Her shaking hands gripped the hand rail nervously still staring down before she retracted her gaze and slowly took steps down the stairs. Her slow steps contradicted her heartbeat which was fast paced as she walked like a model on a runway show.
As she reached the last step, she took a deep breath and then shyly raised her head only to be met with Skye's amused gaze on her. His expression was relaxed and somewhat mocking but she angrily tore her eyes from him and resulted in looking at the other man beside him instead.
Finding him unfamiliar, she was about to shift her eyes from him when he raised his head possibly noticing her stare. His cool grey eyes which she noticed was one thing they all had in common deeply stared at her as if boring into her skin.
His eyes were cold and unreadable. She found it almost hard to detect any feelings in them. After sizing her up for what seemed liked hours when in reality it was just a minute, he quietly looked away, not bothering to say a word.
Raine pursed her lips. She found his behavior odd but at the same time she couldn't say anything. She was at loss for what to say or do.
Just as she was about to take a step forward an old man walked towards her with a warm ambiance. He gave her a curt glance and nodded at her respectfully. Raine returned his greeting with a smile and watched him walk passed her towards Skye and the other man.
He whispered something to them and they both nodded at him and stood up.
Raine then watch the old man walk past her again in a hurried pace.
She turned her head and watched Skye leisurely approaching her with a soothing smile. He gave her his usual cheeky grin before gently patting her shoulder.
"Come cute sister, dinner is ready. And oh..." he turned and peeked at the man who was approaching them from behind. Raine followed his line of sight and once again looked at the man whom Skye was chatting with just a while ago.
"... that's my brother, Zarin. I hope you don't mind his attitude cute sister. He's not usually this unfriendly but something came up recently and he's been on edge since then," he cleared a fact and watched at Raine nodded in understanding.
Raine didn't need Skye's further explanation to understand that the situation he was talking about was related to her. Afterall, who will be excited when a huge problem like her just landed and got everything in disarray?... except Skye ofcourse who she found to be naturally bubbly and playful, but she just hoped that Jedrek could find a solution to everything as he promised so she could return to her once peaceful world.
Skye smiled at her softly then quickly led her to the dining hall. The dining hall was huge, with a table that could contain fifty persons. There was a huge chandelier hanging on the middle which illuminated the whole area softly.
As soon as they entered, she found some maids trying to fill the table with various dishes which was enough to be considered as a royal feast and on sighting the sumptuous amount of food, Raine's stomach grumbled and she bit her lip in embarrassment. Luckily, non of the maids noticed it, only Skye let out a short but mocking laugh.
Raine tilted her head to the side and spotted Jedrek sitting by the window, nonchalantly sipping a wine with his cold gaze staring out of the window.
When he noticed their presence, he turned to look at Skye and Zarin who was already seated but Jedrek's gaze never fell on Raine and she let out a sigh of relief when she noticed that he didn't spare her one of those his cold glances.
Skye guided her to the table and pulled out a chair for her and she thanked him with a small smile. Just the few minutes she had encountered him, she found him to be amusing and free although he was a bit cunning and mischievous with a troublesome side too she still found him extremely gentle and she felt at ease whenever she was around him.