Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 75: What’s a syndicate?

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Silas had adopted a slow walking pace out of consideration for her... Smaller strides, but upon hearing her latest words, he’d appeared to slow down even further.

Seeing his reaction, blood turned faster in her veins, rushing up towards her face, "My apologies!" she blurted, "I shouldn’t have said that," her eyes traveled the furthest away from his gaze while maintaining the path ahead of herself into clear view.

"But you did," he started, "I can’t read your mind, so I am going to need you to elaborate on your words," as calm as it was, his tone left no hints that he was offering her any other options but to answer.

Clutching at her pendant as per usual, Arabella combed through her mind for the reply that would be satisfy him the most. Although, the pounding of her heart gave no sign of relenting, beating so fast, so loud that its thumping against her eardrums became too distracting.

"I am not pushing you simply for the fun of it," his voice broke her out of the monotonous cycle that had her enclosed, "Words are often the only way we are able to communicate our thoughts and solve our predicaments because the alternative would be violence, and that is quite unacceptable for the quality of life we strive to preserve here in Umbraria. That is why we speak our minds but always make sure to use words worth standing by beforehand,"

"Yes, of course," once again, Arabella hastened to break the silence that came after his statement, but that time around, she did not stop there, "Fleeing my home the way I did came with great consequences and I can never step foot back in Lustris without suffering them. I only meant that by your own logic, I am a criminal as well and should be treated as one," she brought her gemstones onto the floor before herself.

"What makes you think you are not already being treated like one?"

Through his collected demeanor alone, Arabella failed to grasp whether his question was meant to answer her or raise a storm of new queries.

"What do you think the tributes are meant for?"

The long silence after that suggested that Silas expected a response, so she offered the best one that popped in her mind, "To... Be blood providers?" she asked sheepishly.

"That is a given," he sighed, "But other tasks will be delegated to them, the same as our daytime personnel. The reason you perform as an entertainer is the fact that you’ve received an education whereas most humans from a... More humble backgrounds do not. It would truly have been a waste to keep you as a maid considering your other qualities,"

"But... Are other ladies and Lords as kind as you are?"

In that instant, Arabella witnessed something she did not get to see on a daily basis. One of the rare moments where Silas would display a filterless reaction. Short and fleeting for sure, but very real, nonetheless.

Very momentarily, his features reflected surprise, with his eyebrows slightly lifting upwards while the rest of his face became clear of all and any harshness. But alas, it couldn’t have lasted longer than the fraction of a second it did.

"Well, they have to be so, even if it is against their will," the answer left her a tad perplexed, but Arabella remained quiet and patiently waited for more, and sure enough, Silas spoke again, "The tributes aren’t simply auctioned and forgotten. They must be maintained under a certain number of strict standards beneath which the clan that purchased them would no longer be eligible to acquire more,"

"Does the syndicate stand responsible to uphold these laws?" she asked.

"It does, indeed," he paused before adding, "Exactly, what do you know of the syndicate?"

As though stepping into a completely new, more comfortable zone, Arabella’s hand unclasped from around her pendant, and went to join the other where they both rested flat against the skirt of her gown as she launched into an exposition of facts about the subject of their conversation, "I’ve read that there are six of them and there have been ever since the end of the great war. Almost all from different kinds of nightwalkers and always alternating between highly influential clans as it even counts the queen of fairies among them. Unlike Lustris which is governed by one royal family through multiple generations, Umbraria sought to avoid the issues that might rise with that system," she quieted down towards the end of her explication, "But that is all I really know on the matter," her last sentence practically came out as a mutter.

"My mother has been offered a chair at the table among the syndicate members three times, but always turned it down," the faintest of side smirks sneaked across his features.

Arabella imagined it was the result of pride overtaking him and smiled along, "I suppose it must come with a lot of responsibility,"

"Mother does prefer to spend her evenings sipping on her favorite teas near a crackling fire. Members of the syndicate can rarely afford that luxury," he said, "I could never blame her for that decision,"

"No, I would not blame anyone for that either," she chuckled softly.

Silas halted before one of the large windows riddling the wall that lined their way. Arabella copied his actions and drew nearer to admire the night sky with him. Quite cloudy it was, shielding the stars from view.

However, one spot in particular remained clean of that veil guarding the light from reaching their world. In the distance it stood, at the center of a cottony smooth shroud.

"That is how you know where KasselMoon stands without a map," Silas snatched her attention his way.

"True," her gemstones glistened against the window glass when her gaze traveled back through it, "Truly a feast for the eyes. The moon always shines upon KasselMoon," she whispered.