CHAPTER 432: GIFTS

Thicker it became and higher it rose that storm of dust did. The thudding of hooves climbed in volume, growing so loud that they earned the impression of battering her chest.

As the distance between the Eleazar Manor and the crown prince’s escort decreased, Arabella’s eyes were better able to distinguish the details on that train of travelers.

Like Morgana had said, the first two cavaliers declared their allegiance to the Lustrisian royals without words. Those flags attached to the polls they carried, fluttering against the winds sufficed.

The closer his carriage got, the tighter Arabella’s hand clenched around Silas’ arm.

"You are safe," he whispered, "Everyone here is,"

"I know," she murmured back after further straightening her spine.

It took them a few minutes to cut the distance towards a stopping point. Minutes that seemed to stretch into an eternity.

When the first knight dismounted his horse, the collision of his boots against the ground yielded a boom that rumbled through Arabella’s chest.

More wincing followed as the metal of their armor pieces shifted and grinded against one another upon movement.

Once all of the knights and guards were off the backs of their most loyal companions, they split into different straight lines based on their ranks in the royal army.

Their formation created a passage that led right from the royal carriage door to Arabella and Silas who stood in front of everyone else like the gracious hosts they needed to be for the peace of their two countries.

The finishing layer of that vehicle was auburn very much like the hair of its owner.

The wood glistened under the sunlight that graced everything and everyone equally, but Arabella only had eyes for that grand crest embedded at the very centre of the car door. Identical to the one every armor plate and shield of the soldiers.

The black sun army’s crest.

The blaring of trumpets startled Arabella back into their reality by announcing the reveal of the crown prince.

After the wincing of metal came the slow, agonizing crying of wood as the carriage door opened outwardly.

He sure took his sweet time to draw things out but eventually peaked his beak out of that utter darkness that shrouded the interior of the vehicle.

Finally, the figure of a familiar man greeted her eyes; The royal cape attached to his shoulder plates never fit him, prince Cedric the third or as Arabella wished to call him: Prince Cedric the not so great.

He stood a few inches shorter than Silas. The glint that lived in his chestnut eyes only grew and spread, further magnifying the look of malice he’d cast down upon the presence as a whole but mostly on her. On Arabella.

Descending upon the gold-gilded stool that his vale had rushed to put beneath the door, every step he took towards them made her breaths hitch in her already tight throat.

But if the arrival of the carriages seemed to stretch to an eternity, him walking to stand before them took the cake, quite literally.

The relaxed manner in which he ambled danced on Arabella’s nerves. Something he clearly noticed as those little sparks in his eyes grew brighter, turning blinding.

"There you are!" his face turned between Silas then down to Arabella’s.

When he stopped moving, the two men made a mutual bow whereas Arabella curtsied in front of him.

There were a lot of things left untold in the way he gaped at her. Among them, hunger! Clear as day it stood out. Though not for flesh or blood, but something far more repugnant that flipped her insides upside down.

"The Lord and Lady of the Eleazar line welcome you for a stay we hope will be to your liking," it was Silas that spoke second.

"Oh, I have no doubts about that," his eyes flickered towards the maids momentarily.

Somehow, that was cause for a stronger wave of revulsion in Arabella. A fact Cedric noted, once more, but even though nothing on the matter was said, she knew all too well not to think he relished the squirming of her soul.

"How long has it been then, my Lady?" without any warnings, he took Arabella’s hand and placed a warm and chunder inducing kiss upon its back.

The strain in her muscles was palpable and yet he ignored it and kept a hold of her hand for far longer than was ever needed.

To her side, the tightening of Silas’ muscles was less visible due to him almost always adopting that stance in the presence of strangers.

She noticed it. She felt it as their arms were intertwined.

Nevertheless, the vampire kept his calm in front of his guest.

"If memory serves me right, your highness," Arabella kept her eyes low, "It has been more than two months," she murmured, her voice breaking at times.

"Two months is too long for me not to behold such a beautiful face as yours," the prince shook his head ever so slowly, his grin everlasting, "It really upset me the way you left me behind," he clicked his tongue against his palate, "Not even a goodbye? I must say, it cut me deep," he feigned sadness so poorly that it was almost comical.

It cut him deep he said... How deep could a spoiled brat such as him be, really?

"I apologize for the aching my departure has caused your grace," she curtsied once more, never meeting his eyes.

He hummed melodiously. Well, as melodiously as his gravelly voice allowed, "Not good enough!"

At those words, Arabella clutched her husband’s arm harder.

"But your sight is a favor on its own," he chuckled, his irises traveling up and down her body, "A queen’s outlook suits you very well. You would have made a great one for your country, I dare presume,"

The tone shifted when Silas cleared his throat to steer the conversation onto different tracks.

"Traveling this long way must have been exhausting to you as well as your good people," Silas started, "Your quarters are ready for you,"

The vampire, contrarily to his wife, bore into Cedric’s eyes. The prince’s grin, for the first time since his exit from that carriage, dimmed a tad.

"Well, yes, but not so quickly, please, for I come bearing gifts!"

Right! Those wretched gifts he had promised in his letters.

Cedric went quiet after that and stepped aside for a second figure to come out into the light from the royal carriage.

The gasp that had escaped Arabella’s mouth reached every ear that stood nearby.