Dark Embrace [Hoseok FF] [SOF Prequel 0.2] ✔

Chapter 17

Aaya woke up in the afternoon. Before opening her eyes, the first thing that registered was the pain she was in. Her whole body throbbed and ached, the pain insidious and continuous. Different parts of her body bloomed with pain which varied in intensity, but the worst one being from her core, between her legs.

Opening her eyes, it took some time to notice her surroundings. For a few minutes, all she could do was to bravely hold in her whimpers. She was swollen and sore, any friction hurting her to a level which she had never experienced before.

Hands shaking, she reached down to touch her core with the lightest possible graze of her fingertips, finding her inner flesh so swollen that they touched the walls, rubbing against each other. She winced again, tears leaking out of her eyes.

Trying to sit up caused her to emit a painful cry and fall back on the bed again, the skin of her back stinging. She breathed in through it, finding a new sharp pain on several spots on her neck, her breasts, her shoulders. Even without seeing them, she knew the places to bear a distinct pattern of teeth.

When the salt of her tears stung her the corner of her cut lips, Aaya gave up trying to do anything other than become a mass of suffering flesh. Peeking at her hurting wrists and arms, she wasn't surprised in the least to find heavy bruises.

"My Lady?"

Her cry had alerted the maids outside, who came inside then. Aaya flinched at the sound, not wanting a stranger to see her.

The maids both froze at the sight before them, their hearts melting at the amount of bruises that the hastily drawn blanket had failed to hide.

"Have a bath drawn for me." Aaya said in a trembling voice, "Kindly have it drawn here."

Both the maids still were frozen, the sight of one deep bite on her neck so vicious that they could not unsee the imprint. Coming to their senses, they hurried to help her, fetching the large wooden tub from the section of her bath, pushing it to just before the bed.

"Don't let others find out." Aaya's voice was hollow, but the maids obeyed, rushing out to bring buckets of water.

While away, Aaya finally started noticing the small things that her painful state hid. Her body seemed to have been carefully wiped down, her soft core gently cleaned. Her hair was combed and a messy plait made. Her sides had been lined with cotton and pillows, three jars of medicinal ointments kept on her side of bed.

Through her torment, Aaya smiled.

When the maids came back, she hesitated just a little, before accepting their help in sitting up and walking till the bath.

The extreme horrified gazes turned to a pitying unhappiness. Both the maids took care to be very gentle as they helped her sit in the tub, one of them crying silently at the amount of bruises and nail mark ruining her skin. Her shoulders, arms, back, waist, thighs and ankles were turning blue and black, while her neck, breasts, stomach and shoulders bled a little from the deep imprints of teeth.

Sitting in the bath, the warm water reliving her pain by degrees, Aaya asked the maids to bring in the herbs she needed. Directing them to make a potion, she drank it while putting on robes, but stopped when she understood that the friction would not allow her to keep the garment on her body.

Loosely draping a white robe with golden flowing etchings, she combed her hair and kept it loose.

It was only after that she asked, "Where is the General?"

"We don't know." Her maid replied stiffly, her anger evident.

Aaya smiled at the obvious bias her maid held against the Master of the household.