Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 617: Rightful place

Things settled quite well after their return home. Everything and everyone reclaimed their rightful place in the most natural of manners.

As the days went by, Grace wrote to let them know that she was safe and well taken care of by Arthur and the Sterling staff.

Every now and then, Allegra would come around and bring Remus along for a visit. The fairies too got used to playing with the boy as the women chatted about anything and nothing.

On that new day, Silas returned home a little earlier than usual only to find Arabella near an open window in one of the lounge rooms, keeping her hands busy with embroidery.

"Has Ada forsaken you?" he pressed a tender kiss on top of her head.

"Oh... I tried to get a word out of her, but her nose is buried so deep in those books... I believe an earthquake wouldn’t be able to capture her attention," the young woman shook her head and smiled.

"She’s quite determined,"

"Which is exactly what she is supposed to be,"

"And what are you working on?" his diamonds turned to the trapped piece of fabric between the wooden halos in her hands.

"Just a handkerchief with your initials on it," she simpered, swaying from left to right in her chair.

"A gift? For me?" both hands brushed her hair out of his way so that he could play with the back of her neck, massaging at it very gently. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"You sound surprised," she murmured, shutting her eyes to relish his warm touch.

"Well, receiving gifts isn’t something I am particularly used to,"

In response, her head tilted to the side as she hummed, "I think I can remedy that," a chuckle escaped her after those words, "But how is business going?"

"Fairly," he nodded, letting go of her neck to find the chair next to her, "What about things at home?"

Arabella put down the needle and thread to focus on the conversation, "Fairly as well," she nodded, "Later, I’ll have a number of human women as well as men coming to audition for a spot as entertainers. Some of them were sent by the syndicate too,"

"And do you feel ready for the task?"

"Yes, more so than I believed I would," she chuckled again.

Although, her smile dimmed a tad as her gemstones traveled all over his features, prompting the vampire to enquire, "What is it?"

"You haven’t fed in a while. I believe that tonight will be as good as any," her demeanor turned solemn while still eying him.

Silas cleared his throat before speaking, "I’ve gotten a lot better at abstaining for longer than two weeks. I think we should postpone the nearest feeding session a few more days at least,"

"Silas," her voice was little but steady, "I am perfectly alright and able to handle it even without needing to ingest your blood. So, if you are still worried that-"

"I will always be worried," he cut her off, "I still firmly believe that you shouldn’t ingest more than a few drops of it a month. I am afraid of the consequences it could yield on your body,"

Arguing against his point was futile. What was there to say? Silas was right as there was truly no way to know what continuous ingestion would do to her.

Only... There was that strong pull that every fiber in her being screamed for. That longing for his crimson nectar that never learned to fade.

The greater part of her scolded the small, needy and reckless part that stubbornly demanded more, but still...

"Well, I can also say I am worried since your body isn’t supposed to go without feeding for longer than two weeks," she pouted, picking the needle again.

"Don’t you worry yourself about that,"

"I cannot exactly control it, much like you cannot control your worries,"she grumbled, eyes on the fabric.

Silas stood up, kissed her head again and excused himself, "I must return to it then. There still is the matter of Dragomir which the syndicate members wish to discuss,"

What a great excuse to escape the conversation! Nevertheless, she played along.

"What do they want to do about him?"

"I’ve spoken to Liriel about it and we’ve agreed to keep the details from the rest of the members, especially Grishnak,"

"Yes, of course. Otherwise, it wouldn’t bode well for Allegra, seeing the extent to which she was involved, even though against her own will,"

After a moment of silence between them, Arabella spoke again, "So, what will you do about it?"

"I am unsure for now,"

She did not protest much when he exited the room. The young woman brought her attention back towards the embroidering under her nose as her mind raced with untamable thoughts.

How to get Silas to agree on feeding that same night? That was her number one priority for that time being.

It was all too silly, but infinitely better than the hurdles they had to overcome before.

Arguing on whether he should feed that week or the next...

Was that the type of blessing that life had to offer?

No more thinking about the prince or Dragomir or even her father. All in the span of four months.

Her gemstones trailed the silver lines that her fingers were creating on the fabric with care as images of the moment she would gift him the handkerchief flashed before her eyes.

So nice it was to go through that kind of benign scenario instead of the nightmares that usually sprouted from situations she had been forced to suffer.

Life was finally getting lovely without a pit in her stomach expanding... Without her heart preparing for the next beat it would have to skip...

Everything and everyone were finally in their rightful place. All without exceptions.

Well, there was one little thought that begged for more effort on her part. Wondering whether Reubon had joined her mother in the beyond did not gnaw at her per se, but still tugged at her attention, nonetheless.