What Lies Within [Winters]

[Juno]

She hadn't made it. Pity.

A whole night of his fun, wasted. Gone. The vampire had spent such a long time with her, the sorry excuse for a human, but he'd gone and killed her with the last feeding he would take. Food that couldn't handle the pressure, couldn't handle the frequency of his needs, and now she was dead. The body was slung against the leg of a chair; her eyes were still open, mouth agape and dress torn at the neckline. Her neck and shoulders were a mess of bites, blood and raw flesh, telling signs that she'd tried to put up a fight even in her weakened state.

The rug was stained with drying blood. The stone of the hearth was covered with the stuff as well. Most of the room had some mark of his frenzy upon the woman: curtains, walls, chairs, books, the front of the dresser and the painting by the door. All was marred, torn, shattered or burned. The fire was still bright, but it needed stoking and the ashes cleared. As a whole, the room was a terrible mess.

Akakios slammed the door shut on the destroyed room and single inhabitant and began to fiddle with the torn parts on his coat from the woman's incessant clawing. His face was twisted into an annoyed snarl, fangs still showing as he walked back up the corridor. His boots were scuffed, both his shirt and coat now needed mending, and he had killed yet another. What a waste. Now he needed someone to make it all go away, get things back to the way they'd been.

It was late, though, very late. Every window he passed by flooded him with moonlight but for a moment before he was on to the next. This was the second one gone this week and he was tired of it. He was making too many mistakes, putting too much effort into the ones who would just die anyway, and he needed to have someone fix it for him yet again. Stalking down the hall, he slammed the doors to the hall again, rattling them in their frame. "Who's awake?" he roared. "Or do I need to wake up the whole house again for this?"

[Winters-Feather]

"WAAAGH!"
Tessel screamed as she bolted upright as her door was being violently rattled.  
The young woman panted as her eyes wildly stared at the doorway in fear.
What was going on? Was there an intruder?! A thief?! A soul snatcher?!
It wasn't until a half moment later when she heard a loud and angry  voice when she realized who it was. Tessel's shoulders relaxed as she buried her face in her damp palms.
Oh. It's just master. It's just Akakios.
Somehow, this realization didn't do much to ease her nerves.

Tessel listened to the sound of his  boots frantically stomping as he moved from door to door in the servant's quarters, her eyes unwavering from the door. Her heart sank as she quickly scrambled out of bed. The younger girl in the bed across from her rubbed her eyes, groggily.
"What's goin' on?" she moaned.
"I don't know," Tessel replied, "You stay here."
The girl nodded and rolled back to sleep. No body liked to deal with Akakios at night, especially if he was angry. Plus, there had been rumors among the staff about the 'mess' a few nights prior...

 Quickly and quietly, Tessel tied on her boots. She threw her shawl over her shoulders and hugged it tightly to her body as she silently crept out of the room, closing the door behind her. The young woman stood with her back against the door. Though her head was bowed, her face veiled by her messy hair, she quickly observed  Akakios. Tessel took in a sharp breath. His clothes were torn and blood stained and he looked terrifying, alone in the dark with just her. She wanted to retreat back into the comforts of the room and her bed; at least it was safe, there.
"I'm awake, Master. Pardon my appearance," Tessel managed to say in a low and even voice as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

[Juno]

He was pleased to hear the sounds of rustling linens and creaking floorboards beyond the walls to break the silence now. He would give them a few moments, let someone gather themselves enough to go out to him before he stormed inside. As he took stock of himself there in the hall, though, it irritated him to realize he still had blood upon his hands, neck and jaw. The sticky feeling of it was enough for him to guess he'd look like he'd been hurt quite badly. His dark hair was unkempt on top of the rest of other minor issues, and Akakios figured that all the doors he'd touched would now also be smeared with blood in some way.

A toothy smile was there as he watched the young woman finally emerge. She was far from properly dressed or groomed, but he was aware of who she was and that was good enough for what he needed, or at least the beginning of it. All the acknowledgement he gave for her bravery was, "Be thankful you're not the worst I've seen all night."

