Heart of Darkness

Rayven went to a room on the other side of the castle, far away from where Angelica was sleeping. He didn't want to hear her breathing, smell her scent, or even think of her being anywhere near him. He didn't want to ask himself why she looked the way she did and why she came here of all places. 

Why? 

The woman most have lost her mind. He could kill her here and no one would even know. Not that they would care about a traitor's daughter. 

No human had ever dared to climb the hill and come to his castle. That is why he liked this place. He could be left all alone, far away from everyone, but not anymore. 

He went to sit in a corner of the darkroom, trying to think of anything else. Trying to distract himself. It felt like he was suffocating in his own home. He couldn't take more of this torture so he went back to do what he had been doing earlier. 

He let his claws out since he didn't have his dagger with him, and then began to peel his face. 

This time willingly. 

****

Angelica woke up feeling sore all over but warm. It had been a long time since she slept in such a soft bed. It even smelled good. Where was she? 

She opened her eyes just to be met by darkness. A little sunlight peeked from behind the thick curtains letting her know it was daytime. She looked around feeling a bit confused. How did she get here? 

She remembered running away and coming to Lord Rayven's…

Oh! She was in the castle. She made it! 

Feeling extremely relieved she sat up but groaned in pain. Her body felt like it had been beaten, her dress and hair were damp and the sheets were stained with blood. 

Not a good start to ruin one of his beds. She hurried out of bed and almost fell because her feet hurt too much to stand on. Oh, Lord! That pain. 

She remained sitting on the floor and looked at her feet. It was covered with scars and scratches. Angelica had no choice but to rip a piece of her dress that was already torn and tie it around her foot. She did the same thing with her other foot. Then she looked at the mark on her wrist. She needed to hide this as well until she thought of a way to convince Lord Rayven. She knew he would throw her out immediately if he saw the mark. 

When she got up, her feet were still hurting but not as much as before. She made her way to the window and removed the curtains to let some sunlight in. The window gave her a view of the backyard of the castle. There wasn't much to see except for a few containers and dead plants.

She looked up at the sky. It wasn't as gloomy and dark as yesterday. It was bright and blue. Angelica hoped the weather would reflect how the rest of her day would look but she knew she had a lot of fighting left to do. 

Lord Rayven. 

She shivered thinking of him. She could almost see his cold, angry eyes in front of her. He wouldn't be happy to see her here. 

Turning away from the window she looked at the room. Now she had to think of a strategy to stay here and make him agree to… marry her.

She swallowed and then laughed at herself. Why would he? She went back to sit on the bed. It was time to make her list of why's and why not's. 

Angelica started with why he wouldn't agree to her offer. First, she was a traitor's daughter, she was branded as a prostitute and she had a huge debt to pay off. Second, he didn't even like her. He wasn't one to be captivated by her beauty like other men. But wasn't that why she was here? She felt safe because he never gazed at her like that. If he was going to do something with her then it would be to throw her out or kill her. 

And third, if he didn't gain any wealth from marrying her, and his reputation would be stained and on top of that, he didn't appreciate her beauty then what other reason could there be for him to marry her? 

Uggh. This was an impossible situation. Now she felt like she couldn't even make the list of why he should marry her. 

The only reason she could think of was that she wasn't repulsed by him or scared of him. Would that be enough? Would he care to be with a woman who didn't care about his scars or the rumors surrounding him despite her flaws? Could that be the reason why a man like him wasn't married yet? Even a woman in a desperate situation might not seek him out of fear so maybe he had no one to accept marrying him. 

Still, he would probably want to live alone for the rest of his life, than be with a woman like her. If he wanted a woman for the pleasure he could buy one. 

Maybe that was what he would do if he saw the mark on her hand. He would throw money at her. She felt sick at the thought. 

While thinking back and forth, her stomach growled. Oh, Lord. She didn't even think about whether Lord Rayven had servants or not. What if they threw her out before he came back? Or what if he was already here, but only in a different part of the castle?

