The Rose of Anthacena

Chapter 14

Violet lay in bed that night, her arms under her head, staring up at the ceiling of her bed. It was late, and she knew she should go to sleep, but she just couldn't. Her mind was too busy thinking about what Arin had told her.

Six hundred years! Violet just couldn't grasp the idea of being alive for that long. it seemed too impossible to be true, yet Arin had seemed to be serious, in what he said, how he said it, and how he acted afterwards.

It was strange, but the way he had said, "I have been here six hundred years," he sounded kind of-lonely. Odd, considering that there were who-knows-how-many servants around. You'd think he wouldn't be lonely with all of them-especially Will. He and Arin seemed to be pretty close to each other.

But even so, Violet got the feeling that Arin was terribly lonely. He needed someone besides those who had been with him before she came. She didn't know what kind of person that someone needed to be, but she decided impulsively that she would try to conquer her fear of Arin, and be just the person he needed right now.

* * *

The next day, Violet was feeling a lot better, so she continued to work on her map. The only break she took before it was time to meet Sarah for another lesson was for lunch, and it was a very short break. Because of this, she was able to complete about half of what she had left of the downstairs.

In the afternoon, she and Sarah had a wonderful lesson, just as they had the day before. The only difference was that this time, they already knew each other, and they went over different things. But either way, they had so much fun together that the afternoon just flew by.

"My goodness, I've got to get going!" Sarah exclaimed after a long while. Violet felt the piano bench shake and assumed that Sarah had jumped up from it. "I was supposed to be in the kitchen ten minutes ago!"

"Before you go," Violet said, "I'm not sure we should meet every day. It takes a lot of time away from other things. So maybe we could meet only one day a week-say...Monday afternoon? Would that work for you?"

"It should be fine, but I'll have to check with Mrs. Silvey, who's the head of the kitchens where I work," Sarah explained in a rush. "Thank you, miss, and I'll see you soon!" The door opened and closed and just like that, Violet was alone.

She got up, and, dragging herself up the stairs and into her room, threw herself across her bed. It had been another long and tiring day for her, and it wasn't even over yet. Violet was sure that Arin would want her to join him for dinner again, and she was not looking forward to it at all.

Sure enough, before too long, a knock sounded on the door. Violet sighed heavily.

"Come in," she called, unwilling to get up and go to the door herself. It opened slowly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, then yawned. "Just tired, that's all."

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Will. "In any case, the master once again requests your company for dinner." Violet buried her face in her hands.

"Fine. I'll come," she said.

"Very good, miss." Will sounded rather pleased. Then he cleared his throat. "If I may say so," he said a little hesitantly, "you might want to change into something a little...nicer." Violet looked down at herself and shrugged giving a little laugh.

"Well, I would," she replied, "but I really don't have anything that's much nicer than this."

"Huh. I shall have that fixed as soon as possible for you. The master is unpredictable, and dressing nicely may help you avoid the full power of his...terrible side. And believe me, that is something you really do not wish to see. So yes, I shall have that taken care of.