Chapter 57
Chapter 57
Ivy POV
As the days slipped by, his scent lingered a little less. Each day passed, my senses sharpened, my mind became clearer, and slowly I found the remnants of what was left of me. After so much solitude, I had slowly returned and found who I was, no longer ruled by instincts I was unfamiliar with. Agony was the only word I could use to describe it. One thing became obvious: I could not shift. It saddened me, and I wondered whether it was because of the bond like Gannon had said all those days ago or if I was a failure in that regard too.
I had vague memories of the King coming into the room. I remembered him healing my hand, but that was the last time I saw him. The King said he would be gone for two days; however, he was gone so much longer than that; I did not know how long it had been since I left this room, left my nest, but I had a feeling a considerable amount of time had passed. NôvelDrama.Org exclusive content.
As the days dragged on, they became more manageable, a little less painful. Once Kyson’s scent was gone, and only my scent remained in the room, I realized that my den no longer fulfilled its original purpose, and the bond was now only a distant memory, or so I hoped. Eventually, I was able to see my surroundings again. Clarity returned, and the fog lifted. It was like someone flipped a switch, and everything either went numb or died off. I wasn’t sure which one, but I didn’t care. I could finally breathe, finally felt more like myself in days.
As one of the servants slid a tray across the floor just inside the door, I was drawn to the sound of the door creaking open. Getting up, I moved toward her, and she shrieked, the noise startling me and making me jump back and away from her, and she quickly slammed the door shut behind her. The smell of eggs wafted to my nose, and my stomach rumbled hungrily.
Upon looking down, I realized I had no clothes on, making my eyes widen in shock. How long had I been naked for? Shaking my head, I rushed to the cupboard to find some clothes, only everything was
shredded. I looked at the torn sheets and my lip curled in disgust as I scooped them up and sniffed them. My scent was potent on them and I definitely needed to find something clean to wear.
Claw marks shredded through every scrap of cloth in this room made me look at my fingertips. How, when I can’t shift? It puzzled me. Shaking my head, I grabbed some of the longer pieces and made a sarong out of them. I looked like a peasant. I chuckled at the thought as I stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom.
Mrs. Daley would have whipped me good for seamstress skills or lack thereof. Wandering out of the bathroom, I retrieved the tray from the floor by the door. Moving toward the fireplace, I sat on the floor by the coffee table. My hands trembled as I picked up the fork, making me wonder when the last time l ate was. I practically inhaled my food, barely tasting any of it. I was ravenous, and it barely touched the sides. When I was done, I wandered around the room, wondering if I was allowed to leave the room. When an hour passed and I saw no one enter, I walked to the bedroom doors leading in with my empty tray in my hand.
No one stood outside my door, no guards or anything, so I figured I must be allowed to leave the room; I looked down at my lovely bedsheet attire and shook my head. Yep, I was doing this; I was going to walk down to the kitchen and pray no one saw me in my sheet sarong or noticed the fact I had no clothes on underneath it or peeked my a*s, which I knew wasn’t fully covered; I could feel the draft from the open bedroom window caress against me. This was mortifying, but seriously it can’t be any worse than the King rejecting our bond, so I shrugged and stepped out. If I could survive that agony, then I could survive a little embarrassment.
As I moved through the corridors trying to remember the way, one thing became clear. No one was on this side of the castle. The place was ghostly and quiet until I came to the stairs.
Straight across was the King’s quarters, yet it was also silent, and no guards stood or lined the corridors. It was eerily quiet, maybe because it was so early in the morning. The sun was only just rising. However,
I thought, a little strange. Descending down, the stairs, it was the same.
Where was everybody? I couldn’t figure it out. The kitchen was also empty, as I made my way to the laundry room and retrieved a servant’s uniform. I wasn’t daring enough to enter the King’s quarters in search of clothes. I was afraid of my nose picking up his mouth-watering scent and I would be plunged back into the darkness the bond held me in for days…
The sound of a horn in the distance made me move to the laundry window as I buttoned up my uniform to see everyone down by the river that ran at the back of the castle. It appeared the entire palace was down there because no one was present or near, and the place was silent as the night. Grabbing some flats from the shelf, I slipped them on my feet and stepped out the back door to where the long clotheslines were. This side of the castle was surrounded by fruit trees and gardens. Sheets flapped along with the breeze as I made my way down the back to the hill, where I could see everyone standing still as statues staring out at the horizon. I kept close to the trees, wanting to know what was going on but also to go unseen.
All uniformed guards stood in rows, and people from the town outside the castle gates took up most of the hill. Unable to see, I walked out of my hiding place and stopped beside one of the guards. I tried to see what was going on and why everyone had gathered around. The guard looked down at me, and I peered back at him in confusion when I saw his eyes glaze over. It was only moments later that Gannon was beside me. He led me down the hill bringing me to where Abbie stood at the front with Clarice and the castle servants. Only then did I realize why everyone was gathered here. It was a cemetery. Hundreds and hundreds of black marble headstones lined the flat before the river.