After the Councilman left, the house was silent again.
The wind tapped softly at the windows, as if trying to remind her of the world outside, but Belle barely noticed. Her legs felt like air as she rose from where she’d been kneeling and slowly made her way through the hallway, her arms wrapped tightly around her middle as though trying to keep herself from shattering.
The two guards left behind stood stiffly near the front door. She had told them she needed no protection and that she would hire bodyguards herself, but if they heard her displeasure at having strange n inside her house, they paid no heed to her after they told her it was an order from the Councilman to stay and protect her.
She knew they were not here to protect her but to keep an eye on her. The Councilman had not looked convinced by her act before he left, and she could see it in his eyes and how he watched her. She did not know if she had done a good act or had unintentionally given away sothing that made him suspicious of her, but she hoped and prayed the man wouldn’t co back to pester her again.
She had no idea for how long she would be here alone and when Rohan would co for her, or if he was even safe. The guards watched her move through the hallway, saying nothing, their presence a cold reminder that she was no longer free to move about her ho as she wished. A prisoner in her own house.
She didn’t look at them either.
Belle made her way upstairs, each step heavier than the last. Her back ached, her heart ached even worse, and by the ti she reached the top landing, her breath ca in short, trembling pulls. She went straight into the bedroom and shut the door softly behind her, pressing her back against the wood.
The room, for so reason, still slled like him.
That faint trace of sandalwood and oud... it clung to the sheets, to the pillow where his head rested whenever he was lying next to her, propped on an elbow and looking at her in the mornings. Belle dropped to her knees beside the bed and clutched the pillow to her chest. She buried her face into it, inhaling deeply, trying to fill her lungs with what was left of him.
And then the tears ca.
She didn’t fight them this ti. Her body shook with them as she curled onto the floor, still hugging the pillow like it could bring him back imdiately. As much as she missed him already and wished him back quickly, she knew it was no longer safe for him here.
She had never lived alone in all of her life, and she feared what would happen before he would co back. What did he go to do in Nightbrook? That land was as dangerous as here for him, and she wished they had had enough ti together before he left to tell her his plans.
She felt terribly lonely already.
Her baby kicked in response, a soft fluttering like reassurance, or longing. Belle placed a hand to her belly, sniffling quietly as she tried to calm the sobs.
"I’ll be strong, I have to be again," she whispered, stroking over the swell of her stomach, knowing she had a life inside of her to protect no matter what.
But the silence that followed her vow to be strong was deafening.
"Hurry back." She muttered into his pillow as her tears soaked into the sheet.
Days passed by in a blur to Belle, who lived and felt alone in the house that had once felt like a mini paradise to her. She had made little plans for their future and her son, but now that the person who made it feel like ho was no longer there, she did not see the space as that little safe haven anymore. She wanted to go back ho, but Lord help her, she did not know where that ho was anymore.
Aragonia had stopped being her ho the day her parents sent her off to marry a said mad vampire in order to spy for their land. It had stopped being her ho when her mother watched her leave without so much as a farewell hug and kiss. She could no longer call that place a ho, even though most of her life had been spent there, and she could not deny it was her land of origin.
She loved the land, she had so pleasant mories there and would love to visit again if given the chance, though not to live there as a ho. The truth was, she knew she would never be welcod back after the actions she had taken, actions they would surely see as betrayal. The mont they found out, they would see her as a traitor.
And Nightbrook... she did not know where she belonged there. She had lived there because of her marriage and Rohan; she had never belonged or felt that she belonged. It was a place where living in it had been possible because she had a husband who took very good care of her and gave her more than she asked for. She had never felt at ho there from the beginning until she began to accept her love for her husband.
anwhile, Bimrville, it was a land she thought safe and was prepared to accept as a new ho, to make it into a place where, if she were ever to leave it, she would be hosick for it. A ho where her new family would be, and she would not feel like an outsider among those she loved. She was willing to do anything to make a ho—until now...
It wasn’t her ho, and she did not want to stay in it. Every breath she took felt like it was borrowed, and that an impending doom was settling on her. She lived in fear now, in worry. Since the day Rohan had left, she had not slept well again.
Though she tried to appear calm because of the n who stayed day and night keeping guard and even eating the als the servants prepared, she was not calm. How could she be when she had no idea where her husband was or what he was up to?
How could she be when she was being careful so she wouldn’t show them that the child inside her womb needed blood?
Her child had not demanded blood for four days after Rohan was gone, and she could tell he was behaving well because of what her husband had said before he left. He was patient, but on the fifth day, she could feel his patience was running low and he needed to feed urgently.
Even humans can’t go four days without als. Rohan had told her that human food would only keep him sustained like water, while blood was his main al. She had not ant to starve her unborn child, but she feared going into the basent to find the ice room and being followed by soone—especially the n kept inside the house, who occasionally made themselves feel at ho and moved freely within her house.
Belle could no longer keep the baby starving, as she could feel the tiny needle-like pinch that told her he was already feeding off of her. The pain at first was bearable until she couldn’t hold it in anymore and needed to move and take action.
It was evening, and the sun had gone down. She held a lamp in hand as she walked into the hall that led to the basent. She could barely walk, as her legs felt heavy and swollen, her back ached, and her stomach too. She pushed herself into the underground basent.
Climbing down the ladder was another struggle on its own, where her big stomach grazed it and made the climb almost impossible and treacherous. It was by sheer luck that she made it down, with the lamp handle clutched between her teeth.
When her feet touched the ground, she almost swayed but held herself in check. The painful pinch ca inside her, and she grimaced and then whispered, "Can you calm down, darling? Mama is trying her best to feed you. You’re hurting ..." she said with a moan of pain as she kept pushing to find the ice room.
However, imdiately after she said the words, that the baby was hurting her, she felt him still, and the needle-like pain subsided to give her strength to walk.
"Thank you," she murmured to him, proud that as much as he was hungry, he was still listening. But she knew it wouldn’t be for long, he must be starving.
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