From the Depths

The next morning Kirea awoke to a soft knock at her door. Surprised by the sudden sound, she gasped awake as she slid off the side of the bed she was barely lying on. Groaning as pain shot through her hand, her blister having broken her fall. When had she fallen asleep? By the feel of her heavy eyelids and the strain from keeping them open, she could tell she hadn’t gotten much shut-eye at all.

Another knock sounded, this time slightly louder. He was growing impatient.

“Coming! One moment.” She politely called in response.

She hurriedly tossed aside her clothes from last night and threw on fresh ones. She tied her hair up before hopping around trying to put her shoes and socks on. Rushing to the door she opened it and smiled. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Henry stared down at her from the hall. His clothing was fresh and pristine. He raised a brow at her and recoiled slightly, a displeased expression meeting her confused one.

“What?” She asked with a frown.

“You look like you were wrestling with the powders this morning and they exploded... on your face.” He stated.

She gave him a dumbfounded confused look, and then it clicked. She’d left the makeup on from last night. Leaving the door ajar she ran for the small table, a hand mirror sitting neatly atop it. She attempted to rub the paint from her face but only managed to smear it more. “Gods, I hate this stuff!”

She hadn’t noticed Henry enter her room until he flung a wet face cloth at her. It hit her square in the temple. “Hurry up.” He grunted.

She snarled at him but used the cloth to scrub away the caked-on layer that women often used to hide their insecurities. Oh, this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship with Henry, she could just see it now. Finally, with the mess of clown makeup off her face, she was silently escorted to the same dining hall as the knights.

“Wait, you want me to eat here... With all of you?” She questioned in a whisper.

“Not good enough for you, Princess?” He scoffed.

She huffed back. “That’s not what I meant and you know it. I assumed I would be dining with the help, not the soldiers!”

“You appear to be, only slightly more important than that, at least to the king. The help is portion restricted, we knights are not.” He explained.

“So, basically he wants me healthy...” She cringed as she trailed off. Thinking about the servants and how malnourished they had looked, it now made sense. But that didn’t mean she had to like the idea. It only added to her dislike of this place and its practices. Home sweet home, she thought bitterly.

“Eat, then I am to take you to meet the mages.” He ordered.

“They’re here already?” She was shocked and slightly taken aback.

“Preparations began the moment you were taken to your room last night. I doubt any of us got any sleep.” He responded with a rather irritated tone.

Funny that, since he looked far more refreshed than she. She eyed him suspiciously.

“Here, here, you said it brother!” A knight slapped Henry on the back as they sat down at the large tables.

The dining hall was to the side of the Knights quarters. It was not far from an open grassy area surrounded by tall walls, she assumed that was their training area. This room was quite open, the fresh cool breeze drifting in bringing with it a hint of the sea.

The tables for long and skinny, around 15 or so knights were currently enjoying their meals. thankfully they appeared to have more manners than the King. Meats, bread, fruits and several jars of what she assumed were milk lined the centre of the long wooden tables. A plate was placed in front of her as Henry had already begun to pile his own high.

“So why is the king so tight-lipped on this cute thing?” A man beside Henry asked, she guessed he was referring to her.

She should feel flattered, but in truth, she didn’t care. Kirea ignored the men as she tentatively reached for some food, this was nothing like what she had in mind for her time at the castle. But then again none of this was, she just had to keep her head low enough to say on everyone’s good side, in theory. But in practice, it was sure to be a lot harder.

Attempting to take hold of the pale of milk she hissed and withdrew. The action caught Henry's attention, he jerked her hand toward him and began dressing the wound, much to her suprise.

“It’s on a need-to-know basis, and you don’t need to know.” Henry retorted bluntly barely awknologing her even with his tight wrapping of her hand in a bandage.

She was at least grateful that she didn’t have to speak with them. The situation was awkward enough as it was. When you had to keep your mouth shut about certain things sometimes it was better not to say anything than risk slipping up.

Retrieving her hand once he was done she reached again for the container. The hand felt surprisingly better wrapped.

