man, I mean, and take this with grace and understanding. I did. I was still bitter about it, and there were some nights when the negative feelings bubbled up, but eventually, it all went away. One day, I realized I had kinda forgotten about her, and then like a light switch, I thought of her and smiled and thought 'I hope she's happy'."
Bela stared at Ethan for a moment in silence, stunned and holding back a tear. She crawled over to him and hugged him for a moment, before sitting back. "I am guessing it wasn't long after that, that you met Mia?"
"No, fuck no. I dated a few girls in between for a few years, and it was all just fucking terrible. Most women would hardly talk to me, and the rare few that did would eventually just tell me things weren't going to work out of the blue. Some of those I took worse than others, but that wasn't a big deal. I then decided to stop dating for a while and pursue my college degree. Ironically, that was when I met Mia."
The two laughed while taking drinks of wine. They were both feeling very drunk at this point, the wine having fully taken over. Bela tried to stand up, but it looked more like she fell upwards. She leaned on anything she could and stumbled around while steadying herself with the help of a counter. "I want more wine."
Ethan tried to stand as well, but everything was starting to spin too. He muscled his way through it and reached out to stop Bela. "I think we have enough to drink. We are already going to be very drunk by the end, why do you need more?"
Stumbling towards the fridge, Bela turned to scowl at Ethan. "That vintage tastes like fucking shit." Bela cursed, "I want a different bottle." Ethan tried to stop her again, but she overpowered him and wrenched the door to the fridge open, but she also broke something in it and caused the shelves to collapse, causing the rest of the bottle to fall and crash onto the floor. They both stared at the floor as the red liquid flowed across the entire room.
Bela grunted in annoyance. "Well shit. I'm telling Dani this was your fault."
"What! You were the one who damn near ripped the door to the fridge off!"
"You're the one who suggested this."
"I suggested we drink wine! I didn't suggest we destroy the place!"
"Oh, but that didn't stop you from smashing bottles!"
"Oh, but you started it!" Ethan lamely defended. Bela looked at him in annoyance before uttering,
"You're god damned child. Come on, we need to find more alcohol." Bela grabbed his wrist and pulled him along. Ethan did not have the power right now to stop her, so he just went along with the ride. "We could go to the dungeons and get to the wine cellar, but that might be a bit dangerous for you right now… in more ways than one. Well, there has to be something somewhere we can drink."
And thus began the increasingly drunken mission for Bela and Ethan. What started off as a tipsy, warm and comedic spectacle, quickly deteriorated as the wine was absorbed into their systems. They started their adventure with silly antics, only to end on… well…
BAM BAM BAM! "Cass! Open the door! Cassssss! I wanna talk to you! We hardly talk anymore!" Bela yelled, slurring every word. This had been going on for the past few minutes with Ethan trying to pull her away from the door.
"Go! Away! Bela! It's almost 3 AM! Get some sleep, fuck!" Cassandra yelled from the other side.
Bela threw her arms up in the air in exasperation. "You're such a wet blanket, Cass! Pfff, her loss. Anyway, Ethan, let's go somewhere else!"
"She's right, Bel, we need to go to sleep."
"I am going to pretend I didn't hear that! Let's go see if Dani is asleep." Before Ethan could respond, she was down the hall looking for Daniela's room, making stops along the way. Ethan was doing his best to keep up while avoiding the decor in the hall. He was fairly sure he knocked over a vase back around the corner, but he was too drunk to hear straight. Now, which way did she go?
"Oh, Dani~, you awake~?" Bela sang as she pretty much tumbled down the hall. She reached the target door but pretty much fell against it trying to stop. Knocking on it, she put her ear to the door. To her utter excitement, she heard Daniela rise from her bed and pad over to the door. Before she was ready, though, the door opened up and Bela fell into the room and onto the floor.
Daniela went to assist her sister but recoiled when something assaulted her sense of smell. "What the hell? Are you ok Bela- oh fuck, what's that smell!? Have you been-" she sniffed the air, "-have you been in the wine?"
