15 A night with a tyrant (3)

The wine did not taste just as bad by the second glass and the fear and bitteress she had been feeling was lessening slightly by every sip.

Even though she knew that it was a bad idea to jeopardize the clear-headedness of her sober mind she could not help but to enjoy the warm disarming feeling of intoxication.

"You will not have to do much to help me." The duke finally continued to explain his reason for calling her.

"A rumor should start to spread through the servants if I simply bring you to my chamber once in a while."

Amelia emptied the remaining wine in her glass in one sweep. Though she was glad that he was finally getting to the point she braced herself for what would follow, because despite no longer shaking an intense gnawing feeling still remained in the pit of her stomach.

"When I call for you I ask that you spend the night here even though it's unpleasant. You can have the bed for yourself. Know that I won't touch you when you sleep here."

His words made her pause.

'He won't touch me?'

It was not what she had been preparing herself for and Amelia did not know what to make of the absurdity she had just heard.

Was it just a front to hide his true intentions, or could it be that she had simply been working herself up?

She lifted her eyes to gauge his expression.

What she saw across from her was a man with a truly harsh expression on his face. He was leaning forward in his chair with his chin resting in the palm of his hand, looking into fire with clenched jaws and furrowed brows.

The moment he sensed her gaze on him he turned his eyes shifted towards her. They were full of disgust and disdain similar to how he looked when he had beheaded her family that night.

All color drained from Amelias face in an instant.

'What did I do? ´

The warm feeling from the alcohol turned to nausea and in a panic she searched her memory for what she could have done to make him look so angry.

"It's getting late. You must be tired so you should go to bed."

He said so before she even had a second to process the sudden change in atmosphere.

'How does he expect me to be able to sleep now?'

There was nothing she could do but to immedialy obey him though. Due to the alcohol she was unstable as she stood up from the sofa and she had to lean on the coffe table to regain her balance. As she headed towards the bed she realised that walking straight was nearly impossible. She was dizzy and her body felt heavy and clumsy.

Despite her wobbling the duke remained seated and did not even spare her a glance.

"I expect it is obvious that discussing our deal with others is not a wise thing for you to do." He added without turning his head.

***

Amelia layed in bed for probably hours only pretending to be asleep, too alert to relax or slow her racing thoughts. The only sound in the room came from the crackling of the fire along with occasional rustling of papers from where the duke was seated.

She could not get the image of his terrifying expression out of her head and the warning he had given was heavy on her mind.

Tonight had made it clear to Amelia that remaining in the manor was not a long term solution. The fact that he did not desire her meant that she had no cards to play. As soon as she had fulfilled her usefullness to the duke…

She was too tired to think further.

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