A/N: Well, my latest chapter, and the first conversation Christine has alone with Boris. I must say, it does not go over to well, lol. Sorry I have not been around to update lately, I've been busy with friends and other stuff lately, so I haven't gotten time to write this chapter, but I'm glad I finally did. It puts a lot of new stuff out on the table that people may not have necessarily thought of when reading my story. I, personally, think it adds a lot more depth to the story I'm trying to tell. I hope I have been able to succeed in making the characters as real to you as they are to me. ( Please say I have succeeded!)
Ithilwenn: I am so very happy to see you liking the way my story is coming out. I hope this chapter was written to your satisfaction. I personally think the last couple I wrote were not my personal best, but, I can't always be perfect, now can I. As to the idea you and I have planned, (you know what it is, I don't wanna say here yet….) I have already emailed you with my suggestion. Hopefully, it will work out well. I'm hoping you have already replied with an opinion, and I have the sneaking suspicion that it will be favorable!
As to your own fic, please update it soon! I was so excited to be reading so much about Velkan, you write him so well. (I personally love the scene where he actually comes out of his bedroom to greet Lucy, his hair all mussed and stuff….I could totally imagine that happening!) Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading more from you, so you better update soon!
Chapter 7
He never said a word to me while we walked in the building. The whole time he led me quietly towards the main entryway, heading towards the outside. It was not until he reached the door to the manor, that he finally turned to face me.
"I trust you slept well last night?" he asked me, holding the door open for me to leave. I stopped short suddenly, reddening in embarrassment. I felt a cool breeze at my cheek, and I looked out, finding the day strangely beautiful, like a brisk fall day.
"Of course I did, why do you ask?" I answered, feigning ignorance of his insinuation. He finally laughed. I looked up, surprised to see the amused expression on his lips. It was the first time I had ever seen that expression, the first of many.
"You know perfectly well why I asked you. I am not ignorant of wifely duties. I had a wife once, you know." He said to me as I approached the door. "How do you think Anna and Velkan came to be?" A wistful expression fleetingly appeared on his face, remembering a distant memory. But, he immediately pushed the thought away and looked to me, a hopeful expression replacing it.
I smiled, stepping out into the cool day. In moments, I heard him quietly close the door behind us. Approaching me, he gently took my hand, and began to lead me towards the gardens. He did not say anything more as we slowly walked away from the huge building, to the relative privacy of the grounds.
"Is that all you wished to ask?" I said after a moment. Looking down, I noticed his hand clasped about my own, in a fatherly gesture of affection. Almost instinctually, I felt my heart warm, never having felt this before. After all, my father had died before I had been born.
"No." Boris answered, his voice slowly regaining the cold manner of speaking. I looked up to his face, noticing a thoughtful look come across his eyes. It seemed almost as if he was struggling to tell me something more, something he knew I should know. Taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again.
"Is something wrong?" I asked him, my heart beginning to beat as he fought within himself to speak. We stopped walking and he slowly released my hand.
"You are a Valerious now." He said, his voice quavering slightly as he spoke. "I hope you realize the peril that this name entails." I slowly nodded my head in affirmation. How could he ever have questioned that!
As worried as I had become, I threw a smile onto my face, trying to make light of the situation. "If you haven't realized already, the Aveire name carries its own weight within the Count's memories. I've only created an…..alliance…you might say." I answered. His eyes lit up at my comment, but I noticed them slowly darken again as he released my hand.
"Ah, yes, so you have. But, that is not what I meant to ask." He answered. Raising my eyes in a questioning way, I looked up at him, noticing him slowly become agitated as he struggled to ask me a more direct question. Despite struggling to say what he wanted to say, I felt him tighten his grip on my hand. "I assume my son has…." He cleared his throat then, struggling to get his words out. "I mean to say….to ask you….I am not trying to be forward, but I must know….the marriage has been…..consummated, has it not?"
As he spoke those words, I could not help but notice the embarrassment he was feeling as he asked me the most personal question he could ever ask. I hesitated for a moment, my eyes looking towards the ground, my cheeks burning with embarrassment. Slowly, I felt him release my hand. Had he heard us? My heart began to beat wildly and guiltily within my chest. Never before had I been as embarrassed as I now was!
"Has it?" I heard Boris ask again, noticing my hesitation. I could hear a hint of desperation within his voice as he struggled to catch a glimpse of my eyes, to see a hint of the answer he wanted to see reflected within them. Slowly, I raised my eyes to meet his. The wondering glint in his eyes finally told me that he did not know. One could only imagine the relief I felt that we had not been found out in our most heated of moments…
"Yes, it has been." I answered, closing my eyes in embarrassment. "He brought me to his room…and he…" I felt my voice slowly lose its power until I could no longer speak. But, I did not have to continue.