Akakios held a bloodied hand out to her, gesturing at the hall he'd just come from. "I need a few things taken care of," he said as he wiped his palms down along the front of the already fairly soiled coat. "My guest insisted on making a horrible mess, you see. Come. What she did to the room is far worse than she did to me." With that, he turned to lead as he made his way back down to the wrecked room. He walked briskly, as if he could not get there fast enough, but he made absolutely no move to hold open a door for Tessel or explain anything further along the way.

The faint lines of red along the handle were just barely visible in the dark. Just the thought of the mess behind it made him cringe. After slowly pushing the door ajar he stood just beside it. "Why don't you have a look?"

[Winters-Feather]

"Yes, sir," Tessel quietly replied.
Not the worst?
She wrinkled her nose as Akakios approached her, his white teeth shining in the light. The metallic stench of blood was strong. Upon closer inspection, Tessel noticed that it just wasn't his clothes, but everywhere, including his hands and his face.
The woman dully stared at his hands, cringing as he wiped them against his suit. Tessel hated messes just as much as her master.
It'd be a waste to later throw it away, but a pain to wash.
 She didn't bother asking if he was hurt, for she was already putting the pieces together. Her suspicions were only confirmed at the mention of a 'guest'.
So he had killed.
He was a vampire, after all, and he didn't walk or talk as if he were injured. Besides, Tessel mused, she didn't suppose she cared much if he was or if he wasn't.

The slave nodded and quietly followed Akakios down the halls, keeping a healthy two paces behind him. She wasn't too terribly concerned about the fact that her master had killed someone; the woman was well aware of that fact. No, she just didn't want to be the next victim. But there was another horror she hadn't  dared dream of facing, yet it appears she was marching straight towards her nightmare... Tessel tried to prepare herself for the worse so that she wouldn't react violently. He would only get even more annoyed if she lost her nerves.

Yet it was a very different thing to imagine it than to have seen it. Tessel took in a deep breath as Akakios cracked open the door for her. The woman hesitated before stepping forward, opened the door, and walked in. She let out a low moan when she realized she had touched drying blood. As if burned, the woman snatched her hand away and cradled her wrist with her other hand as her wide eyes examined every corner of the wrecked room. Mighty fury had been unleashed here, leaving nothing unscathed or untouched with blood. The rug, the ripped apart curtains. Tessel's face blanched as her terrified eyes soaked in all the details; the torn paintings, the books and papers scattered on the ground. The blood. Oh, gods, the blood.  The young woman began to gag and quickly covered her mouth with her hands. She felt her knees grow weak, so the slave moved towards a corner of the wall that was mostly untouched and leaned against it.

Slowly, her eyes turned towards the body slung against the leg of the chair. Tessel tried to tell herself again and again that this happened, this was part of their reality, that she had seen dead bodies before.
But never like this.
Tessel took in a deep breath as she tried to clear her mind, slowly lowering her hands from her face. She was full of questions. The woman prayed she didn't have to finish before sun up; it was going to take hours. Part of her was furious; she had remembered cleaning and sorting this room not too long before. Did Akakios really have to go and create a catastrophe out of it?

Before anything, they needed to get rid of the body, and she needed to get cleaning supplies from the servant's quarters; he hadn't allowed her enough time to fetch them, before. Tessel began to roll up her sleeves.
"Um, Master Akakios?" she quietly asked, her eyes unwavering from the alabaster corpse.
"What do I do about the... that?"
Tessel cringed as she pointed towards the corpse with disgust.

[Juno]

He was entirely ignorant of her previous efforts on the room's order, but details like that were usually fairly irrelevant to him so long as things were kept as he preferred them in the home. Moving with her, he firmly shut the door again behind them as he followed her gaze about the room. For the carnage he was rather unimpressed, but the organic nature of her fear, disgust and surprise was positively pleasing; it sent the mildest of shivers down his spine to discern how surprised she looked for the sight of the room.  

He hadn't realized she was one of the more innocent under his roof. A smug smile was there as he watched the young woman's reactions. The way she fixated on the body was what got him to see that she truly hadn't done something like this for him before; that didn't go for many in his charge anymore, especially one of respectable age.

