Traces of the past

10. Way out

Reth POV

In my face stood a heavy wooden table with plates on it. To be honest, it smelled very good, counting I don't even remember the last time I put something in my mouth.

A lady dressed in a quite beautiful dress, with embroidered flowers and a black apron over it, smiled at me. Her eyes were inviting me to eat, so warm that it almost made my heart cry.

-Come and eat, my son! She spoke to me waving her hand to point at the inviting table.

Her voice was sweet I wanted to go and hug her and tell her how hard the last days had been on me, how this place is scary and how I miss the comfort of my hometown.

- Master gave me orders to serve you a big traditional Romanian breakfast! Said the lady while  looking directly into my eyes. She had beautiful hazel eyes.

Maybe this is how having a mother feels like, I wish for my mother I have stayed with me longer than she had. What were 10 years of life when you are a child and you barely remember anything from your first 5 years?

Her smile incredibly warm, her cheeks were rosy from the heat while cooking, she kept brushing her hands from the fabric of her apron.

-Oh! I said while I eyeing the chair. 

I waited no more and sat down at the table. The dishes in front of me made me salivate, compared to what I had in prison.

What first caught my attention, was the plate with perfectly fried eggs and some chopped roasted meat that smelled like bacon. Next to them, a plate with boiled potatoes, some heavenly smelling bread, and a cube of butter. 

I was os hungry, I could have just eaten the entire table with everything on it.

The woman, that was not really old, saw me looking at the food with appetite, but not knowing what to eat first and she pointed towards the fried egg.

-Try the eggs, sir. They're a rarity here. The servants eat only potatoes for breakfast, or a piece of wheat bread with a little bit of tea to keep them full until lunch.

So Dracula was a cheapskate. How he expects people to work efficiently when he doesn't feed them properly?

To be honest, the eggs were amazingly crispy and delicious. I thanked the lady and she went back to the kitchen letting me enjoy the food. 

After my hunger stopped controlling my brain telling me to gulp down food until it goes away, I started thinking about what happened earlier, when the "mighty" Count Dracula fell at my feet.

Even in that state he was still arrogant and commanding.

What could have happened to him? He looked like he lost his sight or like he had a mental breakdown. Or maybe both.

I recalled the moment he gripped my legs almost making me fall on my back. He couldn't have done that on purpose, no. 

What was more amazing to me, was how I felt something in my chest that let me breathless for a second, when I saw him on his knees, weak, stripped of the power he showed every time I saw him. He looked, for the first time, reachable, like a human being almost...

The last slice of bread filled my stomach in a way I thought I will not eat again for a month. I got up and wondered what I shall do next. How was the Count? 

The lady appeared before me again.

-Stay a little more. She bowed her head towards the chair I just got up from. Petrov told me, a maid is preparing your room.

-Petrov is that old, short guy, who always tails after the Count?

The lady nodded, but looked a little confused: