Chapter 8
*Eh heh… sorryz for the wait guys… really. My account was frozen. It sucked. Here's Adhemar… hehehe*
Adriana awoke the next morning only to be confronted with Donal. He held a tray with an assortment of food on it, steaming and demanding to be eaten. She hadn't had a decent meal in months… Eyeing the food and the servant speculatively, she sat up in bed. Donal simply waited silently, offering no explanation of what was going on or why.
"Is that… for me?" Adriana questioned tentatively, pointing to the tray of breakfast.
"It is, M'Lady," Donal replied curtly.
At this Adriana's eyebrows shot up. Only a week ago he had been shoving her into the barn to sleep, now he addressed her with a formal title? She practically leapt out of the huge bed, storming right over to him and standing mere inches from him. Her head almost came parallel to his neck, but she managed to glare menacingly.
"Now just what is going on here? I demand to know! Where is that cretin you call a lord? Tell me! What kind of game does he think he's playing with me?" she shouted huffily.
She was carrying on with such fervor that she didn't notice the "cretin" was standing in the doorway of her room, laughing at the tantrum, nearly doubled over in fact. Donal simply seemed to regard her outburst with mild interest, after all, he was more used to being dealt a hard punch in the face or stomach when Adhemar was not pleased.
"Now that performance is all the proof I needed to believe you were once a well bred lady of the upper class," Adhemar chided, though Adriana immediately noticed that the tone of his voice had changed subtly.
He no longer sounded malicious when he spoke, but truly playful. It was certainly a side of him she had not seen before.
Quickly banishing her bewilderment, she settled her fiery gaze on Adhemar instead, "You!" she growled lowly.
Adhemar raised an eyebrow, leaning carelessly against the door frame and pointing to himself as if she might have been referring to someone else. Again, this sudden change in attitude made Adriana halt in her advancement upon him. Less than a week ago, he would have threatened her with death or given her a sound thrashing had she spoken to him that way… and now he merely mocked her?
He took the abrupt silence and hesitation in her ranting as his opportunity to interject an explanation, "Your behavior-- until this morning-- has been exceptional, Adriana. I deemed it worthy enough of a few small rewards."
"A few--" Adriana stammered, completely caught off guard by this sudden and unexpected kindness, it almost made her nervous.
And aside from that, he called a luxurious room, a fine silk garment and an opulent breakfast a few small rewards?
Adhemar seemed to take a certain amount of delight in her confusion, "I can be quite generous when the mood arises. But I need cause. I think you'll find that I am a munificent and charitable master when I get what I require of my servants, isn't that right Donal?" he called over his shoulder, never taking his eyes from the shocked girl before him.
"Aye, M'Lord," Donal replied almost immediately.
Adriana got the impression that it would not have mattered what the question had been, because poor Donal didn't have a will of his own anymore. She made a silent vow that such a deprivation would never happen to her, no matter what.
"I will never serve you," she retorted sharply, for lack of anything better to say.
Adhemar seemed remarkably unaffected.
"I beg to differ, Adriana. You're serving me this very moment, simply by being here. Gracing this manor with your beauty, if not your pleasant temperament."
Adriana scoffed at the duel compliment/insult he had dealt her but remained silent otherwise, obviously trying to read into this sudden change in attitude.
Adhemar went on, "You will have free reign of the manor and the gardens should that please you. Donal will serve you for today, until I can make other arrangements"
Again Adriana looked surprised. She was about to comment on his remark concerning what would please her, but a new topic was already being thrown at her, almost as if he was deliberately trying to perplex and baffle her, "A servant for a servant?" she questioned suspiciously.
Adhemar caught her gaze and managed to hold it steadily, something he had trouble with since the first moment they met.
"You are an entirely separate sort of servant, Adriana. One who operates in only the closest circle of tasks laid down by her master."
The girl's cheeks colored with anger in response to that remark, but still she said nothing.
Adhemar's eyes slid complacently from her gaze down her slender throat only stopping at the graceful lines of her feet and ascending once more.
"First and foremost is another bath, I think. A proper one, this time," he added, turning to go.
"Oh, and am I to have an audience again, M'Lord?" Adriana finally countered, hurling the retort at his back.
Adhemar slowly turned and narrowed his eyes in contemplation, "Much as I appreciate the offer, darling, I'm afraid I have other affairs to attend to this morning," and with that, he was gone, leaving Adriana to seethe with rage at his devious twisting of her own words.
