Marek (Buried Lore Book 1) by Gemma Liviero

Author:Gemma Liviero
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Publisher: Florence Publishing
Published: 2014-07-23T23:00:00+00:00

Celeste

It was so dark. Sometimes I thought I could hear crying in another room near my own. Other times there were strange screeching and scratching sounds. I knew I was not the only one imprisoned down here. The screeching was sometimes so loud I had to cover my ears. It was fearsome, like wild animals fighting. And the more noises they made the more my stomach tightened. I hoped I would never see the source of these sounds.

At certain times, I could hear revelry upstairs, fiddlers, shouting, and what I suspected was the clinking of glasses. Though, all of this was faint. When I was perfectly still I thought I could hear Marek’s voice, but assuming it was my imagination playing tricks in the dark. Often I thought I heard heavy breathing just outside my door. There were moments I wondered whether any sound was real.

There was a putrid smell of rotting meat, and the sounds of rats scurrying around the wood shavings that served for my bed.

The stone walls were cold and rough. There was a small flap at the base of the metal door. I lifted it sometimes to get some distant candlelight from the hallway, and I could see the silhouette of my fingers when I held them before the gap. This was the same place where a plate of vinegar bread was placed each morning and a glass of milk. It was my only meal and the longer I was kept here the more I began to look forward to it.

From the delivery of food each day I could decide roughly how long I had been imprisoned. I scratched it blindly into the floor: eleven days, though it was still impossible to tell the time of day.

Finally, there was the sound I had been expecting. It was contact with the outside world. Footsteps – different from the shuffling sound of the servants bringing my food – descended the tight stairway leading into this cellar. The owner was light-footed, with steps sounding small and precise as they tapped softly in my direction.

A key turned in the lock. I shielded my face with my arms from the bright light of the torch, which pained my eyes. The light headed towards me and was then raised higher on the wall and fastened.

I adjusted to my surrounds, eyes struggling to open. A rat darted into a small hole at the base of the wall blackened with mould. This did not seem to concern the visitor. Though to see such daintiness and pale beauty you would think such a person to be squeamish if not repulsed.

‘I am Oleander.’

I could not look at her face. Instead I pulled nervously at the threads of my soiled skirt.

‘I’m sorry you do not have a view here. It’s just the others…if they saw you it would send them wild. It is for your own protection. Already they smell you here.

‘I know you cannot speak so let me speak for you. I am Marek’s sister. He has taken quite a liking to you.

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