A Little Respect Ch. 03

I am REALLY sorry about how long it has taken to get this next part up online. I know so many people have mailed me, asking for more, but things have really been tough recently (life's like that sometimes) and I've not had much time on my hands for anything, let alone writing. Still, here it is, I hope you like it and I will try and be a little quicker with Part 4, as from the responses I have had so far, I think people want me to continue. Anyway, cheers to all my readers for being patient and supportive. This is for you :D

LTS xx

Walking round The Winterthorn Estate was not a job for the fainthearted, but while Aenerin was away I felt that it was somewhat my duty to familiarise myself with the place, as well as reassure those who had loved ones off fighting that everything would be alright. I had a lot of faith in my new lover and knew that he would protect his followers just as fiercely as they would fight for him. Everyone that I had met so far had been pleasant and polite, maybe a little too polite, as being called 'My Lady' and being bowed at every five minutes was a little strange, but it didn't seem forced in any way, and I got the feeling these people were generally pleased that I was here. Now I just had to make sure all this business of being a lady didn't go to my head.

I had seen Ladies before- at the tavern where I used to work. Some of them travelled with their husbands and generally kept very quiet, watching the girls like me with utmost disdain- Whether it was our social standing or our youth they didn't approve of I wasn't sure, but the older ones especially were always quick to make a scathing comment to our master which would get us whipped later. Maybe it was because they knew that when their husbands travelled alone, it was usually a girl like me they would end up with. We were ordered to dress provocatively to attract the clientele into purchasing a little more than just food and lodging for the night. It honestly wasn't anything against these prim and proper women with their silk handkerchiefs, fur trimmed coats and expensive perfumes. If I had my way, I would have gone about my daily duties in something a lot more practical than tight laced corsets and high cut skirts, but back then I had very little say in the matter. They didn't seem to understand though, and I still bore the scratch mark from where once such 'lady' had thought I had been paying too much attention to her husband while I worked one of the late shifts. My job had been to pay attention to men, but it didn't mean I wanted any of them, and that evening I had never had any intention of doing more than serving the pair and getting off to an early nights' rest.

I sighed, watching as Risha guided me through yet another set of corridors that all looked the same. Aenerin's estate was huge- I had heard tales about it- but never known nor expected there to be any truth to the stories. I knew it would take me a long time to remember my way around, and would probably end up getting lost a fair few times, especially when my mind was hardly focussing on remembering directions. I missed Aenerin, and as much as I liked my dear maidservant, I wished it was my lover that was actually showing me around my new home, just like he had promised. To be torn away from him had been the worst pain I had experienced in a long time- probably because I had not allowed myself to love that deeply and so quickly before. I longed for him to return to me, to press his hard, cool, body against mine and take me where I stood. When he had possessed me, turned me into one of his own, I had never felt so complete, but now, it was almost as if something was missing from my soul itself.

"And there are the kitchens...I doubt you'll really be interested though."

I glanced across at Risha, who had probably noticed my daydreaming, and had all the subtlety of a brick. She stood gesturing across the courtyard at a longish building which had many tall chimneys from out of which soft grey smoke poured; the smell of cooking meat and wood-smoke filling the air.

Normally I would have been drooling at such a smell, but I felt nothing inside me that even hinted at that kind of hunger now. Instead it had been replaced by a different kind of craving, but luckily that was hardly even a flicker after feeding earlier, but if Aenerin didn't return, I wondered what I was supposed to do. We hadn't quite discussed the whole 'drinking blood' thing, and I doubted asking Risha would be advisable. She wasn't scared of me at the moment and I wanted it to stay that way.

"I suppose you're right..." I murmured, still feeling a little bitter about never being able to eat anything ever again. Yet I didn't have the heart to admonish Risha, even though I suppose I should have done for being disrespectful, but then I had been ignoring her, thinking of Aenerin's lips caressing my-

"Err, let's continue onwards shall we? I imagine there is a lot more still to see," I said, a little hastily, trying to wipe all thoughts of my lover from my mind -for now- as we walked past the kitchen and out into the yard at the back of the estate, near to where the animals were kept.

