Kiara

Chapter 5

Kiara woke mid-morning the next day feeling disoriented ; the king, the royal doctor and several maids in her room all looking at her wearing worried expressions especially her father.

"What's happening?" she asked feeling confused, wishing with all her heart that they had not found out about what happened last night.

"How are you feeling darling? We heard a scream from your chambers this morning" the king said seating at the edge of the bed concern etched across his face.

"I had been having a nightmare father and I had a huge headache after that but I am feeling fine..." she said her voice coming off in pieces.

"The doctor said you had a very high fever so you are going to have to stay in your bed for treatment, I do not want you to get sick"

"But father it was just a headache...." Kiara said trailing the phrase, maybe it was a good thing that she is allowed to stay in bed and she wouldn't have to face her father's questioning gaze she thought.

"I can't lose you too darling you understand? let the doctor treat you" with those words he stood up and kissed her on the forehead before getting out of the room leaving her to the care of the doctor.

After the doctor had given her numerous potions to drink for the fever and headache, Kiara was left alone. Taking hold of the occasion, she got out of bed and hid the small silver dagger with a golden handle she had taken from last night's victim. She remembered everything as if it had just happened; the fright in the man's eyes, his piercing cry after she had sunk her fang in his jugular vein and the way he had batted his legs before his last breath.

She had a feeling of self-loathing, never in her life had she even dreamed of killing a person but she had killed a man in cold blood; drank his blood and ate his flesh it was as if it was the most normal thing she had become a monster. She got back into her bed and cried.

She was awakened later by Aria who brought her hourly dose as prescribed and breakfast; it was odd to her that she had not seen Celia the whole time. Celia was not the kind to be absent without any big reason.

"Aria where is Celia?" she asked suddenly

"His majesty accorded her a day off; her father was murdered last night I personally think it was the creature's work." Aria said sadness evident in her voice. Kiara gasped in horror and suddenly it was hard to swallow the slice of apple she had been munching.

"I am sorry my lady if I said something inappropriate" Aria hurried and wiped the sheets where the half chewed apple had fallen while Kiara wiped her mouth. "It's nothing Aria, how is she?"

"She is very devastated, he was returning home after long years of not seeing him, they had thought him dead"

"Oh send her my condolences and tell her that she can stay at home as long as she wants" Kiara said sadness gripping at her heart how could that have happened? She was hurting people all around her what would she do now? How did she know that the next man wouldn't be her dear father? She frowned at the thought she would never forgive herself if she did that.

"Aria, Go and come later for the bath I want to be alone for now" she dismissed her and turned to other side so she wouldn't see the tears flowing down her cheeks again, what could she do? She transformed into a creature that supposedly feast on men and couldn't even control it.

She thought Celia the maid whom she had come to like she couldn't imagine what it was like to lose a father and now she had taken hers, the little girl who was now an orphan and all the others who had lost their husbands and sons, and the ones who were about to.