19

                                    

                                          

MARIA 
Shivers racked her body and she curved more on the cot, folding into herself as if it could provide more warmth to her icy cold body. 
She had her hands wrapped around herself as she shook, her teeth gnashing against each other. Tremors racked her frame and as the next wave hit her, she held stiff, hoping that it would fend off the shaking, but all it did was worsen and when the next wave hit her, she whimpered. 
Maria didn't know how it was possible for her to feel both hot and cold at the same time, but that was what she was feeling right now. 
Where her hand touched her skin, it burned her like she had put her hand directly into hot water. And yet she felt cold. So cold that she wished the small window in the room would suddenly disappear and she would be wrapped in complete heat. 
She wanted to cry because there was no blanket or piece of clothing for her to cover herself with. She couldn't even think about using her cloak because the damn thing was on a pile on the floor, covered in dust and riddled with dirt. It was a no go. 
Was she going to die here? Down in the cell of a vampire king? 
Was this her fate? 
She couldn't believe it. What would the people back home think or day when they heard that the great sorceress had died in a cell? She would admit that she had done a lot of evil things, taken a lot of lives that didn't deserved to be taking and hence, she had often wondered what kind of death awaited her. 
Never once had she imagined she would die this way. 
Gods, why had she not at least reached her immortality before this vampire captured her?
One of the perks of being an immortal was that they never got sick. Never. Only things such as poisoning could kill them and even the oldest and strongest of immortals could sweat out the poison in their system. 
She was sick and she was going to die down here. That was if Edgar didn't come with her food sooner. If he came before she died, then she would tell him and hope that he was able to do something about it. 
She really really hoped that he would do something about it because her captor hadn't made any efforts to see her ever since the day she tried to escape. She was starting to believe that he had really abandoned her down here. Maybe after reaching the conclusion that she was useless to him after all. 
But then why did Edgar still give her food? 
Come to think of it, she had been getting better food lately. They weren't exactly what she ate back at the palace, but they were a huge step-up from what she usually got. 
She briefly wondered if her captor had anything to do about that. If he knew about it at all. 
Another shiver worked through her body and this time, she let out a sharp cry, unable told it back. She had a terrible headache and on top of everything else, she felt like throwing up. She'd had the urge several times, but she'd fought it down each time. She had only thrown up once in her life and she hated the feeling of having food that already went down your throat some back up.
That was another level of sorcery in itself and she would do everything she could to prevent it. 
She couldn't even look up when the room filled with light. She was just too weak. She had not even heard the door open. 
The steady steps told her that it was Edgar coming into the room. Apparently, she wouldn't have to die before he came. He opened the gate, seemed like he paused while doing it, then dropped the plate of food on the ground in front of her cot—which meant he was standing in front of her.