The Masquerade Ball (A tale of Eswor Book 1)

A time of death

The wind blew past me whipping my hair around my face. My nose was numb, despite it being fall and not that cold. I shivered a little and coughed. I spat out the blood that followed up. It seemed that the cold did not go well with the permanent poison that was killing me.

I was currently on guard duty in the dungeons and it wasn't that great. Because all of the cells had windows with bars, wind got through easily. The dampness and the rock didn't help that much as they sucked up all the heat. Sadly, my wool clothing did little to protect me from the wind.

I pulled my cloak tighter around my body. Coughs wracked my body making it hard to breath. I spit out more blood and leaned my head against the wall.

"I wish there was something to help you with those coughs."

I jumped and turned to the doorway. "Derrick? What are you doing here?"

He held up a tray. "I volunteered to bring you food."

I suddenly perked up. "Is it soup? I do hope it's soup!" I took the tray from him and put it on the table that was down here. The smell of venison stew wafted up to my nose. I sighed deeply. "This smells amazing." I started scarfing it down. Derrick sat across from me.

"It sure is cold down here." He pulled his cloak tighter around himself. I finished eating and stood up again. "How long have you been down here?"

"My shift started a little after midnight and it stops when the sun comes up."

"When do you sleep?" He looked at me worriedly.

I ignored his question and brought up another topic. "The hangings are tomorrow. It's going to take a long time as there are a lot of pirates."

Derrick stood up. "Kava, answer my question."

I ignored him and kept on talking. "I hope nothing goes wrong. Especially since the ball is next week. Imagine if some other pirates just came and tried to burn down the cas-"

Suddenly Derrick was in front of me, holding me by my shoulders. "Kava, as the Crown Prince of Galeilth, I order you to answer my question."

I stopped talking and stared at him. He only pulled this on me once and that was when we were younger and he wanted me to tell him about my real mother and father. I sighed and avoided his gaze. "I haven't slept since we got back." I mumbled.

"I didn't hear you Captain."

I looked him in the eyes. "I haven't slept since we got back." I said a little louder. I stepped back and didn't look at him. "If you'll excuse me, Your Highness I have to continue my duty as a guard."

Derrick walked towards me. "Kava look at me."

I didn't look at him. He was in front of me again and he gently moved my chin so I was looking at him. Derricks eyes were full of worry, compassion, and something else..pity?

"Is it the nightmares?" He asked, delicately. His tone was so careful and gentle like I was going to break.

I winced and looked away. "Maybe." I whispered. When I was younger I would have nightmares of what happened to my parents. This was when Kinnley and Opal lived in the castle, and they were constantly waking up every night to me screaming. Derrick and Cole would take shifts to come in and calm me down, or they would stay with me until I fell back asleep. I stopped having them when I was ten; when I let go of their deaths and realised that my parents were never coming back. Now, seven years later and the nightmares were back.