Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 194: Earned

The air was gentle on Arabella’s lungs, better coaxing the words out of her. Staring into the distance, everything surrounding her seemed so far out of reach and consequently, away from bringing harm to her.

Silas hadn’t laid a hand on her since helping her onto the horse, but his arms going on both sides did strengthen the cozy sense of security that kept her warm.

The vampire too looked ahead, only gazing atop her head from time to time. He focused his hearing on every word out of her mouth.

There weren’t many of them as her sentences were concise as though she counted every syllable.

"Edgar is kind too, but what puts me at ease the most with him is that he is quite simple to cast," she marked a short pause before quickly adding, "Or so I hope,"

"Am I not?" the question escaped him before Silas had had the time to ponder its weight.

In response, Arabella’s body tensed up against his. Although, the tightness in her muscles seemed to fizzle out shortly after that.

The young woman took a breath that was deeper than the previous ones, "I want to tell no lies," her head shook slowly, "It is particularly hard to try understanding you because...," she trailed off, never finishing what was started.

"You are afraid to," he half asked, remembering his mother’s words about him being her employer and therefore frightening to converse with freely.

"It was always hard to figure out my father as well," Arabella sighed, "At least, it was the case for the longest time. Back when I refused to accept the reality that he merely did not care or consider anyone’s feelings but his own,"

"I must admit, it does offend me to be compared with your father,"

Under normal circumstances, Arabella would’ve leapt to blurt frantic apologies at the sheer thought of offending anyone, let alone her employer... Her protector, but in that moment, none of that happened.

The young woman’s heart did not even skip a beat and instead, calm as a pond, she leaned further back against him and gradually craned her head up to glimpse his face, "Ada once advised me to learn how to read your demeanor," eyes still on him, Arabella started to shake her head, "But looking at you, no matter how hard I try or how much I want to, there is still this invisible barrier repeating that it’ll always be an impossible task to achieve," voice barely above a mutter, her eyes bore into his with an intensity never before present in those gemstones.

Face upside down, eye contact with her triggered feelings in him, Silas hadn’t experienced to that day.

Arabella did not shy away from his diamonds for seconds that seemed like long minutes. None of the bashfulness that usually accompanied their exchanges was visible on her. Features firmly locked in place yet relaxed, eyelashes softly and slowly fluttering and lips a tad parted to allow delicate exhales through, all of those banding together to earn the young woman the most magnetizing expression ever seen on her.

The vulnerability it suggested was palpable, rocking his core to such a degree that the vampire had to readjust his posture before clearing his throat.

That reaction seemed to finally whisk her out of the daze that had her in its clutches, "Forgive my audacity. I ought to measure my words better," she said after the little gasp that had escaped her.

Arabella corrected her stance as well, breaking the connection between her back and his chest.

"Don’t be afraid to try and read my demeanor," as tender as the air around them his voice was. Void of the harshness it usually donned.

"I will try," without looking at him, she nodded.

"Going back to our original topic, is that how you consider somebody a friend then, when they are kind to you but don’t work for you," he half asked.

"No," Arabella muttered, "Ada has gone above and beyond for nothing in return. I know she is payed to spend her daytime shifts with me, but I doubt any other maid would have cared as much as she does for me,"

"You’ve earned it," the curious little look she gave him prompted him to elaborate, "You’ve earned her care,"

"I... Suppose that is the word I sought. Friendship is earned, yes," the ghost of a sweet smile overtook her traits.

The image of Ada crying in the legacy room struck him out of the blue. He’d spoken those words without grasping their true meaning.

What it truly meant to earn someone’s care... Someone’s tears when it mattered the most.

It was her brittle voice that called him back to reality, "I believed the days where someone genuinely cared for me were behind me, after my brother and mother left me," she paused but seemed to have much more to say, thus Silas kept his peace and waited for the rest to come, "When I was with the wolf folk, I sat in the deepest pocket of that cave wondering if anyone would... If you would come for me,"

Although still gripping the reins, his arms neared her figure, further wrapping her in his warmth, "I will always come for you,"

At those words, uttered in such an affirmative and matter of factly tone, tears fled her eyes, but no sniveling accompanied them.

It was as though those limpid drops were a mere necessity to expel the residual weight that had clung onto her heart, downwards incessantly tugging at its strings.

Upon leaning against him again, Arabella spoke once more, "I believe I am finally ready,"

"Ready for what?" he asked.

"To go with you wherever it is you said you wished to take me," voice as serene as every other fiber in her being.

"Are you sure?"

In reply, she simply nodded, rubbing her head against his chest, "But there is one place I’d like to visit before that,"

"And what place would that be?" he gave a tame tug at the reins, stopping the horse in place.

"I’d like to visit the valley again. I’d like to see how Floriel and Liriel are doing after the incident,"

Th𝓮 most uptodate nov𝑒ls are publish𝒆d on freew(e)bnove(l).𝓬𝓸𝓶