Chapter 376: Some battles
From time to time, a map would manage to distract Silas from Arabella’s... Spleen.
The pile of crumpled papers that had built up by her feet only kept on growing after each and every attempt at a response that was deemed a failure by nothing other than... Her own standards.
Some high standards those were, it seemed.
The young woman had the tip of her tongue out and eyebrows knitted as her hand traveled between the ink jar and the paper beneath the quill she handled.
Around them, nothing but the sound of scribbling on dry parchemin filled the air.
Silence and the crazed beating of her heart were the alternative, and the vampire had had enough of it.
"How is that letter coming along?"
Every muscle in her body froze as her eyes, wide as saucers snapped his way all of the sudden as if just remembering the second presence with her in the room.
"It is... Well," her irises darted between the few jotted letters on the page and her husband.
"May I see?" he neared her with an open hand.
"No!" at once, she leaped off her chair and bent over the unfinished letter to cover it.
"Alright! Alright! I won’t look at it!" Silas put his hands up to show that he was coming in peace.
His features fought the smile of amusement that tried to overtake his face upon noting the glare his wife returned.
By all accounts, she looked like an angry house cat trying to shield its food.
"Do you mind telling me what this really is about?" he dared ask.
To his surprise, her expression mellowed and all of those jagged edges she set around herself melted away as her bottom plopped back on the chair, "It’s just that... Everyone is doing their part and If I can’t do this little thing then what would I be good for?" her traits crumpled.
"First of all, there is going to be a lot for you to do tomorrow. Secondly, this little thing you speak of," he pointed at the letter, "You conveniently omit the fact that this task would be as easy as a walk through heaven to literally anyone else but you and not due to lack of skill on your part. This situation comes with strings attached to you specifically so, it is fair for you to run late on delivering what you expect of yourself,"
His glare was sharp, his voice cold. For a moment Arabella was thrown back to their very first encounters with each other.
That sheer fear she felt when standing in front of him at all.
And it appeared, those thoughts were reflected through her eyes. Silas took a step back and straightened his stance, "Forgive me, I didn’t mean to be harsh,"
"No," she murmured, shaking her head, "I was being silly. You are completely right. I’ve wasted hours of my precious time running in circles that have no exit gap and worst of all on someone that doesn’t deserve the fraction of the effort I put into it," her eyes welled up with tears.
Silas, however, wasted not a second to take his wife into his arms and muffle her cries against his chest, "Please, don’t burden your mind with such thoughts. I’d like to occupy it all by myself,"
That line had the merit of stealing a chuckle out of her, "You can have all of my heart as well. It’ll spare me a lot of pain,"
"Then my job as a husband would be done correctly, wouldn’t it?"
"For sure,"
For a moment, they simply beamed at each other, forgetting about every little or big thing that waited to claim their attention and be taken care of.
For a moment, there were only their reflections in each other’s eyes...
Alas, that lapse of time could not last. As though mirroring one another, both of their expressions dimmed almost simultaneously.
Although, it was Silas that shattered the silence first, "Tomorrow is going to weigh quite heavily on you. That is something I know before witnessing it,"
"I believe that... At first, I should just stand by your side and watch how things unfold," she bit down on her bottom lip, "Actually, I think it’ll be hard enough to even stand on my feet,"
"I shall carry your weight so, don’t you worry about that," a grin appeared on him, faint but definitely present, "What you should worry about however, are the group of chirping voices heading our way," his eyes flickered towards the door.
Her eyes opened wide and mouth went agape, "Oh dear! I had totally forgotten about them!" her hand flew to clasp around her mouth, "We were supposed to do rehearsals with nighttime entertainers as well and I should have been there around... An hour ago!"
"Well, you better find an excuse quickly. They are coming for you, and they want your head," he chuckled.
"What? What happened to you ’will carry my weight’ all of the sudden?" indignant, her hands rested upon her hips as her eyebrows knitted to their highest capacities.
"I am afraid there are battles I can’t meddle in," he gave her a pat on the head, a kiss on the cheek and turned to flee, "Good luck to you, my love,"
"What? That isn’t fair at all!"
Only a few seconds after his departure from the map the room, two, angry looking young women swooped in and took her by one arm each.
"You are late!" Ada huffed, while dragging Arabella out the door.
"And by an hour at that! How unbefitting of a Lady," Katherine clicked her tongue against her palate.
"I was busy, and I didn’t notice the time as it slipped by," she tried, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.
"Everyone is waiting for you, and I must warn you that Lady Persephone isn’t happy at all,"
Ada continued on and on about how everything was put on hold just so that she could arrive, but upon crossing the threshold of the music room, the only face that Arabella managed to focus on was Allegra’s.