Her heart began to beat loudly but she was too hungry to stay locked in the room. She went to the door, opened only a small part, and peeked outside to see if someone was there. 

No one. Great.

She tiptoed outside as if it would help and then began to look for the way to the kitchen. If no one was here, would there even be food left to eat? She doubted that but she still looked for the kitchen. Right now she would eat anything. 

When she finally found the kitchen, she began to look for something to eat. She prayed to find anything. Anything would do right now. 

After removing a few locks and searching while slowly losing hope she found a sack with rise. Angelica couldn't help the smile that lit up her face. She had never been so happy about food before. Now she needed water to cook some. 

Recalling the containers she saw in the backyard she decided to go there. Hopefully, that was where Lord Rayven stored his water. To her relief, there was a door in the kitchen that led directly to the backyard. Taking a pot with her she went to get some water. She was grateful for the things she had learned while working as a maid in Lord Green's house because it became handy now. She knew how to put on fire and cook the rice.

Waiting for it to cook felt like forever but once it was ready Angelica couldn't even wait for it to get cold before she started to eat. She burned herself several times but at least now she was full. 

It seemed like Lord Rayven had no servants which wasn't surprising. 

Angelica felt tired after she had eaten. All she could think of was the soft bed that she had left. Her body begged for more rest. 

Yes. She would think about everything once she rested well. She found her way back to the same room and went to sleep. 

When she woke up the next time it was dark outside. She could see the full moon through the window. She should have thought of finding a few candles before going to sleep. Now she had to wander around in the darkness. 

Carefully opening the door she peeked outside and listened to hear if someone was home. When she couldn't hear or see anything she walked out of the room. She roamed in the darkness, trying to find her way to the kitchen. She needed to light some fire and maybe she could eat the rest of the rice she left. Only God knew if she would get any food tomorrow. She didn't know how her situation would be if Lord Rayven came back. 

As she walked through the dark halls she saw a source of light from afar. Angelica could smell burn wood. Was someone here? Did Lord Rayven already come back home? Did he know she was here? 

With a pounding heart, she made her way to where the light came from. The closer she got to the light, the more frightened she became. She wasn't ready to face Lord Rayven yet. She needed more time to sort out her feelings and think of her speech. 

When she finally came to where the light came from, her heart skipped a beat. In the square hall, a man was sitting on a couch near the fireplace. His face was turned away. He was looking into the fire while holding a goblet in one hand. 

Angelica didn't have to see his face to know that it was Lord Rayven. There was only one man of this size and strength she knew. 

Panic set in. He was here. What should she do? 

Her first instinct was to run and then she thought of going back to hide in the room while thinking of something to say. She would only make a fool of herself at this moment and ruin all her chances. 

Just when she was about to take a step back he spoke. "Did you rest well?" 

His deep dark voice reached her in a way that made her feel like he knew exactly where she was standing, despite not turning to look at her. He kept staring into the fire. 

"Yes, My Lord." She replied anxiously. 

When he remained quiet she felt like she had to say something more. Explain herself why she took the freedom to come into his house, sleep and eat. Feeling nervous, she slowly walked closer. 

"Don't come closer." He said. There was a slight panic in his voice. 

Angelica halted. 

"I apologize for the disturbance. I …"

He stood up hastily scaring her but she became the most frightened when she turned around, showing her his face in the dim light of the fire. 

A gasp escaped her lips and she quickly placed a hand over her mouth to stop herself. Oh, Lord! What happened to him? 

If his scars were horrible before now they were impossible to look at. Angelica felt sick looking at the one side of his face that was raw flesh. Even his lips and his eye on that side of his face had scars on them. Fresh ones that looked like they weren't only inflicted by a dagger but something less sharp that tore the flesh of his face.

"Who did this to you?" She asked. 

He narrowed his eyes. "I want you out of my house by tomorrow morning."