The way she seemed to not be able to bring herself to say it, that she just pointed, had him realizing, too, that there was a lot of potential here: For fear, embarrassment and mortification among other things.

"You get rid of it," he began simply. "Make it go away. Feed it to the dogs, throw it out somewhere, dress it up for a feast, burn it, I don't care. I don't care how you do it, but this -all of this- is your responsibility now. Be creative if you want, but be quick about it." Akakios wrinkled his nose in disgust at the mess, the disorder, the general broken nature of something once pristine. He could at least find solace in knowing that someone would get to it. If she refused this, though, he knew he'd find ways to press her into it.

"I trust you'll be fine to take care of this on your own, too. It's really such a small thing and we don't need to complicate things with others, right? Just clean up any mess you leave, girl. I'm sure you already know that, though." He looked down at himself and then at the fire, clearing his throat.

"I need a bath drawn, too. These clothes... You'll be fixing everything.

"You know how to make everything just...disappear, right?" He smiled that knowing grin again, hoping he'd be able to eventually overwhelm her with his orders. "And I need a replacement for my meal now, too." -he gestured at the body with a lazy lift of his chin- "I'm sure you could find someone suitable, right?"

[Winters-Feather]

Tessel's eyes grew cold and hard as her master instructed her on how to get rid of the body. Her hands were trembling fiercely as she crossed her arms across her chest. Her eyes were still staring at the lifeless corpse.
"Dogs, feast, burn it," she slowly recited to herself, as if it would protect her.
Tessel's eyes gleamed into the hell like fire pit. For a room with a blaze going steadily, it sure was cold.
"I'll burn it," she said with a grim determination.
The young woman was grateful her nightgown had sleeves; her nails were digging into the material, clawing at her own flesh.
I have to do it, Tessel thought as her eyes watched Akakios move.
Her attention shifted towards the mess, and back to the body.
You've seen corpses before, she thought, You've seen the mangled bodies of his victims. He's a vampire. You've cleaned blood off of things...


"Yes, Master," she muttered as Akakios instructed her to do it by herself.
She could. It would take a while, but the woman could handle it. Tessel could force herself to. The time had to come sooner or later, right? Again, she nodded as he instructed her to draw him a bath and mend the clothes.
"Yes, sir," she replied, almost eagerly, "Right away."
She would have to do the laundry later, but the bath she could do now. The woman began to move for the door....

But he wasn't done. Tessel shuddered at the way Akakios smiled, by the way he said 'disappear'.  
"Meal replacement... sir?" she repeated, weakly, her confused, doe- like eyes going from Akakio's face to the woman.
All control she had tried to kept was lost.
Tessel's breathing became shallow and ragged as she realized what she was being asked. Her thoughts turned back to the girl she was sharing the room with. She was a new slave, poor thing.
Why am I thinking of her? Tessel thought in dismay.
She didn't know anybody that deserved... this.

Subconsciously, the woman began to step out of the room. When Akakios asked questions like these, they weren't questions, but orders. But this command she couldn't bring herself to out right obey. So, she timidly reached out for the door knob.
"I'll start fixing up your bath, Master Akakios. Right away," she said as she opened the door. Deep inside, the woman knew she couldn't weasel her way out of committing such a crime, but she could try.
"And then I'll fix things up here, like you said."

[Juno]

He loved the uncertainty he saw, the obvious looks of one so unaccustomed to this type of thing. Yet, she committed herself to obey. Whether it was out of habit or genuinely something she would follow-through with he did not know, but assurance that he had her hooked into this was all he needed. He was surprised that none of his demands were refused outright or pleaded against, but her hesitation about his dinner was well-noted. "Yes, a meal replacement. I just need something that will give me what I need without...dying on me again."

It seemed, though, that the mere mentioning of such a thing had shook her up quite a bit. He tilted his head to watch her, wondering if this would be where she might snap. There wasn't resistance. As much as he wanted to just let that go, he could tell she was relatively new to this at least but she wasn't giving the sort of response he was used to. There were no tears, no hysterics and no shutting down. Her nerves seemed fairly settled, too, but perhaps she was just a good actor.

