Black Blood

*One month later*

‘A bit more,’ says Nelly. I scoop the last of the lavender into the bag and tie it shut with the brown string. I put the bag with the others on the table in front of me. The dozens of filled bags of herbs are displayed on the wooden table.

It is my only entertainment at the moment. I cannot leave the shop, not even the warehouse. I live in the cellar and the warehouse. It is a boring existence. It takes me back to my time in the castle, although so much is different.

A month ago, Christiaan and his men invaded the village. Since then, part of his army hasn’t left. They roam the streets, keep watch and make raids. That’s why I’m locked in Nelly’s shop.

Every step outside the warehouse can be the end of my and Nelly’s life. It is a fearful existence. Every second of the day there is a chance that the army will enter the shop and discover me.

At the same time it is boring. I can’t take a step outside the door, kill my days with Nelly’s chores.

Novak and I sleep in Nelly’s basement. An old mattress that Nelly still had somewhere in the attic is our bed. The musty smell hasn’t changed. The only thing that has changed since the time Novak and I fled into the basement is that more space has been made available. Some of the storage has been moved to the old place of the mattress. We have blankets, a mattress, pillows and a few candles to make do. It’s not much but anything is better than the dungeons of the castle.

Novak is not directly linked to me so there is limited opportunity for him to leave the shop. Together with Asa, he is trying to find a way to get us out of the village, unfortunately this is easier in theory than in practice.

In the past month, Novak and I have grown even closer. In the first week, Novak did not leave the cellar. We had limited opportunities to talk, but the ones we did have, which was mostly at night, we used to get to know each other better. He told several stories about the travels he made. I told him about my daily life in the castle. The physical attraction became stronger and the fear lessened each time.

With the little chores I do, I pay for the food Nelly provides us. I can’t wish for a better hiding place than Nelly’s. I have learned so much about herbs and magic this past month. Knowledge that is many times more valuable than the knowledge from a book.

She not only taught me a lot about herbs but also about my own magic. She appears to have more knowledge about Night Riders, dragons and magic than she initially let on.

I put the last bag on the pile. It is near evening. The sun is setting and making way for the moonlit nights. I live up to my name, I live by night. The moment the shop closes, the curtains on the windows close, I can move beyond the few square metres of the warehouse. I slide back the chair on which I was sitting and stand up. At exactly that moment, Nelly walks into the warehouse. The older woman looks at the piles of bags and gets a smile on her lips.

‘Fantastic,’ she says with a smile. She starts taking the bags from the table and collecting them in a wooden crate.

‘Darling, I’m home!’ echoes through the shop. Novak’s cheerful voice is indispensable. I have got used to his voice. It brings me peace and comfort.

A smiling Novak, thanks to the joke he repeats every day, walks into the warehouse. His long black coat hangs around his slender body. The first thing he does is give a smile to Nelly and put a hand on her shoulder. It is his way of showing his gratitude to the woman.

The second thing he does is walk towards me and place a kiss on my cheek. I smile at the sweet gesture.

In the corner of my eye I see Nelly looking at me with a small grin. Novak walks back into the shop to take off his coat.

‘What is it?’ I ask Nelly as soon as I feel her gaze rest on me for longer than usual. She puts the crate in a cupboard and straightens her dress.

‘Excuse my curiosity but do my eyes betray me when I see a love affair developing?’ she asks in a soft tone. Stunned, I look at the woman. Her facial expression tells me that it is a sincere question. It is a question I had not seen coming. Especially since Novak makes this gesture every day. Automatically I shake my head.

‘No no. We’re just friends, I guess.’ I realise now that I have never thought about my relationship with Novak. When we left together we were travel partners and vague acquaintances.

I can now say that I know the boy but are we friends? I am not familiar with having a friendship. There were no children in the castle when I was young. There was no time for such relationships. When can you call someone a friend? Novak is not a vague acquaintance, I know him too well for that. Do you kiss a friend? Those two kisses in the packhouse were not the last.

The longer I think about my relationship with Novak the more complicated it gets in my head. I honestly have no idea what we are to each other. I also wonder if I want to put a label on it. I am happy with how things are between us now. Still, Nelly’s question raises more questions than I would like.

Nelly bends a little closer to me.

‘Believe me. A young man who looks at a lady like that wants more than a friendship,’ she whispers. Her timing is perfect. Novak enters the warehouse without his coat and shoes.

Nelly’s words reverberate in my head. Is she right? What does Novak want from me? What do I want from him? Automatically panic creeps into my body. Should I worry? Does he want the same thing Christiaan always wanted from me?

‘It’s time to close the shop.’ With these words, Nelly leaves the warehouse. I stay behind with Novak.

‘Did you enjoy yourself,’ he asks and takes a step in my direction. I take a step back.

‘Yeah, Nelly needed my help packing. How was it at Asa’s?’ I try to deflect the conversation away from me by asking him a question. Nelly’s words keep running through my head like a mantra. It raises so many questions that I can’t give myself a place.

Novak sits down on the table. We discussed the escape routes. He told me that the army will not be leaving for a while.

‘They found traces of us at....’. Halfway through his story, my thoughts wander. I no longer hear what Novak has to say. My brain is cracking, my feelings are confused. Is Nelly right? Does Novak want sex with me? Is that the reason why he helps me?