Välikirja: The Wyvern's Pact

Chapter Ten - Getting Worse

I'm dedicating this chapter to one of my favorite authors, one who has inspired me to write more. Though she's the reason why I couldn't update for the past few weeks because I was so into her story The Casquette Girls, I really have a lot to thank her for, and this is one of my tiny ways of expressing my gratitude.

I'm sorry I update quite slowly nowadays. I've been having a hard time getting back my voice and everything I write sounds so boring to me. It's so frustrating! But I'm a little fine now. :)

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Chapter Ten - Getting Worse

          Days had passed, and my body healed sooner than I had expected. As for the clues I was looking for, I could not find anything to prove that he was lying, nor could I bring myself to believe that he was lying when I had nothing to prove that he was just making up stories.

          He had invited me to dinner. Well, perhaps the word 'forced' suited the sentence better. Either way, I agreed to have dinner with him, only if he promised to feed Safia. It seemed like a nice deal. I would have dinner with him and tolerate whatever he would show, say, or do, and Safia would be given as much as food as she wanted. Come to think of it, it had been weeks since we arrived in the castle, and if it was true that Aiden never fed her, perhaps she wouldn't need food anymore. My chest tightened at the thought of my best friend not needing food anymore, not needing to breathe. This was all my fault. Was it still possible for a human to survive weeks of starvation? Would Safia still be breathing by the time Aiden sent food? I could only hope.

          "Are you sure you'll be alright here alone, Chaucer?"

          Chaucer nodded, enthusiasm dripping from his actions. "Koshka can go and have fun with Aiden." I sneered at his reply. How could I have fun if I was just doing things against my will? "Chaucer will keep himself busy with his rotten berries!"

          Oh, yes. How could I forget those putrid, rotten berries Aiden supplied for Chaucer? He would bring more than two handfuls of them everyday. The nonsensical idea baffled me. It would've made more sense if Aiden simply dropped off baskets full of rotten berries good for a few weeks, because dropping by to give a daily supply to keep food fresh only worked for food that weren't rotten. The thing that annoyed me greatly was Aiden's smile whenever he was inside my room. It was like he took delight in doing this every single day. What possible reason could he have for that strange action?

          There were two soft yet ear-piercing to my ears knocks on the door, followed by Aiden's cool voice that said, "Are you ready?"

          Ready? What did I have to do to consider myself 'ready' for this dinner? "I've already prepared my mind for whatever stunt you'd be doing later."

          As I stood up and walked toward the door to leave the room, I heard him let out a dark chuckle, as if he didn't know if he found my statement humorous or insulting. My hands shook with fear. What if I unintentionally said something wrong and he decided not to feed Safia anymore? What if, after having dinner with him, he laughed at my face for believing that he would do such a thing—feed my best friend?

          I could spend an eternity contemplating about the things that could happen after I open this door, the only thing that was standing between Aiden and me, but Safia needed me. I needed to move fast. I had made her wait long enough.

          His daunting face greeted me as I opened the door, the tiny smirk on his face making my arms' trembling even worse. "I thought you'd be wearing an elegant dress for this dinner. Perhaps I had expected too much." His breathing was so steady, his voice so calm and composed, unlike mine.