Sweet Songbird (G/T)

Chapter Seventeen

Thompson watched the giant exit the room with thunderous footsteps. He could hear Seraphina's loud sobs from within the library echoing out into the halls. Whatever happened, this was finally his chance. He gestured to the other servants who were nearby, who understood what the butler was saying and took off down the long hallways.

He forced a look of concern on his face as he hurried into the giant room, spotting Seraphina on the arm of the master's favorite chair. "Seraphina, my dear, what's wrong?!" he called up towards her, fake worry wrapped around his smooth voice.

Sera peeked over the edge, meeting the butler's eyes far below her. "H-He said some rather cruel things." She choked out, her whole body trembling. She wanted to get down from there but didn't know how. "How do I get down?!" 

"Very carefully climb. I'll help you when you get lower." Thompson responded, watching the girl shift uneasily far above him.

Unable to believe her ears, Seraphina stared at the hardwood floor. It seemed to be miles below her. But she trusted Thompson. So after taking a deep, calming breath, she began to descend the massive chair. Using the small grooves of the wood, she found decent places for footrests and handholds to ensure she didn't fall to her death or get seriously injured. She didn't even dare look down as she moved, too terrified to see how far she had to go.

Thompson watched Sera climb. Had Karen not seemed to be watching his every move, he may have taken a chance to peek under the skirt of the gown she was wearing.  But if Karen had caught wind of him doing a thing like that, he'd be the next human on her hit list after the giant's favorite is taken care of.

Sera felt the tips of her toes touch down on the cool, hardwood floor. It sent a shock of relief through her body to know she wasn't able to fall anymore. Her arms and legs both ache, but those will recover much faster than a broken bone would have. "Thank you, Thompson!" She exclaimed as she turned around to meet the butler's eyes.

Her accomplishment had taken away the sting of the giant's words only for a moment, and hot tears once again began to trickle down her pale cheeks. "I-I don't understand why his demeanor changed so quickly." She stuttered her words, running Eric's through her mind over and over again. 

Why did it hurt so much? Why did she care what the giant felt, and why does she care what he thinks about her? She loves Thompson, the man standing before her, not some cruel man that could crush a human under his boot or even in his hand. How could someone be so cruel?

"Would you like to go on a short walk down by the lake nearby? The Master calls it a pond though. Has he spoken to you about that before?" Thompson said with a usual, warm toothy smile. 

"N-No, he hasn't," Seraphina said in a soft voice, forcing herself to abandon her thoughts and return her focus to the man courting her. "But I feel like that would be lovely. I need a moment to relax."

"Good. Please, follow me." Without asking permission, he reaches out and takes her soft hand, pulling her from the large library into the hallway. "I'll show you the way."

Karen and two other butlers stood nearby, a wicked smirk still resting on her face as always. "Let's go Kenneth, Matthew. Prepare the ropes and stones. Be sure that once this is done her body won't float to the surface. We can't have the master getting suspicious of us can we?" She flashed a flirtatious smile to Matthew. "Oh, look at me. I have such long, beautiful hair and sparkling eyes I catch the attention of not only giants but my own father and brother too. Pity me because I was beaten."

A light sound made her whirl around to be met with...well, nothing. There was nothing behind the three servants. But Karen's suspicions remained. "Hm. Let's just go." Gripping handfuls of her skirt on her hands to ensure she would not trip, Karen and the two butlers ran through the hall towards the nearest exit to make their way to the lake. It was only about a mile out into the garden, with plenty of trees surrounding the area. 

Eric though, unbeknownst to any of the servants or Sera, had been watching Seraphina and Thompson run through the grass far below the window he stood watch. His anger was boiling over, but a heavy feeling weighed in his cold heart. He felt...guilty. Why did he feel guilty for the way he treated the human? And now a new feeling was creeping its way through, seeing her hand in hand with another man. Was it betrayal? Did he feel betrayed by the girl he called his sparrow? His songbird?

He turned away from the glass and stood in his study, staring at the closed door across the room. Images of her and that butler out there repeatedly flashed through his mind. Then one he'd never even seen with his own eyes. An image of the two, their arms tight around one another as their lips followed the steps of a dance known by many. 

Unconsciously, Eric's hand rose to his chest and he gripped the white dress shirt he wore. Had he really gotten so lonely, that the first attractive and kind woman to make her way into his life stole his heart, and crumbled the wall he had taken so long to build? How had she found a hole he never filled? Why does he let himself be tormented by this girl? Because he knows that if he were to harm her, her trust that they had formed together would shatter. 

No. The trust was already broken. Those harsh words he had spoken to her back in the library ruined it. He told her he could easily find another human to replace her. That was untrue. He could scour the entire earth. Search the millions of humans that roamed the land. But he would never find another to replace the human girl that caught his attention. That showed him he could really care about something again. But what he had said was so harsh, she believed it. He could even still hear how tormented her voice was as he left her alone in that library.

This wasn't the fault of another human male...it was his. And his alone.