Had she heard the rumors? Had she been told the details, shown the evidence before? Perhaps. It would ruin some of his fun if she had, but it would force him to be more creative in getting reactions out of her for this.

"Good," was all he said, the rough, raspy quality of his voice from his earlier roaring yells was gone. Clearing his throat, he followed her out the door. With a final look back at the carnage illuminated by the firelight, Akakios snarled and slammed the door before reaching out to clasp a warning hand down on Tessel's shoulder.

"Quick. Make sure you're quick with it. I don't want to be kept waiting, this has already set me back for far too long..., and things happen when I'm inconvenienced for too long, girl." It was late, but he was determined to get whatever he could sorted out. It meant getting Tessel involved. Fine. It also meant dragging out Toren to help him scrounge his books. Also fine by him. He needed to find the next best victim he might soon be able to force out to the estate to take the place of his far too battered toy that perished tonight, but as desperate as he was he was willing to take his time to find another good fit.

[Winters-Feather]

Tessel was never that big of a girl, and she only felt smaller under the cold gaze of her master. God, why was he peering at her like that? It made her feel nervous. She was trying her hardest not to break down, and her act seemed to be working. Of course it would. He was cold and observant, but cared little about his servants; she doubted Akakios could recall her name without some help. In a way, by holding up this facade, Tessel tried to convince herself that she was safe from his mind games, but how she loathed those eyes...

Her own eyes fixated on the floor, she shuddered at the mention of his victims not dying again.  
If he needs blood, why doesn't he just feed from me? she sardonically thought.
Naturally that was the last thing she wanted to happen, but in her sleepy state, it sure would save her the trouble. Tessel jumped as the door slammed behind them, and flinched at his cold touch.
"Sir?" she whispered as he spoke, fleetingly catching a glimpse of his face.

Something in her snapped by those words. Perhaps she was half asleep and couldn't think straight, or maybe she was worse of a liar than she had given herself credit for, as there was something in his tone and his word choice that she could simply not ignore. The young woman gritted her teeth as she narrowed her eyes.
"If you want dinner, Master," she coldly and quickly asked, "Then why don't you ask Toren? He knows how to do it, doesn't he?"

There seemed to be a spark in her eye, a spark from a fire that had lied dormant in her belly that, for just a brief moment, was ignited.
Her blood ran cold as she covered her mouth with a hand in horror. She wasn't one to speak much or rebel, yet she was defying him, now. The woman looked up at him for a brief moment.

"I-I mean," she stuttered in her flustered state, "it's just that I'd take too long, Sir, what with the cleaning that I'm really not... please..."

Tessel stopped and bowed her head again, as vulnerable and small as ever.
"My apologies. That was out of line," she murmured.
Idiot.

[Juno]

There was a flash of anger across his eyes at her snappy comments. The hand at her shoulder gripped tighter while his brows gradually came together in a glare at her. By the time she'd corrected herself it was far too late, the damage had already been done. "Do not speak to me that way, girl. What I do or what Toren does should not be your concern right now. And I won't hear you speaking ill of him again, am I clear?" Akakios was quite sure she would get the message if she was already simmering down so with that he released her and took a step away.

"You disappoint me, but my request is a simple one, so I'll repeat it again. Bring me a replacement or at least find a few suitable candidates for me to look over. Your job is what I put you to and you will do what you are told," he spoke, his tone laced with boredom over having to repeat himself so often and impatience over being made to wait over, to him, frivolous issues.

"Take care of what you need to do and you will not end up being that replacement," he warned while stepping away from her again. He didn't get very far before pausing and turning to look back at her, though, with a pointed, questioning look. "Inform me when my bath is ready. I will be in my study if this is something I can trust to be managed by you. Or should I leave this to someone more competent?"

[Winters-Feather]

Tessel shuddered under her master's grip, her eyes fixated on the wooden floor in fright. The young woman could feel her heart pound, as if it were trying to escape her body.
"Y-yes, sir. Very clear," she managed to say in audible tone back, clutching her chest.
If... If Akakios won't ask Toren, then I can, Tessel told herself, Maybe he will help me.
Already her mind was starting to form a plan. She'd rush to seek Toren's aid on her way to get supplies to clean the bloodied room while the Master was taking his bath. It wouldn't take long, and Akakios wouldn't have to know.

