Cimmerian Shade

Chapter 7

A/N I'm so sorry I haven't posted lately. I've been ridiculously sick, but felt well enough today to edit and post this. I will post the next one within a couple of days since I'm kind of behind. If i missed any edits, I'm sorry. I'm still not at 100%. Thanks for reading and hope you like it!

“If you don’t create change, change will create you”-Anonymous

When Alla awoke, she noticed that the curtains had already been drawn and her bedroom door was opened. She immediately sat up, bringing the covers to her chin. Many servants hustled about in the hallway outside her room. How many servants were in the employ of the duke? How many did the man actually need? She knew that she would have an automatic aversion to him already. His high-handedness in demanding that she remain in bed caused her to develop an instant dislike for the man. There was also the issue of the leeches. Granted, she was appalled at the idea of a squirmy slimy thing sucking her blood, but how was he to know she didn’t like leeches? What if she adored them? She outwardly smiled at the absurd thought.

Her smile instantly transformed into a frown. Why was her bedroom door open? That was strange. Also peculiar, was the fact that she did not hear Brawna and Edith come into the room that morning. Yet her curtains were drawn, a breakfast tray was set on her nightstand, and it looked as if her room had been cleaned. Either the two slithered in so as to not wake her, or she had been sleeping like the dead. Admittedly, she had been up late the night before, crying. It probably looked as if someone punched her in the face again.

Her stomach rumbled, reminding her of the tray of food on her nightstand. She picked it up and began eating her breakfast, though she wasn’t able to eat much. The issues she had thought about the night before still weighed heavily on her mind. She replaced the tray when she had eaten enough to satisfy her stomach, silencing it at last.

After staring at the wall for a few moments, frustration mounted. Who was he to stipulate whether or not she could get out of bed? She was a grown woman, wasn’t she? Where was Breanne, anyhow? This was not going to be a good morning. She was already miffed. One thing was certain; if she stayed in bed a moment longer, she would physically combust. She would not live as if she were a complete invalid. Alla roughly flung the covers aside and slowly slid her legs across the slick sheets and over the side of the bed.

After slowly inching her bottom along the edge of the bed, she touched her toes to the rug below, careful not to put all of her weight on her feet just yet. Lord, her legs hurt. The nightgown she wore slid up to her thigh, revealing large, ugly green and blue bruises.

Ignoring the sight of her unseemly legs, she finally allowed her feet to touch the floor. Turning herself so that her stomach was against the bed, she grasped the edge of it, and tried to inch along the side. She had not yet put her full weight on her legs, a fact that she was happy about, since jolts of excruciating pain were already traveling up both of them. She was very surprised that her legs were in such bad shape, but on the other hand, she did fall quite the distance.

Alla contemplated changing, but decided that she would stay in her night gown since only the servants were home. Why make more work for herself by trying to reach the armoire?

Using the bed as leverage, she continued moving alongside the bed. Once she’d reached the foot of the bed, she used various objects throughout the room in order to reach the door. If anyone saw her, they would probably think she made quite the spectacle.

When she reached the door, she braced both hands against the sides of the entry way, and poked her head out. Servants still hustled about, but paid no attention to her. Grateful for her seeming insignificance, she took in the sights from where she stood. Looking left, she saw a long hallway that wrapped around a corner. To her right, there was a large winding staircase which seemed to be about the width of three doors, leading to a downstairs area. Everything was so open. Large windows allowed the sun access, causing the staircase and upper floor to become brightly illuminated. A chandelier hung in the entryway; bobbing, as a servant endeavored to clean it. Directly before her, cherry wood railing ran past her room and along the stairs.