The Special One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

When Variana finished bathing, she left the bathroom with her towel on and walked towards her bed. 

She finds a set of clothes laid out and a note written neatly.  

It read,

I thought this would look beautiful on you, my Special One.

She blushed at his kindness of picking out clothes for her. 

Lifting off the note, she put it on the marble nightstand and checked out her outfit.

Trying it on, the lace dress was knee length and complimented her curved body.  

The dress was black so it brought out her bright blue eyes.  

Her hair was still damp from the bath she took so she dried it out some more with a clean towel.

She left her hair loose so it waved down beautifully. 

Leaving the room, Variana bumps into a person who was standing right in front of her door.  

"Excuse me-" she said angrily but stopped herself when she saw it was Astedon. 

"Oh, feisty." he smirked down at her. 

"Are we going to eat?" Variana asks impatiently.  

"Of course." He flips his black hair to the side, creating butterflies in Varianas stomach.

Taking her hand, they both walk down the corridor to the Dining Room.  

"Didn't you want me to meet you there?" Variana asked.  

Astedon half smiles, "I thought you would like it if I showed you where it was, rather than sending you alone and getting lost in this huge place."  

"You think a lot." 

"Better than being stupid."

They both stop in front of already open double doors. 

Again, the doors had beautiful designs on them. 

Inside was the dining room, the round table had a red and gold glimmering designed cloth on it.

Astedon quickly lets go of Varianas hand and pulls a chair out for her at the table. Politely, she sits down and starts to think of her feelings about Astedon... and then Gondel.

"I've had the cooks prepare a meal for us, they will be out at any moment." Astedon says as he sits down in his chair.  

All Variana does is nod and look down at the empty plate before her.  

She hasn't eaten a good meal for months and was starving.  

The silence was broken when Astedon clears his throat, "The dress... looks- You. You look beautiful." he half mutters and stutters.  

Variana smiles and her eyes twinkle when she makes eye contact with him.  

Opening his mouth to say something, the cooks barge in with trays of warm, good smelling food and place them down on the table.

They serve Variana first and then Astedon.  

A roasted chicken leg, mashed potatoes, and wine was served. 

It wasn't fancy, but it was well enough to fill Varianas stomach.  

She gulped down the wine and gobbled all the food. 

Her head started to feel woozy from the wine and babbled somethings.

"Why were you so rude to me at the beginning and so kind now? What... what changed? You don't have to be nice because I'm the special one. You can treat me like shit if you want-"  

"Variana, You are not only the special one because of your brilliant powers... but also because of what an amazing women you are."

Her heart pounded and stomach flipped, she has never heard someone say something so sweet to her like that before.  

"Oh. Well thank you, lord Astedon. May I say, you are pretty young to be a lord." she babbled some more.

"My father died when I was 16. Killed, to be exact. By the most cruelest one of all. We haven't yet to discover who had done the crime, but what I know... is that the killer is in the castle. It did not happen out of these walls. I have strong, wise men protecting you and my kingdom."

"Are you saying one of your servants is betraying you?" Variana asked surprised.

"Yes, and I have a feeling there are more and they are planning to over throw me. We need you Variana. Now that they know the special one is here, there is no stopping us from fighting back."  

She had trouble swallowing down the last drop of wine and started to feel sick to her stomach.

Her plan of escaping the dark world was ruined.  

She had misunderstood him all along.  

He only wanted her to join him so she could protect him and his kingdom from something worse than the dark world. Feeling horrible by the second, her face turns pale and she starts leaning down towards the floor.  

"Varia-" Astedon starts but cuts himself off when he hears the sound of vomiting.

Variana pukes out all the food she had eaten and falls down to the floor. 

Astedon kneels down beside her and checks for a pulse. 

She was alive.  

"Variana. Oh my... " 

"I'm alright." She choked out and started to stand but was wobbly. Falling forward, Astedon catches her in his arms. "You're weak."  

Making another attempt to stand straight, she fails and falls back into Astedons arms again.  

"Let me carry you back to your room." He insisted. 

"No."  

"Please, I'm worried. You have been traveling for so long-" 

"I SAID NO!" She shouted.

He gives up trying to convince her into letting him help her.  

Letting her go, she walks out the doors and into the corridor. 

Astedon was stunned by how rude she was being.  

He was actually sharing a story he never told any of his friends before, being polite, developing emotions...

Maybe the special one is changing Astedon's ways. 

Maybe, he loves her.

~