Music Recommendation: The intensity of Resonances- Matt Wilier
The candles lit in the room continued burning brightly, and so did Eve's cheeks, which had turned flush. She slowly and carefully removed her inner dress that was still on her body. It wasn't an easy task, as she couldn't stand and had to take it out while sitting in the bathtub.
"Are you done?" Eve heard Vincent question her from the other side of the room, which was separated with the help of the wooden divider.
"Not yet," she replied before finally taking the dress off her body. Completely naked now, she quickly brought her golden blonde hair to cover her bosom with it.
A little anxious, Eve peeked through the carved holes of the wooden divider and noticed Vincent sitting on the edge of the desk whilst he read a parchment. Never had she imagined sitting in someone's bathtub or taking off her dress in a male's presence before getting married.
"I am done now," Eve informed. She saw him drop the parchment on the desk and make his way to where she was.
She turned so that her back would face him and heard his shoes click against the room's floor. She didn't dare to turn and look at him because she knew if it was possible, she would have drowned in the bathtub. But she was a mermaid who could breathe underwater.
Vincent's eyes fell on Eve's naked back. He noticed her shoulders, and because of her parted hair, he could see her slender neck. He took his seat behind her without using a stool, noticing the two beautiful caudal fins stretched out as feathers, elegantly swaying in the water.
The wound she had received had turned dark against her pale skin. He asked,
"The prisoners are usually never hit on the first day in the dungeon. Did you do something to irk them?"
Vincent had noted how Eve didn't appear shocked with the way he had killed the guards back in the dungeon. The shock had entered and left without causing trauma. As if she had seen something like this before.
Hearing his question, Eve moved her eyes away from the water's surface and to the corner even though she couldn't see Vincent.
"I tried to explain that I wasn't the murderer. Bringing up yours and the Duke's name didn't help either."
"Mml. Most offenders come up with stories to get out of there," stated Vincent. He picked up the small box the physician had given earlier.
"I realised it late," Eve's voice had turned low and angry that her words had gone unheard. "It is something to wonder... on how many innocent people are stuck in the dun--ouch!"
Vincent had started to apply the medicine to her wounds, and it felt like it was lit on fire. He said, "It would be best for you to think about yourself rather than worry about others. After all, it is that very thought of yours that even got you in this position."
Eve gritted her teeth because of the medicine. She took a deep breath before asking, "You are telling me not to help anyone and let people die?"
"To take care of the ones whom you know, and can, which would not put you in a compromising position. The world isn't yours to take care of, Genevieve Barlow," stated Vincent. He swiped the greasy white cream on his finger and applied it on another wound on Eve's back, and she clenched her hands. "What's the point of offering help if you are going to drown in it? But I know you..." his voice drawled.
Eve turned her head, where she could see his silhouette.
"You will jump to help people, you want the world to be fair," said Vincent, a chuckle escaping through his lips. "But nothing is fair, and it is better to watch your own back, little girl."
If the world went by Vincent's words, she would have never been saved by Lady Aubrey and Eugene, thought Eve. But at the same time she understood his words. Then again, it wasn't like she knew someone's death could put her in such a predicament. It had been bad timing and luck.
Eve didn't retort as not only was he right with how things had panned out in the last two days, but Vincent had also saved her. She watched the cuts on her lower body and the earlier blood on her skin mixed into the water when her tail moved.
She felt very aware of Vincent's cold fingers touching her. If the water wasn't already cold, she would have shivered. Somewhere in between, she closed her eyes, feeling his finger graze across her skin, making her skin and heart tremble.
When Vincent's finger made contact with another wound, Eve hissed in pain and moved away from him.
"It hurts," Eve confessed.
"Bear with this one," said Vincent, and her eyebrows drew together. He questioned her, "What were you doing near Raven's town?"
"Walking..." replied Eve, remembering what she heard about her mother.
"Did the air around Meadow turn stale?" Came Vincent's sarcastic words. He said, "I know you were walking, considering your coachman wasn't caught with you. What were you doing there by yourself?"
