-Karen-“Karen, that room you were in this morning, was that your servant room?” Joanne asked curiously. Bart gave her a sharp look and she looked down. It doesn’t bother me Bart.“Yes. That was my room. I forgot how cold it could get in the winter.” I answered with a grin. “That was an upgraded room too.” Joanne’s eyes got wide as I nodded. “Some servants have to share a room with bunk beds. And the only space they would get was a basket that hangs off the end of the bunk. Those are either four or six people to a room. It’s usually for servants that are in a family. I was in one of those rooms with a mother and her two daughters when I was really small... Although it didn’t make a difference because she stuck us on the top bunk and made us share the thinnest blanket while she took the other three.” I recalled thinking about those poor girls. They had it just as rough as I did.“That’s horrible.” Bart replied shaking his head. “Some people shouldn’t be parents.”“It’s in the past.” I
-Karen-I got up before anyone could stop me and I opened the door slightly to see if I could find the cause of the screams. That presence is stronger now… It has to be one! I watched as a shadow demon lunged at a servant and bit him with its venomous teeth. He fell to the ground screaming in pain for twenty seconds until he didn’t move anymore. I felt a horrible sense of dread as I saw the demon look right at me and its eyes turned blood red. I snapped the door shut as it charged at the door. I took a step back as it clawed and punched at the door. Crap! That’s super bad!“Kay! Get away from the door!” Conor yelled. “Do you see any swords Bart? Or guns?” Those won’t work on them.“Think! Think girl!” I hissed trying to focus under pressure. “Where is the King’s study in relation to where we are?” I heard the wood start to crack under the unrelenting pressure. “I have to try to get it…” I can't let them get hurt! No matter what price I pay! I won’t let them die right when I’m standing
-Karen-I could feel Joanne’s terror as she clung to Bart with her white knuckles shaking. Bart gave me an uneasy look as he held onto her. I looked back over at Conor who had a look of concern on his face. Those feelings again… I looked down feeling the same emotions from earlier well up in my chest. I started to turn away when Conor grabbed my wrist. “Are you hurt?” He asked me.I was taken aback by his question. “Even if I am, I’ll be fine.” I looked over at Joanne again and saw that she had been injured at some point though I didn’t know how. Might have been when I punched through that rock wall. A rock could have flown at them when I got really angry. Might have had a lapse in concentration on the barrier. Her right shoulder was bleeding from a cut. I stepped over to her and placed my hand gently on her shoulder as she flinched at my touch. I felt horrible for scaring her and even worse that she would think I would harm her. She looked like she was going to burst into tears.“You
-Conor-“I know… I hope she doesn’t but if she does, I’ll take care of her. After all, I love her and want what’s best for her.” Conor replied. He picked up her left hand and saw that the marks had diminished to cover just her fingers. “The marks she had earlier are almost gone. So, that’s a good thing.” He climbed over Karen and lie down next to her resting his right hand on top of hers. “This world only has twenty hours in a day. So…” Conor thought about his plans for that night. “Can you come back around eight and if she is up, we can go through our plan?” He asked looking over at Bart.“Yeah, if not I will make a note of this in her file so we can keep an eye on her.” Bart replied as he took Joanne’s hand.“Oh! By the way Bart, did you ever find out the results of what I asked you a couple weeks ago?” Conor asked as he inched closer to Karen. Please say yes. Please say yes…“Oh! Yes I did. I’m sorry I forgot to tell you between all the extra brawls going on. According to the multi
-Karen-“Like cheesecake?” I asked grabbing a fork and cutting off a small piece from the center and eating it. They laughed at the unexpected look on my face. “That was not cheesecake… But it is delicious!” I started to cut another piece when Conor stopped me. “Hold on, Kay. You have some presents to open first.” Conor instructed pulling my hand away from the cake. “We bought thank you presents for protecting us from the demons but now that we found out it was your birthday. They can be both.”“Presents? But I-” He stopped me talking by shoving a piece of chocolate in my mouth. “Chocolate wins.” He motioned to me to sit down in my chair as he handed me a tiny box with a purple ribbon tied around it. I gave him a look and opened it. In the box I found a pair of drop earrings that had a large purple stone surrounded by tiny gray stones. “These are beautiful!” I giggled at a thought that crossed my mind. “It’s almost like it’s us…” I said lightly touching the earrings. Joanne came over
-Karen-“No Karen. No, it’s perfectly fine, my love.” He kissed my lips. “I knew it was going to be hard for you to trust me. Especially with the past you’ve had. We’ve had set backs along the way but more than anything I have done my best to show you and tell you how much I want you even when you tried to leave last week. I know you’ve struggled and that’s okay but I want to reinforce my words to you. So, I have an honest question for you: Do you think I would turn my back on you and leave you behind after everything that has happened?” He asked seriously.“Not at all, Conor. I don’t think you would unless you had no other choice.” I whispered without hesitation.“Even if I didn’t have a choice, I would stand by you. Karen, with this ring, I promise that no matter what happens in this life, I will never turn my back on you. I won’t abandon you and leave you behind. I won't let you wonder if you aren’t good enough because you’re my idea of perfection. Everything about you; scars, tear
-Karen-“I’m fine, Conor. Those pesky demons didn’t touch me at all.” I replied returning my gaze to the snow covered fountain. It snowed! It snowed a lot! I stared out at it for a few minutes until I couldn’t contain my excitement anymore. I unclasped the cloak and ran out into a two feet of snow squealing like a happy child. “Snow! It snowed!!” I danced happily in the snow for twenty minutes as my chest heaved from breathing the cold air. I looked over at the three of them as they stood in the hall watching me like I lost my mind.I ran over to them and grabbed on to Joanne’s warm hands. She gasped at my touch. “Come play in the snow with me!” I squealed as I pulled her out to the nearest snow drift and pushed her in to it. She laughed excitedly. “This is called snow?!” She asked patting the white fluff. “It’s been falling since last night. We’ve all been too afraid to come out into it.” I giggled excitedly. I balled up some snow and threw it at her. “Ah! Kay!” I did it again until
-Karen-I was awoken by an attack of kisses on my neck. “Mm…” I sleepily looked up and saw Conor lean down to kiss me. He paused and then kissed me sweetly and then bit my lower lip. The sensation caught me off guard and I gasped. He kissed me deeply and then moved down my neck to my belly planting kisses along the way. I love those kisses! I watched him sleepily as he gently ran his hands over my skin. He crawled over me and carefully lowered himself on top of me. He laid his head on my left shoulder and held me. Mm! I love being next to him like this! His warmth was making me sleepy all over again. So warm! I could fall asleep…“Kay!” He whispered in my ear. I looked over and he kissed me. “Want to dance with me?” I thought about it for a moment and then nodded. Sounds like it would be relaxing! “Yes! I have the best companion in the galaxy!” He got off the bed quickly and stoked the fire as I stretched in place, shaking out my hair. I sat up and watched as he pulled the chaise next