"Mhmmm~ Me and Ethan drank the kitchen, plus some!" She said with closed eyes and a dopey grin plastered across her face. Daniela, however, was confused.
"What do you mean you 'drank the kitchen'?"
Bela giggled like an idiot and leaned in to whisper in a mischievous tone. "We drank all the wine in the kitchen! Well, almost all… We might've spilled a few drops."
"If the kitchen is a mess, I am going to kill you."
Bela waved her sister off, "Of course not! We cleaned it up." That was a bold-faced lie and Bela knew it. The kitchen looked like a tornado went through there, but that was a problem for sober Bela. "Me and Ethan also stopped at the Duke's and convinced him to sell us a bottle of liquor! So we drank that, too!"
"What the hell possessed you to drink yourselves under the table?"
"Stress. I wanted to relax a bit before bed. This week has been one big fucking headache."
Daniela grimaced. "So you decided to drown yourself in alcohol?". Bela vigorously nodded with a grin. "How well is that working out for you?"
Bela laughed, "Pretty good! I don't even know where I am at, to be honest!"
"You're in my room, on the floor."
"Oh yeahhhh! Hehe, forgot about that…"
Daniela frowned and looked around the hall for Ethan. He was nowhere to be seen. "Bela, you did say you were with Ethan, right?". The drunk woman just nodded. "Well… where the hell is he?"
Bela opened her eyes and turned her wobbly head to look around. "I don't know… he was right behind me?" Standing, Daniela and her looked around their immediate area. Maybe Ethan had passed out somewhere. "We should look for him… I am worried that he might've gotten hurt."
Daniela shot an incredulous look to Bela but nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we should. Let's go."
As the two sisters walked- well one walked, the other stumbled- down the hall, they whispered out for Ethan, hoping he was just around a corner or tucked behind some chair or statue.
"So, Bela, what's gotten you so stressed out that you decided to get absolutely black-out drunk with Ethan?"
"Well, first I was sitting in my room, all busy with paperwork and tomorrow's work, drinking a bit of wine to relax. I got up and walked around, walked to stretch my legs, and take a break. Stopped at The Dukes. I wanted some advice on what to do with Ethan."
Daniela was curious about what the merchant answered with. "Oh? What did he say?"
"Basically? Ethan isn't stupid nor the type to hurt us for fun, but we should also be careful now because he could easily kill us if he wanted to. It's strange, isn't it? Looking at Ethan, he doesn't look like he could even make us sweat…"
"...and yet he beat me within an inch of my life, and got inside your head and caused you to slip up."
"Yep." Bela and Daniela continued their way through the halls, looking for Ethan. "Wait, we can just sniff him out! Use your nose, Dani!"
"I already tried that, but his scent is being masked by the smell of wine and regrets. I can't smell anything past you." Daniela informed Bela. "We should check his room, just in case."
Bela's eyes grew wide with realization and turned to Daniela with pride in her eyes. "Good thinking! Come on, let's hurry!" Bela said as she turned left at a corner.
Daniela quickly reached out and snatched her sister. "Wrong way."
Arriving at Ethan's door, they saw that it was ajar and pushed their way in. To their horror, Mother was standing in the middle of the room, in her nightgown, scrutinizing over Ethan as he lay asleep on his bed. Her hair tussled, obviously she had just been asleep not too long ago. She was also wearing no make-up, which was semi-rare for the girls to see, as she applied it first thing after her bath in the morning.
"Oh! M-mother! What are you doing awake?" Daniela stuttered, trying to save face.
Mother turned to her daughters with a serious expression on her face. "Seems to me that I am awake the same reason you are, Daniela dearest; Some drunken fool pounding on a door at too damn early in the morning."
Oh. Well. That wasn't good. Much to Dani's dismay, Bela wobbled forward to speak to Mother. "Wait, Ethan was knocking on your door?"