A man beside her shifted, sliding his way closer to her. She gave him a sideways glance as she poured herself a glass. His hand touched her thigh, sliding up her leg. She gasped shocked, nearly dropping the container of milk. Heaven’s these men were forward. Her body instantly tensed up in pure rejection of the action.

She barely had a chance to respond before Henry grabbed the man’s hand from between her legs. He’d reached over her so quickly, that she hadn’t even seen him move. Henry twisted the man’s wrist in an ungodly fashion and she swore she heard a pop as the hand was slammed to the table in front of her. She jolted back startled at the sudden display of violence, her eyes widening.

“She is the King’s!” Her eyes glanced from Henry's fierce expression to the man's hand that was now twisted at an unseemingly angle. Henry had practically growled the words, something she thought she would never hear in her defence. Hadn’t it only been yesterday that he was offering her to the Knights as a punishment?

“So what? You can have fun with her, but we can’t?” Another voice from behind her sounded.

She turned her head to see the man that they had encountered last night. Just remembering the scene sent a shiver down her spine. This couldn’t be good, there was no way she could deny last night, even though nothing happened. What would happen if word got to the King? Her blood ran cold, does that mean that she has to keep these men’s mouths shut, but at what cost?

“Just admit that you want her to yourself.” Another laughed.

The men were finding the situation funny, but her mind was racing as a sense of anxiety pushed its way to the surface, consuming all rational thoughts.

She heard Henry make a disgruntled sound beside her before he answered. “Fine.”

Wait, what did that mean? Fine? Did he just give the Knights permission to have a turn with her? She looked at him with a horrified expression.

“Wait, are you serious? You’re finally interested in a woman for yourself?” Another one retorted with a half laugh as though surprised.

Henry answered the male with a stern look. The Knight that had laughed immediately straightened up and returned to his meal. This whole ordeal was becoming way too confusing for her.

“I never thought I would see the day, you just liked watching us with the women. I was starting to think it was strange how you never laid with one yourself.” Another added as the man took a seat on the opposite side of the table.

“I don’t enjoy taking the spoils for myself, my men don’t deserve seconds,” Henry stated plainly.

Kirea was still gawking at him, not believing a single word. She was slowly piecing his words together, but in her head, it still sounded... off. By their reactions, she had surmised that he was indeed a higher-ranking Knight of some sort, but he was a voyeur?

“Close your mouth woman and eat!” Henry’s stern orders snapped her back to reality.

Shaking her head she sighed and went back to her food. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was missing a vital piece of information. But she was at least glad that Henry was the one that had been assigned to her, even if she did hate him. He hadn’t tried to make a move on her or take her by force. Given the actions just now, he was actually, dare she say, protecting her. Probably by the King’s orders so she tried not to think too long on the matter.

She hadn’t finished her plate when she was abruptly pulled from her seat. She protested by grabbing a few rolls of bread and stuffing a third in her mouth. Henry rolled his eyes at her as she was hastily dragged from the room. The men laughed at her and she waved her goodbyes as Henry continued to grunt and make displeased sounds.

“Mhmere arh fe moing.” She tried to ask with her mouth full.

“Dear gods, do you not know how to act like a lady?” Henry retorted.

Retrieving the half-crewed roll from her mouth she grinned. “Don’t see the point, not like I’m trying to impress anyone. You’re not my type.”

He sighed shaking his head. “And you think you’re mine?”

“Well, you just did lay claim to me in there... I think?” She frowned.

“A necessary ploy to keep you out of their mits, or would you rather I let them entertain you?” He narrowed his eyes on her.

They had finally stopped moving, now facing each other as they had their little argument. A thought struck her as she looked into his eyes. His gaze was full of what appeared to be disgust. She recalled the way he acted and looked at his men only moments ago. He had tried hard to not let his eyes slip, but she had caught it once or twice. Little tells that she had picked up on, how when he touched her she didn’t feel repulsed or threatened. He wasn’t interested in her in the slightest.

“You’re interested in men, aren’t you?”

That statement had been a mistake, she couldn’t help it, it just came out.