"Lady Caroline?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry," Risha apologised, looking over at me with her large girlish eyes. "I didn't mean to say what I did. You are...suffering just as much as any of us, if not more."

"No, it's alright," I smiled gently. "I understand. I imagine you are worried about your own young man, am I not correct?"

Risha went a bright shade of crimson. "He's not MY young man," she uttered through gritted teeth.

"That wasn't the impression you were giving me earlier," I smiled, teasingly, making the poor girl blush all the more.

"No one really knows about us," she whispered back rather harshly. "If my parents knew what you did, I would probably get thrown out of our home. They think that a young woman shouldn't...you know what...until they're married."

"They would probably hate me then," I admitted, telling Risha quite freely about my past life. She listened intently, quite fascinated by my story. She couldn't believe that there were people like my old master who would subject a young woman to such a depraved way of living.

"Some enjoyed it," I said, remembering some of my old colleagues. I called them thus, as friends was far too strong a word for the other women who worked alongside me, some of which who shared the same small section of floor which we slept on by the kitchen hearth and had called home since most of us could recall.

"Lord Aenerin would never allow that kind of thing to happen here. He believes women should be respected and treated well. All the men here have to go to him to ask for permission before they are allowed to marry. He knows every single person here on this estate. I guess he's a bit like a father to us all. He could probably be our grandfather, he is very old."

I found this funny and laughed a little, Risha not quite sure what she had said to cause my reaction, but seemed glad it was a humourous one in any case.

"Your young man-"

Risha glared at me.

"Alright, Caith," I corrected. "He seems to be good friends with Aenerin," I then continued, remembering back to when all the troops were gathered in the main courtyard and the man on the horse had ridden in, a very urgent air about him as he had dismounted and strode off to find Aenerin. He had also been very cute, in a rather dishevelled way. It was easy to see why Risha liked him- and I was a hard woman to please. Heck, it had taken a vampire Lord with a very nice body to make me happy.

"Yes, I told you they hunted together."

"Maybe I could ask Aenerin when he comes back if Caith...has any intentions towards you?"

"Oh, I couldn't possibly ask you to do that!"

"That's why I'm offering, silly," I said, noticing for the first time that Risha seemed almost embarrassed. She normally seemed totally unfazed by other's opinions of her, but at the thought of knowing what Caith really felt about her she had turned to mush right in front of me.

"I...I don't know if I want to...well, you know, 'know' what he really thinks and if he doesn't like me, well, what then? And I have only been with him a few times, and there are probably other girls and-"

"Please, take a breath!" I exclaimed, Risha having just gushed her words out without even stopping to think if she was making sense or not. "I am sure that this Caith is just as much a gentleman as my Aenerin. He seems to be a good judge of character."

"Gentleman?" Risha echoed, almost shocked, pulling at the sleeve of my dress to drag me over behind one of the empty stable stalls. "He's no gentleman."

"Why?" I asked, my eyes bright, noticing a cheeky glint in the other girl's eyes.

"Well, I don't think I should say, you are my mistress after all, and a lady now. You probably shouldn't hear such talk."

"Yes, because I am such a delicate wallflower, aren't I?" I mocked. "Tell me, we're friends now, aren't we?"

"Well..."

I hit her playfully on the arm, making sure not to bowl her over like last time, and she frowned, still looking unsure whether she should say anything.

"Your mistress commands it," I tried, which seemed to work, as Risha couldn't help but giggle at my very bad impression of a severe mistress. I guess even being a vampire didn't help my cause much, but then I had been quite sure not to show off my fangs just yet- nice as they were- Aenerin probably would appreciate them more than Risha.

The girl looked around herself to make sure that we were truly alone before leaning in close to my face. I could have told her that I could hear the washerwoman's heart beating from the other side of the stable yard, but I didn't want to ruin the effect.

"He's a bit strange."

"How so?" I asked, intrigued. Personally all men had their little quirks that made them a little bit different, but from what I could gather so far, this wasn't the average case of shouting out a certain phrase or liking to be touched somewhere they just never admit to actually liking should you ask them later.

