He Strikes at the Hotel

Chapter Twenty Four

I had a bath and changed out of my uniform into my regular clothes, which were still dull, but definitely more pleasant than a chambermaid's dress. I felt fresh from my wash, which heightened my good mood from earlier. I was beginning to enjoy having Zachery around, even if there was something strange going on around him. At least no one else had gone missing these past few days, which was a good sign if nothing else, and Zachery seemed much more cheerful with each passing day that nothing went horribly wrong.

I didn't want to sit around in my room all night like I have been doing lately, I wanted to walk about, people watch, find something to do. But it was difficult when you were unable to leave the premises without a guard giving the go ahead first. So I would have to find a way of doing all of that within the hotel's walls. There was a lot of new arrivals here today, so there may be some interesting people to watch if I went to the dining room or the lounge, so I thought it best that I would begin my evening there and see how it went.

I began by going to the lounge, where I found a few groups of people sitting leisurely with their cocktails and wine, all immersed within conversation and laughing boisterously about something which was probably quite offensive. Pierre was working on the bar tonight, which was a nice surprise for me to see. I waved to him happily, to which he mimed the question "Drink?" which I put my thumbs up to and smiled. I went to sit on the empty sofa which was positioned in the corner of the room, and was my favourite in the room. It was perfect for people watching, and it was extremely spacious and comfortable. I've fallen asleep sprawled out on this sofa many of times.

Pierre brought over my drink, which was whatever cocktail he had mustered up as his special tonight. It looked amazing with glazed cherries on toothpicks, yellow and red colours in the glass, and cucumber carefully placed on the rim of the glass. If it tasted half as good as it looked, I'd be happy. Pierre has never let me down with his skilled craftsmanship of drinks, so I knew this would be just what I wanted.

I watched him walk back to the bar and carry on with his duties for the night, no doubt thinking relentlessly of Nerissa, and the ball which is rapidly approaching. He was smiling at more guests entering the lounge and began to take orders. I began to flick through the newspaper which was draped over the coffee table in front of me, wondering whether there was any updates on the ball in there, hopefully something to do with the theme of this years event.

I found it extremely relaxing being in here at this time of the evening. It was after most people had finished their dinners and had retired back to their rooms for the night, so it was quiet, with only a few people who wished to carry on their evening with a few drinks, not caring about what is going on around them. The lounge was large and all of the furniture was a dark mahogany, with the walls being a deep crimson with golden patterns embedded near the top where the walls seamlessly connected to the vast cream ceiling, which carried diamond chandeliers with countless flames inside them.

It was dark outside the stained windows, so it was down to the candles and lanterns to light the room. This gave everything a warm amber hue, which made the room feel cosy. A place where you could conquer your thoughts in comfort, or escape from them in solitude, which is exactly what I used this room for.

As I was reading the meaningless news articles, I felt a shadow creep up on me, looming in my peripheral vision. I looked up to see Zachery, standing there, ushering to Giles at the bar to get him a drink. I looked towards Giles and gave him a smile, to which he returned. Zachery sat down beside me and started to look at the article I was reading prior to his entrance.

"Anything good in there, Kitten?" He mumbled in my ear, as Giles approached with Zachery's drink.

"Good evening, Audrey Rose, would you care for a drink?" Giles asked, very politely. He was definitely my favourite of the royal guards. He was always pleasant, and seemed to approve of me. Underneath his dreary composure, he is a teddy bear at heart.

"No, thank you, Giles. I still have whatever invention Pierre came up with for me. If you're interested, ask him to make you an 'Audrey Rose special'. You won't be disappointed." I replied and gave him a sly grin. He chuckled back to me before accepting the offer, and returned to the bar, where he stayed chatting along with Pierre.

"Giles is on duty tonight, but he is more like an uncle to me than bodyguard, so he was happy to give us some space. I hope you don't mind?" Zachery said, not requiring me to answer the rhetorical question just posed.

"Not at all. May I ask, why are you here?" It sounded rude, but I hadn't intended it that way, I was genuinely curious.

"Well..." He began, obviously interpreting my question in the appropriate way. "I felt that as we are going together to the ball as an item, we should spend a bit more time getting to know one another. I like what I know of you, but who knows, you could be a psychopath behind closed doors. I am trying to avert from that possibility."

"You are lucky I don't slap you for that comment, thank you very much." I blurted out, obvious offence being present in my voice.

"I was pulling your leg, Audrey Rose. Shall we call this a practice run for the ball then?" Zachery confessed, slightly cautious of offending me further.

"I was pulling your leg also, Zachery. What makes you think I need a practice run?" I began to enjoy questioning his words, as he always seemed to fluster over the thought that he had offended me or said something misleading. He was a gentleman at heart, but these were the only opportunities I had to see his confident persona crumble right in front of me, and then watching it rebuild stronger.

"What makes you think that I meant you are the one who needs the practice run?" He said in a hurt voice, holding his hand up against his heart, feigning pure heartache. I couldn't hold in the smile that was growing on my face, and let out a small laugh.

"True, you've got a lot to live up to. At least I can enter as the chambermaid, and only work my reputation up from the ground. You make one wrong move, and your Duke title will be turned in to bell boy." I was laughing throughout talking, mainly at the thought of Zachery being the new bell boy for the hotel, and his horrified expression at the thought.

"I could not be a bell boy, for love nor money. That poor chap that carried my luggage up the stairs deserves a medal." He began laughing too now.

Zachery was becoming more normal to me each time we spoke. If it wasn't for the giant guard sitting a few metres away from us, glancing over every now and then, I would have forgotten altogether. I couldn't see why anyone would want to centre their destruction around him...