The Camp (Chateau 2)

She pulled her hand away from the counter and looked at me. She was calm now, only a tinge of anger in her eyes.

“It makes more sense for you to stay here. You can go back to university and finish your education. You can continue the life that was taken from you. You can even see Melanie. If you go back to that camp, you’ll just be working all day in terrible conditions. You’ll be much happier here.” I didn’t want to be apart, but I would never put my selfish interests before hers.

She straightened and crossed her arms over her chest. “Where you go, I go. That’s final.”

Now, I looked at her with new eyes, seeing the same woman I looked at every day somehow look different. Did I want to go back to the camp without her? No. But I would never be selfish and ask her to stay with me. She was stuck to me like glue. A lot of people said shit they didn’t mean, made promises they couldn’t keep, said they would be there, knowing they wouldn’t show up, but not Raven.

She was different.

When she said something, she meant it.

It was easy for Melanie to go back to Fender because he gave her pretty things, gave her a life she could only dream of. It was easy to look the other way and ignore his crimes against humanity. But Raven voluntarily joined me in hell, walked away from her freedom to remain a prisoner with me.

Because it was real.

We were real.

We drove into the countryside and approached the iron gate between two tall trees with a brick wall that surrounded the property.

I rolled down the window and entered my code in the keypad.

The doors slowly swung inward.

I drove through and saw the gate close behind me in my rearview mirror. There was a large pond in front of the lawn of my home, filled with floating lily pads and fallen flowers. I drove down the path toward the two-story French estate and then pulled up to the front of the house.

She looked out the window and admired the two statues in front of the pillars, the traditional French architecture, the history of a place that had been around for centuries. “It’s beautiful…”

It wasn’t as large as Fender’s, but it was still too big for one person. I bought it for seclusion when I needed a break from the city. Sometimes tourism was so rampant in the summer that I needed a place to retreat until they returned to wherever the fuck they came from.

We got out of the car and walked to the front door.

My butler greeted us with two glasses of wine, along with the perfect pairing of cheese. “Great to have you back, sir.”

I took the glass off the tray and took a drink. “Thank you, Ramon. How have things been?” I spoke English so Raven could understand us.

“The house has been doing well. The stables—”

“I meant with you.”

“Oh.” He chuckled and placed his hand over his chest. “I’ve been doing quite well. Thank you for asking.” He turned to Raven. “Lovely to meet you, mademoiselle. Please let me know if you need anything.” He headed toward the doors. “I’ll take care of the luggage.”

Raven finished chewing her cheese as she watched him go. “He’s nice. He just lives here all the time?”

“Yes.” We moved forward and entered the large kitchen and sitting room. The back window showed the acres of land and the horses grazing in the pasture. “With an estate this size, it requires constant upkeep.”

When she noticed the horses, she moved to the window and placed her hand against the pane. “Oh my god, I think I see her…”

I turned my gaze and watched her press her nose to the glass, watched her look at the horse that had carried her to the safety of my chateau. She had a connection with many things, whether it was humans or animals, because her heart was pure.

She turned to me. “Can we go say hi?”

When did I ever tell her no? “Sure.”

We opened the gate to the pasture and walked across the grass to where the horses stood. Most of them were spread out and grazing, eating the fresh grass below their hooves. I kept horses as a hobby even though I rarely rode.

Raven walked out in front of me and cupped her hands around her mouth to shout across the field. “Rose!” She waved her arms in the air to get her attention. “Girl, it’s me.”

I didn’t expect the horse to recognize her since their interaction had been so short. But I watched Rose lift her head and turn our way, looking at the two people who had entered her world. Her ears twitched a little bit, and she flicked her tail. Then she turned our way and came toward us.