Ruby's dress was stained with blood. It was a raw ochre over the rough azure satin. <reword> It had trailed down and onto the key ring on the sash around her waist. The golden key that unlocked the room was red with her blood. It almost looked as though it had soaked into the rubies that adorned it, adding a sinister luster to their tone.
Her hand didn't hurt anymore. But as she tried to push the stain away, something felt wrong about it. The hole where the thorn had pierced her, a gash as large as the pad of her thumb, had sealed itself. Not with flesh, although the edges bore the silvery sheen of a long healed scar, but with wood. It had no sensation, although her hand could still bend and move with ease.
She didn't have time to think. She heard Jack's tenor calling “Ruby”. She hurried out, only taking a moment to lock the door behind her, and tried to express calm in the room with the tree. She clutched the wood, leaning against it. She thought she could feel it lending her strength.
Jack entered. “You like this one, eh? I can't say I've ever been fond of it. Trees aren't much to my liking. Them and me don't seem to get along well.”
“It likes me,” she said.
He didn't seem to notice. “Come. Get some dinner with me. I've got good news.” He was fairly bursting with excitement as they walked to the dining room. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet while he described some opera he had once seen. “Then the nymph, oh, she was a fine one, indeed. Calla, her name was. She could sing like a succubus. And that wasn't the only way she was like a succubus, if you gather what I'm saying.” He looked back at her with a leer. She nodded tensely.
With Ruby trying not to listen to his refrains of conquests past and present, they entered the dining room. It was a room for intimate dinners. The walls were a deep indigo and they almost encircled the two of them. <Not what I meant to say, whatever>. A table of a light wood with two china settings across from each other stood in the middle. A buffet was on the side. Silver dishes with steam wafting from the top awaited them. Jack swept a plate away and began filling it with some choice delicacies. He handed it to her with a dramatic bow. She wrinkled her nose. The meat had some sour sauce and the salad of watercress and celeriac was sodden with dressing.
She took the dish and placed it back on the table. “I can serve myself, thank you.” She took his plate. Ah, that looked much better. A leg of what seemed to be rabbit, roasted and covered in a slaw of chicory. A light crab bisque with crackers so airy they dissolved in the liquid. A pancake of some sort, large and fluffy but studded with pops of sweet berries and pine nuts. This was much more to her taste, she thought as she ate with relish.
Halfway through their meal, Jack said, “I talked to someone who can help you today.”
“Really?” Ruby set down her forkful of game pie. “Who is it?”
“Scarlet. My, shall we say, patron. He's interested in you. Wants to talk to you. He knows everything that goes on down here. If anyone can help, he can.”
The name seemed familiar. She'd heard of him. “This Scarlet, he's lending you this house?”
“Precisely. We have quite the amicable relationship. I complete the odd task for him. He sets me up with lodging and so on. He's promised quite the—” he bit his tongue before he could finish his thought, then continued, trying to be smooth. “Wait until you see his palace, little gem. It puts this hovel to shame.” Then he was off nattering again about the sights and the entertainments that Scarlet had provided for him. Scarlet was the name Acacia had given of the person who had trapped her.
Jack took a pause to breathe. Ruby interrupted. “Do you think he will help me?”
His eyes narrowed. He'd been in the middle of a story about his friend Hal and how they'd take over a tavern for the night, turning it into their own haven. “I don't see why he won't. You're quite the charmer, little gem. I'm sure you'll have him wrapped around your little finger in no time.”
Ruby couldn't take it any longer. “Stop talking already. I'm tired of your petty stories. I'm tired of your gossip. I don't care about any of it. And stop calling me little gem. I'm not your gem and you had no right to kiss me when we met.” She slammed her chair back. It crashed on the ground. “I appreciate everything you've done for me. But I didn't come here to listen to a small minded little man. I don't know who this Scarlet is, but from what little I've gathered, I don't want to meet him and I don't want to be around you any longer.” She hurled the keys at him. “I'm leaving now.”