Encouraged by the bored tone, Tessel narrowed her eyes as she slowly uplifted them. Her curls bounced as she nodded  to Akakios questions. She was quickly scrambling all the courage she could find within her, but it wasn't enough to come up with intelligible responses. The thought of being a replacement unnerved her, but Tessel prepared herself this time. She didn't react, but instead quickly curtsied.
"It'll be ready shortly, Master," Tessel replied placidly.
She marched in the other direction towards the washroom.

A vat of cold water over the dead fireplace was already waiting for her; just like their master, Akakios staff was efficient.  Flint and a pile of wood were settled near by, so in no time at all did Tessel get a fire going in the cold room.
The water's not going to be heated up for a few minutes, Tessel thought with a sigh. She sat down on the cold marble, her knees drawn up to her face. The fire lit up the empty room, giving color to her pale face. Tessel thought about how she was going to manage.
It'll all disappear in the  morning, she told herself, It must.
Tessel wanted to stay there, alone, but the floor was cold and uncomfortable, and she had  things to do.

Fiften minutes later, she stood petrified in front of her master's study's door. She had already gathered supplies from the broom closet, which were waiting for her in the bloodied room and had even placed clean clothes on a chair near the tub. She had even started cleaning the soiled room  while she waited for the water to be hot enough. Tessel had started by the door, as far away from the body as she could, picking up fallen things and scrubbing the blood off of the door handle and wall. The whole time she had been tempted to fly towards Toren's room, to seek his aid.
But Akakios will get terribly angry, she had thought, shuddering at the thought. If it had to do with Toren, he'd find a way to know.  The girl took in a deep breath as she clutched her fists in an attempt to steady her hands shaking. She quietly knocking on the door.  She didn't dare to open it.
"Sir," she beckoned, "Your bath's ready."

[Juno]

Satisfied with her answers, Akakios tilted his head with a small smirk as he finally left her to her tasks. All he wanted now was to start fresh and forget about this one. And he would, mostly. It was what he had always done before with little issue.

Sitting himself at his desk as he waited for her word, the vampire reflected on the scene he'd created this time, making mental notes on the finer details he would have to check were attended to once she was finished. Ignoring the blood from his arm he was getting on his desk now, Akakios stared off in space as he waited for his nerves to settle.

Once he heard the knocking and Tessel's voice, though, he straightened up and went over to it to swing it open slowly. "Good. How's the room coming along?" he questioned as he brushed by her, motioning for her to follow as he made his way down to the bath so he could make sure she prepared it correctly.

[Winters-Feather]

Tessel nodded as Akakios spoke.
He was  calmer, now. Almost gentle. Tessel relaxed, but just a little.
If I get him in a good mood, she thought, Perhaps he'll be  more forgiving.
Forgiving of what?
Perhaps of not finding a meal, Tessel thought, grimly.
How on earth was she going to find one?
No, no, mustn't think that way, she urged herself. But... if nobody else could do it, then Akakios was going to be in a foul mood... and Tessel did not want to be a replacement.
"It's going well, sir," she said, absent minded.

"Everything is all ready for you," she needlessly said once she arrived at the door at the bath.
"You've clothes waiting, too."
The young woman paused as she looked up at the vampire.
"Sir," she said, doubtfully. It was probably dangerous to ask about the same subject, again, but the young woman had never really ventured out in the middle of the night, ignorant of the world.
"We're a ways from the village. Do you really think that there will be travelers out this late?"

[Juno]

He nodded at her information, muscles practically aching at the thought of a hot bath now. His skin crawled at the reminder that he had the human’s blood on him still, and it was drying fast. But then Tessel spoke again, asking him questions.

His brow furrowed at the idea of her bringing someone back to his home at this hour. “Gods above, Tessel,” he growled as hands curled into fists and his shoulders tensed.

“Don’t be so soft-hearted. Just…send me one of the other girls for tonight, I’m not going to kill anyone. I just want to eat. I’m starved, don’t you get it?” His eyes grew wilder the more he spoke about it, the more he was reminded of his hunger and how he had not fed in nearly a week's time by then.

