A/N- Sorry for the delay. Been busy. A little bit of reviews would be nice though. I've got all these alerts and favorites, but only 8 reviews! I need feedback, sillies :)
Chapter 5
"He gathered the idea for the name in the letter from my own name".
Celine stood with her arms above her head as Fiona, her now official chambermaid, pulled a gown over her arms and head.
"Excuse me?" said Celine politely. She had been calm all day, externally, at least, and was determined to remain that way for the remainder of her time here. After this morning's breakfast, she had waited until she was back in her bedroom to break down into helpless sobs. After that, she had resolved to not let this situation get the best of her again. She retrained her emotions, fancying that this was all some cruel joke and she would be home soon enough. Besides, she knew, tears would get her nowhere.
She had remained in her bedchambers for the rest of the day, trying to devise a way to remove herself from this odd situation. Panic overtook peace in turn, and she missed her afternoon meal simply to remain locked away in her rooms trying to convince herself that this was a simple situation and there was no cause for alarm.
Fiona, as this new voice introduced herself as, had come in about an hour ago, possibly sent by Zuriel to keep her company. Presently, she was readying Celine for dinner. Her lips were already painted ruby red, her hair was already pulled back into elegant, tumbling tresses, and now all there was left to do was dawn her gown that she may join her captor for their meal.
Fiona had been chattering nonstop since she had entered Celine's bedchambers. She had explained that the food was so divine because she, and the other servants of the household, had been given many many years to perfect their recipes. This had daunted Celine, for surely the girl (for Celine imagined Fiona was no more than sixteen. She wished she could see her) was not suggesting that the occupants of this household were all so old?
And presently, Fiona was providing her with another strange piece of information.
"The letter from 'Aunt Fiona' about her will. Zuriel came up with the name by using my own. The rest of the silly scheme came from his own mind, however" she said cheerily, as if devising ways to kidnap old men and girls was a normal task in this castle. Celine suddenly felt rather pitiable for having regarded this situation all the day long as a funny one. It was not. Somehow hearing part of the inner workings of her equivocal kidnapper sobered her.
She swallowed hard, Trying to retain her composure. Sick in the head, Zuriel was.
"Milady, are you alright?" asked Fiona suddenly. She was lacing up the back of the gossamer, blood red gown and must have been staring inquisitively at Celine through her reflection in the floor length mirror before them in order to see Celine's facial expression.
Celine closed her eyes for a moment, gathering her courage again. "Yes" she said, opening them again, "I am fine. Thank you".
She stared blankly ahead at the mirror, unable to look the female she was conversing with in the eyes, quite literally.
The entrance door opened suddenly. Or, perhaps, not so suddenly at all. Thus far everything in this place felt sudden, as she was never able to see it coming.
"Dinner is served" came Amara's voice. Celine made no move to show she heard her. It seemed pointless when she could not even pinpoint where Amara was in the room.
"Very well" said Fiona for her, her voice still bright.
Celine heard both the women leave the room, and followed the sound of their voices as they informed her, politely, about tonight's menu. Something about rosemary potatoes and other dishes with additives that she could not even recall having heard of before.
Despite the mouthwatering foods Amara and Fiona spoke of, Celine had yet to receive her appetite back.
She heard one of her hostesses stop, presumably Amara, for Fiona's voice continued to travel on ahead, down the hall.
"What is it, darling?" asked the older woman. Celine felt an arm wrap about her waist, which initially made her jump. She settled after a moment and the two continued walking.
"Nothing" said Celine politely, hiding her many mixed emotions. She felt as if she was of an unsound mind, what with the servants thinking there was no reason at all to worry. She wondered how Amara could ask such a thing, thinking the answer should be obvious.
They arrived at the dining hall, which, instead of shimmering with crystalline rainbows, was cast in romantic shadow, due to the many silver candlesticks that lined the expanse of the dining table. It's double doors were wide open, the intricate art carved into their surface displayed handsomely.
Zuriel sat at the head of the table, just as he had this morning, hands folded behind his back, which was facing Celine. Fiona could still be heard chattering away, though from the sound of it she was now within the dining hall, pulling out Celine's seat for her.
Celine decided she felt oddly relieved to see him. She had not actually seen a human for hours now, and she found to be rather daunting. She loved to be around people- provided they were kind company- and Zuriel was actually highly pleasant to be around... captor's tenancies aside.
His pale, silver gold hair was at a low braid at the nape of his neck, and was actually fairly longer; longer than what was common in today's society, at least. It tumbled down to the middle of his back, and unbraided it must have been nearly as long as Celine's own tresses.
