Day 130

The devastatingly comfy confines of the bed and blanket was what I awoke to the next morning. No Princess in sight, just me and me alone in a bed that was too big not to invoke lonliness for all who sleep alone on it. I could feel the traces of warmth of some body that wasn't mine, but it was quickly leaving and I could tell from the marrow of my bones that I had slept enough. It was time to start a new day in this odd castle.

Crawling my way out of the bed I took off my nightdress and put back on my clothes. They were exactly where I had left them, but I had a new problem. I had no clue where to put the nightdress. Carrying it around would be unsightly, so I placed where my old clothes were and headed out of the room and into the hallway once again. I only knew of one place where I could more or less walk in without looking too odd, and that was the dining room.

I pulled open the door of the dining room, a task that wasn't simple considering its massive weight, and quickly walked inside before the door could crush me. There was some amount of activity within the dining room, servants walking from one door and out the other, others carrying trays filled with dishes and others picking up what was on the table. Alfred was there, and more importantly, Coinnle was there as well. But what struck me wasn't their presence.

Coinnle was sitting on the lap of Alfred. And for some strange reason, that sent a suffocating wave of dread rolling through me. What was Alfred doing letting another girl on his lap? Why was Coinnle so quickly betraying me after spending so much time together with me?

Why did I feel any of this to be betrayal? I moved towards my ears and felt for their position. I knew where they were already, but I wanted another confirmation. Yes, they were perked. And my tail was slightly puffed up. I was angry. And I had no clue how to express it, or why I was feeling it.

I walked over to Alfred and the little nymph and, trying to control my voice, spoke. "What are you two doing?" Well, I chose the words right. But the anger had seeped itself deeply into the words, and that can't be easily hidden. Both of them already knew I was behind them, but when Alfred heard my voice he turned to face me quickly with an eyebrow lifted. Coinnle reacted more slowly to my question.

"Is something wrong?" Alfred asked.

"Nothing's wrong." I replied. The question sent another shiver of anger through my spine. What do you mean is something wrong? Can you not notice the girl sitting on your lap, you bastard?

Coinnle was far more perceptive to my mood. She got off of Alfred and dusted herself off, looking at me quizzically. Perhaps she didn't fully understand. "Have we done something to anger you, Eithne? Are you angery over being left alone in the bed?" I looked at her. She wasn't one I wanted to anger, second worst to the Lord in terms of how bad a fuckup that would be. But I couldn't control myself.

"What are you doing sitting on Alfred's lap, nymph?" Fuck. I didn't mean to say the last part. Coinnle raised her eyebrow at that, at first a surprise, then anger, and then genuine worry.

"Excuse me? Please watch your words carefully, Eithne. I may have treated you kindly but I won't tolerate such blatant disrespect. What have I done wrong here?"

"Y-you..." I bit my lip, hard enough to draw blood. Not a difficult feat considering how sharp my canines were, but I've always had very fine control over how much pressure I could place on my lips. Right now, I didn't have that. Coinnle's face turned from worry into basic frustration, but it was Alfred's turn to speak.

"Eithne. Do we need to speak somewhere more private?" His words were a threat, but instead of cowering I felt my anger harden from the callousness of his voice. He was complicit with the action, he let her sit on his lap. She wasn't supposed to go there. I need to resolve this, immediately. Now.

Both of them stared at me as I tightly grasped onto my dress. The blood from my lips formed a single drop which fell onto the floor, the obvious pattern of blood splatter forming on the surface. It was Coinnle instead of Alfred who first acted, looking fed up over my angsty actions. She grabbed my hands and forcibly moved me out of the room, I doing nothing to stop her pulling. I was a strange mixture of feeling jealousy, hatred, betrayal, shame, and sadness mixed into one vaguely feline form. I let her pull me away, licking the wound that was upon my lip clean of the blood.

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Once I had been taken out of the room by Coinnle she turned to face me. "What's wrong?"

I didn't answer.

"I said, what's wrong?"

"Don't get so close to Alfred." It took everything in me not to insult her again.

