Chapter 12 Cornered
I
"Leila... there you are! I've been looking for you everywhere. Where had you been?" Ardith walked towards her friend who stood shivering in the rear end of the back garden. She didn't respond and this scared and worried Ardith. " Leila, are you okay?"
Leila turned around in a very slow pace, her shaky hands dropped while her face, a ghastly tone of white was a hopeless remedy of what it was before. Incredibly impressed, Ardith stood still. The radiant freshness on Leila's skin was gone and now she looked like a cadaver; her face was a gaunt specter of death. Her black eyes glittered with a reddish tone and dark circles had grown noticeable under the eyes. The woman, far from her flamboyant and gracious appearance looked like an ill woman and that took Ardith aback. "For God's Sake Leila! What had happened to you?"
"I... I don't know. I think it was too much for me. It's that I can't see blood. That's something am not able to control. My stomach wallows and I always feel nauseous." Leila's produced in a shaky and hoarse voice.
"Oh, well, that is understandable. It happens to many people. Certainly it was a very disturbing scene... The headless animal gushing blood... Well, at least it's dead."
"I think so, yes... Ardith, my dear, can you walk me to my dormitory? I'm not feeling well." Like a little girl, Leila pleaded Ardith and then both girls holding hands headed to the interior of the castle.
Hidden behind the bushes nearby, Orla spied the girls. As she observed cautiously how they walked to the castle, she muttered to herself, "There is something I don't like about this woman. I know she hides something and whatever it is, it's not good. So many strange things had happened since she got here and I think I need to keep an eye on her afterwards."
II
It's been three days after that servant was found dead and now something worst that a hungry bear lurked beneath the stoned walls of the Harzburg castle. It was the shadow of a sudden illness befalling once again over the Cuthberht's mansion, this time afflicting young Ardith. Everyday the lady seemed to grow weaker and rather she preferred to stay in her bed chambers spending most of the time sleeping.
"Are you telling me that those tiny bites first appeared a week ago? It's very strange though. They seem as if sealing in the outside but still they are very swollen in the center. The lady must have some kind of infection." Baron Ascili and Orla conversed about the lacerations on Ardith's neck. With care the medic proceeded with the further examination while taking notes in his old shabby leather notebook. Once he finished revising the young lady, Ascili informed Orla and Lord Aelderic of the herbs needed to prepare infusions and remedies that to his best understanding were efficient to heal or at least improve the young duchess' health state.
"Thank you very much Baron, I'll send the girls to collect the necessary plants. Orla can assist you if it's considered necessary. Please, make these concoctions to be administered right away. I'm so worried about my daughter. I've never seen her like this." Lord Aelderic swallowed poignantly the lump choking in his throat.
"Excellent. If all the plants are available in the kitchen's orchard, it's a matter of minutes to give her the first dose, and every other six hours it can be repeated. It is important to observe the injury before, during and after the treatment. Pests can bite and disease make a route through the bloodstream. If it gets worse, the illness can get to any vital organ inside the body and cause the death", Ascili advised.
"God forbids, Baron! I'll go down to the garden to start collecting those herbs myself." Orla left the room immediately.
The maidservant closed the door behind her and she met Leila in the hall, standing close to the room's door.
"How is my friend." Leila promptly asked Orla.
"Your friend looks bad... very bad indeed." Orla retorted in a not too friendly attitude. The mere presence of Leila upset her.
"Oh God! What does the doctor say? Does he already have any idea of what she might be suffering of?" Leila looked anxious.
"Baron Ascili thinks that her illness must be related with a strange bite on her neck."
"Bite in her neck? That's weird, isn't it? What could bit her?" The woman seemed to have some special interest in the bites and that resulted strange to Orla, who was more concentrated in Leila's gestures than in her words.
"I do not know, but whatever it was, I'll find it and crush like the filthy cockroach it is." Orla responded suspiciously, watching Leila's reaction. "I beg your pardon, but I'm wasting some precious time here, when I should looking for herbs to make the infusions that hopefully will cure my girl." Withdrawing, Orla walked down the hall, while the stranded countess watched her climb down the stairs towards the first floor, clenching her jaw mortified by the nanny's perspicacity.
Yet, once the maidservant was out of sight, a a wicked smile formed in raven haired lady's lips. The disliking was reciprocal because Leila didn't like the fat old woman either. Her mischievous smile dropped to the most serene and amiable face when the door to her side opened and Lord Aelderic and Baron Ascili walked out conversing about the poor girl's condition.
The doctor politely greeted Leila who was standing in the hallway staring at the men. "Lady Leila, how are you today? I'm glad to find you so improved."
"Oh yes thank you very much. I am so grateful for your wise advice and care. And thanks to that and to all the kindness that everyone had payed to me everyone in this house. They've received me so well and took care of me. That is why you see me so recovered Baron Ascili." Leila replied to the medic while launching the duke a coquettish smirk and a baffled Lord Aelderic couldn't take his eyes off the gorgeous woman.
"Well, I beg your pardon, but I must retreat to my bed chambers. I need to unpack and organize gear. I will send a word as soon as infusions are ready. Now, please excuse me, Lord Aelderic, milady", the man politely retired to his room, down the hall.
"Lord Aelderic, I am so worried about this sudden and strange illness that afflicts the duchess. You know, Ardith has become more than a friend to me, like a sister I better say... and you, Lord Aelderic, you have been like a loving father to me. The paternal figure that I long to hug and to be cradled on his lap." Leila closed the gap between her and the Duke in the most sensual and flirtatious manner. Her gracious and almost rhythmical movements fascinated the widower while she placed her hands on his chest gently.
Lord Aelderic's almost forgotten manly instincts suddenly seemed to wake up. His heart hammered frantically to find himself so close to such a spectacular young woman. Leila exuded sensuality and eroticism in all her essence. Maybe it was due to the long time since he was this close to a female. The man had almost forgotten the blooming scent on a beautiful woman's skin and Leila was beyond beautiful. He had restrained himself of any affective relationship since his beloved Edwina passed away in respect to her memory and her still grieving child. But now that he had this woman in front of him, fortuitously placing her delicate hands on his chest, heat streamed up his spine making him feel alive.
Only a few inches separated them. Leila's threatening proximity felt so good. Her face leaning closer to his and the man was delighted, drunk with the sweet smell of her breath. It was like a rich mixture of roses and red wine. And her body! Oh her body's scent even more delicious; seductive and soothing scent of blooming lavender and lilies.
"Sir Aelderic... I find no way to repay such kindness and all the caring you have given to me." Her voice sounded like a lullaby.
"I... I'm not asking for anything in return. My daughter found you and helped you, like the good Christian she is. In this moment your sincere friendship and the affection shown for my beloved Ardith together with your prayers is more than enough repayment to me." Without noticing he was cornered against the wall the duke spoke.
"That is so kind, Sir Aelderic. But if you ever think of any other form in which I can repay, just let me know. I feel indebted to you." Leila answered, placing a kiss on his cheek. Smirking, the lady just walked away with an overstated provocative fro.
The Duke covered his erection with one hand and wiped away the sweat from his forehead with the other. He couldn't deny that Leila had awakened in him feelings that seemed to be buried with the death of his wife. That woman was an enigma... a sensual and heavenly enigma his body craved to decipher.
YOU ARE READING
Ardith - A Vampire Story (editing)
Vampire(Featured Story in Spanish) Ardith Cuthberht is the daughter of the powerful duke of Harzburg. When she was a girl she lost her beloved mother and as a grown lady the man she loved was sent to battle in far away regions. One day Ardith found a seve...
