CHAPTER 410: QUIET AND PEACE

"I followed the leads of chirping and giggling but your voice wasn’t among them,"

Upon hearing Silas’ voice, Arabella lifted her head from the paper she had been scribbling on, "Did you go by the ballroom?" she smiled.

"I suppose that is what I get for trying to give you your privacy," he, on the other hand, did not look all that happy.

"Oh, you poor thing!" she leaned backwards, clearly feigning sympathy, "What did those mean girls do to you?"

"I was asked about... Color matching flowers. Me! Can you believe that?" he did not smile but his tone was nowhere near cold.

He’d stepped closer to her so slowly that by the time their bodies came into contact, the idea to ask about the content of the paper in front of her only grazed him then.

"What are you writing about?" his lips placed a tender kiss right on top of her head.

The sudden tension that overtook her arm was visible, but thankfully, it was one that did not last as Arabella seemed to mellow back in her chair.

"I... It’s a letter of invitation," she paused while nodding, "It’s for Remus,"

Silas’s eyebrows rose up his forehead for a moment before allowing his usual, impartial expression back on his face.

When he said nothing, the young woman thought it’d be better to elaborate instead of letting his own inner thoughts fester and take the lead.

"I did promise to take care of this once we were done with everything we had to do today," her eyes flickered from one spot to another, earning her the most sheepish yet mischievous of looks.

"That you did," he nodded while patting the hair over her head.

Silence claimed his office space, throwing things back to the way it used to be before his arrival. Only the sound of a quill scratching the thick sheet of parchment beneath it prevailed.

But it seemed to eat at her sanity more than his. Indeed, after a heavy sigh, Arabella put the pen down and made eye contact, not a hint of the playful look she had on seconds prior, "I want you to know that just because I disagreed on the order of priorities we should have, that in no way means I thought you were wrong or overreacting. The idea that something might be wrong with my health does hold up space in my mind. I just try to keep it from consuming me,"

Throughout her solemn speech, Arabella only blinked when necessary.

"Whatever it is," Silas stepped behind her, moved her hair out of the way in order to massage the back of her neck and shoulders with utmost care, "I will fix it. I give you my word,"

"I know you will," she whispered, shutting her eyes so that the rest of her senses could better feel and enjoy his touch, "Do you think mother will be alright?"

"Worry not about Persephone," a chuckle escaped him, "Worry about those that might cross her,"

"No," her hand went up to rest upon his, "I meant... This is the first invitation we receive as a family after I joined and I am already shirking my duties as her daughter in law. How would that look on her?"

"Out of all the excuses we could have given, you being bedridden is the one that guarantees no one will get on your back for not answering present,"

While they were at it, a stray thought slid across her mind like a flash and syphoned all of her attention.

"Speaking of illnesses," she looked up at him without turning around, "I remember you telling me that one of the tributes perished on the way due to an illness. What sort of sickness was it? Should we worry about a real outbreak among the tributes since they were sharing a carriage?"

"It wasn’t a contagious ailment," he said simply, but then quickly added, "Stay like that for a moment longer," his hand went around and then under her chin to keep it up, "Have I ever told you how much I love it when you give me this upside-down look?"

"Unless it slipped my mind, no. I don’t believe you have," her voice had turned brittle, but not in a near breaking point sort of way. It was more on the sultry and relaxed side.

"Well, here I am telling you about it then,"

They gazed into each other’s eyes even when Silas’ ears caught the pair of feet nearing the door.

It was Arabella who’d glanced at it first when the knock came.

"Come in," he said while still looking at his wife, "Did I not tell you to stop working by sundown?" his diamonds turned a tad colder for Carlton once he appeared.

"My apologies, my Lord," the butler cleared his throat, "I assure you; I am not working. I simply happened to be passing by when a messenger arrived and thought I might as well bring it myself,"

Silas took the letter off Carlton while still glaring at him, "Thank you. You may take your leave,"

"You are quite harsh on him," it was the first thing Arabella had uttered when the butler shut the door behind himself, "I had noticed that you said something along the same lines to him on a different day as well,"

"Carlton is a special case," he said as his finger broke the wax seal of the letter.

"How so?" she stood up and walked over to him.

"If I can list one critique about the man it’s that he can work himself to the bone. Carlton will forget to eat or sleep until he literally collapses,"

"Dear Lord...," she murmured, her mouth agape.

"Indeed," he started before shifting topics, "What a coincidence! Morgana says she will be coming by tomorrow to reveal the results of her tests on Katherine’s hair,"

"I don’t know whether I should be nervous or excited," she grimaced.

"That falls in line with our plan to invite Remus tomorrow. We can ask Morgana to assess you as well. Not to mention, she’ll help with our... Little idea for Erik,"