So Nel gorged herself on everything all the same. She was in tears by the end. Those tears were the first tears that weren’t from self-pity or general dysphoria.
With her stomach distending almost painfully against the leather binding around her waist, Ylva latched a finger on her collar once again. She led Nel out of the fanciful dining hall by the neck.
It wasn’t until two days and several meals later that Nel actually stopped to look around the dining hall. Six white marble pillars stretched high above her head. Crisscrossing arches held up a solid black ceiling. From the center dangled a massive chandelier. It was unlike anything she’d ever seen.
They were constructed out of bones. Because what else, Nel thought with almost a roll of her eyes the first time she saw it.
Six points spread out from the center. They curved slightly down before angling back up. Ribcages, arms, hands, feet, spines, and plenty more an osteologist would have a field day with. At the end of each point were six human skulls, each facing a different direction. Brilliant light poured out of the sockets.
After the first meal, Nel had been led by the neck to a bedroom. She hadn’t ever seen a room more fitting of the title. The bed occupied almost the entire space and that space was not small. The entire cadre of vampires she hunted with the Elysium Order over the summer would have had room to spare during one of their–well, they wouldn’t have taken up half of it.
Despite sinking into the bed like she was resting on a cloud, Nel got no sleep the first night.
Ylva decided to climb into the bed with her. She sat a foot away from Nel and stared. Her cold, gray eyes watched over every movement without a hint of life in them. They were impossible to ignore.
Due to her lack of sleep that first night, Nel had fallen asleep against the demon’s skeletal leg the next morning. She tried to fight it off, but recovering from the attack combined with a total lack of sleep had overpowered her will.
Ylva had simply sat on her throne and ignored it. At least, as far as Nel was aware.
The demon never made any mention of that transgression.
She hadn’t tried to watch Nel sleep since the first night. At least not when Nel first went to sleep.
More than once, Nel had awoken to find foot sized wrinkles in the otherwise smooth sheets leading to just near where she slept. The first time, Nel thought they were simply hers from getting into the bed. She quickly discarded that idea the next morning when there were two sets of footprints leading towards her.
Nel tried to simply ignore it.
Overall, her situation wasn’t so bad, if she was honest with herself. There was plenty of food and despite whatever happened at night, she got a good amount of sleep. A lot more than she got the last few months during the constant surveillance on Eva.
The best part was that no one was trying to kill her. Probably. Eva seemed to gleefully allow her to fall into this situation. Then again, Eva essentially saved her from a death by starvation. Unless it was all a ploy to–
Nel shook the thought out of her head. No. No one was trying to kill her here. Not yet at least. Even if someone did try to kill her, they wouldn’t succeed as long as she had Ylva’s favor. She didn’t know where the demon ranked on the power scale–she’d been too scared to try connecting–but it had to be quite high.
Bony fingers ceased scratching Nel’s head at the sudden movement.
A chill ran up Nel’s spine that was completely unrelated to the cool air of the throne room. She’d completely forgotten about Ylva’s near constant massage of her scalp. Why the demon was so obsessed with running her skeletal fingers through Nel’s hair, she couldn’t guess.
“Is something troubling you?” Ylva’s voice carried command and authority with every syllable despite the soft tone it was spoken in. It wasn’t the booming voice that Nel first heard. The demon hadn’t used that since the school teacher fled from her presence.
It might not be the booming command, but it was not something Nel could ignore.
“Nothing, Lady Ylva.” Nel tried to quell the trembling in her voice. “I was merely lost in my thoughts.”
“Be honest,” the demon commanded. “Never before has a mortal been in Our service. We admit We are learning. If there are additional mortal desires you require, We will oblige.”
Nel bit her lip. She shut her eyes and drew in a deep breath. Nel sat between Ylva’s legs on the cold marble floor. Despite facing away, she was sure the demon could see her sigh. “Clothes, maybe?”
“Proper attire is already in production. It will be ready soon. We request you wait.”
Ylva resumed her petting of Nel’s hair. A shudder ran up her spine as the fingers ran down her skull. It was a confusing shudder for several conflicting reasons.
On one hand, Ylva could kill with a touch if she so desired. Eva checked in on her a few days after mentioning food and they had a few minutes to talk. Telling her about the touch thing almost sent Nel into tears again.
On another hand, the petting was a sign of affection. At least, Nel hoped it was. So long as the demon enjoyed her company, Nel was safe.
The final reason, it started to feel good at some point. Something Nel hated to admit even as she leaned into the gentle strokes.
Nel stopped herself and pulled away. “If it isn’t too much to ask,” Nel said as she shuffled her knees against the hard floor, “would it be possible to get a pillow or even just a blanket for me to sit on here? I mean, my legs are aching.”
There was a pause as the hollow clank of bones bumping each other sounded just above Nel’s head.
She leaned back to look up. Two empty eye sockets stared straight down at her.
Nel clamped down on her jaw and tried to avoid making any sounds or sudden movements. She stared back, wide-eyed, at the polished white skull of her…her master.
She tried not to think of Ylva as her master. Master implied owner. Ylva was her boss, her queen, her savior. Not her master.
Arachne’s words echoed in the back of her mind every time she thought of Ylva. Her words about how the demon wanted to be owned stuck out the most. That could just be a difference in owners.
From what Nel had observed of the two, Eva and Arachne tended to treat each other more as equals.
Whatever it was that Nel had with Ylva wasn’t anything along those lines.
“We understand.” Ylva’s soft voice broke Nel out of her thoughts. “We will make arrangements before you wake.”
“Thank you, Lady Ylva.” Nel said as she bowed her head back down.
She heard Ylva’s bones clatter as the demon leaned back in her throne. The bony fingers against Nel’s skull resumed their massage in a light circular pattern.
Nel relaxed into the massage once again. She closed her eyes and sighed.
It really wasn’t so bad.
“Eva has returned.”
Nel opened her eyes, half expecting the little ab–the little girl to be down at the main entrance archway on the outer ring. She really was making a conscious effort to avoid thinking about her the way Sister Stirling would have thought about her. Despite her current station in life, Eva did hide her away from Sister Cross.
“She’s reading with Arachne?”
“That may be the case in the near future. For now, she makes attempts to recover from the travel.”
“It is Saturday then,” Nel said as she leaned back against the throne.
Two weeks since the demon attacked her. Two weeks minus a few days since she first came to Ylva.
“Mortals use Saturdays as days of rest. Sundays as well, if We are not mistaken.” It came out almost as a question. It felt more like an order to the universe itself. “Do you require days of rest?”
Nel glanced up at the demon. The question smelled like a trap. If she answered yes, she would be punished or perhaps even killed for impertinence. If she answered no, she would be punished or killed for refusing the demon’s offer.