He turned slowly, a small, teasing smile on his face. "Good evening, Celine" he said quietly. He seemed to be in the habit of speaking in such a manner. There was no need to speak above much more than a whisper when his very demeanor demanded attention. If he was upset by the fact that Celine was obviously still suffering from anxiety, he did not show it.
Celine bowed her head to acknowledge him, and took her seat on his right hand side. One of the servants scooted her chair in behind her, and then all was quiet, though the sound of breathing by others in the room could still faintly be heard.
Wine was poured into Celine's glass, which was, liek this morning, crystal, but this time in the shape of a wine glass. Half of the materials in this castle must be crystal, Celine realized. Crystal, silk, lace, and exotic woods.
Zuriel looked Celine up and down, lost in thought. She looked every bit as beautiful and delicate as the rose that was pinned in her hair. Her milky skin glowed in the golden candlelight it was bathed in, and her cheeks were flushed pink as ever. He wished he could find a way to calm her, to make her feel at peace. But no, things must be as they are. She would realize this was a good thing soon enough.
Her eyes glistened prettily, shaded by her dark eyelashes, which swept the tops of her cheeks as she looked down nervously. Slowly, her expression changed. Confidence seemed to bubble up within her until she was smiling the same, cheeky smile as Zuriel.
Celine knew this was wrong. Doing what she was about to attempt to do. Her mother had equipped her with all the skills she needed to escape from here, and instead of utilizing them before now, she had wallowed in her room. But no more.
She raised her glass to her mouth and sipped her wine slowly, letting her lips linger against the rim longer than necessary. Her eyes locked on his the entire time she did this, the corner of her mouth tugged up into a tempting half smile.
"The wine is delicious" she said softly. She kept her voice breathy enough to sound sensual without being to obvious. Mother had taught her how to make men's minds revolve around her body without letting them know she was doing it on purpose. Zuriel seemed unmoved by her little display. Still, she pressed forth, not letting her surge of false confidence fail her.
"Indeed it is" said Zuriel fluidly. He stared at his little prisoner, surprised at her boldness. He noted that she was even breathing deeply through her chest instead of her stomach, as to make her breasts rise and fall all the more appealingly. He let his eyes wander there, but did so too quickly for Celine to see. She need not know the affect her little show was having on him.
She began eating then, sliding the fork over her lips and sucking every morsel of food from it's prongs while looking down at her plate, as if she did not notice she was doing it. She looked up at him from heavy lidded eyes and blinked slowly, bewitching smile still in place.
They continued on throughout their entire meal in this fashion. Celine had to work very hard to not let her facaud slip when tasting bits of each new dish presented to her. Everything was so mouthwateringly delectable, it was hard not to gobble it down like a famished child. She wondered how Zuriel managed to stay in good health. But then, she was sure after having years to perfect their recipes, as Fiona claimed they did, the servants knew how to make such meals healthy as well as appetizing.
She dipped her finger into her wine glass and sucked the liquid from her finger while gazing at him enticingly.
Suddenly, he seemed to snap, but not in the way Celine had been hoping for. His hand hit the table top with a force so violent, their silverware shuddered and clanked together. Celine jumped with a small gasp, hand at her now racing heart.
"How dare you play the whore in front of me?!" he cried, and stomped away, down the hall to other unknown chambers. Celine stared after him, devastated. She had certainly not been expecting such a reaction.
"I saw that one coming" said a sarcastic sounding voice from behind her.
"Hush, Emily!" said Amara, and a faint smacking sound could be heard, as if Amara had just hit this "Emily" lightly on the hand.
"Oh, come here love. I understand how you feel" said Amara to Celine. A pair of hands, Amara's, no doubt, slid down Celine's shoulders in a comforting gesture. The older woman was anticipating Celine's sadness before Celine herself felt it.
Sure enough, moments later, Celine began to cry. She had simply not been prepared for his temper, and had expected him to behave quite the opposite of the way he had. And now she felt idiotic, knowing that even the servants saw coming what she did not. Had she really behaved so brazenly? She had only meant to soften him, that he may let her go. But now she realized she had acted manipulatively.
"O God" she whispered into her hands, as she cradled her face in her palms.
"It is alright, love. Shhh" said Amara. Celine tried very hard to draw comfort from the other woman, but she simply could not. She could feel her warmth, hear her voice, but she could not see her. She feared she was truly a shallow, hopeless creature if such a thing as sight meant so very much to her. "Forgive him. He grows agitated at times that not even I can fathom".
"I did not... I only.... I should apologize" she whispered, more to herself than to Amara, Emily, or any other countless servants that may be in the room.
She rose from her chair, and turned to face (she hoped) Amara. "Where is he?" she asked, hoping one of them would know.