Risha looked around again.

"Well, I guess he is a gentleman in some ways. He always makes sure I end up enjoying 'events' just as much as he does, and he is very polite..."

"For some of the men I know, that is strange," I commented, but Risha just rolled her eyes, telling me to let her finish.

"Look, sometimes I wonder if...well...maybe I'm doing something wrong."

"I'm sure you're not."

Risha looked down at the floor and scuffled her feet in the dirt, not immediately replying- which made me feel bad, seeing as my comment had been an attempt to make her feel better.

"Look," I attempted again, "you can tell me. You are my maidservant after all, what is said between us will stay between us. I promise. Vampire's honour."

Risha gave me a doleful look and sighed. "Okay...It's just hard to explain as he's so good, so attentive, but there's this really distant look in his eyes sometimes. And he makes funny noises when he...well you know."

"Oh, that's normal," I nodded knowingly, wondering if my new vocation, as well as being the new Lady of Winterthorn Estate, should be agony aunt to young girls in need of some relationship counselling- I mean, I had the experience...

"Yes but he...grunts."

"Grunts?"

"Yes...like he has something bad in his throat."

"Maybe he should see a healer."

"I don't think anything's wrong with him...he's just a little strange, and he likes me stroking him behind the ears."

She mimicked the way a person would bend over and scratch a well behaved hunting dog that had just brought home a brace of pheasant without so much as a bite mark.

"I...really don't know what to say," I admitted, although in my mind I was having the ever so slightest suspicion that the reason her young man ran off quite a lot and was rather handy when it came to hunting, was nothing to do with her. He was also close friends with my lover, and from what I knew of Aenerin, his acquaintances were always a little bit different. Looking down into Risha's face though, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the young woman, so didn't vocalise my suspicions and instead told her to go and take the rest of the day off. She seemed pleased at being offered such a rare treat, but refused. She wanted to finish showing me around the estate and said that I looked like I could do with the company, as she certainly could. I laughed at her bold manner, the one I was becoming so fond of, and did not deny her request.

We spent the rest of the tour in the typical way, with Risha explaining everything she knew about the place, and me, desperately trying to remember it all. I was listening, I honestly was, but as the hours wore on and dawn began to approach, I became all the more restless and kept glancing up at the sky. Already on the horizon, a soft tinge of purple smudged the sky, and what looked like heavy grey clouds hung low over the hills.

Those around me suggested to each other that it might be rain, but with my enhanced eyesight and sense of smell I knew better than that. Somewhere in the distance something was burning and those clouds were not clouds at all but smoke. The bitterness in the air hit me, even from this distance away.

I couldn't go back to my quarters and sleep after seeing such a sight and refused to go anywhere until the light of the sun would force me to seek refuge in the darkness for yet another day. I thought I had at least another hour left before I had to go, so made myself useful by taking watch on one of the towers with some of the guards who had been posted. They were both stony faced and grim looking, cold from having spent the night standing on watch. For the first time I felt as if my presence was not especially wanted or needed in any way, so I watched silently, not getting in their way, and not saying a word when one of them began to doze, his red, bloodshot eyes flickering closed- at least I said nothing until I thought I saw the smallest of dots upon the horizon.

"Look," I uttered, the sleeping guard almost jumping out of his skin, "Isn't that something out there, coming along the north road?"

They both looked, leaning out over the stone tower and squinting hard. By now I could see horses and banners and dogs, but the light made it hard even for me to see clearly, and a craving had begun to gnaw away at the bottom of my stomach, which amde it even harder for me to concentrate.

'I shouldn't be hungry', I thought, 'I fed from Aenerin before he left', yet as this group of figures moved ever closer, I caught another smell in the air- it was the heady twang of fresh blood.

"It's them," I said quickly, excitedly. "They are returning."

I almost pushed the two guards out of the way to get a closer look, my sharp eyes now able to make out the insignia of Aenerin's forces. They were marching back- they were coming home.

