Chapter 25

25

Farryn

After an hour of showing me around the cathedral, all its secret little nooks and crannies, Anya led me past an impressive organ. Its gleaming silver pipes, housed within an ornate, gilded casing with intricate carvings and cherubs, took up the length of an entire wall.

“The original pipes were salvaged from the fire, but the entire organ had to be rebuilt from scratch.”

“It’s so beautiful. I’ve never seen anything so impressive.”

“Should you hear it sometime, it’d leave you almost breathless.”

“Does Van Croix play?”

“Yes. He’s quite good. But it’s rare that he indulges us with his talent. The origins of the pipe organ go back as far as the ancient Greeks. Not this elaborately, of course. But it is most impressive, the inventions of the mind.”

“It is. As are those who can create with such inventions.”

“Indeed. Let’s keep on, shall we? So many more rooms to explore, but I’ll end this tour with one more.”

Past the organ, she came to a stop in front of a door that reminded me of something out of the medieval era, with a rounded top, black iron hinges and hardware, and ornamental ironwork over the wood. It opened on a long creak, onto a stone staircase that ascended into specks of dust that drifted aimlessly along a faint beam from somewhere above. Strange, the way light behaved differently in this place. As if it fancied the shadows.? We followed the winding staircase until it opened up to an octagonal room, with rows upon rows of bookshelves. Shelves that went into an upper level accessible by another set of stairs. So many books in one place. In what I guessed to be the top room of one of the massive turrets, I moved to one of the windows and stared out to the yard below. At that height, I could see the magnificent maze I’d seen on arrival, which appeared to be much bigger than I’d realized.

“I figured this room might offer some peace and quiet for you.”

“It’s … so big! My gosh, there must be thousands of books!”

“Master Van Croix likes to have his references readily available. Of course, most of his favorites are kept in his office. But you’re welcome to peruse these.”

Crossing the room brought me to stand before a wall of spines, and I pulled one leatherbound from its place between Pri’scucian symbolism and Latin.

So many books.

My father would be in Heaven right now!

“Where do they come from?”

“Some were written by ancient scholars. Philosophers. Slaves. These shelves are brimming with so much history and fiction, you could literally get lost in them.”

“I look forward to it.”

“Well, I’ll let you enjoy yourself a bit. Dinner is served in the dining area around seven in the evening.”

I glanced over my shoulder. “With Van Croix?” Probably sounded like I was obsessed with the man, by that point.

“No, I’m afraid Master Van Croix prefers to sup in private. Not entirely social. It’ll be just you having dinner.”

I frowned, turning to face her. “You and the rest of the staff won’t be eating?”

“No, dear.” She gave no further explanation.

“Okay. Thank you.”

“Of course. The cathedral is yours to explore, though you must never venture to the undercroft, nor the bell tower.”

“The bell tower?”

“Oh, it’s dangerous there. The height and cables. Particularly in a lightning storm.”

“You don’t have like a … lightning rod, or something?” It seemed strange that they wouldn’t, after the fire.

“Oh, yes. Still, we’ve had a number of repairs as a result of some nasty storms.”

“I thought the point of the rod was to direct the electricity to the ground. How is that possible?”

“Not everything in the universe follows the rules of physics, child. Nor does a lightning bolt care what we think is possible, or not. Stay out of the bell tower. Despite what rumors you may hear, it is not a place for fun and games.”

“Rumors?”

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. “I’m sure you’ll become privy to them. We all do.”

“Got it.”

“Come along, and we’ll meet the staff.” Anya led me back through the main part of the cathedral to the kitchen, where about a half-dozen young women, all paused their chores to stare back at me. “Ladies, I’d like you to meet our newest caretaker for the dogs. This is Farryn.”

Not one smile, nor a single acknowledgment. The women studied me with such intense scrutiny etched in their expressions that it made my skin crawl.

A brunette stepped forward, wiping her hands on a white towel. “Miss Anya, may I ask whose idea this was, to let in a stray?”

Smiling, Anya tipped her head. “No, dear, you may not.”

“It’s bad luck to bring one in from the forest. What with all these attacks, you never know what dangers they may pose. And is that bump on her head not the beginnings of bullio?”

Without warning, Anya’s hand struck fast, cracking against the brunette’s cheek. The startled woman held where she’d been struck, eyes wide, as if in disbelief.

“This stray, as you say, happens to have remarkable command over the dogs. If you’re not careful, I may just have her command them to devour you whole. We’ll not be rude in this house. Do I make myself clear?”

