Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 103: Words as sharp as blades

Arabella had just wrapped a towel under her arms when Katherine came back in with a tray that carried exactly one cup.

"Master Silas requested that this be delivered to you," she held the tray forward, "For the injuries you’ve sustained out there,"

"How kind of him!" Arabella’s nose hovered over the little cup as she inspected its content.

How kind, indeed! Thinking back at the sullen ambience in the carriage on their way back, regardless of the ambiguous reasons, she’d fully expected Silas to forget about her wounds.

"It’s green tea," seeing the suspicion on the young woman’s face, Katherine decided to put her at ease, "He’s only mixed in a few drops of his blood. It should suffice,"

The consistency of the liquid stood testament to Katherine’s words. It was green and runny as ordinary green tea would be. The blood had long since dissolved, becoming an invisible part of the solution.

Arabella picked the teacup and brought it to her lips before gulping it all down in one go. Once done, she slowly placed it back onto the tray.

"You must be thirsty!" Ketherine’s widened eyes darted between her and the empty cut.

"Oh... My apologies. It seems I must be. I hadn’t even realized," a tad abashed, Arabella kept a hand over her mouth and refused to meet the vampire’s gaze.

A chuckle came from Katherine, "No worries. We simply need to make sure you remain hydrated,"

After that, the two of them exited the bathroom where Katherine helped her get dressed all the while eying Arabella with a certain glint. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

The young woman thought it resembled an interrogation mark. From time to time, Katherine would even open her mouth as though on the verge of speaking but then seemed to swallow whatever utterances had risen in her throat.

"Alright then!" Katherine clasped her hands together, "You’re all set. Let us go. The Lady is a patient soul, but let us not push our luck," she smiled.

In the end, Katherine kept whatever weight that hung onto her own shoulders, never sharing it with Arabella, quietly throwing quick glances in her direction before snapping away.

She walked the young woman to the lounge room where her gracious host waited patiently.

"Thank you, my dear Katherine. That’ll be all for now. You may take your leave," Persephone’s voice steady, she offered Katherine a warm smile that somehow barely affected her features.

"Yes, my Lady," without any objections, Katherine left the room.

"Sit," was the only word she breathed at Arabella.

The young woman obeyed and took the seat closest to the Lady, clutching at her own fingers in anticipation, a long lasting, cold chill running up and down her spine.

"Was the valley as good as you dreamt it would be?" her glare was so sharp, it pierced right down Arabella’s soul.

"It... It was more than that," she simply could not meet those dark eyes of hers.

"He was in quite the mood when you returned," the Lady extended her hand and picked the teacup that lay on the small table, "You know, I thought we were close, but...," she trailed off momentarily, gaze on the thin liquid swirling merrily in the cup, "I realize now just how far from each other we truly are. Do you follow?"

"I am afraid I do not, my Lady," Arabella shook her head, fingers around her pendant.

"No, of course you don’t," Persephone muttered under her breath, "I simply meant that my son and I don’t share as much as I thought we did. I’ve only come to grasp it after you came around,"

A sudden, mordant jolt shot up her entrails, immediately followed by that sinking sensation that no one would ever crave or miss...

Gravity dragged her behind lower through her chair as the question blared in her mind; What to say to that?

"I...," there were more trembles than words in her sentence.

"Fret not," the Lady put an end to her misery, "I don’t mean it as a bad thing," she leaned further back against the sofa, "See, we’ve rode a specific train of life all this time. I believed we were moving at such speed it’d rendered us still, but it turns out the train had, long ago, stopped moving,"

Arabella found it harder and harder to understand and fortunately or... Unfortunately for her, the Lady seemed to have clocked it.

"What I mean is you’ve brought something new into our lives, and I am not in the habit of tiptoeing around things. I can’t lie, it frightens me,"

Once anew, the young woman was thrusted at the very middle of a deep darkened ocean without any prospect of ever escaping.

To say those words gave her whiplash was an understatement. One second, she was told it wasn’t a bad thing, and the very next, the Lady admitted fearing the changes Arabella had brought along.

"In all truth, what really frightens me is the fact that I know how it’ll end in the case it is allowed to continue," Persephone paused, but upon noting the look of utter confusion on the young woman, she sighed, "My son fancies you, girl. Now, is that clear enough for you?"

Deafening silence ensued. One that blared so loud not even thunder could rival it.

After a minute that lasted hours, the Lady pushed a new, drawn-out sigh before filling the newly formed void, "Never mind that. I don’t know what I expected from telling all of this. Especially now considering what I am about to say...," she trailed off.

At the end of yet another suffocating moment of silence, the Lady cast a string of words that were honed as a blade, "As I am sure you were made aware of the request that your father put in, I’ve agreed to see him. He will be coming in two days from now,"

Arabella’s eyes fell to the floor and did not rise after that, heavy as anchors dragging their weight across the bottom of that same, darked ocean she never got to escape.