Selene brought her hand up and rubbed sleep from the corner of my eye, smiling amusedly.
“Katrina,” she called, and the girl with the nose ring walked swiftly to us. “Percy, this is Katrina. She’ll show you to the bathroom, we’re having a working lunch. When you return, do not disrupt the meeting,” she told me and pushed her seat back, patting my upper thigh.
I stood, and stretched my arms above my head and turned to Katrina.
“Hi,” I said nervously.
Katrina only smiled, and I deflated a little, but followed her as she led the way out of the meeting room.
“I’m so glad to be out of there,” she said the moment the noise of voices from the meeting room had faded. I laughed.
“I was beginning to think you were mute,” I told her. She bumped her shoulder with mine.
“We’re not meant to speak unless asked a direct question by someone.” She looked at me. “Someone that isn’t a slave or servant,” she explained.
I nodded. “I get it,” I assured her.
“Do you?” she asked. “You’re comfortable with her—fall asleep in her lap and snore during an important meeting kind of comfortable,” she said.
“I do not snore!” I replied and panicked. Did I? I’d never been conscious to hear myself sleep. Could there be anything more embarrassing? And in front of so many people.
Katrina laughed.
“You do—not like loud obnoxious snoring—cute snores, little whistles,” she said.
“Don’t,” I complained and rubbed my hand down my face. “Really?” I asked and turned to her. Her blue eyes were bright; she was clearly a vampire of some content.
She nodded somberly. “Sorry,” she said. “I wouldn’t worry. Everyone noticed, of course, but Miss Princess didn’t seem to mind at all.” She smiled.
I laughed. “Miss Princess? She’ll hate that. I’m going to use it,” I told her.
Katrina’s face paled. “You’re not serious?” she said. “Don’t tell her I called her that!”
“Katrina, calm. It’s okay. I’m joking,” I said, worried by how quickly Katrina had gone from jovial to panicked.
“Yeah. Gotta be careful around here. You never know who’s storing up ammo to use against you later.” She sighed. “I’ve not been here long, but it’s not what I expected.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Nothing. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“You can trust me. I’ve got no reason to try and get you in trouble. I’m new here too,” I told her.
“We’re here—the bathroom,” she said and pointed to a door.
“Will you wait to show me back to the meeting room?” I asked. She nodded.
I looked at my reflection in the mirror as I washed my hands and combed my fingers through my slightly messy hair. I was nervous to go back out and face Katrina. I worried I had said or done something to upset her and ruin any potential connection with someone at Ardens Estate. I wouldn’t have the words for social anxiety if not for the one lesson we had in my healing class on non-physical ailments. I had never really suffered from such a thing until recently, but I guessed that was to be expected. Before Selene entered my life, everyone I interacted with I had known essentially all my life. Now I regularly met new people, and there was so many social and class things that I had to navigate. It was normal to experience social anxiety occasionally. I wasn’t sure what it was about Katrina that made me feel anxious.
“Sorry,” Katrina greeted me with an apology the moment I stepped out from the bathroom. “I was rude and awkward and ugh! It’s just difficult, adjusting to all this. I don’t come from a servant background,” she explained.
I laughed, happy that Katrina seemed as anxious as I was.
“Ardens Estate is…” I searched for the word. “Odd,” I settled on.
“It’s haunted,” Katrina said.
“Haunted?” I asked.
