Chapter 15

Deep into the night, or maybe early into the morning, a flock of geese flew overhead; their formation pointing southward. While the younger girls peacefully slept after a long day of tossing, Pipa, the eldest and most reliable was... also asleep? How odd.

In order to combat the compelling lull of the night, she brought along her handy-dandy knitting needles and sewing kit. Autumn had fully rested in the capital and soon, the crunch of winter snow would replace it.

With a new master, she cleverly thought to practice her skills and assess how she could improve before the weather became too cold. She had just finished one woolen sock when a forceful rest hit her. Not one to leave a task before it was completed, the talented servant began to knit in her sleep.

Purl and knit, knit and purl. The pundit hands, although slower, expertly created the distinct shape of a tangled web of yarn. Jamie opened the door and was shocked by the scene. He never expected Pipa's sleeping habits to be so... unique?

Head tilted back, mouth wide open, droning snores left her, reminding him of his grandfather when he would recline in his old rocking chair on the front porch. Jamie would sometimes sit in the other seat that was made specifically for his late-grandmother, but most of the time, he'd choose the top step instead.

Returning to the present, he stepped closer and lightly tapped her shoulder

Languid dreams of playing dress up with things she made for the young master were interrupted when Pipa's head lulled forward as a line of drool fell from the corner of her mouth. In a slow blink, she looked at the gnarled cat's craddle on her lap.

Gently, he patted her again. "Pipa. Pipa, can you please help me?"

"Of course." Wiping the saliva from her face, she hadn't even realized what she agreed to or who was speaking. Only when she was going to dream again did Jamie shake her. Eyes-a-blur, she looked up to the rude culprit to see the beautiful young master up from his bed.

There was no faster reaction she could have given as she threw aside the tangled web and rose to her feet. "Young master, you're awake! What are you doing up? Do you even have slippers? The ground is cold.

Jamie didn't fault the girl for falling asleep on the job. He didn't even realize that the reason Pipa was the one keeping watch tonight was so that she could regularly check up on him. At this moment, the perfectionist was freaking out. 

With a finger to his lips, he signaled for her to quiet down. "Yeah, I just woke up not too long ago... Can... can you help me prepare a bath?"

The request was simple, and the girl quickly got to it, but was stopped by the figure of a beggar child in the doorway. In immediate response, she pushed the young master behind her and sharply scrutinized the figure. Disregarding the tranquility of the night, she shouted, "Who are you?"

Jamie shuffled back, tripping over invisible obstacles. "Wait. It's alright. This is my friend."

Pipa gave a sideways glance to her young master. She didn't know how in the world she fell asleep, allowing for a strange child to sneak in, but the situation just seemed suspicious.

Seeing she was unconvinced, Jamie further explained using the blackground he made earlier. Pipa still had her doubts, but her master was adamant about the boy's origins. "Still, shouldn't you be resting? Has your fever gone down?" The girl's hand touched his forehead with the back of her hand.

Cieran's onyx pupils followed that hand as it made contact with the flawless skin.

Jamie assured, "I'm much better now. Honest. I think the sleep and medicine really did the trick."

Pipa didn't have much confidence in her young master's words, but she still followed the orders.

Jamie sighed in relief when the girl left to fetch water for the bath. He gave a thumbs up to Cieran to celebrate their small 'victory'.

Cieran didn't know what the odd hand signal meant. Contemplatively, he loosely grasped the entire thumb and returned with a stiff smile of his own, exposing two small dimples on otherwise hollow cheeks. Letting out a light chuckle, Jamie didn't correct him.

~

The bath went as well as a cat being dunked in water. Never having been bathed in such a way before, Cieran jumped nearly ten feet away at first contact. It wasn't even as if the water had been scalding, let alone 'hot'. Pipa only managed to heat up the bath for ten minutes when Jamie convinced Cieran to hop in.

Shyly, the boy stripped down to his raggedy underwear as Pipa left the courtyard to fetch clothes that may fit his skeletal frame. Even if she did hold a sense of pity, the servant had no intentions in bringing the child her master's robes.

