Prelude (Underworld Lucian Fanfiction)

16 - Chapter XVI: Blindfold in the Bath

District VI, Mariahilf, Vienna

A quarter of an hour later, the carriage stopped.

The bloodseer craned her neck, eager to know where they were. She could hear dogs barking on the other side of the street, a bawdy woman singing Ave Maria from the top of her lungs. Words without a tune, and a shifting memory of a prayer with little weight. Across from her, she heard the rustle of Allegra uncrossing her legs, a hand now taking her arm, directing her to stand. The fingers were soft on her skin, keeping her from hitting the ceiling as they left the carriage. Wet stones that froze the bottom of her feet. Neither Lucian, Raze, nor Kolya accompanied them.

Forward they went, twenty steps to a door which swung open with a creak. Allegra's hand led her inside, disappearing only to shut the door behind them. They turned left and then right. Two sets of stairs, one way and then the other, twenty-eight steps altogether. Again they went forward, Allegra gripping her wrist close in the dark, leading her carefully, never once allowing her to stumble or graze herself. She lost count of the turns, like playing a game of Blind Man's Trick.

Their steps began to slow, Allegra's boots making hollow, clapping sounds on the wooden floors. The air was getting warmer. She was afraid now, holding tight to the hand that led her. She should run. Tear off the blind-fold and run...but she could not bring herself to let go. Do not leave me, she thought, pleading in her head. She was too weak to be left behind. As if sensing her fears, but more likely feeling the tightness of her grip, Allegra began to speak to her, soft and reassuring. Persuading her to imagine the conversation they were having so that soon, she relaxed her grip.

She believed in the measure of Allegra's voice...the sweetness in her laughter. They were talking of...of herbs. Plants. The sweetness that could be found in ice-blood, sucked from a rabbit after it had frozen in the snow. When they stopped...when Allegra put her hands to her sides and told her to...to wait...she did as she was told. Allegra was a good person. A warm one. She waited, her ears following the rustling of the lady's dress. Ears following the sound of...

Footsteps...softer than the boots of Allegra.

Someone was coming...

Behind her.

She did not think to take the blindfold off...only to keep the person back. She cried out, turning this way and that, her arms outstretched, backing away into nothing. Stay back, she pleaded. Stay away from me. Again, she heard Allegra's voice, still speaking German to her.

Sabine, she heard her say quietly, but firmly.

Darf ich Ihnen meine Freundin Sabine vorstellen?

Soothing, she felt Allegra's arm around her back, drawing her forward to meet someone. Sabine. Like a river, the babble of the little girl, Sabine, flowed into the room. Ich freue mich, Sie kennenzulernen, Frau Tattergreisin, the girl said, shaking her hand politely. Now it was Sabine's turn to lead, the small fingers drawing her to the sound of water pouring into a basin. Helping her out of her clothes, the shirt over her head, the dusty breeches to the floor. It was Sabine who held her hand, Allegra holding her waist so she would not slip.

Such a shock entering the water.

Hot water...the smell of rose petals and citrus. She could not remember the last time she had bathed. She did not want to see her body...only to feel water on her skin. Forget that she was herself. Forget that she was a prisoner. Forget that it was not her friend, her sister, her mother scrubbing her back, squeezing water on her neck. They were not so different, Sabine and Allegra. They prattled away in their tongue, laughing between them, Allegra's hand dipping into the water to splash, Sabine shrieking with a peal of laughter for a moment, a hand shushing over her mouth. The pair of them giggling like schoolgirls. They were so happy. In the midst of war, they were happy. She listened, envying them...