[Winters-Feather]

"Oh. Yes, yes of course," Tessel sheepishly replied as she bowed her head.
The young woman realized that she was being very foolish, her nerves getting to her. Of course Akakios didn't kill every time he drank. Tessel herself had seen girls come and go, it was quite normal in the household. She felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She didn't really feel very comfortable with this task, but it was much, much better than what she had thought it was going to be. Tessel thoughtfully looked up at the vampire, finding that she almost felt sorry for him.

That pity was washed away the moment how crazed his expression looked. Tessel quickly looked away, thinking fast.
There are some serving girls that he seems to be fond of, she remembered. They were pretty - prettier than herself, she glumly thought- and they must have been used to him. Used to this.
"Then," she added, thinking fast. "I'll send one to your study, ready for you after your bath, if that's alright with you, sir."
Tessel even managed to wring out a sad attempt at a grin.

[Juno]

"That's what I like to hear," he praised, sighing at the thought of a meal he could actually enjoy. Catching sight of her smile, though, he mistook it for something else now.

"You know," he offered slowly as he stepped towards the door to the bath. "If you'd rather feed me tonight you have my permission to have someone else do the cleaning." It was a partial challenge, knowing the tasks that were ahead of her and how frightened by it all she'd seemed before.

[Winters-Feather]

Tessel blanched at the suggestion.
"M-me, sir?" she stamped.
Is he trying to be... nice? she wondered, a little dumbfounded at the notion. Thoughtful really wasn't one of the things that popped into her mind when she thought about her master. It wasn't much of a kindness, anyway. The thought of his fangs seeping into her skin sent chills down her bones. It was the stuff of her nightmares, and now here he was... offering it to her!
"No, I..." she started to say, but then corrected herself.
Outright rejecting would be rude, wouldn't it?
"I'm good at cleaning," Tessel said, rather firmly. "Thank you, Master Akakios, but  I don't wish to trouble anybody else. No, I can do it. And I'll find you a girl, right away. If you'd please excuse me..."

The young woman curtsied again before she practically flew down the steps, her red hair bobbing as she went along. Tessel supposed it was cruel of her, pushing off this horror onto somebody else. The young woman reasoned that it was for the greater good, that the cleaning was the most grotesque. In a way, it was, but the truth was that she was more afraid of him drinking her blood than the corpse that lied on the floor. Best go now before he actually drank her blood, right then and there!

[Juno]

The hesitation he saw now was positively pleasing, the stress he felt over this whole situation melting away at the sight of the questions in her eyes, the repulsion. "No?" he prompted, amused by what struggle he saw. He didn't give chase, though, and simply watched her silhouette bouncing against the wall once she'd made up her mind and gone away; simply planting the thought in her head was enough for him. For now.

Finally going in to take his bath and soak for a while, he found himself wondering about the young woman. He couldn't really say she'd done anything wrong but there was just something about her. Her eagerness to flee his presence and have little contact was not missed and all it did was draw attention to her, in his mind. Now, Akakios wanted to see what else might make her tick and see how much, or how little, she might actually know.

ooc: Blarg. >.< If you'd like to do a short time skip we can, I wasn't sure what your thoughts might be for next steps. Also, I'd be happy to bring Toren in if she needs/wants to talk to him.

[Winters-Feather]

Yes, Tessel was afraid, but that didn't stop her from being diligent. She had a lot of work to get done, and though the sight in the room had been horrifying, it was also nerve-wracking in a different sense of things. Everything was out of place and... violated. Soiled. Tessel found herself wanting to get the room clean, if only to convince herself there was part of the world that still had structure and order. Clean. But first she had to find someone to... help Akakios. She quietly stepped through the hall until she was at the door of one of the laundry girls' rooms. Tessel knocked quietly. She could hear moaning from the inside.
"Wha' do ya want?"
"Master Akakios," she simply said.
Tessel could hear a sigh from the inside of the room.
"Aw, hell."

