“Life is full of surprises, don’t you agree? There, it’s done,” the butler looked at his handiwork satisfied.
“It’s very pretty. Thank you, Stanley,” she turned around her seat to thank him heartily.
“You are welcome, milady. Would you like me to fetch anything else? You have a good twenty-five minutes before you depart,” the butler inquired.
“No, I think that’s all. By the way, Stanley,” Heidi paused when she got up from the seat.
“Yes, Ms?” the butler waited for her but she shook her head.
“No, nothing. Thank you for assisting me,” she thanked him again, both of them exchanging bows before the butler left the room. She wanted to ask where the lord was but not wanting it to be too suspicious she had decided not to ask, though she suspected if the butler already knew what was going on.
Thinking if it was alright, Heidi decided to step outside her room in search of Nicholas. Not finding him in the room, she walked through the corridors, one side of it being walls and the other side which had large windows of transparent glass from where the moonlight passed through. Her steps were soft against the carpeted floor as she walked, the corridors deserted until she stood not far from where the lord stood. Somewhere Heidi knew she would find him here, standing in front of his mother’s portrait, staring at it with no expression passing through his features. He wore a gray suit, a white in shirt and a blue scarf which thinned around his collar and puffed down to be smothered by the vest. He hadn’t worn his coat yet and Heidi wondered for how long he had been standing there. He didn’t seem to notice her presence as he looked lost in his thoughts while his eyes were stuck on the portrait. She turned to walk away by giving him the space she thought he needed.
Both Nicholas and Warren’s carriage arrived at the mansion like everyone else’ where the Grand Ball was taking place. The mansion was situated on a hilltop with no other houses or buildings for over fifteen miles. With the fog like atmosphere nothing of the far distance could be seen. The trees around the mansion were leafless and dry. Even though it wasn’t winter and with Bonelake always raining, here it was snowing. Snowflakes fell from the sky with the moon phasing in and out by the clouds that drifted in the sky. Due to the snow, the mansion looked older and darker, light that lit dimly from inside. The water next to the trees had frozen to ice.
When Heidi entered the big mansion, the first thing she noticed how dull and sad the music was which was playing in the hall. The second thing she noticed was how spectacular the hall looked. The room was brightly lit, giving it a luminous golden touch to it. After few minutes passed, Heidi had noticed that the slave owner and also the guard had been invited to the Grand ball. Lettice had come sooner than they did, and they were on the dance floor, both her friend and her husband, Rhys dancing to the music with a smile each on their face.
Warren and Heidi were talking to a couple when a man came from the crowd to greet Warren, “Good evening, Warren. I haven’t seen you since the last ball.”
“Good evening, Albert. That can’t be helped when you turn out to be a rare man who visits us,” Warren spoke with a smile, “I see you’ve brought you have brought a lady with you. Might be this your rumoured. Milady,” the vampire picked her hand giving it a kiss at the back of her hand.
“This is Heidi Curtis,” Warren introduced her.
“Albert Heinest,” he introduced himself, “What a beautiful fiance. If I didn’t know you were taken, I would have asked you for myself,” everyone laughed at it.
“Evening, Mr. Heinest,” Heidi greeted him politely.
“Albert here, looks after the affairs of a town residing in Valeria for Lord Delcrov. He is an excellent man when it comes to the handling affairs between humans and the vampires,” Warren explained to her.
“You’re working in the wrong empire then,” she said making the man tilt his head in question.
“Why might that be?” the vampire asked intrigued.
“With what I have heard, Valeria doesn’t have any resistance and there are fewer conflicts which might be thanks to you but I think there are other empires that are in need of your help.”
“It is true what you say, Lady Heidi but fortunately or unfortunately, I am bound to continue my job for the next three decades until my term completes with the lord,” Albert smiled raising his glass of wine in his hand and saying, “If you could excuse me now,” he bowed to leave the group.
“Looks like your fiance is smart in regards to the current affairs of the Empire,” the man complimented Warren but his wife thought otherwise, as she spoke, “You should make careful what your future wife speaks, it might not just get her but also you into trouble.”
Before Heidi had the opportunity to retaliate, Warren had excused themselves, taking her to an empty corridor so that they could speak privately.
“I know you’re angry but you need to watch what you speak in front of others,” he said.
“And what she said was alright?” she raised both her eyebrows.
“Yes,” his answer was swift and without any hesitation.
“You’re telling me that it is alright for her to speak but not me?” Heidi confirmed. Warren sighed and spoke,
“She is an old vampiress. They have different ideals and I understand that it doesn’t sit well with you but you only need to bear with it for tonight. But if you want you can be subtle about your opinions. They are of old origins and even Nicholas strays out of their path because they are meddlesome people. Please,” he requested her and they went back inside.