Downfall

Chapter 8

Another number of days had gone by and the nocturnal puking was not getting better.

Yesterday's dinner had been great, Rirgen had brought chicken for the first time, but vomiting half of it during the night, after another horrible nightmare where she kept seeing people being slaughtered, had not been pleasant, and now her belly was worse than ever. The cat had visited her again during her sickness, like the first time it had happened, as a pet therapy of sorts, its presence always calming and cuddling her to sleep.

Of course, in the morning it was always gone.

Will it ever stop?

Only the night after her self pleasure had been quiet, falling asleep soundly and waking up rested, but it was no news, being one of the aftereffects of it. However, she had promised herself never to do it again. It had been a mistake.

Ase sighed, stirring the soup in the little pan on the fire. Making breakfast was not appealing, but she needed to eat if she wanted to have the strength to survive that place, especially after removing from her body most nutrients by kecking.

Some small bubbles made her understand that the porridge was ready, removing it from the stove and setting the pot on the table, together with a glass of water.

It was simple and decent, not too elaborate for the stomach to digest, as her nana had taught her, but after a couple of spoonfuls, she already wanted to stop eating.

I knew it...

She stood, covering the bowl with a lid and placing it in the cold hole Rirgen had created for her on the ground, similar to a makeshift fridge.

"You're not hungry today?" The voice of the butcher asked, scaring her for a second.

She turned, almost dropping the porridge, saving it by few inches.

"Rirgen. Don't ever do that again." A hand on her heart, still racing.

Speak of the Devil...well, Demon in this instance.

"Are you ok?" His dark eyes almost perplexed.

"Aside from being scared to death by your sneaky entrance?" She tried to laugh.

"You haven't eaten." He looked at the bowl, still in her hand, ignoring the joke. "Is not of your liking?"

"Oh...no I love it. It's just...I'm not very hungry."

"I see. It's weird to think you can feel hunger and not. One might think you always are, since you need it to survive."

"You know, seeing people being killed can close up your stomach pretty well." She stated. He furrowed his brows. "How could you understand. You're the butcher..." A sigh left her mouth, misunderstood.

"I'm sorry." He seemed quite sad.

"It's not your fault...I'm just tired, that's all." She smiled, trying to act casual. "This slave thing is killing me." She massaged her temples.

"Really? You should tell it to the King then. He wouldn't want that." The guy seemed quite worried.

How cute.

"It's a figure of speech." She laughed. "And no, I don't think he cares at all. If anything, he'll probably give me even more work by washing him every night or something."

"That's a great honor."

She leveled a stare then, as if she could care less.

He smiled. "Anyway, I should go. Have plenty of bodies for today."

Ase made a disgusted expression. "Where do they come from?"

"Some from the Hearings, others from everywhere in the realm. People bring corpses as gifts."