Karrina looked at the vampiress and fixed her facial expression quickly, "Rowan tree berries?" She asked, acting inquisitive.
Rollana's brown eyes were focused on the fellow blonde before her, looking at nowhere else but her she answered, "Yes!, the wine that we are both taking was made from 'rowan tree berries', that give it that sour taste, but you seem to have developed a palette for it." She added
Karrina looked at her almost empty crystal glass and smiled lightly, "So it seems," she commented
"I apologise beforehand if my question might make you uncomfortable, Karrina, but that is such a beautiful dress, may I know your designer?" Rollana asked again politely
Karrina downed the rest of her wine and answered, "Oh, I am sorry, Lady Cartvell, but it was a present from an aunt of mine, I have no knowledge of who designed it." She offered an apologetic smile to the vampiress
"Oh, the music has picked up! I better go find my date for a dance. Have a great rest of the ball, Lady Cartvell." She bowed and left to go find Jeremiah
Rollana looked at the departing figure of Karrina and slightly sighed. A lot of questions swirled in her brain, but there was nothing she could do to get the answers she wanted.
"You did well choosing your partner tonight, son." Old Marques Dalton patted his son's back.
Jeremiah lightly smiled while looking at his father, "Yes, she is quite outstanding. " He complimented her without putting much thought into it
All he could focus on was the faint fiery energy he was very familiar with. What alarmed him was the fact that he could feel it, yet he wasn't meant to because of the charm Florah should have tied around her thigh.
'Why is she not wearing it? Was she that Clumsy to lose something that is important?' He thought disapprovingly
In the past few days, she had made it harder for him to protect her in any sense.
The energy was fading in and out, he knew that was happening because of her emotions given their past encounters, all he could hope for was that no powerful being was paying any kind of attention to her.
Jeremy didn't know that his thread of hope was almost non-existent given that his friend had already captured the attention of the most powerful being in the room.
No matter how much she had tried, Florah seemed to be unable to control her emotions, and yet she was supposed to act out a play in front of all those aristocrats and powerful people.
Mentioning that in her head didn't seem to help in anything but rather add to the nerves she had.
A lot of things made her nerves bundle up. In her head, her only solution was to run away, but where would she go?
She had already tried that but the king easily found her, she also didn't know her way in the castle except for only a few places here and there.
On top of it, she had already angered her best friend by abruptly coming to the castle without consulting him.
Now he was here, although that brought so little comfort to her, but that didn't erase the fact that she shouldn't be here in the first place.
Her chest burnt, and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead as she clutched her chest to ease the pain.
"Please, not now," she whispered a silent prayer
Jeremiah could feel her energy more and more by the passing seconds, and he had to fight everything on him not to run in her direction, "Please fight back, Lorah," he thought internally
Gavriel's brows slightly furrowed as he too could feel that something was out of place, but that also meant that he might actually get some answers and a devious smirk curled his lips.
Slightly touching her thigh, Florah's eyes opened abruptly, "Where is my charm?" She asked herself
She continued to feel both her thighs praying that it was still there but had only slipped from where it was supposed to be tied.
Her search went on for five minutes, and a pitiful smile found its way to her lips, "I might be the stupidest person I know." She said to her reflection in the mirror where she sat
Looking at the salty water that threatened to fall on her cheek, she quickly wiped it away and straightened her posture.
This wasn't the time to feel sorry for herself, yet it was her fault for bringing herself into such a situation.
Pushing her body forward, she fixed her posture and started remembering her lines, slowing breathing in and out.
Her body stated to feel lighter, and she stood up to go join the others near the dining room door.
The play would start after the ball attendants had dined, which wasn't far from now.
"Aunt Martinna! A delight that you chose to attend this year, this host is humbled," Gavriel gave offered a pretentious bow and a condescending smirk.
The old but youthful vampiress squeezed her son's shoulder and smiled back, "Of course, why wouldn't I honour his Majesty's personal invitation?" She replied and bowed to the king, which beckoned her son to do so as well.
"Hahaha, yes, royalty," he said to rub it in the vampires' faces.
"Owen, it has been a while, hasn't it?" He turned to talk to the tall brooding man before him.
"Yes, it has been, your Majesty." The man replied
The duo bore a striking resemblance to each other, dark brown hair, a high pointed nose, thin lips, and a tall stature.
The Bladen family never bothered to hide their red eyes, believing that it was unnecessary for any pureblood vampire.
Their presence at this ball came as a surprise to almost everyone because of what had happened last time, but who knew that the king would be willing to invite them the very next year.
"How benevolent," they naively thought.
"I know that the North by this time of the year must be experiencing such harsh weather, I hope brother Tristan is fairing well." The king said with concern and mockery laced in voice