Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 137: Motherland

Time never lingered to the busy mind. Hours would run by without the prospect of turning back.

Such was the case for Arabella and Ada who’d buried their heads among the ink and paper.

The two of them sat reading line after line in the library where the days seemed shorter.

"Oh dear!" it was Ada that broke the comfortable cadence, "It is nearly dinner time," her eyes through one of the windows, straight onto the darkening sky.

"Oh my! Time truly dies fly by in here," the young woman chuckled.

"Perhaps we should prepare ourselves to leave," the maid half asked, fingers on the hardcover of the book in front of her, ready to shut it.

"Well, ...," Arabella’s eyes drifted suspiciously to the side onto nothing in particular. She had that side smirk that announced loud and proud that something lurked behind it, "To be frank with you, there is something I wanted to show you seeing as now, you are able to read long texts with less frequent mistakes or breaks in between...," her tone seconded her playful demeanor.

"I am all ears!"

Predictably, Ada’s features returned confusion to a certain degree with some excitement in the mix.

In response, and from the pile of books that sat near Arabella, the one at the very bottom was picked out of the lot.

"I took this one this very morning when we came in," she placed it at the centre of the table, "I thought I’d see how much progress you made before bringing it up,"

As Ada’s irises grazed the title embossed on its spine, her brightness dimmed for it read "The golden lines" which harbored hundreds of poems from many bygone eras.

"I appreciate the confidence you have in me, Miss," she twiddled her quill between her fingers, "But I am afraid I’m not at that level just yet," her gaze finally met Arabella’s, "Poems, to me are much more complicated that plain texts. I’ve tried to read some the previous nights, and I quickly understood that the ability to read alone wasn’t going to be enough for me to grasp the meaning of the words on these pages,"

"Do you trust me, Ada?"

"Yes, of course!" the switch in expression was all too sudden, going from somewhat knitted eyebrows to wide open eyes, "What sort of question even is that?"

Without another word, Arabella split the stack of pages constituting that book open on a specific one before flipping through a few papers until the desired page appeared.

Her actions were concise and precise, exuding great confidence with every motion.

She then flipped the book around for Ada to read the title that read "Motherland" in big fonts.

"I...," Ada hesitated a little, looking between the page and Arabella.

"Just please," the young woman lay a hand over Ada’s, "Read the first lines and you’ll see,"

The warm smile on her alone seemed to move the mountains that rested upon Ada’s shoulders.

The maid gave it one good shrug before inhaling deeply and absorbing the first words.

Every emotion that overcame her after that was plastered all over her face. The way she was so easy to read amused Arabella.

Watching her go from a bundle of uncertainty to something completely different... As the tears very slowly welled up in her gradually widening eyes.

Her gaping little mouth voiced nothing for seconds that felt like hours while her irises did all the heavy lifting, skipping from left to right then from top to bottom until a string of words finally aligned in her mind.

"This is...!" she trailed off at first, "This isn’t a poem!"

So precious was the look on her face that Arabella wanted to merely admire it for as long as it lasted.

Eventually however, she responded with a question, "Do you recognize it?"

"Oh yes! I recognize the words! This is it! This is one of the songs I used to overhear while-," Ada interrupted herself at once, allowing all that joy and energy to slip away in the favor of a much dimmer demeanor.

Although Arabella did not seem surprised by the sudden mood shift and maintained her comforting smile, "My mother did not particularly like singing but she used to sing this song whenever my father would bring guests over. I was never allowed to attend those gatherings, not in my childhood and never in my teenage hood either...," eyes meandering into nothingness, earning her a distant look, "Motherland is one of the oldest songs I remember. It was there before us and I am sure it’ll be here far longer after our time ends," she pushed a sigh that mingled with a tame chuckle, "My father was so disappointed to realize I hadn’t inherited my mother’s golden voice,"

"Are you alright, Miss?" that time around, it was Ada that squeezed her hand.

"Yes of course!" as though shedding the burden she carried seconds prior, her features lit up, "When you said you used to sing old songs you overheard, I thought this would be one of them. It was most popular among day walkers because it had come out when the army of liberty was first founded," ƒгeewebnovёl.com

"Oh... I had no idea,"

The dreamy smiles on both women were wiped all together when a slew of bone-chilling howls arose simultaneously in the night.

Those shrieks came so close to the property, nearing it the longer they went on.

"Oh Lord!" Ada sprung to her feet the same time Arabella did.

"My heart nearly stopped! I’d completely forgotten tonight was the full moon," the young woman held her pendant in both hands, "Their meeting with Master Silas had slipped my mind. What should we do?" she looked at Ada.

"I believe we should stay put," Ada walked towards one of the windows, "At least until the Alpha and Master settle in the meeting room,"

"Right," Arabella nodded, "It would be best to stay out of sight for now," still a little shaken, she sat back down and took a deep breath to recover her wits.

"It’s a shame I can’t see a thing from here," Ada complained.

"Keep away from the windows. They can probably see, hear and smell us from where they are,"