"Yes. Though I doubt he knew it was mine at first. When I opened it, it took him a moment to register who I was. The shock on his face was quite humorous, but it still didn't change the fact he woke me up. I was furious." Bela and Dani both flinched at their Mother's harsh tone. She was still visibly annoyed having been woken up. Looking at Ethan though, they could tell he was unhurt and was peacefully asleep.
Curiosity got the better of Dani. "What… happened after that, mother?"
"Hm? Oh yes. Well, after he woke me up, I was tempted to slash him across his chest, and teach him a lesson. His shoulders then just drooped and he asked me in a depressed tone, 'sorry to bother you, ma'am, but I am extremely drunk and can't find my way back to my room.' I found it a bit comical that he addressed me as 'ma'am'. I was and still am a bit angry, but I can't say I never drank too much in my younger years. It would be hypocritical of me to punish either of you for excessive drinking every so often. It also helped he was respectful about asking for help, and what kind of Lady would I be if didn't help our guest?"
Mother looked over to Bela though, and smirked. "However, don't think I don't know about the kitchen. I will leave the punishment for it up to Daniela."
"What about the kitchen? You told me you cleaned it up, Bela. You did clean it up, right? The kitchen is cleaned up, right Mother!?"
"Good night, dears~!" Mother said with a light laugh and bent over to fit through the door, leaving a panicking Bela and a furious Dani in Ethan's room.
Bela, deciding to take the initiative, bolted from the room.
Only to trip on the carpet, causing her to face plant and slide across the floor. Dani gave an exasperated sigh, walked out, and picked her sister up. "You are too far gone to even walk straight… let's get you back to your own room. I can throttle you tomorrow morning when you have a headache." Bela could only muster a pitiful 'mhm' as she was lifted by Dani and cradled.
As Dani carried Bela to her room, Dani asked, "Bela? What has you so stressed out that you needed to drink?"
"It would be a shorter list to name things that are not stressing me out right now, Dani. No need to explain why Ethan is stressing me out-"
"Yet you went drinking with him?" Dani jabbed her sister in the side.
"Shush, you. Anyway. Then I am worried about you and Cass. Cass won't admit it, but she's nervous about Ethan."
Dani sighed, "I think we all are."
"Indeed we are. Then there's Mother pulling that stunt in the kitchen. She is strong enough not to worry, but what about us? We already know Ethan can throw us around, yet Mother put us in danger… Then there's Mother Miranda."
This caught Dani's attention. "Oh? Just what do you mean by that, dear sister?"
"Rose. The entire reason Ethan is here is because of her, and we don't even know why she is here. Mother Miranda isn't one to just act on whims, whatever reason Rose is here is serious. On top of that, now learning what is inside Ethan, what if it passed on to Rose… what if that's why she's here!"
"There's a lot of 'what if's in that scenario, Bela. I say just go to bed, sleep on it, and maybe talk to Ethan tomorrow about it." Dani then quietly added, "If you remember, that is."
"I told him about you. About the time you shocked yourself."
"You love that story."
"I love that story because I finally got you as my sister."
"...what?"
"You're my sister Dani, and I love you, but you and I both know that back then… it was hard to love you. You couldn't even understand the concept. Some days I was worried that it would be the day you finally went too far and did something that would put us in danger- put yourself in danger."
"...I love you too, Bela."
Bela quietly relaxed further in her sister's arms, feeling her muscles becoming more and more fatigued as the alcohol wore off finally.
Dani broke the silence. "Bela?"
"Mhm?"
"Thank you for worrying about me. Us. All of us. Thank you for being my big sister."
Bela smiled.
"But we still are going to talk about the kitchen tomorrow."
Bela stopped smiling.
Bela woke up to a blinding light pouring into her room, it felt as if the sun was boring into her eyes with a force none had ever seen before. It felt like it was melting her brain. The banging on her door also felt like a hammer being beaten against her skull. The feeling she was experiencing could only be conveyed in one way of speaking.
"Fuck! My fucking head! Sweet Mother fucking Miranda my skull feels two sizes too small! Who the fuck is pounding on my door!?" Bela put a hand on her forehead and tried to shield her eyes from the intense light. "I swear you better have a fucking good reason to be knocking, or else I'm going to use you as a cure for this hangover!" Wrenching open the door, she took in the sight of a laughing Dani.
