--It wasn’t exactly unusual for Angel to appear back into the undercroft bleeding and bruised.
The guard who had escorted him back from the master’s suite had sneered at him and Angel felt slight panic cease him. Sometimes they thought he’d done something wrong when he came back like this-- maybe he had. He didn’t know. The plain shirt he was wearing was now torn and splattered with his own blood. The guard took him directly to the Undercroft bathroom and shoved the hurt slave in with an order to clean up his face before retiring to his cot for the evening.
It was how he’d be found, using the cold water of the undercroft to gently scrub at the cuts and bruises on his face. He heard footsteps and he found himself whispering out, “I’m almost done, sir. I promise.” He needed to move faster and he cussed at himself.
@garethbradbury