Blood & Cinders- Choose your Own Adventure Story

Chapter 15

Isabelle woke with the clanging bell. Trudging into the dinning hall with the weight of sleep still clinging to her eyes.

"Someone didn't get enough rest." John joked lightly, slopping a heap of porridge into her bowl. "Looks like you got popped in the face with those dark circles!" His brown eyes crinkled with an amused chuckle and far too much gusto for this hour of the day.

"Well, if it isn't the mouse whisperer," Jacqueline and her band of girls giggled as Isabelle walked past. "Are you not going to sit with us?" Jacqueline challenged and Isabelle thought it best not to anger her today. She followed a ways behind the group, taking a seat on the far left of the bench.

It had been a mistake.

Jaqueline spent the entire lunch hour teasing Isabelle about her talking friend. Word had spread like wildfire through the castle no thanks to the blonde chatter bird. 'A perversion of nature by that witch,' she called it. As if the rest of the castle isn't already damned. But Jaqueline could not leave well enough alone.

Isabelle kept her mouth busy with her food and when finished, silently rose and made her way to her daily duties. Not giving Jaqueline the satisfaction of knowing just how much her words had dug their way under her skin.

Most of the Blood Maids took this time to play games and socialize amongst themselves. Chess was a popular pastime. They would bet what few francs they had on games. Most would convene in Jacqueline's room for gossip and wine they'd snuck in their skits from a nobles room. And some poor souls were called upon by their nobles to serve early.

Isabelle had seen the cruel whip lashes across the backs of many girls while bathing. Crisscrossed ribbons of red and brown across a canvas of flesh. Some marks healing and some fresh. And after a while those faces were gone, replaced with new ones whose backs were a clean sheet to draw upon once again.

Not every girl was as lucky as Isabelle and very few had pleasant relationships with their nobles; their jealousy written in the cold glares and smirks she received. A few blood maids entertained lawn games in the afternoon. Isabelle had seen a few cat-like creatures playing cricket with a gaggle of blood maids. She would watch from the window with envy, at the fun. Until, she caught the glimpse of a poor blood maid beaten with the wooden mallet and she no longer had the longing to play.

Isabelle's daily routine was different from the girls. She would often spend her mornings in the kitchen. Helping John and the other scullery maids clean up after the morning's meal before making her way to the wash pits to say a quick greeting to Sarah. Sometimes sneaking her some kitchen sweets wrapped in her apron.

Some days she would be allowed to visit Rosie in the Throne room or the Green house depending on the king's mood.

Today Madame Gion had caught her with a feathery talon hand on her arm as she left the dining hall after breakfast. Ordering her back to her room for bed rest and instructing her to slit her wrists in her room before supper. Normally, she would cut them after dinner and a bath. Nobles liked their blood still warm. But it seemed her dark circles had caught the watchful eye of the Madame. The owl's yellow stare narrowed on her as she shut her in her room, missing her opportunity to sneak down to the kitchen or inquire about visiting Rosie.

She ran a finger over the ever growing raised scars on her thin wrists. She had gained a little weight since arriving, thanks to John stuffing her extra sweets and buns when he could. But it was not enough to abate the fatigue that set in after every time she filled her small cup. Perhaps she would be more alert for her time with Adam tonight, Isabelle thought before drifting off, curled up on her cot.