"My my, sister, what seems to be the cause of your headache, I wonder? Surely it couldn't have been the 8 bottles of wine you and Ethan drank!" Dani's expression quickly devolved into a seethingsnarl. "Or what about the other 10 bottles you shattered when you destroyed the fridge! Before finally trashing the rest of my kitchen! God damn it, Bela! It took us over an hour to get the mess cleaned this morning!"
"Oh…" Bela said, as she temporarily forgot about her head. "I'm sorry about that, Dani, honestly. I… don't know what got into me last night."
"Wine is what got into you, Bela. A lot, in fact. I would dare to say too much, even."
All Bela could do was agree. She did, in fact, have too much to drink last night. It was only now that she also remembered about the work she didn't do last night, either. That left a bad taste in her mouth, but she had learned long ago sometimes it's better to forget and move on. She just hoped the maids could manage without having a fully fledged-out schedule today.
"What… exactly happened last night, Dani? I remember Ethan and me drinking in the kitchen, then stumbling around trying to talk to… well, anyone. Last I remember, we ended up at your door."
"Not much happened after that. Ethan woke Mother up, though."
If Bela's heart were human, it would've stopped now. Ethan waking up their Mother in a drunken stupor is the last she needed to hear. Dani seen the dread wash over her and spoke up. "Don't worry; Mother didn't hurt him. She let his actions slide this time. Said something about her youth and whatnot."
"Thank goodness. What else did we do last night?" Bela asked, slightly worried.
"Aside from trashing my kitchen? You woke Cass up and called her a wet blanket when she wouldn't join you two, bought the most expensive bottle of alcohol The Duke had- you used up your allowance for this month, by the way-, knocked over a few vases and paintings throughout the halls, destroyed my kitchen, used up all our immediate personal wine stocks, carved drawings into a wall with your sickle, lodged said sickle into the previously said wall, destroyed my kitchen, and uhhhh… oh yeah, ripped a chandelier from the ceiling and smashed it on the floor. Mother is not too happy about that one. Did I mention my fucking kitchen?"
Bela grew increasingly embarrassed as her sister listed off the numerous incidents from last night. A few of which she didn't even remember…
"Wait, chandelier? Wall carvings? I don't remember those at all. Where are they?"
"Well, the carvings are in the east hall, just passed my fucking kitchen you wrecked, and the chandelier is in one of the concourses that you passed on the way to Cass's room. I suggest you go take a look at the drawings, at least." Dani's face comforted in disgust, "After you take a bath, that is. You stink. Also, breakfast will be late because, well, you know, my fucking kitchen was destroyed!"
"Ok, I get it, we trashed your kitchen. I am sorry, Dani, honestly."
"Not as sorry as you will be when you will be helping the maids clean it."
"...excuse me?"
"Mother wasn't joking about punishment for the kitchen, Bela. You are helping the maids clean the kitchen after every meal for the next week. You will start after lunch, since you just woke up and are likely to just puke on the floor instead of cleaning it."
Bela wanted to be angry about the punishment, but she had to accept that she was at fault for the mess and should take responsibility for her actions. "What about Ethan, Dani? He did help me trash it too."
"I've thought about that, but he had woken up before you and was in better shape, so I just had him clean up the kitchen this morning and he will also be helping Magda with her duties for this week. Too many people are in my kitchen already, I don't need him in there."
Nodding her head, Bela rationalized that was a decent punishment for Ethan as well. "Well then, I am going to vomit my stomach up, wash up, and check the damage I caused. Nodding at each other, they both went their separate ways; Dani to her kitchen and Bela to her bathroom. Walking casually towards the toilet, she stood in front of it for a moment, before falling to her knees and clutching onto the ceramic as her stomach violently evacuated it's contents. While her body was made of flies, they did an amazing job of simulating the processes of a living body, including all its functions.
