Lettice who sat next to Heidi in the carriage, saw the woman pull out the pocket watch she carried with herself, flipping it open to see the time before putting it back in the left side of her over coat. Lettice"s husband Rhys had work with Lord Nicholas and therefore had brought her along with him to the Rune"s mansion so that he could discuss work with the other men. Her husband was an overprotective man who didn"t say much about his dislike towards humans but it was clear that he didn"t like her mingling with them. Especially people of the lower society. Rhys had been brought up in a house full of pure blooded vampires, his family shunned humans and it was a miracle how they had accepted her. The miracle being a soul bond.
The carriage headed in the direction of the town, the horse pulling the polished carriage in midst of the forest. She looked back at the two guards who sat in front of them. Out of the two, only one was hers and another was a.s.signed to look after her friend which was quite new as she usually had no guards around her. Back at the mansion before they had left, Lettice had suspected if Mr. Lawson had finally placed a mark on Heidi but there wasn"t any on her neck. The marks placed by vampires varied from another, like hers that looked like a vampire bite but with the few amount of soul bonds created in the vampire society, few of them had designs around their neck.The butler had been quick to send a guard along with them when both the women had decided to visit the church in the next town.
When they got down from the carriage, Lettice saw something she hadn"t expected to see. She could see a mark appear on Heidi"s neck but the mark didn"t belong to Warren Lawson.
Heidi who was brus.h.i.+ng the bottom of her skirt spoke, "Did you know that the priests here are all white witches? I never thought it would because in Woville-" Heidi stopped talking when she looked up at Lettice to find her staring at her neck.
"You have created a soul bond," hearing Lettice whisper, Heidi suddenly covered her neck where the name laid with her hand. With what she had learnt from Nicholas, the mark was going to stay hidden but to appear out of nowhere was something she hadn"t prepared herself for. Lettice pulled out her kerchief and put it around Heidi"s neck to cover the mark. Heidi didn"t know what to say.
Not knowing what to say at the moment, Heidi suggested, "Let"s go to the church," and both the women headed towards the church with the two guards following closely from behind.
Heidi had brought Lettice out in the town so that she could speak and ask about things she could ask no other. Sometimes books didn"t have the answers to your questions and Lettice was the one who could answer her. They had known each other for a short time but Heidi knew she could rely on the woman when it came to keeping a secret. Once they took their seats with the guards who sat at the back, Lettice finally asked,
"Was Lord Nicholas whom you were in love with?"
"Yes," Heidi answered, nodding her head. She then explained how things had rolled out between them, since the first time she had met Nicholas and up to now. Lettice heard Heidi speak with a contoured line between her eyebrows, occasionally nodding to Heidi"s words.
"Have you and Warren talked about it?"
Heidi shook her head, "We haven"t. I am not even sure what to tell because there are times when it appears that Warren is fulfilling his role as my fiance. I don"t know what to say to him but to go along as Nicholas has asked me to." Warren was his usual polite self, taking her out once in a while to the town or to visit his mother and relatives. Nicholas hadn"t spoken about it therefore she summarized by herself that it was the Lord"s orders given to Warren.
"If I hadn"t seen the soul bond I would have pegged him to be leading you on," Lettice confessed frankly. She had heard from her husband on how the lord had killed plenty of women in the bed and Heidi was a dear friend of hers. She didn"t want the lord killing her, "What are you going to do about the mark?"
"I"ll probably have to ask Nicholas about it. He said it wouldn"t appear at least until the conflicts in the south simmers but it has and I don"t know the reason. Does soul bond affect differently for each individual?" Heidi asked her.
"Maybe it does. We cannot say anything for certain as no one has researched things in depth. The universe is a black pitless hole. No matter how much one tries to attain knowledge there will still be things we don"t understand. I am sure Lord Nicholas will have answers for it. I am happy that you finally got soul bonded with the man whom you fell in love with," Lettice gave an encouraging smile to Heidi.
"Thank you for understanding," Heidi smiled back before looking at the priest who bowed at them as he walked past them.
"Do you visit church often?"
"Sometimes. I like the sounds of the bells. It gives me hope."
"You do know that running away isn"t an option anymore," Lettice spoke in a low voice to see Heidi sigh. Lettice had heard a fair share of what Heidi had gone through with her family directly from her and also the fact that she had once tried running away from her family which turned out to be unsuccessful.
"I know that," Heidi answered with a small smile. She didn"t plan to run away at least not since she had been bonded with the lord. She had found love, a place to belong to but she was scared about the future.
"What are you hoping for then?" Lettice questioned, looking at Heidi who had closed her eyes to listen to the bells ring.
"Acceptance," Heidi breathed out the words, "Everytime I build my courage to go tell him, something always interrupts us and I don"t end up telling him."
"It will be fine," Lettice promised her. The blonde woman didn"t exactly know what kind of acceptance Heidi was looking for but nonetheless she supported her, "Have confidence, Heidi. I am sure everything will work out just fine."
"Yes," Heidi nodded her head.