At first, the woman didn’t answer, but glared back at me.

“Do I make myself clear!” The anger in Anya’s tone sent a shiver down my spine.

Still cupping her cheek, the brunette nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

Like a switch, the vexation on the older woman’s face vanished, and she clasped her hands together with a pleasant smile. “Very good, dear. Now, I’ll let you return to your work.”

With a tempered expression, the woman slunk back toward the counter where she’d been washing dishes.

“Anyone else have something to say?” Anya asked in an eerily pleasant voice.

The rest of them shook their heads, lowering their gazes to the floor.

“Splendid. As you were.” Departing with a smile, Anya led me out of the kitchen and down a hallway.

En route, we passed a room from where Aurelia waved, as she stood on the second step of a small ladder and dusted the mantel of an expansive black fireplace. “Oh! Wait! May I speak with you one moment?” Climbing down the step, she stumbled, and something shattered, sending my heart shooting up into my throat, but Aurelia caught herself before the fall. “Just one sec!”

Groaning, Anya turned to me, resting a wrinkled hand on my shoulder. “One moment. Always something breaking in this place.” She breezed into the room on an air of grace, heading toward whatever had broken, as Aurelia hobbled up to her.

Thinking it was something she didn’t want me to hear, I kept on a short way, down the corridor, where the wall turned to ceiling-high dark windows, with beautiful, wrought iron grills in swirled leaf patterns. Beyond the dark windows stood what I could best describe as a breathtaking grotto, with low, rounded ceilings and stone walls carved with figures that looked like something out of the Roman era. A pool with the clearest, bluest water I’d ever seen took up the entire width of the room, its reflection against the surrounding dark stones making for a dim glow, like in a cave.

It was through a waterfall that cascaded over the rocks that I watched a figure emerge, rubbing the moisture from his face, over the eye patch still strapped there. The well-defined planes of his bare, muscled chest bore a dewy glisten that seized my attention. The silvery, metallic-looking tattoos glinted in the light, anchoring my eyeballs to his toned arms and torso. Inhumanly perfect. As he strode closer, the water receded down his body, until he stood along the pool’s edge, at what must’ve been its most shallow depths, and there was no waistband indicating he wore swim trunks. Only an impressive V that disappeared into the surface of the water.

Completely nude.

Dear God, I couldn’t begin to imagine what the lower half of him looked like, given the striking construct of his upper half.

Keeping to the edge of the wall, I dared myself not to watch for the moment when he’d step out of that water. Chiding myself, I turned away.

Childish, Farryn. What are you, fifteen?

But not a second later, I peeked again, watching him splash water up onto his fit stomach. It wasn’t entirely out of lustful admiration that I continued to ogle the man’s physique, though. I’d simply never seen such perfection in my life. Even with the scars that I could discern from where I stood, he looked like an Adonis, with muscles sculpted and grooved by such precision, it was hard to look away.

“Shall we continue, or would you like to stay another moment?” At the intimacy of Anya’s voice, I wheezed an alarmed breath and jumped to the side to find her standing behind me, a knowing and expectant smile on her face.

“Pardon me. I was just admiring the muscles. Pool!” Swallowing back my humiliation, I inwardly cringed at myself, trying to ignore the nausea roiling in the pit of my stomach.

“Mm-hmm. Well, it is quite impressive, isn’t it?”

Lips tight to avoid saying another asinine response, I nodded.

“I should probably inform you that Master Van Croix likes to take a swim around this time every day,” she said, clearly mocking the fact that he was the most glaringly obvious reason to stare in the first place. “On we go.” With a jerk of her head, Anya stepped past me, and when I glanced back to the grotto once more, I caught Van Croix’s unreadable gaze, as he stood patting his chest dry with a towel, fully emerged from the pool. Even with his lower half shielded, I quickly looked away, with the same discomfort as if I’d seen it.

One thing was certain, for as intriguing as he was, nothing seemed to move him. He may as well have been as stony as the statues that lined the walls behind him.

The final stop on my tour of the cathedral took us out past the maze of gardens behind the estate, to a stable that could’ve been a house, for all its extraordinary stonework. Its keeper, Garic, whom Anya introduced me to, was about as friendly as a hornet trapped in a bonnet. The older man, with graying hair and deep tan wrinkles, didn’t offer so much as a hello, before he stormed off, grumbling for having been interrupted from whatever he’d been doing.