After puking up what little was left in her stomach and a few pieces of glass, Bela drew a bath and slipped in. She quickly washed herself clean of the night before and prepped for her day. Fresh gown, fresh lipstick, and her sickle- wait, no, that was still stuck in the wall, apparently.
Walking out, she decided to look at her wall carvings since it was the closest. She quickly walked passed the kitchen, not even turning her head to look in . Rounding a corner, she found two maids looking up at a wall with expressions that said 'we have no idea how to fix this'. Bela decided to step up to the plate to try and figure something out. "Go to The Duke, tell him we need someone to fix carvings on a wooden wall. Ask him if he can do it for me as a favor, if not, tell him I will be in his debt till next month when I have the Lei to cover the repairs."
"Yes, Lady Bela." the older maid said, bowing and leading the other towards The Duke. Bela studied the carvings some more and gave a breathless chuckle. It seems drunken Bela had a sense of humor, because the imagery she carved into the wall was quite funny. If only she couldn't only draw stick figures…
One drawing was of Ethan standing over a prone Cass, obviously having been beaten in a fight, with the words 'Cass sucks at fighting' scrawled above the image. Walking out towards the next scene, Bela took note of all the decor she and Ethan had accidentally run into along the way and planned to get them either replaced or repaired.
Coming towards a standstill, Bela slapped her hand to her forehead and cursed. The chandelier was completely ruined, and there were massive dents and gouges on the wooden floor below it. Bits of shattered glass were everywhere, with maids doing their best to sweep the mess up. Looking at the ruined decoration, the memory of what had happened to it bloomed into memory, hazy at first but becoming clearer as she focused on it.
"Ethan, get down! You're going to fall and get hurt, and then I will have to explain why the manthing fell from a damn chandelier!"
Ethan, having jumped up from a chair, was climbing the hanging light fixture and laughing. "I always wanted to do this! Let me enjoy myself, at least for a little bit. It's the least you owe me after everything."
Bela sighed, "Fine! But don't come crying to me when you fall and break your arm!"
Ethan began laughing while grabbing onto the chain at the top, making the chandelier swing. "Come on, Bela, get up here. It's fun!"
"No! Why the hell would I be up there? You are just making a fool of yourself."
"You call your sister a wet blanket, and yet here you are, turning down a good time."
This irked her. She quickly formed into a chaotic haze of flies and barely made her way up. At first, she was struggling to get proper footing. Once she finally found a good spot though, she was shocked that she was enjoying the swinging.
Until the attachment point for the chain on the ceiling ripped out, causing them and the chandelier to plummet to the ground.
"Ouch, that kind of hurt…" Bela rubbed her back absent-mindedly as she remembered the pain of the fall. Ethan had gotten lucky and just walked away with a bruise. Looking over the wreckage, Bela decided that she would let the maids clean up for now and drag the thing to their trash area near the back of the castle.
Feeling a bit weak, Bela realized she needed to eat. Looking around, she spotted a maid passing by. Calling out to her, she said "You. Come here." The maid flinched a bit at the summons but approached Bela regardless.
Doing a curtsy, the maid spoke, "Yes, Lady Bela? Is there something you require?"
"I need blood." Bela said as she closed the distance and grabbed onto the womans shoulder. While she could just take it right now, it was easier all around if the maid exposed her neck and relaxed herself.
"Oh… I've never been dranken from before, Lady Bela. I don't know what to do." The young girl was starting to shake a bit in fear. "...will I be alright?"
Bela sighed. She was getting too old for this shit. "Yes, you will be fine. Just tilt your head over and relaxe, makes it less painful." Bela did take pity on the poor girl, unlike Cass would. Bela didn't necessarily love causing pain to those who didn't deserve it. Manthings that wonder into their castle? That's a different story. But just some woman going about her duties, just like Bela was? No, she didn't like to hurt them much if they didn't deserve it.
"You might feel light-headed after, you may take a rest if you must. I recommend going to the kitchen after and telling one of the older staff there that you were drank from, they will give you some food that should help. Now, please prepare."
