Fractures of Eternity

Jolting awake, I felt a throb in my chest that caused tears to well up in my eyes. My breathing was unsteady as I found myself unable to remember what caused it. Again, the memories of my past haunted me in my dreams as I tried to shake the feeling by heading into the bathroom to get ready. It wasn’t long until I left the room, soon after I was done, without waiting for anyone.

Even though the past days had been a bliss of new things entering my world, I couldn’t shake this dream off me, which had filled me with an empty void in my chest. The alarm hadn’t even gone off, but I needed to take a walk to position myself.

Much to my surprise, I found myself faced with Gerta down the hall.

Crap… I didn’t think you’d be here.

I wasn’t anywhere near the dining hall for the staff, so her appearance froze me where I was. Words didn’t leave our mouths, and I didn’t know what my facial expression was, but she grabbed my hand before leading me to the lounge. Sitting me down on a chair, she went to grab tea before giving me the hot drink.

There, I noticed how my limbs were trembling, making it hard to hold the cup. The old maid sat in front of me, holding my hands together so the liquid wouldn’t spill.

“Is something wrong, child? I haven’t seen you like this ever since you came in. Did the twins finally show their ugly heads?” Gerta asked as I shook my head.

Usually, I was all smiles, even if they were fake. Though with the twins, it was starting to be less so. Even when I tried to control myself, Loki always appeared to take me out of place, which allowed me to notice I had a type of affection for the boy, but it wasn’t one I could act on.

It would be my guilty pleasure.

“No… They’ve been surprisingly pleasant lately. It was just a dream… I can’t shake off.” I confessed, closing my eyes, trying to shake the feeling that gripped me to the core this time.

The fear and loneliness that had filled me wouldn’t let me go. It was probably because I had been feeling it less lately, as these new feelings were poisonous to me.

“Want to talk about it?” Gerta offered to lend a listening ear.

“There’s no point since I can’t remember it,” I mumbled, opening my eyes and gripping the teacup better.

All I needed was a couple of moments to get back to my old self.

Gerta sighed, smiling gently before pulling away from my hands. “I see. Well, drink up, it’s chamomile tea and it’ll help you relax.”

I nodded before taking the first sip, allowing the taste of honey to dance on my tongue.

Huh? Did you notice that I always picked it instead of sugar? Ah… What am I saying, of course you did.

This woman always had her watchful gaze on everyone, which was why my coven sisters called her the creeper of stalkers. Everything that went wrong in the castle, she would somehow know about it before it was even announced, which included the incident where I kicked that vampire.

Everyone knew, thanks to Lucas, who loved to bug Loki. With that incident, though, Alistair spoke to me a few times while at the coliseum in a friendly tone, which left me wondering how he had it in him to murder Loki.

To me, it looked like he was a lonely child wanting attention, yet what kind was still a mystery to me. Even though he denied caring for his young brother, the way he gazed at him was nothing but tender at times.

There was a rivalry between the two, but much of his frustrations had nothing to do with disliking his brother.

“Thank you, and sorry for the trouble. I didn’t think anyone would be up this early.” I apologized for taking up her time.

It was two hours before dawn. The alarm wouldn’t go off until an hour after I woke up.

Gerta shook her head, raising an eyebrow at me. “I’m always up before anyone else. Sadly, I suffer from insomnia. It tends to happen to us humans from living in Night City for so long.”

I nodded my head slightly, knowing that was something Oswald seemed to suffer from, too.

I suppose humans who lived long in Night City had their internal clocks disrupted.

“I’ll keep you company until you calm your nerves.” She added, tapping my thigh as I couldn’t help but gaze at her.

Eh? Why would you waste time on me? I’ll be fine.

“But what about the table placement?” I mumble, seeing it was still all packed up.

She grabbed onto my shoulders, causing me to glance back at her. Her touch was so warm, too.

What’s up with these mortals?

“Vivian, that can wait. I’m more worried about my maid’s well-being.” Gerta assured me.

Why… are you being so nice?

Before, when we were alone, she appeared like a shark out for blood, but I didn’t sense that in her anymore.

Is it because we were in the third week? Or is it because I surprised you by being genuine when I said I wouldn’t go after the boys? Argh… You are so odd.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” I asked, planting my eyes on the floor.

She grunted before sitting down in a chair in front of me, placing one leg over the other.

Crossing her arms too, her lips tugged into a smirk. “Well, at first, I thought you were here for impure reasons, but it seems you don’t want to mess with the princes’ lives in that way. Usually, it comes out within the first week, but then you go within the first three days and kick a vampire’s face without a second thought.”

Oh… So, that’s why you’re changing towards me.

“Well… I couldn’t simply stand filth like that.” I sighed, shaking my head.

“Well, because of that, I honestly can’t help but admire you. Ivy and Emery are a menace, though. They don’t work as diligently or do shit other than gawk at the princes. If it were to me, I would fire them right away, but it isn’t.” She shrugged, gazing towards the side before coming back to me.

“Ah… Well…” I trailed off, unsure of how to continue that conversation.

“Hm… Emma and Zoe, on the other hand, are okay. Though they need to watch those mouths of theirs.” Gerta confessed her opinions about everyone who had newly entered the staff.

This woman was facing me straight on, while I struggled to face her like that. However, Alistair’s girls were becoming a thorn in her side, too. However, with those hazel eyes on me, I couldn’t help but feel on edge.

“The way you say impure intentions makes me feel like something has happened before,” I mumbled, taking another sip of the tea, finally, gazing at her.

The moment she heard my words, the old woman clicked her tongue.

“Well, there has been an event that has marked this, and it isn’t the first time women have come here looking to get pregnant to receive a ransom from the royals.” She clarified.

“Ah… filth. Do we women need to swoop that low to survive?” I sighed, shaking my head.

“Since you’re so sincere, I’ll tell you something I usually keep to myself. King Asher always finds a way for the girls to abort the fetus if they happen to succeed in their efforts. It already happened with Oswald and Alistair.” She commented, prompting me to expel some of the tea as I couldn’t help but cough because of it.

What?! Oz?

“With Alistair, it’s been multiple times; it’s like he knows his granddad will bail him out no matter what he does. Though I think he does it for revenge more than anything else.” Gerta shrugged, as my attention was only on my link.

In Oswald’s eyes, there always appeared to be distrust towards us maids. Even though he was slowly getting used to us, he always held us at arm’s length.

“It happened to Oswald?” I asked, unable to help myself from wanting to know more.

My nerves were soon forgotten thanks to this, as my attention shifted entirely onto him.

She nodded, “Yeah, it happened a year after they got here. Oswald didn’t quite understand the royal games and fell for an older girl who was supposed to be his teacher. Even though they used protection, she poked holes in their condoms and well.”

A year?! He was fourteen?! This whore dared to touch my link before he…

My core burned up as I could see a flash of anger cross her face.

“The kids tend to hate Asher, but he made sure she didn’t have any reason to stay and made sure she could never do that to anyone else.” She answered.

“Did he spay her like the pig she is?” I huffed, prompting her to nod.

“Yep, he did. Unlike his brothers, Loki at the time still didn’t have control of his powers. So, no one other than Asher would see him. It’s why they are hard on the maids, which I honestly understand.” She paused, shaking her head as her lips curled downward.

The old woman wasn’t done yet, but I couldn’t help but want to burn the woman who had dared to hurt one of my links.

How dare they touch what’s mine?!