Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 615: Back

"For mother the sky had cried, but not for father," after the shortest of pauses, he added, "I do not think it is a coincidence,"

The more he spoke, the more familiar his voice became, reminding her of the good old days... Of the lively Arthur that used to cheer her up when she cried in his arms.

Not only her heart, but her eyes threatened to leap out of their sockets too as she fought with all of her might to just... Turn around and ensure it was no mere dream. That Arthur had truly spoken to her!

"I will never have the words to fully express how sorry I am that I failed you when you needed me the most,"

That was it! That was what gave her the strength to spin around and face him.

"You... You didn’t," her mouth hung open as her head shook from left to right.

"Oh yes! I did! I failed you. I failed mother...," he trailed off, his gemstones traveling back towards the window.

Arabella rushed back to stand between him and the light as her own eyes glistened with something that even her brain failed to translate.

"You said that it rained on mother’s funeral. How did you know?" every syllable in her question trembled, "How did you know I donned a veil unless... Unless you...," her features lost all direction as to what to express.

"I never truly left, Belle," he murmured, still unable to meet her gaze.

Belle?

That was the nickname he had always called her with!

"What do you mean?" by then, her entire body trembled.

"I meant what I said, Belle. I was always around... Close enough to feel your pain but too far to do a damn thing about it," 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"What do you mean?"

It was the same question as before, but the tone had nothing of the previous. It had crumbled just as the rest of her face did, allowing all of the tears out.

"On the night you ran off, you donned a deep blue gown," he kept calm as every part of her threatened to fall apart, "I once again wished to see your face but then I noticed that one of the guards had spotted you and was about to sound the alarm... I had mere seconds to react and chose to keep him quiet,"

"Arthur?" her voice came out so brittle.

"’Tis I, yes. No one else but I," his gemstones finally snapped upwards, locking onto hers.

That was too much to handle. Too much to delay any longer so, she leaped in his arms, inhaling his essence as though there was no tomorrow.

Crying every tear in her body was also an option and although expensive, Arthur was more than worth it.

"Will you ever forgive me, Belle?"

However, Arabella was too busy trying to crush his bones which thankfully, she was too frail to do.

"I am sorry that I just left you alone with him, but I didn’t know whether I could survive on my own, let alone dragging you along with me,"

"Please," through sniffles and agony, she finally managed to speak, "Stop this silliness. You have nothing to be sorry for,"

"Oh, but I do, Belle. I so much do," Arthur nuzzled his chin and nose in her neck, inhaling her hair and all it had to offer, "For days, I tried to speak, but not a letter would leave my throat," it all came muffled to her ears, rumbling her chest.

"This isn’t a dream!" she cried, "I am not dreaming! You are speaking to me!"

The door burst open for Silas to stand ready at the threshold, glaring at whatever presented a danger to Arabella.

Arthur did not flinch and stood up, straightening to face Silas without letting go of his sister who still had many more tears to cry.

"She is safe," Arthur patted her head while reassuring her husband.

Upon finally ungluing her face from her brother’s chest, she smiled through the tears at Silas, "He speaks," she chuckled, "he speaks," she repeated.

Silas’ shoulders visibly relaxed as his hand let go of the doorknob, "I see," he nodded.

"Thank you for taking care of her," Arthur pushed a smile forward too, "You accomplished what I failed at and for that I will forever be grateful,"

"It was my pleasure," Silas gave him another nod, "It still is a pleasure to have her in my life,"

"Yes, she’s always been a blessing to have around," Arthur patted her head again, "But speaking of blessing," the man dipped his hand in his pocket, "I believe this now belongs to you,"

He pulled out a gold gilded pendant, garnished with a brilliant green emerald at its center.

"Oh, dear Lord!" Arabella’s hands instinctively gravitated towards but never touched it, "Is this...?"

"Mother’s pendant, yes," Arthur smiled, eying the piece of jewelry between his fingers, "That bastard wanted to rub it in my face after capturing you. He tossed it to me in the cell and never asked for it back, so I kept it,"

Very slowly, he brought it closer to Arabella’s open and expecting palms before gently laying it on them.

"I believe you should put it back where it now belongs," his eyes went over to Silas.

"Are you sure you do not mind it?" her words still trembled.

"Not one bit," he shook his head.

Arabella found the courage to move away from Arthur and towards her husband where she, very carefully, pinned the pendant back to his belt. The same way she did when they had exchanged vows on their wedding day.

"There is one more thing I wish to speak to you about,"

Their attention found Arthur again.

"Yes, of course!" Arabella ran back to him.

"It is about Grace whom you happen to consider as a sister from what I understand," he cleared his throat.

The wave of warm tingles that had rushed Arabella’s being deafened the rest of their conversation as she chose to simply... Bask in her brother’s warmth.

He was back! Her brother was back and he was there to stay!