A Demon's Past: Chapter 3 – More Than it Seems
"I have to get back to the castle. Miss Bell is probably looking for me for one reason or another." Alaina sighed brushing the grass off of her dress.
It had been two months since Sebastian and Alaina had found the clearing and they had been back multiple times since. The clearing had become their secret get away from the castle where they could talk without worrying about duties, titles, and positions. Sebastian began to get up.
"You can stay here if you want to." Alaina said.
"There is no point in me being here alone. There would be nothing to do." Sebastian replied.
They made their way back, through the castle hallways running right into Miss Bell.
"Lady Alaina! I have been looking all over for you! Been disappearing with Sebastian again by the looks of it have you? All the two of you do is get into trouble!"
Alaina avoided Miss Bell's gaze and began to fidget around.
"I was just making sure Lady Alaina had everything she needed." Sebastian stated coldly looking directly at Miss Bell.
"I see." Miss Bell responded dismissing Sebastian's attitude. "I need to know where you are at all times. It is my job to take care of you. What would I do if you got hurt?"
"But I didn't get hurt. Besides Sebastian was with me." Alaina smiled.
"You didn't get hurt this time, and Sebastian is just a child. You are the Lady of the house and it is dangerous for you to go out without proper protection!"
"Proper protection? From what?" Alaina asked.
"Never mind that!" She sighed. "Did you finish all the work required for your studies?"
"Yes Miss Bell. I did not think there was anything I had to do today?"
"Good, good. Your day is open today but tomorrow we will begin new subjects so I needed to make sure your work was finished. Now you two don't be getting into trouble. I need to get your things ready for tomorrow." With that Miss Bell darted off towards the library.
Sebastian glared at Miss Bell as she briskly walked away.
"She is not so bad. I promise. She just thinks-"
"That I just get you into trouble." Sebastian spat.
Alaina gave a half smile. "Come on. I'm hungry."
They made their way towards the kitchen where they were greeted by the staff.
"Hello Sebastian, Lady Alaina. I was wondering when you two would show up. What can we get for you today?" One of the workers asked.
"Just some bread will be fine." Alaina smiled.
"Yes Lady Alaina." The worker said bowing.
Alaina and Sebastian ate in the kitchen, being served by all the staff members.
"What do you want to do now?" Sebastian asked after they had finished eating and had once again begun to wander about the castle.
"We can play dolls!" Alaina exclaimed smiling.
Sebastian just looked at her annoyed. Every time they are together Alaina always wanted to play some little girl game.
"Just thought I would put it out there." She said in a sing-song voice clasping her hands behind her back and walking ahead of Sebastian.
A door ahead of then opened and two guards came out.
"Are you sure we should have left without the others coming to relieve us first?" One of the guards asked the other cautiously.
"They should have been there on time. We have been standing there since early this morning. Besides, there is nothing to worry about. The cell is locked." The other said as they passed the two children.
Alaina stood in front of the door the two guards had just appeared from.
"Want to go down there?" Sebastian asked.
"I've never been down there before…" Alaina seemed nervous.
"Come on." Sebastian's curiosity was taking over.
He grabbed Alaina's hand and walked down the dark steps. It led underground. There was no other lighting except the torches, the fire caused the shadows to dance along the stone walls. They came to a hallway with nothing but an archway in the middle leading towards another direction. With Alaina in tow, Sebastian went down the hallway and through the archway. There were rooms with bars on each side. Every step echoed through the dungeon.
"Ouch! What was that for!" Sebastian yelled yanking his hand away from Alaina.
"I'm sorry! I just really really don't like it here! It's creepy!" Her eyes were watery.
"So you bit me!" Sebastian looked at Alaina angrily.
Her big eyes were welling up with tears looking up at Sebastian, her little hands balled up into fists.
"It's fine." Sebastian sighed. "It didn't really hurt anyways. We can go if you want."
Sebastian offered his hand back to Alaina who took it immediately and headed off towards the exit.
"Hello Lady Alaina." Said a raspy voice from across where Sebastian and Alaina were standing.
A man revealed himself from the shadows within the cell. He was very thin and wore nothing but rags. His hair was overgrown and unkept. There was dirt all over him and his fingernails were very long to the point of looking deadly. The prisoner came up to the bars of his cell.
"Now what is the Young Lady of the house doing down in the dungeon?" The man asked smiling, revealing his rotten teeth.
Alaina hid behind Sebastian.