The woman, still shaking and fighting to hold back tears, slowly exposed her neck and did her best to relaxe her body. Bela latched onto the womans neck and drank. It was a bit on the creamy side, the woman obviously ate fattier foods. Other than that, it was a good flavour. Bela was interested to see what her blood could do for wine.
After only a moment, Bela licked the wound closed and pulled her head back. "That will be all, thank you. Also, when you are up for blood giving, ask them what vintage you will be adding to and tell me, I would like to sample that batch personally.
The maid, a bit light-headed, nodded. "Yes, Lady Bela. Is that all you require of me?"
"Yes, you may leave for the kitchens. If anyone stops you just tell them I let you go there."
"Thank, Lady Bela. Good day, Lady Bela." The maid was off to the kitchen while Bela stayed there, lightly dabbing the corners of her mouth with the edge of her gown. Looking around, Bela was a little bit at a loss. Normally she would inspect all the housekeeping stations, make sure everyone was on schedule, duties were being performed, and that people were working. However, because she decided to get drunk last night, there was no schedule or assigned duties for the day, so she was just as much in the dark as the maids were right now.
Deciding to just hope for the best, she traveled to one of the main hubs for the works, similar to a meeting room with bulletins and scheduling orders. As she walked in, she was pleasantly surprised to see it wasn't a chaotic nightmare. One of the eldest maids was directing others on what was needed down today, who was going where to do what, and how to keep everyone else informed. It was a bit hectic but under order nonetheless.
"Ah, Lady Bela." The maid noticed her finally. "Good morning to you, my Lady. I suppose you wouldn't happen to have a last minute schedule, would you…?" the woman asked a bit nervously.
Feeling a bit defensive, Bela tried to save face. "No, I thought this would be a good test of the more experienced maids. You are leaders, after all."
The maid didn't believe it for a second, Bela could tell. Luckily though, she didn't bring it up. "Ah, I see, my Lady. Well, I will not disappoient you! May I be so bold and… suggest a rest day for you?"
"I can't, sadly, I have to help in the kitchen." Bela replied automatically… then realzied what she said.
"Oh, and why is that?" The maid said with a shit-eating grin. Bela was now flustered and a bit flabbergasted that this maid was heckling her. Bela was about to fabricate some story, but decided that being honest would take the wind from the womans sails.
"I made a fairly large mess in the kitchen last night. I will be helping clean the kitchen after meals for a week." Luckily, she was right. The maids face fell into mild annoyance. "I was just checking how you were doing, and I am honestly surprised to say that you are handling things well."
Bela was about to walk out but gave one last look over to the woman. She was older than she originally thought. Maybe around her 50's. Bela grimaced. She knew the woman's typical duties; cleaning the halls. It wasn't a partially strenuous task but… looking at the woman, Bela could see that old age had taken hold of the woman. Her fingers and body looked stiff and sore. The woman was obviously in some degree of pain. At this thought, she could only think of an elderly Ethan roaming these halls, being stuck here for the majority of his life. Like a caged bird.
Bela didn't know why she said it. It just sort of felt right to say. This woman had worked for the Dimitrescu for years and years, never once had a flaw on her record, and always did right by the women, both master and servant.
Maybe… Bela just had to do right by her in return.
"If you continue performing this well… I will assign you a new job. An administrative one… one behind a desk. On a nice chair."
The maid turned her head so fast that Bela thought she was trying to break her own neck. The maid just stared at her for a moment before nodding. "That would be nice, my Lady." is all she could say.
Bela walked out of the room, feeling like she stood a bit taller. Sometimes Bela forgot respect was a two-way street. Sometimes to keep it, you had to give it.
Maybe that was what she needed to do with Ethan. Give some respect, and surely he would return it.
That was the plan.
Respect.
As I said, this chapter didn't feel like it flowed as well as previous chapters had. I hope it is still up to snuff. Although, I felt I ended this chapter in a way that set me up better for the next chapters, too. For a while now, I've just been working on setting things up; there are specific words used here and there, phrases, or subtle changes in attitude.