Marked • Tom Riddle

His Forbidden Corridor

   I watched with unease as Lucinda brushed the glass off the ground, the sound of the shards scraping against the stone floor sending shivers down my spine. She seemed calm, unbothered as she worked while I sat ridged as a stone on my bed. She'd come to my room first thing in the morning with a broom and dustpan in hand, but not before I had opened Grandmother's locket, not before I had retrieved all my memories, and not before I had time to speculate what she had been doing in the garden last night. Sitting there, watching her intently, I wondered if she knew of M, if she had been calling me down to tell me something that M wanted me to know. Then again, if she knew M, why couldn't she just speak up now, why couldn't she give me a sign that she knew something. I had half a mind to ask her about M, but another part of me, a stronger part urged me not to. 

   "You need to be more careful, Miss," Lucinda said, finally looking towards me with a kind smile. I forced one in return, but my eyes held their uneasiness. 

   "I didn't even realize I'd knocked it over. It must have fallen when the door slammed against the wall."

   "Yes, well, despite the grandeur of this estate, I've learned the things inside are still quite fragile."

   "Oh, is that so? You must have worked here for quite some time to know so much about the estate. How long exactly?" I asked, trying to extract something from her that would aid me in distinguishing whether she was friend or foe. 

   "Not too long," she shrugged. "Perhaps a little over a month."

   Around the time my marriage to the Dark Lord was announced, I thought. "You must be a quick learner to have been assigned my chambermaid so quickly."

   Lucinda finished sweeping the final bits of the vase into the dustpan, "Yes, well, it is best to learn quickly when working for the Dark Lord."

   "Understandable. Still, I would take any other job before choosing to work for the Dark Lord."

   "Some of us don't have much of a choice, Miss," she said, meeting my eyes. Her polite smile was still spread comfortably across her lips, but it didn't reach her eyes anymore. "Afterall, we can't all be born into a family as pristine as yours, or else who would be left to do the housework," she laughed, but there was no humor behind her joke, it felt more like a jab of hatred. My uneasiness of her grew and I knew that not bringing up M had been the right choice. There was something off about Lucinda and her never fading smile. "Now, do you require anything else, Miss?"

   "Why didn't you come when I rang for you last night?" I questioned bluntly, deciding to test the waters. If she was a threat, she wouldn't do anything, not here with the Dark Lord so nearby. Is that why she had called me to the gardens last night? Had she been trying to pull me out of the house, away from the Dark Lord to... attack me? Threaten me? Kill me? 

   Her response to my question was quick with almost no physical signs of a reaction, like she'd been expecting it, like she'd rehearsed it, "Forgive me, Miss, but I believe I was using the loo when you rang for me. I must have missed the bell."

   "Strange timing, don't you think?" I forced a laugh. 

   "Yes, indeed, now do you require-"

   "Did they find the woman in the gardens?"

   "No, not to my knowledge," Lucinda shook her head. "But I'm sure she'll turn up."

   "I'm sure that does not sit well with the Dark Lord."

   "I'm sure it doesn't, so it's a good thing he's not here."

   My heart dropped, "What do you mean?"

   "He's out for the day, some sort of business, but he usually returns before dinner, sometimes earlier, sometimes later," Lucinda informed. "Now, is there anything else you require, Miss?"