Chapter 6, 1969: Unconsciousness

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A few weeks went by. Alcina did not say anything about her dream. She dreamed nearly every night this dream, but it was getting more and more intense, so she would wake up being a total mess. One time she woke up with her legs still shaking and every morning when Melisande came to help her dress and her hands were brushing over her skin Alcina thought she would lose her mind. Sometimes Melisande was smiling in a specific manner when waking her up, like if she knew that her dreams were exquisite torture. Why torture? Because within the last nights the dream abruptly stopped seconds before she reached her climax, making her squirm with pleasure when she woke up.

Currently she was sitting in the dining room together with her daughters. They had mixed feelings about her mothers decision of making Melisande the housekeeper. Bela liked her. She said she was happy not to be the only blonde one in this castle and she was the one showing her around and even offered to help her with certain tasks. Maybe she was a bit stiff around her, but Melisande knew that it was because of her lust for blood. But she kept her promise towards her mother and did not harm her.

From Daniela Melisande learned how maidens were punished. Daniela expected their guest to complain about the torture or that she at least would be terrified, but surprisingly she was not doing any of this, which left Daniela with a slightly bad feeling. She even showed Melisande the dungeons with all its blood and smell of death. Most people would vomit when standing in front of a corpse whose legs and arms were missing and whose eyes were hanging out of its socket, but the only thing she did was look a bit disgusted, saying: "I see what she meant with being careful down here."

The one being frustrated the most was Cassandra. She never questioned her mother again directly, but when she was around Melisande, she would try to make her come with her and when she refused, she would become mad. One morning, when she was in the kitchen watching over the maidens, Cassandra tried again and when she refused, Cassandra grabbed the head of a maiden and sliced her neck open drinking her blood in front of another five maidens who screamed in shock. Melisande just sighed heavily and looked at Cassandra disapprovingly, who was surprised by her calmness. "Bring her down to the dungeons.", she ordered looking at a maiden and grabbed Cassandra by the arm. All maidens had looked incredulously, including Cassandra herself. She was not used to someone fighting back. "Stop eating my maidens. You heard Lady Dumitrescus orders: I decide when someone needs to be punished." Cassandra's smile became sadistic. "Who do you think you are talking to?! You are just a dumb human!" Who knows how it would have ended when Daniela would not have stopped her sister.

For now everything was calm and Cassandra under strict observation of her mother, whether she liked it or not. Alcina was lost in her thoughts, staring at her Melisande, who was standing near the entrance of the hall, ready for orders. Her long, blonde hair was braided and she was wearing a completely black robe and black gloves. These gloves were not a part of the dress code, however she insisted on wearing them, only when she was alone with Alcina she took them off. Alcinas gaze focused on her round, naturally red lips and nearly bit her own. She could not help herself, her thoughts wandered to her dreams, to what she had done with those pretty lips of hers. She gulped.

"Mother?", it was Daniela's voice. Lady Dimitrescu looked at her daughter with a perplexed expression. "You are staring. Is everything alright?" In the background Bela and Cassandra were giggling. The lady needed a moment to understand the situation, but when she did she cursed herself for being so obvious. "I am alright. My sleep was just a bit uneasy today.", she said, her voice being a little rough. She reached out for her glass and took a sip. "Are you not hungry?", Bela asked. "No. Not today." She raised her hand a little bit and Melisande stood next to her, taking her plate and bringing it away. Alcina swore she saw her lips curl to a knowing smile.

No one noticed that the door opened and when they noticed the smelly, rotting corpse with a axt was already standing next to them, raising the axt. "Cassandra! Watch out!"Alcina shouted as she jumped from her chair, her glass teared to the ground. It was such a short period of time. How did she not notice this thing? Unfortunately, Alcina's height made it nearly impossible to move fast enough to save her daughter. Within a second she would be...

A loud metallic sound ended the terror in Alcinas mind. The axt fell to the ground and the ghoul slowly turned blue before turning withe, his movement was frozen, his eyes empty and lackluster. The ghoule had turned to stone. Alcina as well was frozen for a moment, before rushing to her daughter who still was a bit baffled. She kneeled down, cupping Cassandra's checks. "Are you alright?", she asked. "Y-yes mother. I just don't really get what just happened." Bela and Daniela too jumped from their seats. "Oh my child.", Alcina said with worry in her voice. It nearly sounded like she was about to cry. When she looked finally at what had caused the ghoule to petrify, she was even more surprised to look in the silver eyes of Melisande, who stood behind it, one ungloved hand touching the back of the ghoule. 

“What are you?”, she heard Bela whispering in disbelief. Alcina rose and observed the creature, carefully touching it. "It is dead…", she said, taking a deep breath. "We need to talk. Immediately." 

When Melisande entered her chambers, Alcina guesturend her to take a seat in front of her armchair. It was silent for a few minutes. "My lady, I am sorry. I didn't mean to…" She was interrupted by lady Dimitrescu who raised a hand. "Don't you dare to apologize. You saved my daughter. I have no clue where this creature came from so fast and why we did not notice. I am grateful that you acted so fast.", she smiled at her, but her smile was hiding something. "And yet there is something you want to talk with me about.", Melisande noticed with a soft voice. Alcina nodded and reached out for the old book that was laying on the nearby table. With an elegant move she opened the book and handed it to Melisande. “I see.”, was all she said when she finished reading. Her posture became a little stiff. "Flora arescet. Tell me about it.",Alcina commanded with a neutral voice but it had a stern undertone. "I know you suffer from it and I want to ensure that you are in control of those powers.", she looked at her gloved hands. 

Melisande seemed nervous and red spots showed up at her neck. "My lady, I don't want to arouse your resentment, but I…", she stuttered, "It is just not a topic I want to talk about." Lady Dimitrescu leaned back and dropped one leg elegantly over the other. Her hands were grabbing the armrests. She looked threatening with her cold, warning gaze in this sublime position. "I understand, but you see I can not bear to have somebody in my castle, in my household who is keeping secrets from me. This is not tolerable. I have three daughters and I have seen what happened to the ghoul. So, tell me what you are or leave my castle."

Melisande looked up, her silver eyes shimmering heavenly. In her inner heart Alcina hoped she would tell her, she did not want to let her go, but as a mother she had to protect her children, no matter what. The expression of her housekeeper was a bit sad and she looked worried as if she was fearing the consequences of her telling the lady the truth, but after a few moments a light, soft smile appeared on her lips. Suddenly she seemed so calm Alcina herself began to feel a bit uneasy. This was the feeling Daniela had been talking about, when she had found Melisande in the courtyard. It felt like you were about to suffer, it was like the bad feeling deep in your stomach seconds before someone would betray you. 

When Melisande rose from her seating to walk closer to Alcina, the lady had already lost herself in her silver shining eyes. She began to feel tired, very tired. "What are you … doing?"the lady asked with an exhausted voice, which sounded like she was about to lose consciousness. Her breath was heavy and her heart was hurting. Something forced it to slow down. She was about to fall forward, but she felt Melisande's arms preventing her from doing so. Her eyes were too heavy now, she could not let them open. The last thing Alcina felt was the warmth of Melisande's body and her calm breath against her ear. 

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