"Light the beacons and send word to have healers down in the courtyard," I commanded, the two men doing nothing more than nodding their heads in complete subservience. "We will need bandages and fresh water, get as many who are left as you can to boil the large kettles in the kitchens. Have food brought out for those who need it, and plenty of strong wine and liquor."

"Yes, my Lady," they replied and scampered off to do my bidding, leaving me there looking out across Winterthorn towards the brave troops trudging homeward. I didn't look too hard as I had already noticed the numbers of those returning were slightly lessened than those who had left. I preyed in my heart that Aenerin was amongst them, as from my brief glance, I could not see him, or his horse.

Suddenly the estate had come alive once more. As I made my way back down the steps and into the courtyard I had to stand back for there were people rushing everywhere, some carrying fresh clothes and blankets, other setting up tables and makeshift beds, pots of salves and medicines being brought out to treat the wounded as soon as they arrived back. The huge gates were swung open and welcoming torches were taken out to guide the troops back in. I could sense everyone's fear and anticipation, but tried to keep calm and composed myself, directing those who seemed a little lost and suggesting tasks to anyone who appeared not to know what to do.

When the first of Aenerin's forces trudged in, they were the flag bearers, those not so badly hurt and were immediately ushered inside to tell all and take off their bloodied tunics and lay down their armour. Next came those who were still able to walk, some carrying their friends and comrades who had fallen, the bodies wrapped in cloaks, horse blankets- whatever they had on them. They would be taken to the chapel and laid to rets there until a fitting burial could be prepared for them. Right now the priority was the living.

As I saw more and more men and women traipse in, some more injured than others, I began to get a sick feeling rising inside of me. Where was Aenerin? I was too busy helping deal with the injured to actually ask anyone, but one eye was kept constantly on the gate, my entire being just hoping and longing to see the face of my lover come through it.

Then, quite unexpectedly, I saw a man, some way behind the others, walk slowly into the courtyard, blood coating his body, his whole demeanor drawn and tired. I saw Risha's face contort into one of pain and also relief as she saw that it was Caith, for although he was badly hurt, he was still alive. She ran out to him, calling his name in her pretty, soft voice, her skilful yet gentle hands instantly feeling for his wounds, the basket on her arm full of healing salves and bandages. I noticed the look of relief on his face as he saw her, glad she was there for him, glad that she cared. Risha immediately took his hand and led him over to the nearest room which had been prepared for the wounded and disappeared inside, helping him with all her strength, for although she was only a slight girl, she was by no means weak, both emotionally and physically. I could tell that he cared deeply for her, but there was also something else which he seemed to be shielding. I could not pick up on it. He had very guarded emotions, as even against my new vampiric powers I could not quite tell what secrets lay in his heart. At a more appropriate time I would certainly ask Aenerin about him. I owed that to Risha at least.

Yet as my mind was momentarily elsewhere, I failed to notice for a second that another figure had entered behind Caith and now stood, caked in blood and looking ready to fall over, in the middle of the courtyard. If I had been still alive, my heart would have missed a beat right then, for as my eyes settled on this figure I realised that this really was the man I had been praying for. Aenerin had returned to me- just as he had promised.

If I was being honest, I wanted to run to him- fling my arms around him and welcome him home. But I knew my place, and that was not how a Lady should act, besides I was right in the middle of bandaging someone's arm after a rather nasty arrow wound. Still, my heart almost broke as I saw Aenerin look around, his head hardly moving, and upon not seeing me, trudged slowly up the cold stone steps towards our quarters, utterly exhausted. He knew he would heal of his own accord and needed no human medicine to get better, so simply kept out of the way, not wanting to disturb anyone.

It hurt, but I stayed and did my duty. I had no training when it came to healing, so left that to the more experienced women, but after a while there was little left to be done except continually fetching water and fresh bandages- nothing the others couldn't handle- and I just had to get to him. So picking up my skirts I slipped away, almost tripping up the steps to our quarters, just wanting to be near my lover. I stumbled down the corridor, heading past the bathing room and up towards the very top of the tower in which we slept, and where Aenerin's other rooms were.