Havoc

9: Haunted

Maya's POV

As Vaughan peeks his head through the door I sense him tense up at the sight of me. I'm laying in my bed and wearing a relatively low cut nightgown, he can't see much of anything but I'm sure a maiden like him has never before seen a bit of cleavage. Lana, Lyra an Lucia are pushed up against me to the point that if I get out of bed, I'll never be able to regain my position.

"Oh, hi Vaughan," I say as he stands awkwardly by the door.

"The Queen has your first dispatch contract for you." I now notice the piece of parchment he has in his left hand.

"Finally, I was beginning to think she just hired me to keep you company," I joke, this earns me a small smile from him. "Mind bringing it to me? I'm afraid that if I get up my demon babies will conquer the rest of the bed." I smirk at the hounds and look back up to see him approaching me slowly.

"I'm sure the contract states it but you are to attend the Autumn ball in two weeks," Vaughan says as he hands my the contract. 

I scan over it and call out to him before he can get to the door. "I don't have anything to wear to a royal ball," I say simply, hoping that he might have a solution to my problem.

"The Queen has a preferred gown maker, I'm sure you can get in contact with him through one of the maids," he tells me. 

I smile at him in response but notice that he is still lingering awkwardly near the foot of my bed.

"Is there something else?" I ask.

"I hope you don't mind me asking but how did you come into possession of your hounds? I haven't seen any animal like them before."

"That's a rather long story," I say. "Would you like to hear it?" He nods and sits down on the ottoman by the foot the bed. I watch as he reaches out and tries to pet Lucia, big mistake. She's the least docile of them all and I still haven't told them he's a friend yet. She snarls at him and almost takes off one of his fingers.

"Shit," Vaughan exclaims as he scoots the ottoman a few more inches away her.

"Cov koon! Vaughan tigh qec locareya," I say in response to Lucia's threatening action. It means 'Be nice! Vaughan is a friend' in the old language. Upon hearing this Lucia settles down, Lyra perks her ears up and Lana crawls over to him before beginning to nudge his hand with her nose. "I think she wants you to cuddle her now," I say with a smile.

"Are your sure, because I got some pretty mixed signals from that one over there," he says as he points to Lucia.

"Well they all have different personalities, idiot. That one over there is Lucia, she's the oldest, you'll have to let her warm up to you first. Lyra is generally indifferent," I say pointing to the hound with her head resting on my lap. "And Lana is a total sweetheart." I notice that he smiles a bit as I talk about them and watch as Lana grabs hold of his sleeve and makes an attempt at getting him to spoon her in the bed. 

"May I?" Vaughan asks, motioning to the jaw clamped onto the sleeve of his tunic.

"Go right ahead, and sorry if she's being a bit pushy. They rarely get any affection from anyone other than myself," I say as Vaughan lays down lightly on the far edge of the bed, Lana snuggling in close to him.

"So where did you find them?"

I then go into a relatively detailed story of how I got my demon babies. He listens intently the whole time and once I'm done he asks me another question. "Were you actually only four when you became... went, into your line of work?"

"Three and a half, actually," I reply. His dark eyes seem to tell me 'go on'. So I do.

"My father worked as a local merchant and every once in a while he would take me on his trips. One evening we were jumped by a group of assassins and other criminals. They were going to kill us both but my father made a bargain for my life with their leader, Carhmel Rookling, I got to live but only if he got to take me. I really don't remember much of it and as a child Carhmel would remind me of the story whenever I was misbehaving. He would tell me that I shouldn't waste my father's bargain by giving him reason to kill me. Carhmel trained me for five months before leaving me on the doorstep of a wealthy Adarlanian Noble. I had nothing but that dagger you looked at the other day and a simple dress. My mission was to gain his trust, spend a few weeks there and then slit his throat while he slept. I didn't fail, and I guess the rest is history." 

I look back over to Vaughan to see that his face has softened and he caries a look of sympathy in his eyes. "Tell me more," he says. "Like how you know the old language of the fae so well. I'm nearly 400 years old and even I can't speak it that fluently."

I end up telling him of my time spent in Wendlyn, Antica, Skulls Bay and the Wastes. I even start telling him of the three years I spent with the silent assassins of the Red Desert when I notice he has started drifting off to sleep. I keep talking and before I know it, oblivion reaches me as well.

~~~~~~~~

"You did this," the corpse says as I start shoveling earth into her grave. Her hair still bright red despite the months she spent rotting in the house. "You left us, and because of you, we died." I start sobbing as she continues. "If you came sooner maybe we wouldn't have starved to death, maybe I wouldn't have had to watch as my little brother clung to Mother's still warm corpse." Then it's all of them speaking to me. "You did this" they chant. "You did this. You did this. You did this! You did this! YOU DID THIS! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT CHR-"

I awake from the sounds of my own screams as well as Vaughan holding me down, keeping me from thrashing or hurting myself. My face is wet with tears and my throat dry from screaming in my sleep. As I look up to Vaughan I see worry set in his features.

"Hey. Hey, you're okay. It was just a dream," he says as he lets go of my wrists.

"Get out."

"Listen I get them too. You're not the only one and it's good to ta-"

"Get out!"

"You can talk to me if y-"

"I said. Get. Out!" I'm yelling at him now as tears continue to rush down my face. A disappointed expression appears on his face before he gets up and leaves, slamming the door behind him. 

I end up staring at the ceiling for hours until it's time for me to go train the recruits.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three days pass by and I haven't said a single word to Vaughan since that night.