Page 27 of Born of Blood and Thorns

Absolute terror shot through me. I was a prisoner.

CHAPTER 13

Bella

The following day, my stomach demanded I fill it. Alysha had left me, for the most part, alone. I suspected she wanted to give me time to adjust and not push me into anything too early. She seemed to see and understand more than people gave her credit for, and she knew I'd need to come to her. So I did.

My stomach grumbled the entire journey to the kitchen. I stopped at the door, and the smell of eggs, bacon, and hot bread hit me full force. My mouth watered, but it was my traitorous belly that gave it away as it announced itself in the loudest of ways. My lips pressed together in annoyance as Alysha's bright blue gaze lifted to mine.

"Good morning!" she said, a warm smile stretching across her face.

I felt all my annoyance melt away. I nodded in response, then tentatively walked into the room. The smell was glorious. I was practically salivating.

She gave me a knowing smile and quickly ordered a plate of food. It was eggs and bacon again, steaming high and with a heavy helping of vegetables on the side. The fragrant smell of herbs made my mouth water. "Sit and eat," she said, handing me the plate. I began shoveling food in my mouth before my bottom even met the chair's hardwood.

"Thank you," I mumbled around a mouthful of food.

"You're as bad as my son," she teased. "Always too busy to eat until he is half starved."

"Sorry." I finally remembered my manners.

Once upon a time, I had them either beaten into me by others in the Vampire Court or lovingly taught to me by my mortal nursemaid, Nan. Now, I had lost all the civility she had taught me to become the feral creature I now was. The shame hit me hard.

"Don't be sorry. It's been far too long since you've eaten. I'm surprised you didn't down three bowls again." She sat before me, taking a piece of bread for herself and passing me a cup of something warm and steaming. "We don't have coffee, I'm afraid."

I took the tea and sipped it. It was perfect. A dash of milk and lightly sugared just the way I liked it. I almost moaned into the cup.

"Where do the eggs and bacon come from?" I asked as I shoveled the remaining bits of food into my mouth. I devoured another plate, but after my first trip to the kitchen, I realized it was best to ease into a more significant meal consumption. Not that I cared if I barfed on Dragon Boy's shoes again.

"The bacon is brought in from wild boars that…" She trailed off, studying me as if wondering what to say.

"That the dragon brings you?" I pushed my empty plate away and lifted the cup to my mouth. I turned it to sip around a chip in the porcelain of the teacup.

She nodded before continuing, "We find that every day our pantry and fridge are replenished with the same stuff we had the day of…" She trailed off, biting her lip. "Well, unfortunately, that day we had an abundance of chicken and other fowl." She chuckled. "Gods, I'm so tired of chicken."

I studied her, absorbing every detail of her face, from the stubborn curve of her delicate chin to the plumpness of her mouth to her overly large eyes. She was beautiful—too beautiful to be a kitchen girl. "What were you before all of this?" I asked.

She opened her mouth, closed it, and exhaled before squaring her shoulders. "I was a maid. I didn't have to clean anything in the castle because I wasn't just a maid."

"You said you were a widow. Was Billy's father caught up in the curse?" I blew on the tea before taking a sip. I knew I was interrogating her, but I needed answers.

"Yes, but my husband had long been dead by then." She pulled back the warmth from earlier, cooling from her expression. She became more guarded.

My mind reeled off. What if Alysha was Lore's true love and their son was Billy? I had noted a slight resemblance between the two when I'd seen them in the kitchen together. It was the same shape as their face and the tilt of their eyes. I suspected if they smiled, it'd be the same as well. He couldn't have been born during the curse because this place was locked in time, unchanging. I chewed on my lip, debating this information.

An odd feeling stirred inside of me. A feeling I couldn't name or decipher, but when I thought of Alysha and Lore together, it didn't sit well with me. It made me feel angry. Which was madness.

She leaned forward, putting her face in her hands. "You'd think all these years later it would get easier, but it doesn't." She took a deep breath, lifted her head, and locked eyes with me. "I was his mistress."

I gulped that heavy feeling of lead in my gut, hitting me again as I sat there.

"You were Lore's mistress?" I asked, my heart sinking for reasons I didn't understand. I didn't care. I couldn't care. I didn't even know these people. Yet, I felt the tinge of jealousy tainting my emotions. This place was turning me mad.

She laughed so loud she threw her head back. "Gods no!"

I waited as she got a hold of herself, unsure what she meant.

"I was the king's mistress. The reason Billy and I were in the basement cellar is because the queen locked his dirty little secrets down there the night of the spring solstice with the intention that we would disappear in the morning. Because the king wanted to leave her to be with me."

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