Once our meeting was over, Anya turned to face me, arms crossed. “Perhaps you might feed the dogs their supper, then wash up for your own. You’ll find fresh dresses in your chamber.”

“Dresses? We’re to dress up for dinner?”

“Oh, yes. It’s important to maintain some semblance of mannerisms. Don’t you agree?”

“Of course.” For all the charm of this place, there remained a sliver beneath the skin, a reminder not to trust it entirely. After all, I had watched a man get mauled by dogs earlier. “You’ll need to bathe after tending the dogs.”

Bathe? I’d never been much of a hard laborer, but it didn’t seem too exerting to pour a little kibble into a few bowls.

* * *

Standing beside Garic, I watched with horror, as he brought a gleaming butcher knife down hard over a bloody carcass. A deer, I guessed, given the horns he’d already cut away. Although, it’d become increasingly difficult to tell with every bit of meat that’d been chopped off. He tossed the bloody bit of flesh to the three dogs, who stood at attention, quietly and anxiously awaiting the meat. With collective growls, they fought over and devoured the food, before returning to their stiff stance, waiting on more.

Mouth opened in shock, I failed to notice Garic handing me the knife, until the butt of it hit my arm. Snapping out of my trance, I took the blood-covered handle into my palm.

Swallowing a gulp, I nodded. “Sure.” I stared down at the mutilated flesh before me, trying to wrap my head around how the hell I’d carry out such a task the next day. And the next.

The dogs shifted with impatience. In my periphery, Garic folded his arms with equal impatience.

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

With one hard whack, I slammed the blade down onto the flesh, which split where it cleaved through. Another whack sent a bit of meat skating across the floor, where the dogs grappled for it.

“So … is this just a special treat? Just an every-once-in-a-while food? Like a cheat meal for dogs?”

Garic didn’t answer, but the lowering of his brows, as if they could lower any more than his already irritated frown had them, told me he found the question ridiculous. Lip snarled, the older man hobbled off, leaving me to finish cutting up the meat.

After the dogs seemed satisfied, I covered the carcass, as Garic had instructed, and wheeled it on a silver cart that reminded me of a gurney, toward a burn pit behind the stable. Cerberus prowled behind me, his massive black form like a shadow. A horrid smell reached my nose as I pushed the cart awkwardly along the paved path. Once at the edge of the pit, I dumped the bloody remains of the poor animal over the edge, watching it fall with a thud atop other carcasses. Insects buzzed around the carnage, while the overwhelming stench of death left me retching.

Slamming a hand over my mouth, I choked back the vomit climbing my throat, and stepped back. When something hit my back, I gasped, and turning, I found a man I hadn’t yet met standing behind me, peering past me toward the pit.

Disheveled blond hair accentuated a chiseled jaw and fiery amber eyes that reminded me of Xhiphias’s. He wore a sleeveless, leather vest that buckled down the front, and the dagger strapped at his hip made him look like a warrior out of a fae romance.

“Hell of a way to go, isn’t it? One minute, you’re prancing through the woods. A king. The next, you’re butchered and thrown into a pit to burn.” Snorting, he stepped back, and when his attention turned to me, his eyes darted immediately to my chest and back. The look gave me a strange feeling that urged me to tighten the laces of my bodice. “Well, what have we here.”

Taking a backward step put a small bit of distance between us, and I glanced toward the stable to see if Garic was still about. “Who are you?”

“Security.” He rested his rough and scarred palm on the hilt of his dagger. “Who are you?”

“I’m the dog’s caretaker.”

The stranger craned his neck toward the enormous dogs, who sat back on their haunches, clearly comfortable in the man’s presence. “Are you now? So, which of them kicked your ass?” His question prompted me to touch the bump at my hairline, which still protruded there, and a look of amusement kicked up the corner of his lips.

“I fell.”

“What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“Farryn. Yours?”

Ignoring the question, he peered past me into the pit again. “To think, Farryn, that could’ve been your fate, had the dogs not taken a liking to you.”

“Where I come from, that’s murder.”

“And where do you come from?”

“Far away from here.”

He stepped toward me, forcing me two steps closer to the edge of the pit. My heart caught in my throat as I glanced over my shoulder, realizing I was only one step away from falling atop the other bodies. Or one push, rather. The stranger lifted my hand and planted a kiss to the back of my palm. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Farryn.”

Instead of responding, I stood staring back at him in confusion.

“Careful on that edge. You don’t want to fall,” he said before striding off.

Everyone here is crazy.