A creak of the bed, the shuffling of feet, and the door opened to reveal a pretty dark tan skinned woman, no older than twenty three with long, braided brown hair and dark blue eyes. She glared at Tessel in surprise.
"Tess?" she muttered, looking at all the blood. The woman nodded sagely.
"He's really hungry tonight, huh?"
Tessel nodded.
"He's taking a bath. Wait for him in his study," she said flatly.
The woman nodded.

"Two minutes then," she agreed. She began to shut the door behind her, but opened up to peek her head out.
"Tessie," she hissed.
"Huh?"
"Are you okay?"
The young woman paused and shook her head.
"How can you be?" she wondered.
The laundry woman  smirked in a dull sort of way.
"Hun, you've been livin' here your whole life. Get used to it."

---

I'm used to it, Tessel thought grimly as she vigorously scrubbed the floors. By this point, the night had been mostly spent. If Akakios has rose hell destroying the room, she took to cleaning like a tempest, collecting papers and books, scrubbing the furniture and rug. The curtains were taken down, she would replace them last. The paintings were taken down as well as they were utterly destroyed. No doubt her master could afford new ones. All that was really left to take care of was the corpse, which was starting to reek something awful. Tessel herself was drenched in it, her nightclothes stained, her hair, face and arms, especially , covered in caking blood. She looked like a ghost who had just gotten their revenge, but hardly looked pleased about it.

Still, she was rather proud of her work. She smiled, taking in the effect. The smile was wiped away when she looked back at the body. Well, she's been avoiding it up until now... Except, as Tessel tried to move it, she couldn't. It was hard, as the woman was larger than she was. Tessel supposed she could drag the body, but that didn't seem effective, either.
I could ask Toren, she thought.
Of course, her master had forbidden her, but she wasn't going to ask for help getting him a 'meal', just with disposing a body. The thought of his displeasure was frightening, but Tessel was stuck; she needed help.

She quietly exited the room and glanced down the hall before running down the stairs again, down the servants' quarters, and towards Toren's room. Just as she did before with the girl, she knocked quietly on his door.
"Toren," she pleaded. "Please wake up!"

[Juno]

Akakios was calmed considerably once he was able to feed properly freshly bathed and dressed once more. He released the servant woman back to her quarters, but he couldn't quite find it in himself to rest. He remained in his study to pour over his work and soaked in the silence, let it try to wash away the troubles on his mind.

---

Toren startled awake at the tapping at his door. His rest was normally light anyway, but without knowing what had happened that night his immediate thoughts were fear upon waking. But...he recognized that voice in a much different way.

Flying out of bed and rushing to the door in his night clothes, the man opened the door just a crack at first to see if it really was only Tessel there and then opened it enough to reveal himself to her.

Squinting in the darkness at her, he stepped halfway into the hall to look to either side of her and was surprised to find no one else around. "...What is it? What do you need?" And then his throat tightened at the thought she might be bearing some terrible news. "Has something happened to him? Is he alright?"

[Winters-Feather]

Tessel smiled in relief as Toren opened the door.
Oh, thank goodness!
Her relief turned to an empty look of disbelief as Toren asked her about Akakios. He didn't speak their master's name outloud, but it was clear who he was talking about. Unbelievable.
I'm the one covered in blood. Thanks for asking about me!
"Yes, of course," she impatiently replied, shaking her head. She allowed herself more freedom to speak her mind around Toren and some of the other servants. They were the closest thing she had to 'family,' despite their warped reality.
  "But... I need your help."

Tessel looked up at Toren, her eyes pleading. She quickly explained the situation, what had happened in the room upstairs, the dead woman lying on the floor. The young woman peered up at Toren thoughtfully.
"I'm not even supposed to be here. He's awfully testy when it comes to you," she pointed out.
"But I don't know how to dispose of bodies, and she's heavy. I can't do it alone."
She groaned, turning her attention back down the hall. Tessel didn't know when that girl might come back.
"He's going to kill me," she muttered, clutching a fistful of hair in a bloodied hand.
Tessel gave Toren a thin smile.
"Please, Toren? I'll do you a favor in return. I can do your laundry for a week... or what money I have, or something," she feebly added. Tessel didn't have much coin at all; mainly it was what she had found.
"What do you want?"