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`Vinessa sat on her bed, not letting her legs or feet touch the ground. She stared on at nothing really, her expression blank at the moment. Her hair hanging past her shoulders, stopping at her mid-back, it would have been tied up if the room had not been cold. It wasn't the cold that bothered her though. Viktor would be coming soon, no doubt to talk about Sonja or Lucien, or perhaps, for a change, some-thing else. Her dress hung off her shoulders slightly onto her fore-arms; the cloth was warm against her skin but the fact that Viktor would be coming soon chilled her.

Kraven, her new protector, had checked on her earlier but Vinessa had insulted him and told him to leave. Poor boy, she'd have to give him a compliment later. The bed-room doors creaked then opened slowly. Vinessa glanced over slightly, licking her lips then looked back down at the nice set of flowers on the fur-covered bed. They were a present from little Viviana, she picked them when no-one had been looking and they were so colorful. Vinessa couldn't remember the last time she saw bright flowers like these, or had been flowers at all.

"Vinessa." A dull, low voice came from behind her; Vinessa looked back up quickly then behind her. There was Viktor behind her, sitting already, with a hand on a pillow and another hand on her hip, which had gone un-noticed until then. Vinessa looked away, feeling Viktor move slightly, brushing her hair over to her left-shoulder so her neck was exposed. He let a finger, his thumb, trail down her pale neck then he sighed under his breath "What is that?" He had noticed the flowers.

"They were a gift." Vinessa reluctantly answered, her right hand gently pressing down on the flowers. They were so soft and delicate, so beautiful.

"Gift." His voice sounded hollow, he leaned back against the large pillow on her bed, Vinessa glanced back at him then back to the flowers, her finger-tips barely brushing them again, then felt the breeze hit her bare-shoulders. Vinessa glanced away at nothing really before twisting around to look at Victor, her expression shifting from worry to her usual calm self.

"What did you tell her?" She asked finally, her tone soft and gentle as she spoke "What did you tell Sonja?"

"I reminded her of the stakes she played at, of her loyalty as well." Viktor spoke with no emotion, his blue eyes burned into hers as he stared at her, simply staring and to be honest, it intimidated Vinessa in a way, she had to glance to the side but her breathing seemed to stutter as he gently placed a hand on her cheek, she turned to look back at him then with a certain reluctance.

Vinessa was secretly wondering if perhaps she should have listened to Markus, done what he had told her instead of listening to her husband, to Viktor but she chose, picked a side and stuck with it even with all the imperfections, not that she expected it to be flawless in the first place, no she knew how Viktor was, what he was capable of but...still she thought about it, thought about what could have been—what perhaps she should have done but that was in the past, this was the present. Perhaps Tanis could ease the tension later, if she was able to visit; he, even with his personality, was a much better choice to be with at the moment, at least it would resolve the tension that filled the room. Vinessa licked her lips once and puled back from Viktor's touch, he leaned back from me even more then, he then looked away, over to the window, seeing the moon that shined out-side.

"You must not be too harsh with her, Viktor." She scolded, still in a hushed whisper "She's still learning, still developing in her own way."

Viktor snapped his gaze back to her then, tilting his head to the side slightly but then slipped off the bed in a matter of moments, standing up straight slowly though as Vinessa placed a hand on his right arm, he glanced down at her then as she stared up at him, her expression full of curiosity now, but that was a veil that he did not know existed, not yet.

"Where are you going?"

"Tanis is to report back to me soon, I'll be with the rest of the council. You should get some rest." He started to turn away again until she tugged a little bit, again he glanced back

"What is it?" He spoke in a whisper this time

"I'll be there before the nobles come." She then slowly let go, leaning back onto the bed and looking away from his gaze. Viktor nodded once, turned on his heel and took a few small steps to the door, opening it and then was gone. The bed-room door shutting with a soft click, and Vinessa sighed under her breath in relief. Vinessa noticed for the first time then, that her pale hands were shaking. She glanced over at the limp petals of flowers that were on her bed, staring at them with drooped eye-lids in a bored then almost annoyed matter, she looked away then, swatting the flowers off her bed with a flick of her hand and they blew off the bed with grace, landing delicately on the floor.

Vinessa closed her eye-lids, almost cringing, a stray tear dripping down her face but she wiped it away quickly with her still shaking hands, slipping off the bed just as gracefully as Viktor had moments before, and stood up onto her feet. She sighed softly, re-opening her eye-lids to glance down at her hands, holding them close to her chest, their shaking movements stopping for the mean time. That would be convenient for a while until Tanis would have to point it out obviously, he seemed to always do that whenever Viktor wasn't around, he seemed fond of it but Vinessa was quick to come back with a insult or opinion on his comments.

She let her gaze shift over to the window one last time, to see the moon that shined then turned back and walked over to the bed-room door, opening it and slid out, quietly shutting it close behind her and looked around before going down the right-side hall-way with an almost determine feeling to it, the heels of her boots clicking against the floor as she pressed on, pulling back her hair so it was behind her shoulders again, hanging with a slight curl. As Vinessa had told Viktor, she'd be there when the nobles arrived. Her blue eyes seemed nearly dull, as if bored with the whole situation but she was partially confident and also worried on what was to come the next nights. There had been much tension that had developed, and it seemed that it wasn't going away any-time soon. She wasn't shocked by it, Vinessa had in fact expected it, seeing the hints that were slipped about, sneaked in when nobody else noticed. Vinessa had noticed though, she noticed most things that happened here, including Viktor's temper.

Vinessa neared the two large doors that were the entrance into the room where the rest of the council was, including Viktor and probably Tanis by now; and at the moment, she wished she could be going somewhere else, anywhere really than into there, where the stares and the comments she'd be quick to hear and notice, then ignore would also be.

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