Downfall

Chapter 5

Cooking was so much fun.

It was the only thing that made her feel at home, even in a place that looked like hell, the only thing that kept her sane in what felt like a legalized Asylum, passing day after day with Oneth, doing chores, cleaning suspicious spots of blood and other fluids, while screams echoed through those labyrinth halls. Surprisingly, not a single word had come from the King yet.

Rirgen had kept his promise and had brought everything she needed, providing a makeshift kitchen good enough to create simple recipes. He had said that skinning an animal was way less fun than a demon, but at least now she had meat, those proteins so needed after all that work.

Adapting to that place was hard, almost impossible, but with no way of escaping in sight, she had no choice other than following the rules and hoping the King forgot about her.

Trying to light the fire necessary for the cooking was way harder that she expected, but after a good thirty minutes, the stone she was supposed to use as a grill was hot and the meat could be cooked, together with other veggies that where left on the table.

Now that it was a little more furnished, the chamber looked much cozier, almost like a medieval kitchen, its small window staring into the dark landscape giving it a nostalgic mood, memory of the beach house she used to stay at with her nana while growing up.

Could she ever see them again? Her family, her friends...was there a way to go back? It seemed crazy to have accepted her fate so easily...but did she really?

Of course, if she ended up here it was for a reason, as she kept repeating to herself, and she probably could not have known yet, but there was hope in her heart. Hope to go home, to be set free from that dark place, living as a person and not a slave.

But she could not survive on hope alone, not there, that was why she had to adapt quickly.

Why did destiny decide to send her there in the first place? Was she supposed to learn something? To discover secrets about her future enemies by living with them first?

Who knew.

It hadn't been a long time before a servant went to retrieve her and said she was expected to be by the King side, finally. She shouldn't have waited for that, but she was indeed curious. Also, being near him was the best way to know his secrets and learn more.

There was some type of hypocrisy in those thoughts, the want of leaving, but the need of knowing more. Such a incoherent person she was.

The woman led her through a new area of the castle she had never visited before, making her realize she had still so much to uncover about that place, it was a nightmare.

Her heart was pounding, anxious of meeting him again, of what that male would have made her do, what a monster could want from a pet.

She took a big breath and turned a corner, following the slave in front of her with a newfound calm.

Now what?

A long arched stone corridor guided her towards what looked like a garden, luxurious and vivid, its bright colors unexpectedly balanced to the monochrome of the architecture, giving a more relaxed vibe to the ambience. A porched way opened up to the space, framing the vegetation with an artistry she did not expect, making it look like a European castle of fairytales, just on the darker side, as if inhabited by a vampire lord.

Well, a demon king was way worse, so it fitted well.

However, she did not think she could actually find a part of that castle beautiful, but here she was, stunned eyes darting between the lush greenery and the multicolored flowers and plants that stood in what seemed like a mini sized forest, ceiling open to reveal the light of the two moons in a starless night sky, casting different shadows on the leaves.