Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 88: From our pasts

Chapter 88: From our pasts

"I did not expect the roses to grow so fast,"

An awkward little chuckle accompanied Arabella’s attempt at diffusing the... Awkwardness.

As neither one of them seemed keen on discussing the reason they left the garden in a hurry, a stifling wave of silence had claimed the air around them.

The young woman was only thankful Ada was human and thus unable to read her emotions like a vampire could, well aware her heart would divulge much more than she’d be comfortable with.

"It is only natural that they do around this period of the year more than any other," Ada started, sounding a tad more vivid all of the sudden, "See, the spring Equinox is almost upon us," she smiled.

"Oh dear! That is right! Ostara1 starts in three days from now," the little look of surprise on her faded quickly for her furrowed eyebrows to take over, "Gardening has never been my field, but does that mean that flowers in general grow faster when Ostara comes?"

The facial features of the maid did not shift, maintaining the same warm beam, "Indeed, it does," she started, "Many folks, especially us humans don’t notice it because the weather close to the center of the kingdom is quite stationary which means greenery lasts almost all year long," Ada made the shortest of pauses before adding, "It is down to the ones that have a stronger connection to nature to tell, like say... Fairies for example. Then there are those who go seeking that knowledge in particular,"

There was that distant look in her eyes as she spoke of the matter. Arabella thought it belonged on the face of someone counting memories from a collection they’d long since buried.

"Then I suppose you are the latter,"

Arabella regretted uttering those words almost immediately as Ada’s demeanor instantly fell, the second they’d reached her ears.

"I am sorry. I did not mean to offend," in a very soft tone, she tried to smooth the rough bumps of her own doing.

"No, no, no! It’s nothing at all! I was... You did nothing wrong, Miss," shaking her head and forcing a smile back on, Ada refused to meet Arabella’s gaze.

Luckily, they’d reached the door to the music room and with that, newer thoughts, ideas and melodies saved the moment.

Without wasting another breath, Arabella rushed towards the stool facing the piano then plopped down before lifting the lid off the keyboard.

"What piece will you play?" Ada walked slower until she stopped at a small distance behind Arabella’s figure.

"I am not sure," her fingers were brushing the glistening white keys, "Whenever I played for myself, I’ve always turned to my bright star," her hands stopped moving, "It just brings me so much comfort," her voice quieted down around that last sentence. A mutter was all it became by the end.

"It means a lot to you, doesn’t it?" almost mimicking Arabella’s hushed tone, Ada only looked over the young woman’s shoulder at the piano.

"Very much, yes," as though smothering a cry, she did her best to release a chuckle with those words, "It was... The very first piece I’d ever heard and seen my mother play for me," very hesitant she seemed, struggling to articulate through the aching throat that threatened to swallow every letter back in, but despite that, she didn’t stop, "She promised me that if I practiced every day from then on, I’d learn to play the piece all on my own like a big girl," there was a short pause during which she gulped on nothing, "She kept her promise and I kept mine. I practiced and learned it as fast as I could," a crack at the end voiced more than her tongue would ever agree to.

Finally, Arabella allowed her vocal cords the rest they begged for, sensing a warm and gentle hand squeezing her shoulder.

With her index, she softly dabbed right underneath her eye to prevent an eager tear from rolling free.

"I didn’t mean to sour the mood. I am sorry," she shook her head, waving her hand in front of her face dismissively.

"It was my father who sought that kind of knowledge, not me,"

Ada’s declaration left her stunned and for a good instant, nothing else was said. freёnovelkiss.com

"He was a gardener, much like Edgar is," the maid whispered, "I don’t know if he still lives. I don’t even know where he lives,"

"Oh... Ada, I am-"

Eyes wide and upper body turned to face her, Arabella began but Ada never let her finish, "Please don’t apologize," the feeblest of smiles hung on her lips, "It is not particularly a topic I am fond of raising, though I merely needed you to understand that I get you, more than you might think,"

Arabella’s lips popped open for a bit but then clasped against each other again and drew a smile that traveled all the way up to her eyes, "Thank you," she muttered.

Both took a moment to breathe in and out, cleansing their lungs from the hefty air that clung to their cells tugging their spirits down with its weight.

"Well, then," it was Ada that spoke first, bright and upbeat once more, "What other piece can you perform?"

Shedding a skin that weighed as heavy as stone, Arabella sort of wiggled her shoulders before rotating back towards the piano, "There is another special piece that’s very dear to my heart," she said, "My mother played it for the first time on my ninth birthday. I’d received many gifts to celebrate that day, but none were as precious as that sweet melody,"

However, as soon as her finger grazed the first notes a third soul made its presence known, causing the young woman to completely freeze in place.

Silas had cleared his throat then cut the distance between them short, advancing ever so slowly once they’d noticed him.

Arabella’s shoulders sank again as his diamonds only seemed to uniquely focus on her.

Like I noted it before, in this world there are 8 months in a year. I named each month after one of the major Pegan holidays and Ostara is one of them ^^