Luca
The summer lodge seemed to be one of the smaller homes on the property but seemed pleasantly decorated, even if it wasn't something I was used to. The carriage driver agreed to return in a few hours to get Arabella, my new bride, back to the castle so she could prepare for the banquet. I guess I was expected to walk back as the driver didn't address anything to me.
"My ladies have set us up some tea and cakes in the drawing room. I've had the glass doors opened so the breeze can come in and remove any of the stuffy smells that are bound to be in here."
Arabella placed her bouquet of flowers down on the pale wood table and kicked off her slippers. She was relaxed, which made me smile a little. I didn't think she would become relaxed around me. These last few days had become tortuous whenever we were near as the scent of her blood wrecked my mind, keeping me from settling even when she was away from me.
It was only until I left the castle late last night to find a brothel somewhere and after some 'willing' ladies did I manage to relax and loosen the cravings I buried deep within.
Brushing some of her hair away from her face and over one shoulder, that sweet smell of apple blossoms and sunshine made its way towards me, and I breathed in deeply at her scent. She appeared so innocent, but I had a feeling she knew what she was doing.
"Do you like sugar in your tea?" She asked, pouring hot water into a small China mug.
"No thank you."
Wandering around the drawing room, I took in the small sets of photographs that decorated the display cabinet. A surprise as the castle seemed only decorated with paintings, but here there were captions of Arabella and her family.
"My brother and I used to escape here during our childhood. Mother and father would find us here and at the time, this place was a wreck. Wallpaper was hanging off, there was no light and the windows were so dirty you could barely see out of them."
She began talking sweetly of her memories, this place must have been somewhere close to her heart as I felt the tension in the air lighten completely. She joined me at my side and handed me my cup and took hold of a photograph of the four of them. All in beautiful gowns, in the main castle garden.
"Father hated posing for some of these things. They were just as annoying as a painting where you'd have to stand there and wait for ages until you could move again. The man who came here to take these, he's long since died sadly and this neat invention of his, I have no idea what happened to it."
Running her fingers lightly across the faces of her mother and father, she placed the photograph back down as I watched her closely. Whenever I thought I'd had her figured out, she would astonish me once again.
"Tristain suggested we come here after the ceremony. To reflect and possibly make up a plan for this evening. I thought it best to say the banquet is to host a distant cousin of ours who has come to visit. The cousin being you of course."
She took a seat at the table and faced outwards towards the small garden that was surrounded by a thick wall of hedges, for privacy no doubt.
"Ah, we can't let everyone know you married a demon now can we." I joked, taking the seat next to her.
"Luca, it's as I said before. I have to protect my people and the less they know, the less the neighbouring Kingdoms and Empires know." She paused, sipping her drink as her brows knitted together, "Although, I doubt our secret will stay hidden for long as I'm sure in due course, it will come out and we will have to face the consequences."
"The consequences of saving your life? Surely that's what matters the most to your people, that their Empress is still alive and well."
She frowned some more as her mind appeared to put sentences together, or even began to imagine what could happen if things were to come to light.
"For a time, the royal lines within this world have made deals with the devil himself. I may not be him, but many people believe I am a creature born from him. I have helped many of those royal lines begin and end, I will gladly help you do that if the need should arise."
I wasn't ready to share with her the whole truth of her family line, and how her great grandfather came to take the throne. I wasn't sure if I ever wanted to tell her a secret like that would possibly destroy any ounce of trust or even friendship we had begun to grow.
"I hope it doesn't come to that, but I am grateful for your offer of help."
"It's what husbands and consorts to the crown do, is it not?"
She laughed faintly and gave me a side eye glance.
"Consort now are we? When did I agree to that?"
"When you allowed me to kiss you at the end of our vows."
She had allowed me to kiss her. A kiss that was so simple and yet, now embedded in my skin. The hum of her lips still lingered on mine as I tried not to rub them together, to remind myself of that small feeling. She didn't respond verbally but the blush across her cheeks and face beat of her heart told me something differently.
Before I could stop myself, I was placing my cup on the floor and leaning in slowly, my hand placed tenderly down on her knee, and she swallowed whatever lump that formed in her throat. The cravings for her I kept at bay as I wasn't about to scare her off. I would wait until she asked. Begged — for me to take her. And take her I would.
"Cat got our tongue there, wife?"
Leaning a little closer towards me then, she placed her hand on my chest and looked up at me with hooded eyes.
"Don't you wish I'd allow you to do more."
She smiled seductively and before I could grasp her and pull her in, she slipped from my hands and headed towards the glass doorway, leaning against the frame.
Biting my knuckle in frustration, I knew already she would give me a run for my money and my attention. Why I was so hellbent on getting it, I didn't know. She was under my skin and no woman had done that in a long time. Not since my first love, my first wife. Arabella was truly something else.
"Do you enjoy teasing me?" I asked, my mouth running before my brain could stop it.
"Isn't that what wives are supposed to do to their husbands?" She joked.
I stayed in the seat, taking her image in as her white wedding dress hugged her frame beautifully. It wasn't puffed out like some of the wedding dresses I'd seen before. It fitted her perfectly, showing every curve and against her skin, almost angelic. It was plainer than I expected but still seemed perfect for her.
"If you wish to tease me, then I will accept my fate, — But be prepared wife, you may only tease me to a point until I return the favour."
Finishing off my drink, I walked past her into the garden and took in the small, decorated space. Most of the flowers were summer blooms, wildflowers and sunflowers. Simple and yet colourful.
"Do you still come here to escape?" I asked, turning to face her.
"Not as much as I'd like. Tristian is here mostly, he finds it reminds him of our parents. When they died, he moved in here for a while."
"I'm sure their death was hard on both of you."
She sighed and sat down in the doorway, half of her body inside and her legs out. I never expected someone from her station to sit on the floor and yet there she was.
"When father died, it was to be expected as he was beginning to lose his mind and sight. Mother took over as regent for a while and then when he was gone, the council voted her in until I came of age — Her death shocked us all. It was unpredicted and I was swiftly put onto the throne, I had no time to grieve really. I just had to get on with it."
She looked up at me with her blue eyes as they glittered in the sunlight, the shade almost like the sky itself and I felt great sadness for her. Too young to be given such responsibility but someone who still seemed strong enough to do it.
"I've lost many, many people in my time and the goodbyes are always the hardest. But trust me, it does get easier with each passing day, and eventually you learn to live with that small ache within your chest. A reminder that you loved them, and they are never forgotten."
For a moment, I felt the pain of the last person I ever loved as she left me. The last person I ever thought I'd feel something for, and they were someone who I never expected to befriend or come to care for. Her image flashed in my memory as if she were standing in front of me, smiling at me with the small bundle of joy wrapped in her arms. My son.
"It must be hard for you, to watch those you care for grow old around you."
"It's harder when they aren't old, and the world takes them from you before they get to really live."
Holding out her hand to me, I took it and at first, I thought it was simply for support to get her off the floor but when she squeezed tightly for a second or two and then lifted herself up, I could have sworn she dropped one of her walls for a minute.
"Come. Enough of this dark talk. Let us enjoy these moments of peace and quiet before the fun begins this evening."
She changed the subject so quickly, her face lighting up as she smiled at me again. The same smile she gave me in the church, and I knew then, this was all pretend. None of this was real, she was just doing all of this to keep the peace and for me to not turn her into a vampire as punishment.
I wasn't sure yet if it was going to be a punishment or a blessing. Only time would tell.