Aria closed the door behind her, slowly, so as not to make the slightest noise. It was the last thing she wanted at that moment and, looking around, she didn’t move a step. The sounds of pots and pans and cutlery were coming from her right, from the kitchen, and if she exposed her head too much, Sergey would see her.

She had crouched behind the door while the butler was washing the dinner dishes, incredibly fewer than usual. All she had to do was go through the kitchens to take a secondary staircase that led upstairs, where she would head to her room and pretend to have been asleep the whole time.

Madame Doroteya, at that moment, was probably washing the floor of some room and so it wouldn’t have been a problem. Of course, it was the housekeeper who called her, punctual as clockwork, just before dinner. But Aria knew that, once no one answered her call, she would respect her privacy by not entering the room.

“It’s such a perfect plan that it seems strange that it could work.” she said to herself, “But it’s my only option.”

A shadow passed by her. It was Sergey, who was carrying a tray full of glasses to an adjacent room. That was the opportunity that Aria took to cross the corridor and take the second staircase. She soon found herself in that wing of the house; she had been there a few times and had found it scary since she was a child. It was where most of the spiders and cobwebs nested and the tall iron statues only fueled her fears.

She remembered when, as a child, she was playing with a friend of hers and she got lost in that very corridor, starting to cry and get agitated because she didn’t know how to find her way back. She simply walked from one room to another in the hope of meeting someone, but all she saw were statues and large swords ready to stab her.

It was one of those bad memories that sometimes came back to you as a nightmare during the night.

She then quickened her pace, not wanting to stay a second longer than necessary.

With the help of two deep breaths to calm her beating heart, she slipped towards her room. One last look behind her and then closed the door.

She had made it. She was safe.

She also used the key to place an additional barrier between her and the outside world and, if anyone wanted to enter, they would have to break down the door.

Her legs hurt and her feet were tired from all that walking. Facing the freezing wind with all those wounds was certainly not a walk in the park and, as a noblewoman, she could not let the people of Korotsk see her in that state. Maybe her dress was also stained with blood, but that was not a problem that crossed her mind. Somehow, however, she managed to walk to her house and now she was in front of her bed.

All she had to do now was lie down and sleep.

But when she turned around, she saw Madame Doroteya staring at her from across the room. She was sitting in an armchair with a pipe in her mouth; she had never seen her smoke. The smoke rings reached the ceiling and next to her was a glass and a carafe of water, all accompanied by two books.

“Aria!” the eldest exclaimed without moving from her chair.

“I-I lost track of time and I was a little late…” she improvised.

The world fell on her in one bite and her seemingly foolproof plan collapsed like a sand castle. Her voice was shaking like never before.

“Now I’m tired and I want to go to sleep.”

“You know, right, that it’s dangerous for you to be out all this time? Luckily your father is working and hasn’t had dinner, but I should tell him about what you’ve done.”

“No!” the youngest shrieked, hanging her coat on the coat rack and lying down on top of the blankets.

“Don’t tell my father, please.”

“Give me just one reason.”

Aria started to answer but couldn’t find the right words at the time. It was her governess who had taught her this when she was younger, that when you didn’t have a ready answer, it was best not to complicate the situation by making up words.

“I just want to sleep now.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Not so fast.”

Madame Doroteya rose from her chair and moved toward the girl.

“You look pale, Aria.” she said, picking her up and lifting her up, then looking at the girl in a judgmental tone. She stopped at her hands.

“And these?”

A slap went off.

“Will you tell me what these are?”

The girl looked at her hands and noticed that the calluses hadn’t disappeared. The backs of her hands were a deeper purple than they had been the last time she had seen them, and her nails were blackened. Certainly not a proud appearance for a duchess.

“It’s the cold, Doroteya, the streets were icy today.”

“No, my dear, the cold doesn’t give you those kinds of calluses. And you can’t fool me about these things, and you know it.” she was about to slap her again, but stopped at the last moment.

“Undress.”

“What?”

“Undress, I said.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“I. Said. Undress.”

Aria did as she was told, and after her sweater, she dropped her underwear. Her back, clearly visible in the mirror, was covered in marks, the same ones Anton had made with his cane. Most of them were scratches that she didn’t even know how she got them, probably from the night before.

“Oh my God!” the housekeeper almost burst into tears, “What happened to you?”

