Betrayal

Chapter 9

"This is torture, sheer torture. It cannot be borne. I will die-"

"You are going to wear out the floor with your incessant marching," The tall man drawled.

Cecilia skidded to a halt with a flair of her green skirts and turned to glare at the speaker who dared to interupt her. Her hair that was meant up in an elaborate bun was now lopsided. Even Beth was languishing and had turned to fiddle with her mistress' hair in the mornings but her skills were limited and it showed.

The tall stranger was sat in a borrowed armchair reading one of the more sedate novels in his companion's collection.

Cecilia had hidden the truly trashy romance novels under her private inner things after the first time she had found one in his hands. The mortification was one she was not keen to feel again.

"We have been trapped here for nearly a month. I cannot and will not stay another moment longer. If Mariana serves up another one of her fish soups I will break her china on her face," Cecilia's lips were a grim slash upon her pale face.

The man just rolled his eyes but instead of going back to the book he closed it and gave her a piercing look.

"Madam, your mind needs appropriate distraction," He proclaimed sedately eyeing the red head's equally red face.

The girl had woken up with a thunderstorm brewing in her head and he had been prepared for lightening bolts she was about to unleash on them.

"How? We are trapped in this miserable inn. There is nothing to do. There is nowhere to go. On top of that this curfew and the suspicious night time activity has made it impossible for us to go out regularly," Cecilia explained as if she hadn't made the same speech many times before.

"At least you have stepped out for essentials. I have not even had that opportunity. I fear I shall lose my stunning tan hidden away in this room," The stranger's voice was deadpan.

"Now, now, no need to stretch the joke. I called it stunning as an afterthought once upon a time. Besides you were eavesdropping!" Cecilia replied with a flustered expression.

"It cannot be classified as eavesdropping if we are sitting in the same room with you only a metre away from me," The man said plainly although his face twitched as if hiding a smile, "As you always are."

"Someone needs to protect you. I cannot allow you to brave danger when you are injured," The redhead tried to explain away her stalkerish behaviour.

"I am sure Simon tires of accompanying me to the outhouse," The man replied, patiently, indicating he knew all her secrets.

"Hush, I saved you and I will keep you safe. I am honour bound," Cecilia was now truly embarrassed.

She had hoped he had not noticed how between the three of them he was never alone but obviously the plan was doomed to fail. From the corner of her eye she saw her companion had gone back to his reading.

Cecilia sat down with a solemness that did not befit her character on the matching armchair. The silence was deafening and that was what terrified her. Silence meant death. When the plague had destroyed her to the point of insanity it was the silence that had added to her pain. She had talked and talked and no one had replied because they were all dead. The silence gave her so much anxiety she felt she would burst.

Even now with so many people stuffed in one room she yearned for human contact that was freely given. All of her companions were forced to be in her company. Two because she paid their wages and the third because he had nowhere to go.