On the other hand, Jamie took one look at the protruding bones, the taught skin that should not belong to a child, and old scars and new injuries that crossed his body. He couldn't help being immediately overcome with emotions again. In an instant, his eyes were a natural rainfall of tears.

Cieran hadn't a clue on what the young master was crying for. A part of him ashamedly suspected that it may be because of his unsightly body. And as if this thought had propagated and blossomed uncontrollably, the boy tried to redress himself with the frayed and ragged clothing.

"Stop. What are you doing? You should hurry and bathe," he lightly urged as he sniffed away his tears. Setting the clothes back into a pile on the floor, Jamie led the boy back to the water.

Cieran wavered going in and staying out before he ploddingly submerged himself .

With rolled sleeves, Jamie helped the child wash. First, he tried to gently brush the hair knotted up to the scalp. It was truly impressive that even if the ends were split and as dry as straw, the roots were strong. Still, it was a wonder how it kept its rich color when the child was clearly malnourished.

When the water was a foggy grey, Pipa returned with the smallest set of boy servant uniforms that she could find. She had only taken one look at the murky water before going back out to fetch another few buckets. Cieran could only idly and embarrassingly sit in his filth as he received the thoroughest scrub down of his life. And when the boy was fully cleaned, the significance had greatly shattered any previous presumptions.

When she returned the second time, Pipa had to begrudgingly admit that the boy might actually be related to his young master. Although they were vastly different in coloring and features, both were stunningly beautiful in their own way.

The entire process took a full hour. And by the time he was done, Jamie felt he too needed to bathe.

"I'm going to wash up too. I actually had been resting in bed for an entire day, so I'm a little sticky from sweat," he explained. He had long noticed the pinkish hue of the boys ears. He didn't want for him to think he disliked him because of this. "Pipa said she left out some snacks to hold you over until the kitchen is open. You should hurry and eat before rest since it's nearly dawn. I won't take too long."

Yet, even when he said this, Cieran was still up when he came out of the bath. Unblinkingly, the child had a fierce stare down with the little fox. What's more was that on the side, Pipa watched the two from a chair near the bedside as if she was the referee.

"Buahaha!"

The three heads broke free from the competition to look at the young master.

"Haha. How about we save the contest for later? I'm going to have a lot of explaining to do when we wake. We might as well sleep until morning," he suggested. Climbing onto the bed, he waved for Cieran and the fox to scoot over. Probably because of all the commotion, it didn't take long for Jamie doze off.

Cieran picked up the ill-tempered ball and moved him to the foot of the bed as he made room for the young master. Unlike him, the fox was probably dirty from rolling in dirt. He doesn't belong anywhere near his young master's face.

Pipa wanted to insist moving this strange child to another room, but she had a irksome intuition that arguing would result in imminent misfortune. If only she had known that she was not alone in thinking this way. The little fox begrudgingly gave up on screaming at his master; there was no point in yelling in deaf ears.

Cieran pretended to sleep for several minutes before opening his eyes to shamelessly stare at the cherubic face. The terrible tempest within him soothed to a blossom-scented breeze. It was almost as if the one beside him was an angel that solely came to this world to save him.

The girl servant already returned to the next room over, her ear was practically on the door, while the fox had its eyes closed. But the animal too, wasn't fast asleep.

Cieran didn't care though; they watched him while he watched the angel.

They were right in doing this.

For in his mind, the monster, although calm, told Cieran to bite him. Just one bite. And the boy wanted to listen. The grape-sized orbs shrank into vertical slits, while his rhythmic breathing turned into shallow breaths. The heated blood rushing to his head, he looked at the neck feeling hungrier than he ever was. Swallowing his saliva, he licked his lips.

At the foot of the bed, the little fox growled menacingly. And on the other side of the door, nervous feet shuffled.

Returning to the reality, Cieran trembled. To the best of his abilities, he ignored the monster's thoughts - he wished he could disconnect from the thing completely.