‘I notice you haven’t tried to kill me yet this evening.That’s an improvement, I must say.’
I took a sip of wine, then continued to eat.The vegetable side dish was far more palatable, though still over seasoned.At least the wine was good.I suspected I would need it.
‘Clara, unless you suffered a serious injury since last night I know you can hear me.Could you not at least make an effort in conversation?We cannot spend our lives in silence.’
I threw my cutlery down with a clatter.‘What is there to talk about?What common ground could there possibly be between us?’
‘We both have household staff,’ he suggested, quite unhelpfully.
‘Johanna is more like family.’
‘Ah, see, common ground already.’Raleigh leant back in his chair, clearly satisfied.‘Moira is like a sister to me.’
‘A sister you’d banish to the basement?’
‘Well, perhaps more like an aunt.I confess she does frighten me at times.Maybe in time she’ll feel like an aunt to you too.’
‘I don’t have much experience with aunts.Mine passed away years ago.’
‘See!We have that in common too.’
‘Did you kill yours?’I sneered.‘Because that might be something else we have in common.’
‘You killed your aunt?’
‘Youkilled my aunt.’
Raleigh rubbed his eyes.‘This isn’t going quite how I hoped.’
‘What do you want from me?’I asked.‘Really.What’s the purpose of forcing all this?’I gestured to the table.
He took a long sip from his goblet.‘I don’t want you to think of me as a captor.I thought this could persuade you to start thinking of me as your husband.’
Persuade me?How dare he think he couldpersuade me.
‘What are you drinking?’I asked.
‘Sorry?’
‘What are you drinking?’I nodded to the goblet in his hand.‘In there.’
He spun it slowly in his fingers.‘I think you know very well what it is.’
‘You’re right.’I stood, the chair screeching against the floor.‘So there’s the answer to your question.You, Your Serene Highness,are a monster.You captured me, and now you sit here wondering why I won’t treat you as a husband while you sip the blood of another human.If you can’t see my issue, there is nothing you can ever do to persuade me to think of you that way.’
I turned on my heels and started back the way I’d come.Raleigh called out in protest, and then he was at my side.Barely a second had passed, not long enough for any mortal to cross the distance between us.I tried not to react, but I knew I was shivering.
‘Please wait.’
‘I’m going to my room.’
‘I can see that,’ he said coldly, ‘but you need an escort.You can’t navigate the corridor in this state.’
I didn’t know what he meant.The castle may have been a maze, but I was confident I could retrace Moira’s path regardless of my mental state.I decided that not knowing was better than asking and encouraging any further conversation.He offered me an arm, which I didn’t take, but I couldn’t stop him from walking by my side.The halls felt different again.On the way down I’d thought Moira had cleaned away the cobwebs, but now they choked the hall, thicker than ever.Malice seeped from the walls.
At the top of the stairs I turned the way Moira and I had come before, but Raleigh grabbed my arm and spun me back around.‘Not that way.’
‘This is the way I came down.’
