Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 66: To speak or not to speak

A crushing wave of silence saturated the space around Arabella, churning the air in her lungs sully.

As though a set of invisible hands squeezed around her neck, she wished for nothing more than to gasp for a cleaner breath, but Katherine’s eyes on her discouraged the young woman from acting on her most desperate needs.

"Are you alright?" Katherine’s voice finally shattered the muteness that had engulfed the room.

"Yes!" Arabella had practically sung her answer, "I am," she added in a tamer tone, conscious that her first response might’ve been too fervid.

"Your heart isn’t resting," the vampire had called out her lies without even doing so.

Katherine’s traits had hardened. There wasn’t the trace of her usual lively charm which didn’t help Arabella’s anxiety in the least.

"It’s just been a very long day and...," she averted her eyes away from Katherine’s, "I do feel quite tired,"

"I understand," Katherine said dryly at first before her voice softened a tad, "Of course, you must’ve been completely out of your element. Coming to your senses in a place you didn’t recognize instead of your bed...," she trailed off and shook her head for a moment, "I apologize. I may come a little too harsh on you, but I am only worried for you,"

"I truly appreciate it, Katherine, I-" Arabella smiled and had started, but Katherine did not allow her to finish her sentence.

"I also worry you are keeping something from me," she watched Arabella’s smile vanish, "From us," Katherine finished.

From her sitting place on the bed, Arabella leapt to her feet at once, "No! I would never!" she protested, forgetting her rest.

"And yet, your heart says otherwise," Katherine had lowered her voice multiple octaves as she stared straight at Arabella’s chest.

Instinctively, the young woman brought a hand up to shield that area of her body, "I wouldn’t lie to you," she muttered.

"No, I am not calling you a liar, Arabella," the vampire took a few steps closer to her and gently placed both hands on her cheeks, to convince her to make eye contact, "I simply wish to know what troubles you. It is imperative that you share your thoughts and what gnaws at you. How else are we supposed to help you?" in the softest of tones, she’d uttered.

"I truly am sorry for worrying you,"

Instead of the desired effect, Katherine’s words seemed to trigger the opposite. Indeed, Arabella forced her face out of Katherine’s grasp and looked further down as her heart raced faster in its cage.

"No, that wasn’t what I...," Katherine had begun to console Arabella at first, but then her demeanor shifted to an entirely new one, defined by harsh traits once more, "Alright, I’ve tried that route with you, but it clearly isn’t working so, do tell me, what links you to that maid, Edna?"

At those words, Arabella’s heart didn’t just race but plummeted to her stomach before pushing its way further down, competing to reach the bare bottom against itself.

Wide eyed, her gaze had darted up to finally connect with the hazel eyes scrutinizing her.

With shaky lips, Arabella mouthed an inaudible, "What...?"

"You are not in trouble," Katherine rushed to place comforting hands on Arabella’s shoulders, "I simply wish to know what she means to you, that is all,"

Katherine paused for a few seconds, but seeing the lack of response from the young woman, she pressed further, "Did she do something to you?"

The more from her she’d heard, the less signs of calming down her heart showed.

"I’ve inquired about her, after my last encounter with her in the hallways. I was not aware of who she was before you came to the manor. I was not acquainted with her,"

Katherine stood so close that her warm breath fell on Arabella’s face as she spoke which made the matters worse for her.

Her body no longer knew whether the temperature was too high or too low, shivering at parts and sweating gallons at others.

That specific conversation had been the last she wanted to tackle, considering the consequence it might yield for Edna.

Arabella wished nothing more than to keep red out of her ledger.

"Please, speak to me. Say something, anything," Katherine’s fingers pushed a little deeper into Arabella’s shoulders as she basically pleaded.

"I have nothing to say on the matter as I’ve got no proof, Katherine!" in a fit of frustration, the young woman freed herself from Katherine’s hold, "What is it you wish to hear? That she’s been mean to me? That she’s looked at me in a nasty way? None of which is criminal! Something happened to me only recently that might have cost me my life and the last thing I want is to point my finger at the wrong person,"

She’d let it all out almost in one breath before crashing down on the edge of her bed, plopping as though too drained to carry her own weight.

Her voice had been steady all through the beginning of her sentence, but as the end of it neared, cracks betrayed her true state of mind.

"You won’t be pointing the finger at anybody that is innocent, I assure you," Katherine bent down to Arabella’s eye level, "Asking questions is not the same as accusing people," the ghost of a smile had appeared on the vampire.

"It is where I come from," still refusing to meet her gaze, Arabella turned her head further away. novelbuddy.cσ๓

"Well, you are no longer there, are you?" her smile grew a little brighter, although still on the cautious side.

She certainly was no longer in Lustris, but the damage was done. Arabella had no doubt it’d take years, potentially even decades, for her old teachings and conditioning to wither.

Either way, she was stuck between a rock and a hard place; To speak or not to speak.

Although in the end, her lips remained sealed, eyes darting around frantically.