What was that smell? Pine? Lysandra rolled on her side as she let out a groan from exhaustion. Wherever she was, it was soft, warm and-–
A memory of two cold bright blue eyes flashed before her. Lysandra's eyes popped open as she pushed herself to sit up. "What, where?" Lysandra grabbed onto her head, feeling her head spin from the sudden movement. She realised was sitting in a bed covered with a thick duvet, she wasn't out in the forest anymore. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath counting to ten trying to recall how she got in the soft bed.
She had been travelling to the North, everything was going fine until—
Daisy! Oh gods was she alive? Lysandra tossed her blanket aside and rushed out of bed only for her to lose her balance and fall to the floor. "Ouch" she hissed from the pain. The muscles in her legs were burning, sore from riding Shadow for hours on end. She was used to taking long rides, or so she had assumed. Riding from dusk till dawn had required much more endurance than she was used to. If Shadow hadn't been trained for long rides, Lysandra wouldn't have made it out of the forest at all.
Lysandra rubbed her calves and pushed herself back up on the edge of the bed. While sitting back down, she was faced with a trunk.
Her trunk–.
That made no sense, they had gotten attacked on the road. The carriage had been left behind, the two guards surely escaped rather than protecting the carriage. Lysandra pushed herself up from the bed, standing on her feet shakily. She stumbled towards the trunk miserably. Dropping herself down to the ground in a fleeting moment of relief. She took a quick look inside her trunk, her belongings, her books, her jewelry everything was in there except her dresses. Looking around the room she spotted an old, almost vintage looking, wardrobe carved out of dark wood. Its design was outdated. She realized the whole room was outdated as she looked around. The room had that same dark blue colour wallpaper she had seen in the hallways. The wooden floor she was sitting on, dark oak. A black rug with a blue emblem surrounded the bed, the Emperor would set this whole place on fire if he'd see a house not decorated in the Imperial colours of red and white.
A gentle humming came from just outside the room. Without much of a warning the door creaked open. In strode a small maid, with a spring in her step and humming gently. The maid had tanned skin and dark hair. She was carrying some of Lysandra's dresses. The maid looked at Lysandra sitting on the floor. The young woman let out a yelp.
"Oh—Oh my goodness." The maid rushed over and put the dresses besides Lysandra on the floor. Even from where Lysandra was sitting she could smell the fresh scent of her now cleaned dresses. "Milady, you shouldn't be sitting up too fast. You've had it rough." The maid then bowed her head and helped Lysandra sit back on the bed.
"I'm Tara. I'm the maid assigned to you."
"My maid? No no, where is Daisy? How come my dresses are here but not my maid?" Lysandra panicked. What if Daisy had not made it out of the forest. Daisy had been wounded.
The young maid shook her head quickly. "N-no Milady, please don't get too worked up. Daisy is recovering. She sustained some injuries and—" She swallowed thickly. "The Duke thought it best to give her some time to recover and have me join her to serve you. We can visit Daisy when the doctor has checked on you, Milady. Keeping you safe and healthy is the first priority now." The maid, now known as Tara, bowed her head again.
Lysandra looked at the girl in front of her. She was quite young, twenty? Maybe even only nineteen at most. She wasn't being rude, she was also just following orders.
Daisy had made it to the estate. Relief washed over Lysandra as she let out a deep breath. Closing her eyes for a moment, she is safe, Daisy ain't dead. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. She wasn't sure what she would have done if Daisy hadn't made it.
"Would you like me to get the doctor and get you something to eat? Any preferences in dishes?" Tara interrupted Lysandra's train of thought.
Lysandra rolled her eyes at the notion of a doctor. For what, fainting from exhaustion? And who's fault was that? Sitting back up she shook her head. "There is no need for a doctor. I'm fine. My legs are just a bit sore, nothing else." Her stomach rumbled at the idea of a meal.
"What about the guards that were assigned to pick me up? Brion? Hannic?" Lysandra questioned. Did they carry her trunks all the way here after having killed those creatures? "They are recovering too, Milady." Tara gave a small smile as she gently nodded her head in affirmation. Noticing the maid's uniform was dated by capital standards, much like the rest of the estate. It looked warm, well worn, but also very well made. Tara didn't look at Lysandra directly.
"Ah, but Milady, the Duke will have my head if you do not get examined by a doctor." The maid almost whimpered. "Y-you've been asleep for a little over a day, Milady. The doctor has administered fluids after you fainted. We feared you were dehydrated at the very least but the doctor wasn't able to determine more while you were asleep. You've been through what many would consider a nightmare, Milady." Somehow Tara did sound kind, even if her speech pattern was different from how maids spoke in the capital.
Hearing the maid say that the duke would have her head if Lysandra didn't see a doctor, made her uncomfortable. She could already see this poor girl's head chopped off and pierced down on a pike on one of the walls that surrounded this awful place. "I'll see a doctor then, right away." Lysandra grabbed the poor maid's hand and gave it a reaffirming squeeze. "Don't worry, it will all be alright."
"Yes, at once, Milady." Tara confirmed.
A soft smile graced Lyandra's face as she suddenly realised something, if Daisy was still recovering and she herself had slept in this bed for a full day then. Her eyes widened "Who.. who undressed me?" She was wearing a nightgown, not one of her own but clearly one from the estate as its sleeves were adorned with black lace.
The maid blinked a few times before answering to Lysandra. "Ah I'm so sorry Milady, that would have been me. Your luggage wasn't with you so I had to grab something that—is not up to par with the capital's latest fashion." Tara bowed deeply. "Please forgive me." The young maid seemed more worried about the clothing than about the undressing.
Hearing that the young maid had changed her clothes, quickly put Lysandra at ease. It was to be expected of a lady from the capital to have her body be unseen by a man's eye until they were wed. Even then afterwards only their husband would be the only man allowed to see them naked. She was afraid that these savages in the North might not have followed the same rules.
"It's alright," Lysandra reassured the young maid.
"When and how did my trunks get here?" Lysandra questioned. If the guards and her maid had returned, did Brion and Hannic arrive with her trunks?
"I don't know Milady, perhaps the Duke knows more on how your trunks arrived. They were carried in yesterday but I was too busy arranging for your stay to take notice, besides having your dresses washed. Carefully washed, Milady. I have instructed the others to treat your clothing with the utmost care."
The Duke– Her cheeks reddened at the memory of her passing out. Oh gods how embarrassing she had passed out in front of the demon of a man. Who clearly frightened his own staff. "Let's call the doctor, we can't keep the man waiting."
"Oh but Milady, what of your meal, you haven't eaten since yesterday. As for the doctor." The maid seemed to shuffle her feet for a moment. "Well—since you came from the capital it was suggested that a male doctor might not be appropriate." Tara took a deep breath, "So the doctor is female." She smiled a little before answering about the trunks.
"A female doctor?" Lysandra asked, confused.