CHAPTER 438: A CURSE?

Silas made a detour towards the gardens before leaving the manor upon spotting Rubius just as he stepped out the doors.

The old man did not descend the stairs and instead enjoyed the nighttime artistry from a distance.

His green eyes glowed under the moonlight, following the swaying trees with the winds.

"She despises me, doesn’t she?" Rubius let out a tame chuckle.

"Not more than I do," Silas hadn’t stepped to his side and instead stopped a few feet behind him.

"I can only imagine all the awful things she must have recounted about me,"

Those words made Silas walk forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with the man, "She said almost nothing about you so, don’t get things twisted. That is not why I despise you,"

"Oh...I suppose I should count the history between our two families. I must admit, it was one hell of a surprise to learn about your union," Rubius’ eyes continued to explore the darkened gardens.

"We don’t keep grudges for that long. Especially not against one’s descendants,"

That seemed to interest Rubius more than nature all of the sudden, "If not for her account of things and not for our history then why? Why do you despise me so much?" he stared straight at Silas and waited for the answer.

Finally, the vampire locked eyes with the curious human, and with all of the air in his chest declared, "You have ruined an entire week worth of work for me,"

the gray eyebrows on Rubius furrowed as his irises attempted to read through Silas’ features.

The staring contest lasted for nearly a minute when Rubius reclaimed his smile, "You speak of her birthday!" he turned back towards the gardens.

"I’ve spent days meticulously planning everything, down to the last letter and then you swoop in, reminding her of the fact,"

"Oh, don’t fuss! I merely presented my own gift. I never said a thing about yours. It is no fault of mine that she figured it out," not that he’d taken a stern tone, but he certainly was not laughing upon uttering all of those things. It wasn’t until he’d emptied his chest that the cackling had started, "She turned out just smart too,"

Bickering! Yes, bickering! That was what they were doing right there... Silas could not believe himself.

"Yes. No thanks to you or your son,"

The laughing ceased but gradually. Rubius took his time to breathe and still look around as his face fell a little, "My son...," he mumbled under his breath.

"Nothing has happened yet, but I am going to go ahead and warn you anyway," Silas’ eyes were soldered on the moon, his body tense as he spoke clearly, "He’s tried before and failed at retrieving her and if I was ready to raise the ground before she even became my wife, think of what I will do to you should a hair on her head be harmed. So, whatever it is you and the prince are planning, walk away from the canon before it blows in your face,"

Nothing... Nothing in Rubius indicated any sort of tension. Not even his heart betrayed him. Silas had to admit it; the old man was a lot tougher to crack than his son.

"What did you feel when you laid eyes on her for the first time?"

The question stunned Silas for a moment.

"Did you see an innocent woman seeking Refuge or did a glimpse of old Able Chester flash before your eyes when her face came into view?"

"When I first laid eyes on Arabella, the very last thing that had come to my mind was Able," Silas once again turned to the man, "The only thing she got from you lot is the color of her eyes and there is a lot more to her than that,"

"I know,"

Both of them took a moment but Silas refused to move onto a different topic before getting a clear acknowledgement of his previous warning.

"I sure hope you heard me the first time, Sterling, because there will be no second warning. So, you better relay the message to his grace,"

"You do that, will you?" there was a side smirk on Rubius’ lips, "His invitation was just what I needed to get where I wanted but other than that we are not glued to the hip. He told me nothing of his plans and I spoke nothing of mine,"

"What are your plans then?"

"I just came to see the first Sterling born woman live past her early twenties,"

The words stuck a new chip upon Silas’ shoulder, "And what is that supposed to mean?" his features hardened once more.

"She looks you in the eyes when she speaks. She looked me in the eyes too,"

"She does and you better get used to it. She no longer lives to please you or anyone else for that matter,"

They took another break from each other’s voices, allowing the light breeze to whisper little nothings in the void.

"She looks happy and alive," Rubius nodded to the words he had mumbled.

The way in which the old man kept on deflecting and answering cryptically made Silas pause and think... There was something in his tone that inserted a small, cold thorn right into Silas’ heart.

It hurt him just to think of further pressing the man with warnings and questions.

"I do hope she is happy," was all that he said in response, eventually.

"That is good," Rubius continued to nod, "I dreamt of this day for years but never thought it would come,"

"Well, I apologize for contributing to your long-lasting nightmares, but I have no intention of stopping,"

The old man turned around midway through a laugh and started walking back towards the manor, "Then perhaps she will be the first to evade the curse of the Sterling women after all,"

"What did you say?" there was more urgency in the vampire’s voice, "What curse?"

Flashing in front of the man, he stopped him right in his tracks, "I said what curse?" he hissed.