Cloak and Scalpel

ABERLEEN ARC: Mysterious as Moonlight

I struggled against the iron shackles.

As Vargas drew closer, bearing the silver dagger in his hand, I tried fighting against the shackles on my wrists, desperate to free myself. My Heart was racing again. "Let me go!" I screamed. I felt the steel biting into my skin, but I didn't care.

"You can struggle and scream all you want, Diana, no one will come for you," Vargas leered. Grasping my right hand in his, he pinned it to the cold stone beneath me as the shackle on my wrist vanished. The Elders of House Paxley gathered around us. Though their faces were covered by their hoods, I could feel their greedy eyes on us.

There was a maniacal glint in Vargas's eyes as he raised the dagger and plunged it into my wrist. I screamed as the pain hit me, and then blood flowed from the wound, and onto the cold stone floor.

"No!" I screamed.

"No one will hear your screams, Diana," Vargas said as he raised my wrist to his mouth and drank my blood.

-----

"Diana!"

My eyes flew open. My Heart was beating wildly in my chest, and a sheen of sweat covered my forehead. My eyes adjusted to the dim light to see Aamon's face hovering above my own. His brow was creased in concern. One of his hands cupped my cheek.

"A-amon," I gasped. I stared around me. I was in my bed in our apartment. I was in Castle Aberleen. I wasn't tied down and bound with shackles. I wasn't bleeding out. I wasn't dying. I was safe.

"S-sorry," I said softly. "Was I-screaming?"

He nodded. "Did you have a bad dream?" he asked as his thumb gently stroked the skin of my cheek.

"Just...Vargas," I said. My Heart was slowly calming down. "Sorry, I-"

"Don't apologize," he murmured. "It was my fault for being careless. I should not have let you go alone."

I leaned into his touch and closed my eyes. "It's not your fault," I whispered. "It just...happened. I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

My eyes adjusted fully to the dim light coming from the moonlit windows. Aamon was wearing nothing but a pair of white pants, leaving his upper body bare. Oh. I quickly looked away, blushing furiously. Had he heard me screaming and come running immediately?

"I'm sorry for waking you," I whispered, looking anywhere but at him. I could feel the heat from his body through the thin shift I wore, and the urge to push him off was overwhelming. Calm down Diana, you've seen plenty of naked men before-on the operating table, but still.

His eyes drift from mine and towards the hand lying limp at my side, at my wrist where a raw, red gash was slowly healing. His finger brushed against my wrist.

My arm jerked away from him.

"S-sorry," I said, embarrassed. "That wrist is just...uncomfortable, for now."

He stared at me, deliberating. I watched as he stood and made his way towards the other side of the bed. "What are you doing?" I asked as he threw back the duvet.

Wordlessly, he slid into the bed beside me, and I felt flames licking at my cheeks. "Come here," he murmured, bare arm reaching for me.

"What are you doing?" I repeated as my Heart started speeding up again.

"Scaring away the nightmares," he said. Before I could protest, he wound one arm underneath my shoulders, and another over my hips.

"Aamon," I protested weakly as he drew me towards him. I felt my body pressing tightly against his, felt the heat from his bare torso through the thin material of my dress. His lemon and peppermint scent enveloped me, and I blushed.