Chapter Text
You shiver, as the winter breeze sends a chill down your back. It’s a day like any other, you wake up and tend to the sheep, then you head to the market in an effort to sell the wool of the sheep. This winter has been particularly long and the goods you preserved in preparation for winter will not last. You feel the weight of the lei in your pocket, successfully having sold a majority of the wool you brought to the market, as you walk towards the Dukes cart. He has always offered a fair price on preserved goods, unlike many of the villagers in the market who will try to overcharge you, especially with the burden of providing for their families the longer winter draws on.
“Good day my dear! How did you fare in the market today, plenty of coin to speak of I hope?” The Duke's voice booms as you approach. “It fared as well as I could hope for Duke, although I am not keen to spend it all in one day. Just a jar of pickled cabbage and one of any cured meat that you have will do for today.” Wool moves well in the winter, when the chill drafts in through the village's doors and windows, but come summer time and the demand dries up. Spending less stretches the use of the wool's profits until the cold descends upon the village again. “Say dear,” the Duke's voice brings you out of your thoughts, “If you were in need of extra coin perhaps you would consider making a delivery for me?” An odd request, usually the Duke makes all his own deliveries. “And where would I be making this delivery?” you ask, voice laden with apprehension. “As it happens, a contact of mine has recently procured goods I myself have had difficulties acquiring for some time now. I should begin my travels to retrieve them without delay, alas I am still scheduled to deliver to Castle Dimitrescu. If you could make the delivery for me you would be of immense help and I could pay you up front.”
Of course it is a delivery to Castle Dimitrescu, the castle that many of the daughters born in this village have been sacrificed to. “How would I go about this delivery?” Right as you get the question out, the Duke claps his hands together, “Oh splendid my dear! It is a simple delivery really, just knock on the door and one of the maids of the castle will answer, instruct them that the parcel is from me and the job is done!” It really does seem simple enough, you don’t even have to interact with any of the Ladies of the house. With your mind made up, you accept the Duke's proposal and take the parcel from him. It is wrapped in brown paper and tied with red twine, on the upper left corner of the parcel is a stamp bearing the crest of house Dimitrescu with the name B. Dimitrescu written underneath. You secure the parcel in your bag, away from your purchased goods, and pocket the pouch of lei the Duke gives you in payment.
It is not quite late in the day, but the sun sets sooner in the winter. You begin the trek up to the castle with haste, in hopes of making it back home before nightfall. One cannot truly appreciate the imposing nature of the castle until they are approaching its door. From the village it surely looks grand, but up close the sheer size of the building is enough to send a shiver down your spine. Not to mention the strange aura of silence you have felt ever since entering Dimitrescu territory. You hold your bag close to your chest as you begin to approach the front door of the castle. You steady your breathing and raise your fist to rap against the door. How could anyone hear me? This castle is massive. After waiting some time, you raise your fist again only for the large door to begin to open slowly. The lighting is dim, and there doesn’t seem to be anyone behind the door. Just great, because this is what I need right now.
You contemplate leaving but the lei you have been paid to complete this delivery weighs heavily in your pocket. You step into the foyer of the castle and notice a painting of three young women hung on the wall after a small staircase. You wordlessly walk up to the painting and inspect the plaque below, ‘three daughters Bela, Cassandra, and Daniela’. While you have lived in the village for the majority of your life, you knew very little about its lords and ladies other than the whispers amongst the villagers. Your mother moved to the village with you when you were young and she never assimilated into the local religious beliefs of the Black God. At best you knew the titles of the four Lords and the leader Mother Miranda, everything else you knew were rumors and tales told to scare children away from wandering into any of the lord's territories. Most of what you know about Castle Dimitrescu is simply that families will often send a daughter to work in the castle to pay off their debts and they simply never return. The whispers say those daughters are then turned into wine.
You are roused from your musings when the silence breaks, and you hear a faint buzzing as if it were far away. You don’t really know what to do, to go beyond the foyer would be to trespass into Lady Dimitrescu's home. However to simply leave the parcel would go against the delivery instructions of the Duke, then he may never offer you an odd job again. The buzzing sound grows faint to steady, as if whatever was making the sound was nearing the foyer. Perhaps a maid is vacuuming nearby? “Excuse me, I have a parcel from the Duke for one of the Ladies of the castle.” The buzzing stops, and is replaced with the sound of steady footfalls coming from the door to your left. The door opens and you suck in a sharp breath as a gorgeous blonde woman a full head taller than you walks through. You quickly take in her features, her skin is so pale you could confuse it for porcelain and her eyes have a golden hue, seemingly glowing in the dim lighting of the foyer. The clothes she is wearing don’t seem to be those of a maid, a knot of anxiety twists in your stomach, could this be one of the Ladies of the castle.
“Who is the parcel for little one?” The tall gorgeous blonde asks. You feel a slight flush on your cheeks as you’re sure you’ve been caught staring, “It’s for Lady Bela Dimitrescu.” You manage to get out with only a slight waiver in your voice. “For me, well isn’t this a surprise! Come with me little one.” She says with an air that makes it clear, you can not deny her. The knot in your stomach worsens as you follow her farther into the castle and you’re struck with the thought, taking this delivery was a horrible decision.