"Probably in the drawing room. It is the smallest room in the house, as we do not oft have guests. It is rather cozy, thus he prefers to be in there sometimes" explained Fiona, still sounding fairly bubbly.
Celine heard the girl leave the room, and was unsure of what to do now. Seconds later, Fiona's footsteps sounded back in the dining hall.
"I am sorry. I keep forgetting that you cannot see us" she said. "Come on, follow me".
Celine, blushing for the chagrin she could not place, followed Fiona's footsteps. The sound echoed off the hall walls, though various sounds could be heard through out the castle. Dishes being cleaned in the kitchen, which must be off the small door in the back of the dining hall, clinked together, inhabitants could be heard speaking and giggling quietly in rooms that Celine had yet to explore, and large windows could be heard being shut in preparation for another fairly chilly night.
"In here" said Fiona, and a pair of double doors, smaller than the dining hall's, opened before her. She swallowed and stepped tentively inside, afraid that Zuriel might spot her before she spotted him and throw her from the room. He seemed suddenly unpredictable.
Breathing evenly as possible, Celine entered the room and closed the doors behind her with a small click.
She looked around the room, which was lit mostly by a fireplace on the far left side of the room.
Two crisp white couches stood before her, with little tables at the end of each one, for the purpose of placing tea trays on during tea time. Every inch of the walls were the color of absinthe. It was striking. The ruched drapes that covered the many tall windows on the wall directly opposite of where Celine stood were sheer, pale green, and shimmering. Silver tassels hung from the ends of the drapes. Any and all wood in the room, from the tables to the mantle of the fireplace, was pale, ashy white, and did not appear to be painted that way.
She saw Zuriel then, in one of the two oversized, high backed chairs in front of the crackling fireplace. The chair was faced at an angle, making only half his face visible. One hand was resting on the armrest of the chair, which was deep green in color, while his other hand was at his lips, fingertips tracing them as he sat lost in thought.
Celine took a deep breath and spoke. "I believe you can see them, though I cannot, my lord" she said in reference to the other people in the castle. "Are we alone?"
At the sound of her voice Zuriel looked up from the firelight. He smiled softly at the sight of Celine, which greatly confused her. And just moments ago he had been so angry...?
"Yes, we are. Come here" he said patiently.
Celine nodded and did so, stepping carefully for fear that one wrong move may upset him again. O, how stupid she was to have handled tonight like this!
She was standing beside him now, hands folded at her waist in a proper fashion. He reached up and touched her hand tenderly, smile still in place.
"Sit, Celine" he said. Though his words were comanding and free of formal flattery, his tone was sweet.
She sat before him, her dress floating about her with the movement. He waited for the fabric to settle before laughing faintly. He had not expected her to sit on the floor. But it suited her. She seemed to be deflated of all the bravodo she had had earlier tonight, and back to her usual childlike nature.
"O, but you are beautiful" he said to himself of the little delicacy before him.
Celine ignored the comment, unsure of what to make of it. "I want to apologize, my lord. I... I behaved brashly, and for that I am deeply sorry. I falsely hoped that you were like other men, and would let my advances be your undoing and let me go" she explained, voice filled with shame. Odd, it was, that she spoke of the seducer's dance like it was so simple to do. As if her astounding beauty had nothing to do with how easily she affected men, and only her training was to blame.
And she had affected him. more than she knew. He could not tell her this, however. She needn't know the full scale of her charm. Perhaps that was why he had lost his temper so easily tonight. No woman had ever done such a thing to him and succeeded, and he found the feeling to be rather helpless. He was her prisoner just as much as she was his, he realized.
"It is I who should apologize. I did not behave much like a gentleman, did I?" he asked rhetorically. Celine shook her head to show that she disagreed, still fully blaming herself for the situation.
"Come here" Zuriel said suddenly, rising. He held out his hand and helped her up into a standing position, and looped her arm through his. He guided her to the curtained archway angled next to the windows of the room. He held the curtain aside for his companion and stepped through with her, onto the balcony it led to. The fragrant smell of roses engulfed them, for the flowers climbed like ivy up and around the entire balcony, winding over its floor and the marble half pillars of the railing.
"I love roses!" she exclaimed happily. She had not seen many since moving from her family's manor all those years ago to move to the cottage she now called home.
"I know you do" said Zuriel seriously. "I know many things about you".
Celine stopped short, confused by Zuriel's comment. "How would you know that, my lord?" she asked with an equally serious tone.
"All in due time" he replied. "All in due time".
Celine raised an eyebrow but did not press the matter further. Tonight had been filled with quite enough drama.
She retired to her chambers soon after, feeling a little more at peace, having been in the presence of a real human for an hour or so. She slept soundly that night, even in her unfamiliar, hated surroundings.