Part 12

Rebekah enjoyed feeling the sunlight on her face, the day was absolutely beautiful. Almost the whole court had settled in the huge garden, there were plenty of food, wine and entertainment. Few bards were singing and playing lute, two jesters were juggling and the noblemen were competing to impress the ladies with their archery or axe throwing skills. The life of a lady wasn't too bad at all. Rebekah gave a coy smile to two handsome young noblemen who had both been competing for her attention; they were throwing the axe with few other men.

Rebekah was sitting under the sunshade with the Lady Cecile; she had managed to learn a lot from this young noblewoman who truly enjoying gossiping. Elijah was once again talking to Count de Martel; Rebekah couldn't help but to admire her brother's ability to adapt so perfectly. Although Elijah had been against this whole thing, he had blend in as a duck takes to water.

Finn was trying his best as well and he had fit in fine, but clearly he was out of his comfort zone when he had to socialize all the time. He had never been much of a conversationalist, he enjoyed keeping to himself. Nik and Kol didn't seem to be here. Neither was the Lord Tristan. His sister on the other hand was here; she was talking to some blonde woman who was smiling politely and complimenting Lady Aurora's gown.

"Have you met her?" Lady Cecile asked and cocked her head towards the two women. "The woman who is with the Lady Aurora?"

"No, I don't believe that I have," Rebekah replied.

"That's Lady Giselle, the Lord Tristan's mistress."

It wasn't difficult to tell that Lady Cecile didn't think very highly of this woman.

"I would advice you to avoid her."

"Oh? Why is that?" Rebekah asked.

"Well… let us put it this way, she can be quite…unpleasant. Unfortunately she also has a lot of influence in the court and she knows how to use it. Perhaps she is not high-ranking enough to become Lord Tristan's wife, but let me tell you, I truly feel sorry for the woman who he will eventually wed. I doubt that she will stand a chance against Lady Giselle."

Rebekah observed the blonde who was undeniably very beautiful, but there was most definitely something cold and calculating about her. Clearly she was very good with words; she kept flattering the Lady Aurora who didn't seem to notice anything false about this woman. Well, as far as Rebekah could tell, the Lady Aurora was quite naïve, she had been protected her whole life. They were so far away that Rebekah wouldn't have heard what they were saying without her vampire's hearing.

"I hope everything is alright between you and my brother," Lady Aurora said.

"Yes, my lady, everything is fine," Lady Giselle replied smiling, but she suddenly seemed vigilant. "Why do you ask?"

Lady Aurora giggled.

"Oh, I am sure it was nothing, I should not have even brought it up."

Now Lady Giselle was most definitely vigilant.

"Brought what up, my lady?" she asked sweetly.

"Nothing, I just… You are my friend and I really don't want to upset you…"

"No, no, I don't get upset so easily. You know how much I love your brother, please, my lady, tell me if something is wrong with him. I only wish him to be happy."

Lady Aurora hesitated.

"Well… It's just… I'm sure it was nothing, but I saw him earlier with his servant, she was lying on his bed wearing… very little. But I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation for it."

"Yes, I'm sure there is. Just out of curiosity, who was this servant?"

"The mute one. You know, he likes to call her his puppet."

Lady Giselle's lips curved into a smile.

"Ah, that one. I'm sure you are right, my lady, there must be an explanation for it. Lord Tristan would never touch a worthless and unsightly creature like her."

Lady Aurora looked a little confused.

"That's a mean thing to say, is it not? I have heard that she is a hard worker."

"Yes, forgive me, my lady," Lady Giselle said quickly. "I merely meant that it would be beneath your brother to touch a servant, he has said that himself."

"Yes, I suppose he has," Lady Aurora sighed. "He can be very harsh sometimes. I'm glad he is not like that with you."

Lady Giselle's smile grew wider when Aurora touched her shoulder.

"No, he is not. I truly appreciate your concern, my lady and I cherish our friendship more than anything."

Oh please… Rebekah rolled her eyes, was this pretty little redhead blind? She seemed to be even more naïve than Rebekah had thought. And she had just caused the poor servant girl much more trouble than she could ever understand. Rebekah wasn't completely sure what she could do about that, but she felt that it was her responsibility to at least warn the girl. She excused herself and headed inside the castle when she ran into Kol who was just coming to the garden.

"Sister!" he greeted her cheerily, he seemed to be in a good mood. "Where are you going?"

