Chapter Five - Carrot Boy
WARNING: This story contains material that might be triggering to some viewers! Adult content! Proceed with caution!
Chapter Five - Carrot Boy
The patter made the floor creak every so often as Emoria's legs shook furiously. The light chattering of her teeth and the disturbingly uneasy feeling that just seemed to multiply by the second was suffocating her. The anxiety felt like it was wrapping its claws around her throat, restricting the flow of oxygen into her body. She could only helplessly intertwine her fingers and press her forehead down against her knuckles and think.
Now, few things made sense in life and her father's lack of a reaction was not one of them.
It made no sense to her, no matter how she hard she tried to reason with it. She toyed with every single possibility but no logical answer was sound. She had spoken against him, she had insulted him, stood up for herself. Yet there were zero repercussions, nobody came knocking on her door or to drag her to the guillotine. The head maid had not made her appearance in days and although that was a godsend, the peace was uncomfortable.
On the contrary to her cynical thoughts, she found a tray of delectably scented food for every meal laying behind her door like some treasure chest. Thinking that it must have been poisoned, she made no attempt in moving to taste it.
Surely this was not her father's doing, it was out of his character. He was by no means humane enough to spare her from torture after she had managed to damage his pride like that.
Had her sister sweet talked him into forgiving her? Perhaps managing to beg for an ounce of his empathy? It seemed like a sweet thought but she refused to bite the bait. Elain was a coward, she was probably frantically keeping busy with trying to save her own behind. A deduction to her allowance was unacceptable.
Emoria brushed her hands back through her hair as her legs began to settle down. Her lips parted as she finally drew in oxygen, her breath hitching for a second. She seemed to have forgotten to breathe.
'It is going okay, it is going to be okay...'
Her soles stilled as she lifted her head up.
"I can't keep living like this, I need a plan. I need to leave this ruined family."
After her small panic attack, the little lady hiding underneath peasant clothes decided to spend the rest of her morning exploring every drawer in her room. Which turned out to be quite the adventure. Letters wrapped in spider's silk, pearl necklaces, brushes littered with purple hair, tarnished silver rings. This room really did not belong to her.
Her energy began to grow low and her stomach seemed to ache, pulsating around itself as the hunger threatened to drive her crazy. This wasn't the first time she felt this way and some part of her knew that it was not going to be her last. Hunger was the last of her worries, she needed to keep looking for something. Something to inspire a plan, a starting point.
Emoria turned the door handle to her washroom. A floral pitcher sat on her vanity, and although the water felt particularly chilly, she poured it all into the wash basin. She hesitated for a second before fully submerging her face in it, the liquid tickling her skin and slowing the flow of blood down.
The temperature turned her ghostly white, the heat rushing to the tip of her nose as it burned a ridiculous red. It felt like someone had pinched her a little too hard. Her hands reached out for the the towel to unfurl it over her face. The cloth soon became moist as it absorbed the droplets off her face.
Clink. Clink.
Emoria dropped the the damp fabric over the pitcher and made her way back as a clinking sound roused her curiosity.
"What was that?..."
Her eyes turned to examine her bedroom. Everything seemed in tact, nothing out of place. Even the blank papers sat unmoved on her writing desk. Her brows creased in an unpleasant expression as she reached her hand out to support the back of her neck.
Could it have been a rat? Was it her imagination?
Clink. Clink.
She whipped her head to the direction of the sound and practically ran out the balcony door. Somehow, she knew exactly who the culprit was.
It must have been the boy from before, the one who had promised to get back on her. Throwing rocks at her window was his solution?! That spoiled little runt, he had done it now. She was going to teach him a lesson-.
Something hard came flying at her face, cracking against her forehead before tumbling down her chest and legs. A burning sensation overcame her and she stumbled forward. She reached up and felt something thick trickle down the crevices of her palm. The world was fogging up and the familiar voice seemed to have moved further away as he shouted from below.
"What did you do?! You idiot- stay still- stay still you hear me?! I'm comin' up- wait!"
This was not her day, truly not her day.
Emoria held onto the glass separator and stumbled back inside the warm manor. A small scratch like this and she was already growing dizzy, this body was so incredibly weak. What had carrot boy said? That he was going to... where was he going again? Up where.. her room?!
She tripped over her legs and reached for the lock. No, he cannot come up here- he was the last person she wanted to talk to.
The door swung open and a boy several inches taller than her seemed to have floated into her chambers. The world slowed down as she gasped, her eyelids fluttering delicately as she tried to decipher what his distant shouts were about. Hot hands roughly grabbed onto her body to still her as he inched his nose closer to hers, she could practically feel his heaving pants against her chin.
'Why did he look so upset?'