"I see." Boris answered, satisfied that he had finally received his answer. "Then I can safely assume children are a possibility?" he asked. So that was the reason his gaze had lingered upon my stomach…
"Well," I said in response, boldly meeting his gaze. "Velkan and I have only been married for less than a day. I hardly think we have had enough time to think of the possibility…" I looked towards the horizon for a moment, happy to see the bright orb of the sun burning in the sky. "I do not think his goal was to…" Boris laughed at me losing my confidence as I spoke.
"He is perfectly aware of his family's plight. We are quickly running out of family, I hope you have realized this by now, have you not?" he asked me.
So this was why he had been so eager for our marriage. So this was why he had asked after Velkan's…actions of the night before. I felt anger slowly beginning to boil within me as I realized what his true intentions had been. He had used me to further his own ends…
"Yes I have." I answered, struggling to keep my voice at a low level. He smiled, obviously ignorant of his offense. "But, I hope you have realized in turn, sir, that I have no intentions of bringing a new life into this world as long as the Count still lives."
Boris widened his eyes slightly at my bold response, not expecting to have heard it as perfectly as he did. Closing his eyes as if to shut me out of his mind, he took a deep breath, realizing he had been outwitted. The game he had chosen to play with me he had obviously lost. We were no longer the friendly father and daughter-in-law. Opening his eyes to look at me, I noticed he had lost all sense of propriety, as he slowly ventured an answer.
"Whether you intend to or not, it will inevitably happen." He answered. "And when it does, I should like to make you aware of the dangers." I huffed, hearing his answer.
"If it can be prevented, it will be." I said. I could almost feel the anger seething within him as I replied. He had failed miserably trying to be coy with me. "I would prefer if we did not speak on this." I said. Boris looked at me as if I had gone completely mad.
Slowly, I noticed a smile form at his lips. I had pleased him. But, I had no idea what I could have done to incite such an emotion. Rolling my eyes, I began to walk once again, hearing him fall into step beside me.
"This Marishka situation," I said to him as we walked along. "What have you to say about this?" Boris chuckled.
"Marishka is an interesting character indeed. 500 years old, and yet she still acts as though she is a fledgling." He answered. I smiled, looking directly ahead.
"What do you mean?" I asked him.
"Jealousy still rules her. Jealousy is what brought her to us. She is not like her sisters, Aleera and Verona." Boris answered. Catching a sudden movement in the path ahead of us, I noticed two shapes approaching. Behind them more shapes loomed, it seemed like a party of sorts.
"I see Anna and Velkan have finally come back." Boris said. I nodded slowly, recognizing the shape of the Valerious siblings as they made their way to us. Boris said nothing for a moment, before finishing the thought he had begun. "Perhaps Marishka will provide us with the opportunity of saving your cousin." I furrowed my eyebrows.
"How so?" I asked. It was then that I noticed Boris tear his eyes from his children to look at me.
"I have my ideas." He answered.
"It is good to see you again, Christine!" I heard Anna call happily. Ripping my gaze away from her father, I noticed her approaching us, beside her, Velkan, who smiled wearily at us. His face seemed reddened from exertion, his shirt partially open to reveal his throat and a hint of his chest. I could feel his eyes dancing on me as I returned my gaze to Anna.
"It is good to see you as well, Anna!" I said to her as she smiled at me. Her hair, I noticed, had become dirtied with straw and leaves, as if she had been on the trail of something. Seeing a rather large leaf stuck in her tresses, I habitually reached out and picked it from her hair, dropping it carelessly to the ground. "That was a bit of a bothersome eyesore." I said to her, as she regarded me with a curious expression on her face.
"Well, I see father has been getting on with our new guests." Velkan said, looking the direction of his parent. Boris huffed.
"One must always be hospitable." He answered. "I hope I have at least taught you that much, Velkan." Anna looked to her brother, slapping him playfully on his shoulder.
"Come now, Velkan, you should not anger father." She said to her brother. Velkan merely shrugged his shoulders.
"I was not aware that I did, Anna." He answered. I could still notice his chest heaving, struggling to catch his breath. Boris looked between his two children before waving them away.
"Go and get yourselves cleaned up. You look quite a mess." He said. Velkan and Anna nodded quickly as they quietly began to walk away. Anna smiled before parting, while Velkan's eyes lingered on my own. They were gone in minutes.
"You go as well." Boris said after his children had disappeared. "I need some time to think of a plan. One must always have a plan…" I narrowed my eyes in confusion as I noticed a hint of madness within his expression. What was wrong with this man?
"I will see you later then?" I asked him. Boris merely grunted out a yes, waving me away. Hesitating for a moment, I looked at him before hurrying to catch up with Anna and Velkan, who were only a several yards ahead of me. This had been a most interesting conversation indeed……
