Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 189: Where he failed

Hand in hand, Silas and Arabella traversed the hallways leading back to her room with the young woman trailing a little behind him.

Neither of them said a word the whole way there, but once in front of her door and as she’d been about to take the knob, the vampire finally broke the oddly comfortable silence between them.

"There is something else I wanted you to see. Well, there are many things for you to see that I am confident will delight you," he marked a short pause, "But here I am speaking of something more or less important I’d like to share,"

Her sniveling had died down considerably, but Arabella still took sharp little breaths from time to time, "Yes, of course," through strained vocal cords, she’d managed to mutter.

"I can’t show it to you here in the manor because it is nowhere under this roof,"

The knot that had been obstructing her throat instantly grew larger at the sheer thought of leaving the manor... And so soon after what had happened.

"I won’t order you to come with me if that’s what worries you," his head shook very slowly.

The eyebrows above her reddened eyes furrowed faintly, lacking the strength to fully knit together.

When the words failed her, Silas spoke again, "You come to me when you feel ready. But in the meantime," he inhaled deeply, "I do believe you should visit the gardens. As much as I hate to admit it, Edgar does know how to make you smile,"

It was when he turned around to leave that Arabella seemed to have finally found the courage to voice her thoughts, "May I ask why?" very sheepish and brittle she sounded, but intelligible.

"Why what?" he tilted his head a little.

Her hand clasped around her pendant, "Why is it that hard for you to admit that Edgar makes me smile?" the longer the question went on, the lower her voice drew until it completely vanished.

Silas’ mouth opened then closed as one of his eyebrows twitched which did not go unnoticed by the young woman who immediately hastened to take her words back, "I shouldn’t have asked, I apologize for-"

"Edgar always seems to succeed with great ease where I fail miserably,"

And with that, Silas walked away, leaving her rooted in place to make sense out of those words on her own.

His answer only beckoned new questions her way. Queries such as what was it that painted such a wide target on Edgar’s back in Silas’ eyes?

Was it because of the way the gardener spoke so fondly of Lady Persephone? Perhaps he too sensed Edgar’s affection towards his mother, and he was simply being protective.

Or could it be because of her just like she’d believed before?

Vampires were possessif over what belonged to them after all, and wasn’t she simply another one of his belongings?

It wasn’t until her own nails dug into her flesh that Arabella finally released her pendant before grasping the knob, but once anew, someone stopped her from turning it.

That time around, a feminine and squeaky voice rushed towards her.

Ada took one last leap before halting in front of Arabella, bending a little forward, hand on her chest in the hopes that action would help her catch her breath.

"I came as soon as I saw that Master Silas had left your side," she uttered through gasps.

"It’s alright, it’s alright, Ada. Please, breathe," Arabella settled a hand on Ada’s shoulder.

In response, Ada’s face rose to meet Arabella’s, a dubious look overtaking her features, "Your voice and your eyes...," the maid whispered, "Were you crying?"

Arabella straightened her stance and averted her gaze, "Oh... Yes, I... When I laid eyes on Katherine, so many emotions rushed me at once and I couldn’t hold back my tears anymore,"

"I understand," Ada nodded, "Should we go inside now?" she ushered towards the door.

"To be frank, I was thinking we could visit the gardens," Arabella suggested in a meek voice.

Ada’s face lit up, but her excitement was short-lived as the bright beam that had spread across her features faded the very next second, "Are you sure? Edgar will be there and Master Silas just-"

"Master Silas suggested I go see Edgar,"

"He did?" the maid’s eyes widened, "What did he look like when he said that? Did he seem upset?"

"He said Edgar always made me smile," eyes bouncing between everything that wasn’t Ada.

"Oh...," very much like Arabella’s, Ada’s irises hopped from one spot to another for a moment, looking pensive.

"I do miss the gardens. I’d like to see the roses more than anything,"

Arabella’s voice seemed to whisk Ada back into reality, "Yes! Yes! Let us go then!"

Enjoying the wide range of aromas nature had to offer from her room and standing among the greenery weren’t even close to competing against each other.

The fresh air, abundant, came to play with her hair and the skirt of her gown, alleviating her shoulders from a lot of the weight that accelerated the effects of gravity on them.

At their sight, Arabella clenched the sides of her gown and launched forward, completely forgetting her rest and running towards the white roses that peeked from the distance.

"Oh! Dear Lord! Please, be careful," Edgar had caught her right before their bodies collided against each other.

Both hands around her waist, he’d raised her feet off the ground before settling her back down after killing her momentum.

The young woman scurried backwards the instant she stood on her own legs again.

"My apologies, it seems I was a little too excited. I didn’t mean to cause trouble," red in the face, she kept her eyes on the ground.

A hearty laugh escaped the man, "No, no. Don’t take it the wrong way, please," he sighed, "But, I could have been carrying a sharp tool and one of us could’ve seriously gotten hurt," he smiled, "You may run around the garden for as long as you’d like, only not while I am working,"

"Yes, of course," she nodded furiously.

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