Part 13

Lucien tried his best to stay calm when he walked towards Lord Tristan's chamber. He knew that he was in trouble, but he could only blame himself for that. Unfortunately he had been more exhausted than he had realized. Well, it was too late to do anything about it now; he simply had to take the punishment. Knowing Tristan, the punishment would be harsh. Lucien tried to ignore Laurent and the two guards who were walking behind them. He could only hope that Nadine wasn't there, he certainly didn't want her to see this. Laurent knocked on the door and opened it after getting the permission. Surprisingly Tristan ordered only Lucien to enter his chamber, he told Laurent and the guards to wait in the hallway.

"Yes, my lord," Laurent muttered, he was clearly confused.

Lucien was confused as well, but he obeyed quickly. Tristan was standing in front of the fireplace, he ordered Lucien to close the door.

"So," Tristan started after a moment of silence, his face was completely blank. "I assume you know why you are here?"

"Yes, my lord," Lucien replied as calmly as he could, he kept his eyes on the floor. Thankfully Nadine wasn't here.

"Hmm. And you don't deny that you deserve to be punished?"

"No, my lord."

Tristan was quiet for a moment before continuing.

"What would you say if I would pardon you?"

Lucien was more than confused; this had to be some kind of twisted joke. He had never heard that Tristan would have any kind of sense of humor, but if he had, this sounded like something that would amuse him.

"My lord?" he asked cautiously.

"Would you be grateful?" Tristan continued, his tone of voice held no emotion.

"I… Yes, my lord, of course."

"Good. I expect you to keep that in mind."

Lucien tried to desperately understand what was going on, why would Tristan pardon him?

"Of course, my lord," he muttered.

Tristan was quiet again and glanced at Lucien before slowly making his way to the wine carafe.

"I have heard that you have served my father well," he stated while picking up a wine goblet.

"I have done my best, my lord."

"Yes… I'm sure you know that I could easily improve your position, if I would choose to do so."

Lucien wasn't sure how to reply, he had no idea what was going on.

"Yes, my lord."

"If I would choose to grant you that kind of favor, I assume I would have your unconditional loyalty and gratitude?"

"Of course, my lord," Lucien muttered cautiously. There was no chance Tristan would do anything for him out of the goodness of his heart. But what could Tristan possibly want from Lucien, he didn't possess anything valuable.

"Good," Tristan stated simply. "I believe I could find use for a loyal servant like you. I could help you to take a better care of your sister."

Lucien swallowed; he suddenly had a very nasty feeling.

"May I ask what you mean by that, my lord?" he asked as calmly as he could.

"Is it not obvious? You are her only male relative, so I assume you have taken care of your responsibility to look after her?"

"Yes, my lord, of course, I would do anything for her."

"Hmm, I can see that and I can respect that. As you know, I am a brother myself and what kind of a brother wouldn't do anything to protect his sister? Do you agree?"

"Yes, my lord, I absolutely do."

"Very good. In that case, I believe we have some arrangements to make."

Klaus looked at the girl in front of him; he really wasn't sure what he was doing. And he wasn't sure why he had kept out of sight until Finn had left. Nadine had seemed to enjoy his company… So what, that was a good thing, Finn had made her smile. According to Lucien, she hadn't smiled after losing her family. It was a good thing that she had smiled. At Finn. She certainly wasn't smiling at Klaus; she looked down and curtsied rigidly before trying to get past him.

"Nadine, stop that," Klaus sighed. He had no choice but to keep blocking her way until she finally gave up and stopped. She still wasn't looking at him, she stared at the ground.

"Look, Nadine," he said. "I just want to know that you are alright."

She pressed her lips together and nodded.

"Could you please look at me?"

She didn't.

"Fine, but you will at least listen." He paused and sighed. "About what happened… I need you to know that I certainly don't think any less of you. I'm sorry I didn't do anything to help you…"

She looked up and determinedly shook her head, pointing at herself. He understood what she tried to say.

"Yes, I'm sure you are capable of looking after yourself, but…"

She shook her head again. He frowned.

"You really are stubborn, aren't you?"

She shrugged and tugged a stray hair behind her ear.

The corners of his mouth were twitching, she really was quite something.

"Alright, I understand." He paused and held out his hand. "Truce?"

She looked at him for a brief moment before nodding. Carefully he took her hand and kissed it.

"My lady," he said, using a very formal tone and bowed. She responded to that by curtsying.

"Those are nice looking apples you got there," he said and tried to take one. She frowned and slapped his hand.

He pretended to be shocked.

"What… I don't get one tiny apple?"

She shook her head; he could tell that she was amused.

"We'll just see about that…"

She backed away when he approached her; the next thing he realized was that he was chasing her across the orchard.

"I'm warning you, love, I won't leave here without that apple!"

She shook her head and ran faster. Obviously he could have easily caught her if he would have wanted to, but he kept his speed normal. There was something very pleasant about chasing her. To hear her heartbeat speeding up, her breathing quickening, her blood rushing faster through her veins… Before he could stop himself, he jumped on her. They both fell down on the ground; he ended up on top of her. She looked startled, but thankfully not hurt.

"I…I'm so sorry," he muttered. "I didn't mean… Are you alright?"

She looked at him for a moment with her big dark brown eyes before she nodded. He was still on top of her, for some reason he was unable to move. She smelled incredibly good. And her lips looked soft and inviting… She flinched when he touched her bottom lip with his thumb. That snapped him out of it, what the hell was he doing?

"I'm sorry…" he muttered. "I'm sorry, I'll just…"

He didn't have time to finish his sentence when he realized that someone was standing next to them.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," a female voice said. "I didn't mean to…interrupt anything."

Oh no… Klaus got up as quickly as he could, but the damage was already done.

"I don't believe we have met," the woman said, she was smiling sweetly. "I'm Lady Giselle."

Klaus needed to clear his throat before he managed to introduce himself. From the corner of his eye he saw that Nadine had got up as well, her face was red. Lady Giselle didn't pay any attention to her, she only concentrated on Klaus.

"Lord Niklaus!" Lady Aurora's voice called, she was approaching them with two other ladies. "There you are! We were wondering what have happened to you."

Somehow Klaus managed to remember his role, although he needed to struggle. Nadine was on her knees on the ground picking the apples up, all Klaus would have wanted to do was help her and tell her how sorry he was.

"I hope those are not for your master," Lady Giselle stated sharply.

Nadine nodded briefly, she kept her eyes down.

"I don't think so. You will go and pick him fresh ones. Right now."

Klaus gritted his teeth when Nadine curtsied and emptied the basket on the ground. This was all his fault, why on Earth had he thought that chasing her would be in any way a good idea? How stupid was he?

"This was my fault," he stated. "I didn't look where I was going and I accidently bumped into the young lady…"

"She is a servant," Lady Giselle cut in smiling. "Obviously the fault was hers. If you wish her to be punished, I can talk to Lord Tristan…"

"What, no! The fault was mine."

"I told you Lord Niklaus is a true gentleman," Lady Aurora said smiling. "Will you join us, my lord? I believe Lord Elijah was looking for you."

Unfortunately Klaus didn't have much choice. He had to force himself not to look at Nadine; the last thing he wanted was to cause her any more trouble. He had certainly done more than enough damage to her already.