I pause in the great hall only long enough to warm myself by the fire. It’s always blazing magnificently.
Who maintains it? Him? An endless supply of firewood is stacked nearly to the vaulted ceiling in a stone alcove near the hearth. Is that where he goes during his absences? Hunting and gathering fuel?
How long will he be gone this time? Apart from the wind, the castle is silent.
No screams from below.
Nothing.
Just the quiet and my movements as I select a thin piece of wood from the stack.
I did some preliminary exploring yesterday before starting to clean. I grabbed that bucket partly as an excuse in case he discovered me wandering. But he stayed away for hours. Most of the daylight.
I’m counting on similar timing today as I nudge my makeshift torch into the blazing hearth.
The castle does contain more furnishings on the lower levels. With the vaulted ceilings on each floor, the main structure rises only eight stories. This doesn’t include the tower where he keeps our chambers, which extends another six stories skyward.
I can’t imagine the place’s age or our location, for this fortress to still be standing.
My mind was full of such questions yesterday, but today I have different priorities.
I’m on a mission for answers, however dangerous it might prove.
I might not be thinking clearly, but who would be after last night?
I felt things. Obviously, the physical pleasure that nearly shattered my consciousness.
But there was more.
I don’t know how to be that intimate with someone without developing deeper feelings. I don’t know how to receive that level of attention, to be brought to such heights, and not start to?—
I need to know if I can trust him.
I need to know if he’s deceiving me.
I’ll lose my mind if he keeps affecting me this way while I remain uncertain about his honesty.
So after my makeshift torch catches flame, I don’t hesitate. I wrap the base with the inverted pelt to protect my hand, then turn toward the stairwell.
I begin my descent from the main floor into the darkness of the unlit levels below.
Down and down I go as fire consumes the wood. Sparks and burning fragments fall onto the fur protecting my grip.
I move faster. The flame dances wildly each time the wind from above gusts down the spiral stairway.
I focus on my footing and maintaining balance, determined not to tumble into a fiery heap.
The fire rapidly devours my torch as I continue descending, but I don’t stop. I push deeper into the encompassing darkness.
I will have answers.
I will discover what secrets he guards in that dungeon.
Even if part of me is terrified of what I might find.
Because after last night, after feeling so much, I need to know if this magnificent, dangerous creature is someone I can trust with my heart.
Or if I’m just another conquest in whatever dark game he’s playing.