"Have you seen Lucien's sister today?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I have. Why do you ask?"

Rebekah sighed; she didn't see any reason for not to explain the whole thing to Kol. Surely they both agreed that they owed Lucien for all his help. Kol listened to her very carefully, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh dear… We must definitely warn the poor girl."

Rebekah stared at him disbelievingly.

"Have you suddenly found your missing heart?" she huffed.

Kol smiled.

"Very amusing, sister. I'll find the girl and let her know what is going on."

"Why would you do that?"

He shrugged.

"Why not? I don't have anything better to do at the moment."

Rebekah was about to argue when one of her admirers approached them.

"Excuse me, my lady; I was wondering if I could ask a moment of your time?"

Rebekah really liked this young lord, he was very handsome and a true gentleman.

"I would like that, but…"

"It's alright, sister," Kol cut in. "I will handle the matter we just talked about."

Rebekah bit her bottom lip and looked at her brother.

"I give you my word," Kol added.

"Your word?"

He nodded.

"Yes. Go and have fun, you can leave this to me."

Nadine wasn't sure if she was more relieved or confused when she headed to the orchard, Lord Tristan had sent her there to get him fresh apples. There were apples in the kitchen, but for some reason he had insisted her to walk all the way to the orchard. Not that she had a problem with that, the day was beautiful. She was still trying to understand what had happened earlier. Was it possible that she had misunderstood the way he had looked at her? Maybe she really had been flattering herself for thinking that he would want to bed her.

What she couldn't understand was why he had just acted like he had. He had been almost…kind. And he had spared Lucien from punishment. Of course she was more than grateful for that, but she just couldn't understand why. Maybe… Making her bathe in front of him… The undergarment… Maybe he didn't want to bed her; maybe he just liked to…watch. He had most definitely seemed pleased when she had got changed in front of him.

The thought wasn't very pleasant, but if he just wanted to watch, she was pretty sure she could learn to live with that. Not that she had much choice. That was a big if though. Things could be much, much worse. Well, one problem at a time. She enjoyed feeling the gentle wind on her face and admired the flourishing fruit trees. She had always loved the orchard. The ladders… She had forgotten to bring them with her. Great, she needed to go back and…

"Hello," a calm voice suddenly said.

She startled a little; she had been too absentminded to notice that she wasn't alone. Finn was standing few steps away from her.

"Lovely day," he stated.

She nodded and curtsied, automatically keeping her eyes down. He looked around and took a step towards her.

"I hope I'm allowed to talk to you?"

She nodded.

"That's good. And maybe you could even look at me if we won't tell anyone about it?"

He most definitely sounded amused. Cautiously she looked up; he was smiling at her politely. For some very strange reason something about him made her feel calm, she didn't find him in any way intimidating. He glanced at the basket she was carrying.

"You are here to pick up some apples?"

She nodded.

"Ah. I am here because I needed a place to hide."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," he sighed. "I admit it, I'm a coward. I just couldn't handle any more of…socializing."

She couldn't help but to stare at him, he sounded to be very much serious. Curiously she tried to find a way to ask him wasn't he really enjoying the life of a nobleman. Finally he seemed to understand her.

"I like peace and quiet," he said. "I like to be able to hear my own thoughts, not some meaningless babble."

She nodded; she could understand what he meant.

"That is probably the reason why I find your company so soothing," he continued and seemed to regret his words immediately. "Forgive me, that was a terrible thing to say, I really didn't mean to insult you. It's just… you remind me of someone. She…didn't speak much either."

Nadine saw sadness in his eyes; clearly this person had been important to him. She gave him a sympathetic look. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"Anyway, the apples… Do you need some help?"

She hesitated and tried to explain to him that she didn't have the ladders.

"Oh, that's not a problem. Just a moment."

He took a quick look around, her eyes widened when he effortlessly jumped in the nearest tree. For a moment she had actually forgotten that he wasn't a human.

"Alright, catch," he said and started to pick up the apples and drop them on the ground. It didn't take long when the basket was full. She thanked him with a bow when he jumped to the ground.

"You're welcome," he said. "And thank you for the…talk. I believe I can take some more babble now."

She smiled. For the first time in two years, she actually smiled. It felt strange. He didn't seem to notice anything strange; he bowed at her politely and walked away. She turned around and startled when someone was standing in front of her. Niklaus. He looked very tense, almost angry; his arms were crossed over his chest.

"Nadine," he muttered. "We need to talk."