Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 616: Before home

Arabella refused to leave Arthur’s side. All day long, she clung to his arm unless it was truly necessary to separate.

After their conversation about Grace, Silas simply retreated and let them be, but speaking of Grace, the vampiress came knocking on his door first thing upon waking from her hibernation cycle.

She stood at the entrance momentarily, seemingly gauging things in the room.

"Is everything alright?" she spoke very sheepishly, eyes darting between Arabella and Arthur.

"Yes, everything is,"

Seeing that the answer came from Arthur, Grace’s hands first fell to her sides as her eyes widened. It took her even less time than that to flash forward, right in front of him, arms confused whether to wrap around him or not.

"Oh, my Lord! You speak!" the words did not struggle to come out per se, but they hesitated to leap off her lips, nonetheless.

"Yes! He does!" Arabella finally chirped.

"This is wonderful! I... Well, I always knew you would get better. Of course!" she pushed an awkward laugh, still not knowing what to do with her hands around him.

Arthur finally decided to put that misery to an end and took her hands in his with a smile as an added bonus.

Her beet red face only grew redder, nearly glowing after his most recent actions towards her.

"I always knew I had to say something as well," he nodded, "I just didn’t know where to start after so long,"

"Well," she gave his hands a little squeeze, "I am glad you found your way back,"

"Grace," Arthur cleared his throat, smile dimming, "I have spoken to Lord Silas about this, but I reckon it is only fair that I address you directly if that is alright,"

Those words wiped the simper off her face as well.

"You have kindly shown me around and filled a deafening void for me when I had lost my voice so, I’d like to ask you if you would be willing to put your trust in me and allow me to show you around my property, to return the favor and be the host you’ve been to me for the past week," he cleared his throat one more time, "I suppose that what I am trying to ask is; will you stay here in Lustris with me after the departure of your family? Just for a short while, of course,"

Silence crept in after his words as Arabella looked on, watching Grace’s mouth open then close a few times without letting a single sound out.

There was no way to know just how anxious the wait made Arthur, but her own stomach was tied in knots. Grace had been hinting at it all night long, hadn’t she?

Was there a way that she had it all wrong? Did Grace truly wish to stay with Arthur at all?

"Yes!"

Just when the last ounces of air were about to be sucked out of that room, Grace spoke up. The radiance in her eyes showed how little the hesitation to give that answer was.

"Then and as the Lord of these lands, I promise to keep you safe at your most vulnerable. I promise you that no harm shall come to you,"

That was seemingly all that Arabella needed to hear. She exited the room, leaving those two to each other.

In the gardens, Edgar ambled along the stone pathways with Persephone on his arm whereas Allegra and Katherine seemed busy holding a conversation of their own.

Rubius kept Silas company by the exit until the young woman joined them.

"How are they?" the old man asked as soon as she stopped near them.

"They’re chatty," she chuckled.

"Did she agree to stay?" Silas put a gentle hand on her lower back.

"She will stay,"

The vampire’s eyes flashed for a split second, "He will quickly regret inviting her to stay,"

In response, she hummed first, "Now that it’s all over, I wonder how much Arthur has truly changed," she had a pensive look on.

"What do you mean?" Rubius followed her gaze towards the ceiling before looking back at her.

"Neither of you knew Arthur like I did. If he is still anything like he used to be well...," she trailed off, "I don’t know which of them will get tired of the other first,"

"You are right," Rubius nodded, "I had no idea Arthur could talk that much. It’s even hard for me to imagine him like that, in fact,"

"You never spent much time together and even when you did, you never truly got to enjoy each other’s company," her smile slowly faded, "He held back a lot in front of father,"

"I am sure he did,"

Not much else was said between them after that. Rubius excused himself and left the couple to enjoy each other’s time.

"Are you ready for tomorrow’s trip?" Silas broke the cozy silence as they ambled the gardens, "I mean, it is alright for us or you to stay longer with your brother if you wish to,"

"My brother will have his hands full as it is," she chuckled, "Besides, my home is no longer this house. You wouldn’t believe me if I just told you how much I wish to go back,"

"No. That I can believe," he stopped in his tracks, "What I can’t believe is the fact that we got the pendant back," his hand gravitated downwards towards the pendant attached to his belt.

"Neither can I," she shook her head, "To think that I believed we had lost it forever. I am just glad the crown prince is as dimwitted as he is. It was our only blessing,"

"It was indeed,"

They marched along the pathway, enjoying their last night at the Sterling manor before heading home.

Yes, the Sterling manor had never truly been her home... A prison? Yes, maybe but a home? Never.

A roof that only harbored her for a few months won that title, barely facing a struggle to wrench it from its previous owner.