“It’s a long story.”

Another slap in the face, this time harder.

“Tell me what happened to you or I’ll tell your father.”

“You can’t, you promised not to.”

“I promised not to tell him that you wanted to be a huntress, not that someone could abuse your body.”

Aria swallowed. Her father finding out even the smallest detail was the last thing she wanted. She couldn’t even imagine what could happen to her if he found out that his daughter had become a huntress, or that she was in contact with them.

Would he disinherit her? Would he be able to go that far? She knew some nobles, some boys in particular, who had been disinherited by their family for their behavior in the war, and then their path had come to a sudden halt.

She didn’t want to end up like that, she wouldn’t have survived a single day in Korotsk. Plus, no one would have accepted a disinherited noble to work and all she could do to survive would have been to sell her body.

“Madame Doroteya, please, don’t tell him anything.”

The housekeeper sighed twice, “I won’t, but you’ll have to tell me everything. Everything.”

Aria got dressed and warmed herself with a cup of tea the housekeeper had brought her.

“Promise me you won’t tell Sergey either.”

There was no answer.

“Promise me, not my father or Sergey… not anyone else.”

Madame Doroteya was sometimes a little rough, but she really cared about the family and Aria knew it. She would never let anything bad happen to the girl or Ungern.

“I promise.”

The hot tea was taking effect on her body. She didn’t feel cold anymore and her mind was starting to work properly.

“Ever since the vampire attacked me, I’ve been thinking about how to defend myself…” she began, “and I came to the conclusion that the only way to do that was to join the hunters, to become one of them.”

Madame Doroteya, arms folded, gasped when she heard those words.

“You’re crazy,” she said, “you’re crazy,” she repeated.

“I know.”

All Aria wanted to do at that moment was to disappear and not face the consequences of her actions. She was more afraid of Doroteya’s judgment than of the vampires themselves.

“I know.” she said once more to reinforce her thought, “Noble families don’t look kindly on hunters, and my father… well… has his own thoughts. But I’m learning to defend myself!” she exclaimed proudly.

“Learning to defend yourself? Look at you, Aria! Does this look like defense to you? This is violence, pure violence.”

Aria wriggled. She got out of bed and took a few steps away to put enough air between her and the governess.

“I have to do this! My life is at stake!” she shouted, but was too nervous to notice, “I don’t want a vampire to kill me! I don’t want to die! And if my father isn’t okay with it, then to hell with him!”

There was silence.

A long silence.

The girl caught her breath and a river of tears began to flow down her face, while Madame Doroteya began to pace aimlessly around the room. A good five minutes passed before a single word escaped her lips.

“All right.” a puff of smoke came from the housekeeper’s cigar, “I promised I wouldn’t tell your father, and I won’t. But if I ever find you with any more marks on your body, I’ll never forgive you.”

Aria’s heart lightened and she smiled just enough to show her gratitude.

“Don’t worry, Madame Doroteya, I can take care of myself.”

The housekeeper gathered her things and tucked them under her armpit, then went to the door, unlocking it with her master key.

Finally alone, Aria went back to the door and locked it again. Not that it did much good, but it somehow put her in a state of tranquility. Plus, if someone came in, it would make noise and alert her.

The most important thing, at that moment, was knowing that she had won. Not only she had managed to get into the hunter academy, ready to learn sword techniques to be able to face vampires, but she had also managed to get Madame Doroteya on her side, a woman who was certainly not easy to get support from. Of course, her word wasn't worth much, given her precedent in those years, but somehow she wasn't too worried about it.

If she had to show up at the academy again tomorrow, and so on for the following days, her father would start to suspect something. Aria, a lonely girl who was always locked up at home, suddenly wandering around all day without saying anything? She would have to make up an excuse, but she had been raised incredibly well by Doroteya in that regard.

She decided that she would think about it in due time, also helped by the housekeeper. Now she couldn’t wait to get back under the covers and wait for Morpheus’ embrace. It had been a day full of emotions and she hoped that the next ones would calm down at least a little.

Because, between a vampire one day and Anton’s beatings the other, they had been two pretty chaotic days.

Seeing Liza again, however, put her in a good mood; her mind had associated her with protection. Knowing that she could count on the hunters on her side made her sleep soundly.