The Lady of the Lake: Vivienne

Chapter Five.

Just as I was about to hit the hard wooden floor I heard the scraping of a chair being pushed back. A firm hand gripped my elbow and squeezed it tightly, sending pain shooting up my arm, as the leader steadied my on my feet.

"We must be scaring the poor girl," the man beside me joked, tightening his grip around my arm, "We should let her do her job serving us. Or maybe she just needs to be taught a lesson."

His sweaty hand felt up the length of my thigh trough the thin shift until it rested on my bottom. He lowered his face to my ear as I felt his hot breath on my neck. I kept my eyes to the floor and resisted the urge to shake him off of me.

"You seem to be new here," he sneered, "Like you need to be broken in."

With his other free hand he grabbed my wrist and twisted it behind my back as he shoved my face into the rough wood of the table. Squeezing my eyes shut, my body went rigid as his hand continued to grope at me. Before the brute could go any further, someone cleared their throat loudly.

"Sir, I think we should go over any important military plans before partaking in the services here," Marcus interjected with a slight edge in his voice, "The men are eager to hear what our next plans will be."

I could feel the man's slimy gaze shift from me to Marcus as he mulled over his words. There was a long heavy pause in the room that seemed to drag on until he broke the tension binding us all.

"Very well," the man agreed before releasing me from my hold and shoving me to the floor.

Relief flooded through my body as I scrambled to my feet and bowed deeply to the men sitting in the room before making my escape. Leaving the room, I could feel Marcus's searing gaze on me the entire time, but I refused to meet it. The hot sticky feeling of that man's touch crawled all over my skin until it culminated in a pit of shame and disgust inside my stomach. How would I face him the next time we met after he witnessed me in such a situation?

As I shut the door behind me I let out a shuddering sigh and leaned against its frame for support. Acid churned in my stomach and I quickly emptied its contents into a nearby vase, promising to clean it later. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and shakily stood up as one of the younger girls approached me.

"Dorcas is looking for you," she informed me as she sidestepped me – a new jug of wine was nestled in her hands.

Before she could enter the room I grabbed her arm and whispered, "Be careful."

A nervous smile splayed across her lips before she disappeared into the room.

I found Dorcas hanging up freshly washed linens as the children darted in and out of the billowing garments and sheets. She had just been entwined in some of the sheets by Thelonius as he frantically evaded Amelia. I leaned against the wall as I watched them play before Dorcas took notice of me.

"Gods and Goddesses, Laelia," she exclaimed, untangling herself from the linen and making her way over to me, "You look like you've seen a ghost and you're shaking."

She grabbed my hand in hers and gazed up at me with worry-filled eyes, "What happened?"

I slithered my wrist out of her palm and mumbled as I averted her eyes, "Nothing in particular."

"You're lying. You're such a bad liar, why do you even try?" she questioned, putting a cold hand on my cheek, making me face her.

Tears brimmed in my eyes as the shock of it all hit me and I looked down at my feet as I relayed to her what had happened. After I had finished I looked back up at her to find her eyes narrowed into slits as she breathed heavily.