Black Blood

-B2- Chapter 59

Novak

As quickly as sleep found me, hunger finds me just as fast. My empty stomach wakes me from the best sleep in ages, following the best sex in months.

With a smile, I look at the sleeping Celeste, wrapped in blankets, only her neck visible. For the first time in ages, her face radiates peace and carefreeness.

Gently, I pull a strand of hair from her face before I step out of bed very carefully and quietly, put on some clothes, and leave the room.

She moves an arm but continues to sleep peacefully.

'More like an adult cuddle,' I say with raised eyebrows as I step into the living area of the house and look in surprise at Elien and Alisha sitting at the kitchen table.

Alisha, dressed in her blue nightgown, and Elien, wearing only loose black pants, sit across from each other with steaming cups of tea, even though both should have been asleep at this hour.

'You don't make those sounds from cuddling,' Elien responds, unaware that I am watching and trying to decipher the odd conversation.

'This is a special kind of cuddle,' Alisha confirms. Elien's black eyes look at her as if he's seeing something crazy.

'How do you do it?'

'You'll learn when you're older,' Elien sighs as he sinks into his chair.

'What's this about?' I finally ask as I step further into the room. Both heads turn towards me, Alisha's tinged with a blush.

'Have you two made up?' Alisha asks without answering my question. I can't help but suppress a small grin as I walk past her into the kitchen.

'Yes.'

'How did you do that cuddle?' I turn around, holding a piece of bread and a jar of jam in my hand, looking surprised at Elien.

'What cuddle?' I ask, dipping the bread into the jam before taking a bite.

'The cuddle that made those sounds.' I stop chewing and realize too late what this is about. I close my eyes briefly, holding back my embarrassment and laughter.

'What did you tell him?' I ask Alisha after I've finished chewing. Alisha, with her cup of tea clutched in her hands, slumps in her chair.

'Elien came to me because he was worried. He heard certain sounds and didn't know if something bad was happening. After a cup of tea, I explained to him that you were cuddling.' I almost drop the jar of jam from laughing.

While I am well aware of how awkward this situation is, and that I should have thought it through better, it does open up a conversation I never thought I'd have to have, especially with Elien.

'Elien, do you know what a man and a woman do on their wedding night?' I ask, knowing he must have heard something about it in the castle.

'Their duty,' he answers dead seriously.

'And what does that entail?'

'Having children.'

'And how are they made?' He shrugs.

'Novak,' Alisha warns as I take a step closer.

'When two people like each other, both romantically and physically, or both, they want to be as close to each other as possible. That thing you pee with is used for more than that, I hope you know. Women have something between their legs where it can go in, and if you both want it and do it right, it feels good.' Alisha has put her head in her hands while Elien listens attentively.

'How do you do it?' I become increasingly aware of how little Elien knows about this, or rather, nothing at all.

'Okay, I'm going to bed,' Alisha says with a red face before she gets up as quickly as she can and disappears into her room. Chuckling, I take a seat across from Elien at the table.

'Did they ever tell you about having children in the castle?' He shakes his head.

I take another bite of bread with jam before I begin my story. I shamelessly lay everything on the table that I believe a fourteen-year-old should know. From the logical physical aspects to the emotional part. Consent, desire, and pleasure are also topics I find important, unlike Celeste's education.

Elien stares at me attentively, sometimes surprised or embarrassed. In his black eyes, there's more than logical confusion, but he doesn't interrupt me.

'So, you guys were doing that just now?' is his first question after my long story. This time it's my turn to sheepishly run a hand through my hair.

'Yes, but it wasn't exactly the plan for you to hear that,' I sigh.

'But is Celeste going to get pregnant now?' I immediately shake my head.

'She can't have children because of her magic, and besides, there are means for women to prevent pregnancy.' Elien's face sinks when he seems to realize something.

'But in the castle, everyone was talking about how Celeste had to have a child.'

'That's correct.' I look up at the hallway where Celeste, in her black nightgown, is standing in the doorway. The black veins are now visible under her sleeves, which she would normally have pulled entirely over her wrists.

'Why did everyone want that when it couldn't even happen?' Celeste walks towards us, her hands behind her back.

'Because no one, including myself, knew that it couldn't happen.' It's quiet for a moment, and in that silence, I begin to realize that Elien not only knows nothing about intimacy but also doesn't know what Christiaan did to Celeste in the castle. The boy was blind.

'Did you want that, a child with Christiaan?' Elien asks softly.

'No.' Elien's eyes wander off into thought again before he looks back at Celeste with more doubt.

'Did you... want to have sex with him?'

'No.' Celeste has come to stand next to me, and we both look at Elien.

'But... it happened?'

'Yes.' Slowly, it seems to dawn on Elien what really happened in the castle around Celeste's marriage. His eyes stare at the wooden table, lost in harsh reality.

'Why didn't anyone do anything?' Celeste sighs deeply and walks slowly to Elien, kneeling in front of him.

'Because no one thought it was wrong. Christiaan only thought of himself and considered it normal. The other people in the castle believed that my only job was to have a child, how it happened didn't matter to them. That I was in pain or had to do something I didn't want to do was not important. I had to keep my mouth shut and do as I was told.' Elien looks at her with pain in his eyes and visibly swallows. The black eyes then shift to me, and I give him a reassuring smile.

'I'm sorry I didn't know that,' he says. She gives him a small smile as she gently takes his hand.

'You couldn't have known or done anything about it. I survived, and a lot has improved in that regard.' A grin plays on my lips before Elien looks at me. He stares at me for a moment without really seeing anything

before his gaze returns to Celeste.

'Life outside the castle is very different.' Celeste laughs and nods.

'Yes, it definitely is.'