Rebellion

Chapter 11 ~ Trust

Chapter 11: Trust
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A knock on the door had me sighing heavily, pulling the pillow tighter over my head. I hoped if I just ignored them, whoever it was would go away, but they were persistent. Another round of knocks and I groaned, sitting up.

"Come in." I called wearily, expecting the serious face of Atanas to appear.

I was surprised when it was Anna that entered, gently shutting the door behind her. She stood awkwardly by the door, tucking chestnut hair behind her ear.

"Are you going to hide away in here forever?" She asked, taking the initiative and sitting next to me on the bed.

I shifted, putting some distance between us. She didn't seem offended by my need for space.

"If I can get away with it." I muttered, staring at the bedsheets that I fidgeted with.

Her laugh was musical her whole face lighting up in amusement, "I don't think I can let you do that."

"I just need some space to breath. Everything here seems to be so...intense."

She laughed again, reaching out to squeeze my hand. I flinched, unused to being touched so and Anna seemed to understand. While she never released my hand, she loosened her hold enough that I could move if I wanted to. She seemed to know more about my odd quirks than I felt comfortable with. Padraig had said that Anna could see our deepest desires, I wondered if she could see more about us than she let on.

"Atanas is worried about you, I think he'd like it if you joined us downstairs. Our guests will be arriving in the next few days, it would be good if you stood by Atanas' side when they did." She urged.

I frowned, Atanas was worried? That was something I highly doubted. If anything, I was an inconvenience he could do without, not something to be worried about.

"He knows you'll be uncomfortable around so many strangers and he knows there's a risk they won't trust you. He needs them to trust you for you to be safe and you're safest by his side, where he wants you." She continued, giving me a pleading look.

Rubbing my face, I pushed the mountain of questions away, focusing just on what I needed to. She was right, I needed to be trusted. Perhaps that was why Atanas had left my mark on his skin, as proof to the others of how he trusted me enough to let me feed from him. It made more sense than the idea that he had actually wanted to keep it.

"Okay." I relented finally, giving myself a headache with all my thinking, "I'll show my face."

She grinned, her delight shining through her features. She gripped my hand again, pulling me with her to the door while I tried to stomach the nerves that rolled through me. It was hard enough watching Padraig and Anna's odd relationship without thinking of having to deal with others.
She paused, turning to face me.

"It's more than what it seems, trust that. He really does care." She said suddenly, freezing me to my core.

It was like she could read my thoughts and her warm brown eyes were like windows that I didn't want to look through for fear of what I would see. I wasn't sure who she was talking about, whether she knew that her relationship with her master scared me, or if she was talking about Atanas. Either way, I gave her a weak smile that seemed to satisfy her enough to start moving again.

Her grip on my hand was light but she never let go and I began to worry that maybe there was already new people downstairs. I was relieved when I saw it was still just Padraig and Atanas. They were sitting across from each other with playing cards in hand, serious expressions on their faces.