"Why are you down here?" She asked avoiding answering his question.
"I was on at job at the request of my Lord and made a mistake." The man replied.
"Let's go." Sebastian stated coldly and began to drag Alaina toward the exit when the prisoner grabbed his wrist.
"And just where do you think you are going?" The prisoner cackled.
"Away from you!" Sebastian growled as he struggled to pull his wrist free.
"You think you can protect her! In the end this whole land shall belong to Lord Cromwell! Blood shall rain down upon this land and you will burn!"
Sebastian wrenched his wrist away but was dripping with blood where the man's fingernails had dug into his skin.
"You're hurt!" Alaina squealed.
Before Sebastian could react she grabbed his hand, closed her eyes, and squinched up her face. Sebastian's pain dissipated and when he looked at his hand the wound was gone. He looked at Alaina and soon realized her hand was bleeding.
"What did you do that for!" Sebastian shouted at her.
"Because you were hurt!" Alaina replied.
"Now you're hurt!"
"But I'm fine!" Alaina smiled clutching her bleeding hand.
"You're bleeding!"
"I'm fine!" she repeated.
"Witch." The prisoner whispered from behind the bars.
He had been stunned into silence through out their conversation but had now regained composure.
"WITCH! WITCH!" He screamed over and over again the sound echoing through the hall.
Two guards came running towards the noise.
"Lady Alaina! Are you alright!" Asked one of the guards when he saw the two children.
The guard talking to them was Sir Brom, a large, muscular man and one of the Lord's most skilled knights.
"I'm fine." Alaina replied as her and Sebastian were led out of the dungeon.
"SHE'S A WITCH!" The prisoner was screaming at the other guard.
"SHUT UP! How dare you attack the Young Lady of the house! Lord Henry will have your head for this!" The second guard shouted.
That was the last thing the two heard before the door closed that joined them back into the main castle.
"Come on Lady Alaina. I will take you to the doctor." Sir Brom said with authority in his voice.
He led Sebastian and Alaina into a room filled with books and jars filled with various different herbs and other unknown objects.
"Doctor Borin." Sir Brom called into the room.
"Yes?" A thin man with a long white beard appeared from behind a desk.
"Please attend to the Young Lady of the house. She was attacked in the dungeon."
"Oh my Lord! And what good heavens were you doing down there!" Doctor Borin asked Alaina as he examined her hand and sat her down in a chair.
"I was just looking around. I didn't know what was down there." Alaina said quietly.
"Now you know. And I'm sure you realize you should never go down there again!" He scolded as he wrapped her hand with bandages. "I take it you have informed Lord Henry of this matter? Doctor Borin's attention returned to Sir Brom.
"I wanted to make sure the Young Lady was attended to before anything else."
"Yes of course."
"Will she be okay?" Sebastian chimed in. He felt guilty that he had made Alaina go down into the dungeon. It should not have been her who had to get her hand bandaged up.
"She will be fine. Just a little scrape." Doctor Borin replied.
"Well I shall go and inform Lord Henry of this matter." Sir Brom said and headed out the door.
Sebastian stood standing in the doctor's room. He felt uneasy. Who was Lord Cromwell? What mistake did the prisoner make to land himself in the dungeon? Why did the prisoner say that this land would burn? But what bothered Sebastian most of all was that the prisoner now knew Alaina's secret. He knew she was a witch.
"Are you alright?" Alaina asked him.
Unconsciously, Sebastian had clenched his fist to the point of turning white.
"Where are you-" Alaina called as Sebastian ran out of the room.
"Hey!" Sebastian yelled and ran after Sir Brom.
Sir Brom turned around towards Sebastian.
"My title is Sir Brom child and you shall address me as such. And as I'm sure even a child such as your self has realized this is an important matter that must be attended to immediately. So what, may I ask, is so important that it had to delay the Lord of the house knowing that his daughter had just been attacked." Sir Brom said with power in his voice.
Sebastian looked up at him out of breath.
"I want to fight."
Sir Brom surveyed Sebastian.
"You're a child." He said as he began to turn away.
"I won't be a child forever!" Sebastian yelled.
A smile snuck on Sir Brom's face and he let out a small chuckle.
"You're the butler's boy?"
"Yes."
Sir Brom looked down at Sebastian.
"We train every morning at sunrise." With that he left to find Lord Henry.
Sebastian headed back towards the doctors room smiling with a new determination.