Tell No One

Chapter 41

Dinner that night was as awful and stilted as it always was. Tonight's dish was a venison carpaccio, and as enticing as it was, Kiera could not help but feel a tad distracted. She felt emboldened by her earlier confrontation with the servants, but still a bit distraught at not yet being able to speak to Shelia. She supposed she wanted to... clear the air? Apologise? It felt odd to even think that, yet Kiera knew she owed her that much. It was frustrating; Shelia was here every dinner time, bringing out food, topping up drinks- but yet Kiera could not speak with her.

"Do you not like it?" Ramatee spoke from his end of the table, staring at where Kiera was absent-mindedly poking her food with her fork.

"Oh um.... yeah, it's lovely thank you." She gave him a small smile at quickly stuffed a slice in her mouth to appease him. Chewing it through, Kiera's mind flitted back to earlier on that day- more specifically, to Molly. Placing down her fork with a small clank, Kiera looked up to Ramatee.

"Do you know all your servants by name?" Ramatee looked wary as he carried on chewing. Placing down his own cutlery, he rested his elbows on the table and linked his fingers in front of him.

"Yes?"

"So you know Molly?" 

"Yes. I'd say I do."

"She's human, isn't she? How did she come here? To the Abyss?"

Ramatee's eyes flickered down for a second, thinking. They were both alone in the room, the kitchen staff absent for once.

"Yes. Well, do you know the selection process to work in the Keep?" Kiera shook her head. Ramatee pressed his linked fingers to his lips, trying to decide where to start.
"The Abyss is made of three Reaches. The First Reach is the Keep. You might have guessed, but it's where I live." Kiera rolled her eyes, and Ramatee let out a humorous huff. "The Second Reach is where the creatures of this dominion live. The 'bad' creatures who are not human." Kiera nodded, following. "The Third Reach is where the humans sent here get punished. They're given a sentence to carry out and when that is up...Well, you can guess what happens."

"They go into the Abyss." Kiera sat back on her chair, mulling the information over in her head.

"To work in the first reach, there are several requirements a human needs to meet. One, they have to qualify for the Abyss. Two, they have to only just qualify for the Abyss. Obviously, you're a special case." Ramatee punctuated his words with an amorous smile which made Kiera squirm a little. The reminder was poignant, as gentle an admonition as it was. Kiera chose to ignore it for now.

"And Molly? What did she do?" Ramatee leant forwards.

"Murder." Kiera stared, puzzled for a moment before letting out a haughty scoff.

"Yeah right. Isn't murder a mortal sin or something? Doesn't that apply here."
"True whilst bad, it was righteous. The man she killed beat her badly, on an almost daily basis. One day-" Ramatee snapped his fingers- "She stabbed him. Just like that." 

"What, and that qualifies for the First Reach?" Ramatee shrugged.

"What she did wasn't necessarily bad. Here, we don't condone murder. But then again, we don't exactly condemn it." Ramatee smirked at her and returned to his food. Kiera felt the blood rise to her face, a blush dusting her cheeks at the obvious jab at her doings on Earth. She didn't know why she felt so embarrassed about it- she certainly didn't feel embarrassed whilst she was doing it. But yet, seated upon the lush upholstery, dining with a king, she felt undeserving. Where were those people now? Certainly, most of them would be in the Third Reach. But some of them...

Kiera's stomach suddenly bottomed out. Shelia. What had Shelia done? Why was Shelia here? She didn't know why she hadn't questioned it before- Ramatee was looking at Kiera again. Kiera quickly averted her gaze and lifted up her fork. She could save the questions for later- now she had to eat. 

***

After dinner, the two gave each other a terse farewell before Kiera returned to her room and Ramatee returned to his duties. Kiera wanted to ask what he did, but she supposed that was a question better saved for another time. 

Climbing into bed, Kiera realised that Mera had broken his promise. She hadn't even thought of him until right now. A part of her felt guilty for not realising sooner, but she quickly admonished herself.

He broke his promise.

It was frustrating. There was simply no way to find someone quickly in this place- it was a virtual labyrinth. And now Kiera knew there were three reaches; he could well be anywhere. Much like the night before, Kiera found herself with her knees drawn to her chest, hugged close to her as she looked out the window at the ever darkening sky. The rose-tinted hue kissed skin, giving her an ethereal look as she sat between her crimson sheets. How funny she had started to think of them as hers. Tonight will be the last night, she thought to herself. If he does not come, I will not wait again.

No more than a few minutes later, Kiera heard a timid knock on her door. She quickly threw the sheets back, a grin stretched across her face. That'll be him.

Opening the door, the smile was immediately knocked off her face when she realised that it wasn't Mera, but instead Analise who stood before her.

"Oh. Hi. Can I help you?" Analise timidly looked up at Kiera, giving her a small smile.

"Hi. Sorry to bother you so late, but I was told I should give you this." She offered the cup that was in her hand, and Kiera cautiously took it. As the steam coiled by her nose, she noticed it smelt faintly sweet. "It was sent up by the other servants. Apparently, it's in apology." Analise's voice was soft, respectful as she spoke. The smile had returned to Kiera's face. 
"Thank you, Analise. And please, tell them I said thanks." Analise nodded.

"Goodnight, my Lady."

"Goodnight, Analise." And with that final farewell, Analise left down the corridor. Kiera looked down at the mug in her hand. The liquid was a dark blue, almost indigo, and in the light from outside, it took on a luminous appearance. Returning to her room, Kiera placed it back down on her bedside table and climbed back into bed. Back to staring out of the window. Eventually, Kiera could see the black pursual of night reaching from over the horizon. Kiera gave up, angry at herself for thinking Mera would come. He's let her down.

She decided to just drink the drink and go to bed- put the whole night behind her. At least it seemed her situation was the servants was improving.

Gripping the cup, Kiera took a small sip. It was sweet, but not unduly so- as it slid down her throat, it burned slightly, but it wasn't exactly an unpleasant feeling. In fact, Kiera found herself drinking the whole thing, a warm feeling settling low in her stomach. Placing the cup back down, as Kiera moved to draw her hand back, she found she couldn't. It drooped, losing all sensation as it disappeared off the side of the bed. She tried to move it but found herself unable. With tremendous effort, she came to sit upright against her headboard, but fast found herself slipping down it to stare at the ceiling. She couldn't feel a thing. Even her mind felt sluggish, to the extent she was barely away of the whispers coming from the general direction of the doorway. She could make out faint shadows in her peripherals, but beyond that had no way of telling what was going on. She wanted to scream, but it became lodged in her throat.
Quickly, a hood was thrust over her head and her vision blacked out.