*Eh heh… sorryz for the wait guys… really. My account was frozen. It sucked. Here's Adhemar… hehehe*
Adriana awoke the next morning only to be confronted with Donal. He held a tray with an assortment of food on it, steaming and demanding to be eaten. She hadn't had a decent meal in months… Eyeing the food and the servant speculatively, she sat up in bed. Donal simply waited silently, offering no explanation of what was going on or why.
"Is that… for me?" Adriana questioned tentatively, pointing to the tray of breakfast.
"It is, M'Lady," Donal replied curtly.
At this Adriana's eyebrows shot up. Only a week ago he had been shoving her into the barn to sleep, now he addressed her with a formal title? She practically leapt out of the huge bed, storming right over to him and standing mere inches from him. Her head almost came parallel to his neck, but she managed to glare menacingly.
"Now just what is going on here? I demand to know! Where is that cretin you call a lord? Tell me! What kind of game does he think he's playing with me?" she shouted huffily.
She was carrying on with such fervor that she didn't notice the "cretin" was standing in the doorway of her room, laughing at the tantrum, nearly doubled over in fact. Donal simply seemed to regard her outburst with mild interest, after all, he was more used to being dealt a hard punch in the face or stomach when Adhemar was not pleased.
"Now that performance is all the proof I needed to believe you were once a well bred lady of the upper class," Adhemar chided, though Adriana immediately noticed that the tone of his voice had changed subtly.
He no longer sounded malicious when he spoke, but truly playful. It was certainly a side of him she had not seen before.
Quickly banishing her bewilderment, she settled her fiery gaze on Adhemar instead, "You!" she growled lowly.
Adhemar raised an eyebrow, leaning carelessly against the door frame and pointing to himself as if she might have been referring to someone else. Again, this sudden change in attitude made Adriana halt in her advancement upon him. Less than a week ago, he would have threatened her with death or given her a sound thrashing had she spoken to him that way… and now he merely mocked her?
He took the abrupt silence and hesitation in her ranting as his opportunity to interject an explanation, "Your behavior-- until this morning-- has been exceptional, Adriana. I deemed it worthy enough of a few small rewards."
"A few--" Adriana stammered, completely caught off guard by this sudden and unexpected kindness, it almost made her nervous.
And aside from that, he called a luxurious room, a fine silk garment and an opulent breakfast a few small rewards?
Adhemar seemed to take a certain amount of delight in her confusion, "I can be quite generous when the mood arises. But I need cause. I think you'll find that I am a munificent and charitable master when I get what I require of my servants, isn't that right Donal?" he called over his shoulder, never taking his eyes from the shocked girl before him.
"Aye, M'Lord," Donal replied almost immediately.
Adriana got the impression that it would not have mattered what the question had been, because poor Donal didn't have a will of his own anymore. She made a silent vow that such a deprivation would never happen to her, no matter what.
"I will never serve you," she retorted sharply, for lack of anything better to say.
Adhemar seemed remarkably unaffected.
"I beg to differ, Adriana. You're serving me this very moment, simply by being here. Gracing this manor with your beauty, if not your pleasant temperament."
Adriana scoffed at the duel compliment/insult he had dealt her but remained silent otherwise, obviously trying to read into this sudden change in attitude.
Adhemar went on, "You will have free reign of the manor and the gardens should that please you. Donal will serve you for today, until I can make other arrangements"
Again Adriana looked surprised. She was about to comment on his remark concerning what would please her, but a new topic was already being thrown at her, almost as if he was deliberately trying to perplex and baffle her, "A servant for a servant?" she questioned suspiciously.
Adhemar caught her gaze and managed to hold it steadily, something he had trouble with since the first moment they met.
"You are an entirely separate sort of servant, Adriana. One who operates in only the closest circle of tasks laid down by her master."
The girl's cheeks colored with anger in response to that remark, but still she said nothing.
Adhemar's eyes slid complacently from her gaze down her slender throat only stopping at the graceful lines of her feet and ascending once more.
"First and foremost is another bath, I think. A proper one, this time," he added, turning to go.
"Oh, and am I to have an audience again, M'Lord?" Adriana finally countered, hurling the retort at his back.
Adhemar slowly turned and narrowed his eyes in contemplation, "Much as I appreciate the offer, darling, I'm afraid I have other affairs to attend to this morning," and with that, he was gone, leaving Adriana to seethe with rage at his devious twisting of her own words.