Chapter 324: First impressions
Silas’s day had been quite long and thus instead of physically seeking Arabella out, he decided to cut corners and project his hearing.
His surprise was not that immense upon noting that her voice was no longer emanating from the lounge room as it had already been hours, but he was taken aback to realize that she and Ada were in the map room instead.
The vampire followed his feet and made his presence known the moment he reached the door.
After greetings were exchanged, Ada excused herself and left the two of them together.
"I thought I’d find you in the gardens or someplace else, but not here," he walked around the desk, nearing her figure in the process.
"Right, well, I felt as though I still had some unfinished business in this room," by then, her eyes were back on the maps sprawled in front of her.
"What sort of business?" one of his eyebrows rose when noting the map she’d been studying.
"We’ve only got to seal two tunnels from the long list we still have," she murmured.
"Don’t worry yourself with that," he took her hand and moved to stand close behind her, "That isn’t your burden to carry,"
"It doesn’t sit right with me to know that Lord Dragomir and father now have the complete list of unsealed tunnels," her demeanor remained shut, "Especially since my abductors were going to use one of those same tunnels to take me back to Lustris,"
Silas’ body tensed up which did not go unnoticed considering how close to each other they were.
Arabella carefully spun around to face him and see the rigid stance his features had taken.
It was never her intention to ruin his mood so, the young woman threaded her arms under his and wrapped him around the middle, effectively bringing her face to his chest.
"I didn’t mean to upset you," her words hummed through him, "This time around I won’t go out there and I won’t stay without protection either. Nothing like what’s already happened will occur again,"
Without saying a thing, his hand rose to caress her head, "No, it is simply not something I wish to talk about right this moment,"
"That is fair," she lifted her head just enough for their gazes to connect, "We do not need to talk about it just now," she smiled, "Dusk is near, so I was wondering if I could see Katherine tonight," her simper turned sheepish.
A long sigh escaped Silas, "I suddenly wish to hear more about those tunnels you’ve just mentioned,"
Arabella gasped, opening her mouth and furrowing her eyebrows in an exaggerated manner, "Please!" She tightened her hold around him and leaped in her spot a little, "I haven’t seen her at all since the other night, I really need to see her,"
Silas hummed and pursed his lips while looking down at her, "Now who’s acting like a child?"
"This isn’t fair," she pouted.
"Fine,"
For a three-century old warrior, he sure conceded very quickly in the face of her demands, but in his eyes, it couldn’t be helped. There was no way of fighting her or turning her down.
"But if I sense anything wrong, anything at all from her, then I won’t hesitate to interfere,"
She merely nodded in response.
"Have you arranged for Edna’s funeral?"
By then, they were already walking through the hallways.
"I’ve done what I could," he said, "Edgar and the butlers will take care of the rest,"
"Does... Did she have any family left that may want to claim her body?" she practically whispered.
"No relatives," he shook his head, "She was left in our care by her parents. We would have taken her in anyways, but they begged and cried as if they were used to hearing negative responses,"
The sun shied away, lingering closer to the horizon line with every second that passed. Arabella stopped by one of the windows to admire the clear blue sky brushed with strokes of faint pink and orange.
"I suppose they were in a difficult situation," she muttered.
"They did not give us all of the details, but from what I understand, they were being pursued by someone. They could have stayed, but all they asked for was shelter for their daughter,"
"They served as bait,"
Her voice thinned out even more at those words which prompted Silas to enquire for details, "What do you mean?"
"Well, it’s only an assumption, but they must have thought that whoever was after them would leave their daughter alone if he’d got to them,"
"They seemed like lovely folks. I wonder where she got her attitude from,"
"I...," her gemstones snapped onto him, "I sort of wondered what kind of feelings you harbored for Edna," she already had an apologetic smile on.
"I felt quite suffocated with Edna," him, on the other hand, kept his eyes through the window, "From day one, I knew she’d be trouble,"
"How so?"
"She was a little too keen to have her blood taken. In my experience, people like that aren’t the sanest of mind,"
"What did you think of me the first time you saw me in your room?" her heart rate quickened a tad at that question.
"Your case is incomparable to Edna’s if that’s what you are asking," he finally turned to her, "First, there was the smell of your blood and... I am ashamed to admit it... The way you kept asking about me. About whether I was cruel or not," a little chuckle escaped him, "As you’ve guessed, I was listening in, but that wasn’t all, of course, there was the fact that you are the direct descendant of Able Sterling and also the manner in which you admired the canvas in my room,"
The red around her cheeks and pounding of heart gave her emotional state away.
The couple turned to watch the sun go down while waiting for vampires to rise from their slumber.
They chatted about the many things on their plates. The unimportant ones, of course, for those brought a lighter mood along.