She was in her second dance and Hal couldn't take his eyes off of her. She swirled around the room and laughed, and her heart bit faster from the exercise. He felt his mouth watering.
"Snow is going to be pissed we're here." Fergus said to him, filling up his pipe and lighting it, blowing smoke up. "He said we should lay low after last week's ball. People are still talking about those three maidens found by the river."
By the mention of them, Hal remembered their screams and their pleas for mercy when they ravished and killed her. The memory of their fair skin stained with blood didn't bring the pleasure he felt at the time though, just emptiness and a sting from the hunger.
"Don't worry about Snow. I'll handle him." He said drinking his wine. The shallow taste of it just made his crave for something thicker and warmer stronger.
"If you say so, my lord. I think we're pushing our luck." Fergus said tiresomely.
Hal threw his arm around Fergus neck holding him tightly. "Lighten up, Fergus. This is a party and we're supposed to be enjoying ourselves." He said with an excited voice. "Now tell me, which one of these lovely ladies has gotten your attention."
Fergus smiled wickedly, forgetting his worries, and nodded to the corner of the room. There, a blond girl was chatting with another and pointing at people at the party. She couldn't be older than eighteen.
"Oh, she's lovely. Who is she?"
"The daughter of a local watchmaker, Lady Adele. Her father is drunk somewhere and her mother is flirting with one of the soldiers. It will take sometime for them to miss her." He said puffing another cloud of smoke in her direction. "What about you, my lord?"
Hal smiled crookedly and looked at him. "Guess." He said in a playful tone.
Fergus followed Hal's gaze to the dance floor and his smile faded. "Not Lady Charlotte?" He asked hoping not to see Hal's grim of satisfaction. "That's a dangerous catch, my lord. She's one of the richest maidens here. There are men here ready to duel for her next dance and she has a handful of bodyguards. It's probably impossible to lure her away from the crowd without someone noticing. And even if you can do that, her death will surely make a fuss and Snow asked us to lay low."
"Shush, Fergus. You're boring me with all that talk about Snow. Go get your watchmaker's daughter, I'll meet you in the old barn." Hal said, finishing his wine and leaving Fergus behind.
Hal focused on Charlotte again, savoring the sound of her excited heartbeat. She had left the dance floor and was now resting on a white sofa by the wall. A circle of people surrounded her, mostly men, lighting her cigarette and getting her drinks and eager to grant her wishes. The few women who enjoyed the status of being allowed inside her circle took gladly the attention of those men she ignored.
Fergus was right. She was a dangerous catch. There was too much light on her and too many people close to her. Yet, it was her whom he desired tonight and no one else would be able to satiate his hunger.
He placed himself by the fireplace and watched her closely, waiting for the right time to approach her. She danced again and strolled around the party with girlfriends, laughing and drinking. After a couple of hours most of the suitors had given up or were running errands for her and she was languidly laying on the white sofa with just a couple of girlfriends.
Hal stood up and walked to her, unable to stay away any longer.
"It must be tiresome to juggle so many suitors in one night." He said, sitting on the armchair by the side of the sofa, lighting up the cigarette she had just placed on her hand.
She looked at him a little surprised and smiled. "It is." She said accepting his light and he heard the drunkenness in her words. "But I'm getting pretty good at it, aren't I?" She asked her friends who gave her praise for her ability.
"It would be easier if they didn't bore you to death, wouldn't it?" He said and saw the spark of interest in her eyes. "All those men, praising your beauty and your charm and your wit. Crazy to get your attention and you just can't bear to hear or look at them anymore."
"You're mistaken, my Lord. I'm very flattered by their complement and their kindness." She said sucking on her cigarette and blowing up a ring of smoke. "I'm just a shallow and silly little girl." She said looking fiercely inside his eyes.
That surprised him. He did think she was a shallow and silly girl, but that statement and that fierce defiant stare didn't say something else?
"Oh, don't say that, Charlie. You're smarter than all of them." One of her friends said.
"And richer." the other said and they both laughed.
She ignored them and held her gaze. "Now that I told you who I am, sire, please be kind to tell me who are you and why were you staring at me for the last couple of hours?"
That surprised him again. She hadn't given any indicating that she had noticed him staring.
"I'm just another soul bewitched by your beauty, my lady. Ready to give you everything your heart desires."
She smiled condescending and looked away. "Another bore, then." She said with an annoyed sigh. "Pity. For one moment I thought you were something else."
"And what had you expected me to be, my lady?"
"Oh I don't know, something more interesting, I guess. A villain, perhaps." She said looking back at him and Hal felt her eyes piercing through him. "A dangerous man. A man who had seen darkness and wasn't fooled by glittering fake lights. A man who would be worthy to actually talk to." She smiled wickedly. "But you're just as harmless as all the others, aren't you?" the sarcasm was unmistakable in that last question.
Hal frown and looked back at her intrigued with her speech. He focused on her again, her heartbeat, her smell. She was human; her blood ran warm inside her. But his hunger was diminished by something else in there, something more than just the dazzling beauty, something fearless inside those piercing hazel eyes.
When she saw the anguished look on his face she burst into laugh. The others laughed with her even though they didn't understand. Hal stood unmoved.
"I'm sorry, my lord." She said with a wholehearted smile. "I'm just joking at you. We were talking about villains, and dangerous men before you arrived. Wondering where were they hiding. You were right after all, I am bored. So bored that I'm ready to leave this party."
Her friends wailed objections, but she stood up determined.
"You shouldn't do that, my lady." Hal said standing up too.
She looked at him curiously. "What shouldn't I do, my lord? Joke about villains or leave the party?" she asked.
"Both." He said glaring at her. "Neither is safe." He said, holding himself and the intense wave of feelings that assaulted him along with the hunger.
She smiled widely getting closer to him, and rising to the tip of her toes so her face was leveled with his. He could smell her breath, a mixture of mint, wine and cigarettes. It took him an enormous effort not to rip her throat right there. "Oh, you're trying to scare me, my lord? Sorry, I don't scare easy." she said and turned around leaving the salon without looking back.