Eve stayed silent for two seconds until she yelped in pain when Vincent's finger grazed on her wound and she gritted her teeth. She explained,
"I went to visit Brokengroves by the local carriage. I went to visit an old couple who had helped Eugene and me last week when our carriage wheel broke, but I couldn't meet them. The guard there said they left town. I left from there on foot, not realising I had walked into the outskirts of Raven town."
She heard a rustle behind her, and saw Vincent stand. He said,
"Your back is done. Bring your tail out."
Eve looked at her chest before doing what he asked her to do. This time Vincent sat on the edge of the bathtub. She saw Vincent touch one of her caudal fins, and her cheeks reddened. He then let go of it.
"You didn't tell me why you went to Brokengroves."
Eve frowned, "I did."
"Why does it feel like you are giving me half information. It's fine," said Vincent, and for a moment Eve was relieved until he said the next words, "I will send someone to question the guard of Brokengroves, so that it can be presented in front of the council when it comes to clearing your name from being a murder suspect," he calmly said, while applying the medicine.
Eve didn't want her mother's name to come out in the open. It would not only ruin her mother's name once again which was resting for some time now, but it could also alert the murderer.
They stared at each other in silence. The look in his eyes was nothing less to a predator looking at its prey and she softly gulped.
Even though Vincent had tried to prove nothing to her, his actions towards her spoke louder than any words. She asked, "Can you promise to not tell anyone? Not even the council."
Vincent's eyes turned curious and he said, "Let us hear about it."
Eve pursed her lips, seeing him wait for her to start speaking. She took a deep breath before explaining to him how once she used to live with her mother in Brokengroves, before her mother was killed. About Aunt Aubrey and Eugene finding her by chance and taken in by them. She tried to keep it brief and during that time, Vincent finished applying the medicine and lit a cigar.
"... and that's why I went to Brokengroves, to know about the people with whom my mother was acquainted with," Eve concluded her words.
She saw Vincent continue to stare at her, taking a drag from the cigar and blowing out the smoke from his lips. He then said,
"Seems like your mother wasn't too bright. She could have sold the pearls and earned her living."
Eve had come to wonder about it before. She defended her mother, "Maybe she was scared that someone would find out about me."
Vincent tapped the ash of the cigar at the side, and hummed, "Could be. Mermaid father, human mother, and mermaid daughter. Your kind don't live as long as you do. Sirens maybe, mermaids barely."
Eve took her tail back in the water, letting it soak back in the bath salts.
"Not to demotivate you, but I have seen mermaids and sirens who wander into the past in the name of revenge never survive. What happened to your mother is sad and unfortunate, but if you want my advice, drop the idea and continue to live your life. It isn't as if you don't attract enough attention when you are keeping a low profile."
Eve bit the inside of her cheek, while trying to heed Vincent's words. Lady Aubrey had also advised her the same, and it wasn't like she hadn't tried to let go of it. But it was hard when the memory of her mother's eyes, full of life, turned hollow.
"What you experienced in the dungeon was the tip of the iceberg. The more you try to find out, the worse it will get, where you will sink into the depths of the darkness that will ruin you," stated Vincent, bringing the cigar to his lips and taking another drag.
Vincent wouldn't have wasted his breath on this woman, not only because of her blood but also because he had seen how she was with his little sister. He then said,
"Get some rest. I will go talk to the head of the council so that we can clear your name quicker. I will lock the door from outside."
Before he could leave her side, Eve stopped him, "Master Vincent." He turned to look at her. "Thank you for helping me," and for not being like the other men she had encountered in the last twenty-four hours.
One corner of Vincent's lips pulled and he remarked, "Get better quickly, so I can bite."
Eve watched Vincent leave the side of the bathtub, making his way to the door and stepping out of the room. She heard the sound of the key turn and click, and silence filled the room. Alone now in the room, she slid further down in the bathtub such that her body was completely submerged in the water, and she looked at the ceiling of the room.
She weighed the words that Vincent said to her.
Letting go of something was often the hardest, and Eve loved her mother. Until now, the vines of pain had wrapped around her hand. She decided to heed the vampire's words before letting loose of the vines of the past.
