Part 19

Nadine had no idea what had just happened when she headed back to her room. Had Tristan actually believed her terrible explanation? Of course she should have known that he would eventually hear about what had happened, but she had been too occupied to remember the whole thing. Had she really got away with it so easily? She doubted that. Maybe he hadn't punished her yet, but that didn't mean he wouldn't punish her at all. It didn't really matter. She felt stronger now after resting couple of days.

"What happened?" Lucien asked as soon as she opened the door to their room. "What did he want?"

Nadine shrugged; she managed to look very carefree.

Lucien sighed and shook his head.

"How nice. Dragging you out of bed in this hour for fun…"

Nadine walked over to him and touched his shoulder. Lucien smiled at her tiredly and kissed her forehead.

"Let's go back to sleep," he sighed and lied down on his bed.

She nodded and hesitated for a moment before pointing at herself and his bed.

"You want to sleep in my bed?"

She nodded; she felt that she needed the security his closeness always gave her. For the last two days she had been afraid to close her eyes when Lucien wasn't here, she had feared that someone would attack her when she slept. She had kept the door bolted, but it hadn't really helped. When they had been children, Nadine and Lucien had often slept in the same bed; he had protected her from all the bad things her vivid imagination had created. She has never had any nightmares when he had been with her. Of course she understood that they weren't children anymore and she certainly didn't want to make him uncomfortable, but she hoped that he could do this for her. Thankfully he didn't seem to be uncomfortable at all.

"Of course, sister."

She nodded gratefully and lied down beside him. The bed was narrow, there wasn't much room, but that didn't matter. Nadine fell asleep almost immediately and slept peacefully. So peacefully that she didn't wake up when Lucien got up and went to work. A knock on the door finally woke her up, she felt disoriented. The door opened and a servant girl called Aimee entered the room with a tray. Nadine got quickly into a sitting position.

"Breakfast for you," Aimee stated, her tone of voice was contemptuous.

Nadine looked at her disbelievingly, why was she bringing her breakfast?

"From the Lord Tristan," Aimee continued. "He wishes you to eat and get dressed."

What?

"You must have really…served him well," Aimee said smiling, her smile was mocking. "Good for you. Enjoy your breakfast. And this lovely room."

She muttered something on her way out, Nadine could easily pick up the word "whore". Great. That must be how all the servants saw her now. She hadn't really seen anyone else than Lucien during the last couple of days, but she should have known there would be rumors; Tristan never did favors to servants. She was officially his whore now. Just perfect. She tried her best not to think about what Lady Giselle would do when she would hear these rumors, if she hadn't heard them already.

This could affect to Lucien as well. No, there had to be something she could do to protect her brother. She didn't touch her breakfast; she had certainly lost all her appetite. Slowly she got up, washed her face and brushed her hair. Alright, she needed to get dressed and find out what Tristan wanted. She had just taken her nightgown off when the door opened; she had been too distracted to bolt it. She didn't have time to do anything except trying to cover herself with the nightgown. Kol marched in and grinned when he saw her.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, darling."

She glared at him and pointed at the door.

"Yes, I know I should have knocked," he said, intentionally misinterpreting her. "My deepest apologies."

She pointed at the door again, this time more firmly.

"I need to have a word with you, darling," he stated. "It's very important."

She shook her head angrily and pointed at the nightgown. There was no way she would do this without having any clothes on. He smiled charmingly.

"Your…outfit doesn't bother me, no need to worry about that."

Her angry scowl made him sigh.

"Alright, alright," he huffed and turned around.

She grabbed her dress and got dressed as quickly as she could.

"Are we done?" he asked and turned to look at her.

She wrapped her arms around her and looked at him cautiously. He raised an eyebrow.

"Why so nervous, darling? I thought we were friends already."

She really wouldn't have called them friends, but she did owe him one.

"First of all, I am glad to see you are feeling better," he said. "And it's wonderful you have nicer living quarters now. How generous of your master."

She frowned, where was he going with this? He smiled and took a step towards her, instinctively she backed away.

"The thing is, darling…"

"Lord Kol," Tristan's cold voice suddenly said.

Nadine curtsied quickly when she saw him standing in the doorway; Kol rolled his eyes before he turned around to face him.

"Lord Tristan."

"Are you lost?" Tristan inquired, his face was completely callous.

"No, I am not."

"What brings you here then?"

"I was looking for her brother," Kol lied casually.

Tristan stared at him piercingly.

"As you can see, he is not here."

"Yes, I can see that," Kol replied.

Nadine swallowed when they both stared at each other.

"Well, I should probably go then," Kol finally stated.

"Yes, I believe you should. Unfortunately there is nothing for you in this room," Tristan replied.

Kol smiled and headed to the door.

"And Lord Kol…" Tristan added when Kol was passing him. "I trust you will look for…her brother elsewhere for now on. He is barely ever here."

"Ah. Good to know." He paused and glanced at Nadine. "I apologize for the intrusion. Good day, my lord."

Tristan was quiet for a while after Kol had left; Nadine tried her best to stay calm when he closed the door.

"Everything alright, puppet?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Good. The men in that family seem to have…certain things in common," he muttered.

Nadine had no idea what he was talking about and he didn't clarify what he had meant. Instead he walked over to her and cupped her chin.

"Alright, listen to me very carefully now." He paused and made sure that she was looking into his eyes. "If anyone, and I mean anyone, a nobleman, a servant, it makes no difference, harasses you in any way, I want you to come to me immediately. Do you understand?"

She was confused, but she nodded.

"Good. Come to me and touch my wrist like this. That way I will know what you want to tell me."

She was even more confused, none of this made any sense to her. He was looking at her very strangely, she couldn't interpret his look. She startled when he leaned forward and touched her cheek.

"I want you to know that I will protect you, puppet, you can count on that."

What… Had he lost his mind? Well, he had acted strangely for a while now, so…

"Now, what I want is for you to join me, if you feel that you are strong enough to go outside?"

Outside? Sure… She nodded.

"Good. Are you ready to go?"

She nodded again, hoping to know where they were going. His very strange behavior made her nothing but nervous. Cautiously she followed him to the hallway. Could this be some kind of punishment? It could. Great. She walked behind him, like she was supposed to do. She looked up when she noticed Niklaus walking towards them, she was happy to see him. He stopped in front of Tristan.

"Lord Niklaus," Tristan stated.

"Lord Tristan. How are you?"

"Fine, thank you. And you?"

"Fine. Please excuse me; I am afraid I am in a hurry."

Niklaus didn't pay any attention to Nadine, like she wouldn't have been there at all. He didn't even glance at her when he passed her. That hurt. Well, maybe he had become a real lord then. Good for him.