Emoria closed her eyes and dug her fingers into his shirt for a few seconds, reorienting herself before opening her eyes again. She found that what she thought were black eyes were a honey brown now that he was much closer to her. Was everyone in Villareal blessed by some goddess of beauty?
"Are you genuinely mad, girl?! Who in their right mind thinks 'Oh wow rocks are hitting my window- let me just go check why.'. Are you fucking with me? You must be god damn insane-."
Where did he learn such profanity from? She instantly wanted to take back her compliment after the words that left his mouth. He droned on and on and on, his nagging was causing her head to hurt even more. It seemed like the gutter was located inside his throat.
"Can you be quiet carrot boy, you're hurting my head...?"
Her bloodied hand reached up to check the wound before he slapped her wrist away. Emoria's cold eyes widened instantly as she flinched away from his hand, her body unnaturally shaking as she looked up at him with horror.
Was this what her father had in mind? Was this boy replacing the maid? She should have known, she should have realized it.
The redhead frowned as he observed her reaction, she looked like a fawn being hunted. The darting pupils, the drop of sweat that clung to her cheekbone, the trembling arms.
"You're fuckin' with me, girl, you're ma-."
"Why are you here? Did you not take your payback? Is this not enough for you? What more do you want?"
She tilted her head away as her face went cold, thin arms wrapping around herself as she took another step away from him. Her fingers traced the folds of her dress.
His expression twisted as he reached out for her, swiftly grabbing her delicate wrists and forcing her jaw up towards him.
This child truly has no manners.
"What kind of idiot are you? By golly you're mad. Why would I actually hurt you- look at you- you look like the candy canes displayed on the shop windows in town! I could be charged with murder if I even push you. You freak me out girl- you and those lavender ey-."
He shivered and let go of her, as if it freaked him out to touch her.
"You're as thin as a twig- how old are you- you look six... Six year olds should be eating more these days! On that note girl, I am not some 'carrot boy', my name is Osiris, Osiris the most powerful knight in the entire empire."
He began grinning, showing off his shiny canines as he pompously crossed his arms, his nose turning up towards the ceiling.
A minute of silence followed before Emoria suddenly shattered into a mess of laughter, her shoulders shaking as she fell on her side. God, her stomach was taking it today. This boy was out to kill her. He reminded her of a helpless puppy that considered itself a wolf. Maybe a Chihuahua?
"What 're you laughin' at girl?! You're gonna die- oh my god- are you dying- are you actually mad?!"
Emoria kept on laughing and laughing until her guts began stinging, she rolled over and curled up into a tiny ball, tears streaming down her cheeks as he stood above her with worried eyes.
"You? The most powerful knight in the empire? Then that must make me the empress of Villareal!"
He huffed arrogantly and pushed his flaming hair off of his forehead. He was obviously conceited and she did not know if he was simply messing with her.
"You god damn know it, girl. I am going to become the strongest knight that this dump of an empire has ever seen! I'll join the knights guard when I'm older, I'll show you! Once I'm older, I am going to become filthy rich, then you'll have to come to me. 'Oh Osiris, can you please spare me a silver coin?' I'll even give you ten coins!"
Emoria wiped the tears off with the hem of her sleeves and lifted her head to face him. Her cherry plump lips turned up into a slight smile as she hid her hands into her skirt, she suddenly felt embarrassed about her missing fingernails.
He stopped his bragging for a moment as he looked down at her, his mouth parting as he hesitated. He seemed to have been captivated by something.
"Osiris, you son of a sword- I am going to kill ya'. Where is that little shit?!"
A raspy voice echoed from the opened window. The criminal in question smiled like the Cheshire cat and walked across her room to have a look.
"Whats yer name girl?"
Emoria stumbled up to follow him, her eyes wide with curiosity as she moved her hands behind her back.
"Emoria. My name is Emoria Vaughan."
He whipped his head back to hers as his jaw practically dropped.
"Emoria?! The cursed daughter of the duke! Wow, I didn't realize that old fart could have such a prett-..."
Osiris scowled and slapped his palm over his mouth before throwing a small tin near her feet.
"Emoria Vaughan, I swear on my name that I will become the most powerful knight in Villareal!!!"
Osiris' honeyed eyes glossed over with glee as he sent her a mischevious wink. Before Emoria could respond, he licked his upper lip and ran across the pavement. His right hand went up to the stone edge as he used it to lift all of his body weight up until he disappeared off. Emoria let out a startled scream as she hysterically ran to the edge.
Osiris let out a cheeky laugh as who she presumed was his mentor chased after him. The two resembled a cat chasing a rat. Yes, it was definitely true now. Emoria had fallen into the rabbits hole.
The frail girl laid her hand on her pounding chest and bit her lip, her eyes returning to the silver tin on the ground before picking it up.
'Peppermint Salve for Wounds'
Author's Note:
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