"Why? What's the matter with you? Whenever Alfred comes by every year I like to hear his theories while sitting on his lap. I've sat on your lap as well, both in the bath and on my chair. What's wrong with that?"

I didn't answer. Coinnle didn't ask for an answer, but she didn't continue to speak. Her fiercely yellow eyes boring holes into my skull, forcing me to relent and release some of the tension building up from within my bosom.

"I don't like it. It hurts me. Please stop doing it."

Coinnle's face softened at the sound of my voice, it was much more pathetic than I had thought it could be. I didn't like it, I didn't feel like I had control over my own voice. But all I could do was beg for her to stop, I didn't want her to do something like that to my Alfred.

"What's wrong, Eithne?" Her voice was childish in its innocence, and genuine in its care. Perhaps I was crying, something that wouldn't surprise me considering the haziness the world started to develop and the hotness that began to develop in my cheeks. Coinnle stood on her tippy toes and first touched my lip with her finger, the part with the bite wound on it, and then wiped away both my tears. "You have to speak to me, I've sworn an oath to help those who are in pain, as long as it doesn't contradict any other verse of my oath. So speak. I'll hear it out."

I nodded. I felt absolutely pathetic. I no longer felt any pain on my lip, touching it with my finger I couldn't feel a wound either. Had she healed it?

"It hurts me to see you sitting on the lap of Alfred, Coinnle."

"Does it? Why?" Coinnle asked a simple question, one I couldn't answer.

"I don't know."

She hummed at my response. Then her face started to take a thinking expression, her pointer finger on her lip and her thumb on her chin. I stood there, waiting for her to respond. Something clicked in her mind as she suddenly turned to me with a slight smile. She nodded. "Understood, Miss Eithne. And it's Princess Coinnle, remember my title. A maiden's heart is a fickle thing, I will forgive you of your brash impoliteness."

"What do you understand?" Coinnle smiled again, a smile that spoke of someone who knew more about something that was important that I did not.

"You're jealous." My tail puffed up at her words and I couldn't control myself enough to not open my mouth, but I closed it before I could say anything. I knew she was right, I had admitted it. But jealous of what?

"Of what?"

"Of me taking the lap of your crush. I understand, Miss Eithne. I won't do such a thing again, you have my word."

"A crush? On who? Alfred?" I asked and Coinnle nodded in affirmation. Her words didn't process in my mind for several seconds. Me? Having a crush? On a boy? No, on a ninety four year old man? What is this girl talking about?

But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense in its own twisted way. Why else was I so overprotective of him? Why else did I feel so betrayed over someone else sitting on his lap? Why did I want others to think of us as a couple? Everything was already there. Divine, I do have a crush on him, don't I. For some reason, that made my cry even more. Coinnle gave a smug smile at my crying face, something that didn't upset me as much as vex me.

Despite my revelation I couldn't help but deny it. "You're wrong, it's not like that." Coinnle nodded wisely.

"You'll be happy to know I won't steal him from you. By the divine, how possessive can you be to become jealous of someone my age? I may understand feelings of love from books, but I've not met a man who sends me to angers such as yours."

"For a child you sure are articulate."

"Enchantments and bloodlines, Miss Eithne. Those will take you a long, long way, as Papa says. I know more than my age should allow." Without saying anything, and seeing that my tears no longer streamed down my face, Coinnle moved back into the dining room and kept the heavy stone door open for me to pass through, if I wanted. She didn't have to wait long for me to come with her.

I spent most of the day along with her and Alfred, up until Alfred had to leave in order to make the deliveries of his orders. He didn't take me with him since he thought I could better spend my time getting better acquainted with the Princess, which I don't think he was all that wrong about. I wanted to accompany him but despite Coinnle's supposed maturity she still clung close to me for whatever reason.

Still, the feeling of powerlessness as I interacted with both Alfred and Coinnle this morning embed itself deep into my chest. It wasn't enough that Coinnle had given me her word, although I definitely did trust it considering it came from a cultivator. I wanted Alfred to not be under such conditions again with any other women. I needed to find a way to get him to comply. And, for once in my life, I was reminded that I had a natural born talent.

Enthrallment.