Sorceress' Blood Read Free Page B

protocol for eating was. Before meeting
Lord Sebastian they’d walked by the biggest dining room she’d
ever seen with room enough for two hundred people to feast. She
wondered if she’d eat there with the other people she’d
seen briefly as she was led around the castle.
    Rebecca’s thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.
Rebecca answered it and was greeted by a maid.
    “Lord Sebastian thought you may be in need of a change of
clothes. He also requests that when you’re ready, you and the
young lady should join him downstairs again for dinner.” The
maid handed her a small stack of clothing. She then left Rebecca to
change. Right then Rebecca noticed that the small girl had been
standing behind the maid the whole time. The two stared at each other
with uncertainty for a moment before Rebecca broke the silence.
    “Would you like to come in?” Without responding, the
little girl walked into the room and sat down on a chair by the
dresser. She didn’t say anything and just stared at her feet.
Rebecca watched expectantly for a while and, when the girl didn’t
say anything, she took her new clothes over to the bed and examined
them. The top was a black polo shirt a size too big for her and with
it were loose fitting navy jeans; a belt was already threaded through
the waist with an empty holster hanging on the hip. These pants, like
the shirt, looked as if they were too big for her as well. Both
articles were men's cuts. She sighed and shrugged, figuring it was
better than what she had on now. She looked over her shoulder at the
little girl – nothing had changed – and then she went to
the bathroom to change her clothes. The belt held her jeans up fine
but the pants were too long and she had to roll them up at the
ankles. Rebecca came out of the bathroom and looked over at the girl
with as friendly a smile as he could manage.
    “What do you think?” The little girl looked up from her
feet at Rebecca but when she didn’t say anything, Rebecca’s
smile faded. “They’re pretty big. I wonder what this
writing is on the shirt. It's not English.”
    “You're not going to hurt me, are you?”
    Rebecca looked at her in wide eyed surprise.“No. Of course I'm
not. Why would I?”
    “My name is Ashley.”
    “Ashley?” She repeated and the little girl nodded.
Rebecca walked over to the little black-haired girl and knelt down.
“Hi Ashley, my name is Rebecca.” Ashley just nodded. “I
was starting to wonder if you could talk. Why have you been so
quiet?” There was no response from Ashley this time. She wasn’t
looking at Rebecca any more either, but at her hands resting in her
lap. “Alright Ashley, you just say something when you want to.
Are you hungry?” Ashley nodded. “So am I. Starving, in
fact. Let’s go downstairs and meet Lord Sebastian for something
to eat.” Ashley nodded again and slid off the chair and onto
her feet.
    Lord Sebastian was waiting for them, where they had first met him.
The tablecloth had been changed and a second maid was standing by his
chair. When Rebecca and Ashley came into the room he stood up and,
without looking, gestured to his maids. Both of them went around the
table and pulled out the chairs for Rebecca and Ashley. The girls
took their seats and the maids immediately began to serve dinner.
Lord Sebastian sat and, when his glass had been filled with red wine,
he took a sip and then seemed to ponder over the taste of it. Ashley
prodded the food on her plate a little. Rebecca watched Sebastian’s
behaviour with the same curiosity she felt when she watched exotic
animals at the zoo – was this how the wealthy lived, spending
too much time thinking about wine? Unfortunately, there was no
information on display about Lord Sebastian, and the way he treated
her with stand-offish indifference didn’t help. Lord Sebastian
wasn't a snake that came close to the glass to inspect the onlookers.
Lord Sebastian was more like a lion that just didn't care that people
were