: Mental Evaluation

Maggy noticed the stiffness within Kayda's hands. As if they had turned to cold stone under her touch.

As a servant, she didn't question these things. But as her lord's head maid, she noted down the simple but telling reaction.

She only smiled before looking up to meet Kayda's eyes. "I was told to show you to your room. Please follow me."

Maggy dragged Kayda off through the mansion in silence. Kayda was slightly perturbed by the silence but Maggy walked confidently ahead without seeming to be the slightest bit uncomfortable.

"Ah, here we are."

Opening a set of doors, they entered into a large room. The blue pastel colored walls were highlighted by cream curtains. The furniture consisted of two long dark grey and cream colored couches on each side of a glass table while in some of the corners of the room potted plants sat with bright green colors showcasing their healthiness. With a vanity desk and another door leading somewhere else, a big king sized bed laid at the other end of the room with dark grey bed sheets to match the furniture.

Overall, the aesthetics of the room was perfectly matched together and gave the atmosphere a cozy and comfortable air.

With an apprehensive look, Kayda observed the room from where she stood in the doorway.

"This is one of the guest bedrooms. I hope you don't mind. If there is anything you would like changed, please tell me. You can always ask one of the maids if I'm not around as well. But otherwise, I hope it's to your liking."

Maggy lifted up her head to give Kayda a warm and weathered smile when she noticed that this young girl had not even taken a step inside of the room.

"Is there something not to your liking?"

Kayda removed her eyes from the beautiful room and directed her gaze at Maggy.

How could she not like it? It was probably the most luxurious room she could ever imagine. She would never have had the chance to see such comfortable accommodations if she were anywhere else. But that's what scared her.

This was too nice. It was almost as if she were being bribed. She didn't know how to feel about that. What could they possibly want from her besides her blood?

She really had nothing to give.

Thinking this, of course she was a little nervous to say what was on her mind.

"Are you sure this is the room I'll be staying in?"

Her voice was slightly feeble, but Maggy heard it clearly and smiled.

"I'm positive miss Kayda. If you don't like it, we could change to another room."

Kayda instantly shook her head. "No. This is fine. Thank you."

Maggy beamed. "Thank goodness. Well then, I'll come and get you when dinner is ready. But in the meantime, feel free to get washed up. The bathing room is right past that door and there is already a batch of fresh clothes in there. So please relax in the meantime. That long journey with those barbaric men must have taken a toll on you." Without waiting for her response, she left the room while gently closing the door behind her leaving Kayda to her silence.

And she stood there in silence for a solid minute. She didn't know what to do with herself.

Out in the wild, every second was spent on surviving. Looking for food, cleaning wounds or just trying to find shelter or a way to get a meager pay. Those tasks consumed every second of her daily life. Only when she wasn't trapped somewhere in another unlucky predicament.

But now, stuck in a place with a bed, a roof over her head, and meals, she felt as if she had suddenly become lost.

What was she supposed to do?

She wasn't tired. Hunger was no longer considered a separate feeling from her other emotions, and her wounds were already taken care of.

Was she, bored?

…

Nope. She couldn't be. That was an emotion exclusive to nobles. Boredom only came with the lack of things to do.

Physically, there was nothing she could do. But mentally, she had more than enough tasks to sort through to keep her busy.

With a step forward, Kayda hesitated between sitting on the couch, bench or bed.

Raising her hand, she reached for the couch but stopped herself.

Her hands were dirty. She was dirty.

Spinning around, she headed for the door in the room and entered the bathing room.

Quickly undoing the charm, shedding the illusion and showing her true form, she quickly got undressed.

Remembering the instructions, she turned on the bath and soaked herself in steamy hot water. Like before, she scrubbed at her skin. She scrubbed at her hands, arms and tail. Anywhere she was touched.

Pausing, she thought for a moment.

Guess it was only men she was repulsed by. Females seemed to be fine to some extent, but she was still uncomfortable being touched either way.

Flashing behind her eyes was an image of hands.

Rough and repulsive hands grabbing and groping at her.

She could feel her blood turn cold as she shivered and her limbs were inhabited by tremors.

She hated it.

Her expression quickly changed as she scrubbed and scraped at her skin.

She felt dirty. She felt really dirty.

It was only after half an hour that she got out and dried herself.

With her hair shorter, she didn't bother drying it and let it sit above her shoulders.

Glancing at the wardrobe in the bathing room, she opened it to find two groups of entirely different clothes. One group contained dresses in a myriad of colors and shapes while the other groups consisted of plain blouses and pants.

Without missing a beat, she grabbed the blouses and pants and put them one without casting the dresses a second glance.

Dressed and cleaned, she was finally left with an important decision.

Whether to sit on the bed, or the couch.

She looked at one, then looked at the other.

It was a battle of internal thoughts until she stepped forward and plopped right down.

Plopped right down on the floor.

If anything, this was the most comfortable place to sit. The carpet under her fingers was soft and the cool and sturdy wall supporting her back felt more comfortable than the plush and feathery cushions or pillows decorating the bed and chairs.

Now she needed to sort out her thoughts.

And there was a haunting question that loomed over her head ever since she figured out why they brought her here.

What will they do to her once she is no longer needed?

Because she didn't feel that this group of people would be kind enough to let her wonder off once she had cured that little girl from her illness.

And the make up of this group was weird.

First, you had the runes master, Clouse, who could not just create spells but also inscribe them. It wasn't a really rare combination but it was unique enough that he could use both professions efficiently. But it wasn't just that. He was actually the hardest one of the group to read. His eyes always seemed to hold an underlying objective that she just couldn't figure out. And that scared her to some extent. She couldn't tell which of the emotions he was showing was real or not. And she relied on those observation skills of hers to survive to some extent. So not knowing made him a ticking time bomb to her.

Then there was the axe wielder, Gerrin, who seemed to know a lot more than his blunt persona would care to tell. He had knowledge about the professions, the identification process, and even her divergent flame that any common person would not know of. Of course he seemed friendly, but he was friendly in a way an instructor would be friendly to a passing person asking a question. He obviously had no plans to get closer to her. And she would actually be happy if that was the case. But it also seemed as if he was just waiting for her to leave.

And then there was Dimitri. He was like Clouse in the sense that she couldn't read him. Any observations on him was unclear. But unlike Clouse, he didn't hide himself behind a mirage of emotions. He hid himself behind a mask of ice. Where Clouse would deceive and welcome, Dimitri would intimidate and alienate himself from everyone until he was surrounded by a wall he himself created that would serve as defense and offense. And if anyone tried to enter, she shivered at his cold stare that still penetrated her mind.

The image of him emotionlessly decapitating that terrible noble without even casting a second glance at the corpse.

She could tell, he wasn't one to show mercy to his enemies.