By the time Heidi had caught up with the others, the black buck had been shot straight at its head by the lord. Timothy stepped down from his horse, walking towards the dead lifeless animal before he dragged its hind leg single handedly to place it on the back of his horse.
Dinner was a feast where other guests were invited to celebrate the catch of the animal. It"s head which was severed and was placed on a platter at the center of the long table. The guests included the Lord"s relatives and acquaintances.That night, Heidi decided to stick to the vegetables, enjoying the leafy, green and colorful food which was cooked by the cook of the mansion. Lord Nicholas sat at the head of the table and Heidi picking her safe place, sat next to Warren who was four seats away from the lord. Venetia seemed to still be miffed with her son and Heidi as the woman sat two seats away from them. Heidi was still getting used to the faces, trying to hold up a polite conversation at the table.
With their engagement a week away, some were excited about it at the table, some not showing their distaste for the human who was going to marry Warren and very few who were hardly bothered about it. The anxiety was already building with every hour of waking moment. Her clothes, the venue with other little details of the big day had been set.
Her empty plate was picked, to place a fresh one with a new course of meal by the maid. Picking up the fried vegetable with her fork and spoon as taught by Stanley, she placed it in her mouth slowly. As the conversations continued to flow at the table, she couldn"t help when her traitours eyes glanced towards the head of the table. Just as her eyes fell at the lord, his eyes met hers due to which she had to quickly look away as though she wasn"t looking at him. Scolding herself for being carefree in middle of the dinner, she kept her eyes down, completing her food and retiring for the night with a smile which didn"t reach her eyes.
Four days before the engagement she received news of the culprit being caught who had attacked the maid at the Meyers mansion. Not wanting to cause any disturbance at the residence, the person was brought to the lord"s mansion. Heidi being the curious one, left her room when a maid told her about it. She didn"t have to go down far as it seemed that they had brought in the person at the hall of the mansion.
It wasn"t one but two people who hand their hands bound. She stood behind the large pillar that covered her frame, letting only her face peep out from behind which went unnoticed by the men who were in the hall.
"You were right all along. The boy seems to hold a grudge against you," Lord Nicholas spoke looking at the younger male out of the two. His handsome face had been bruised, dried blood that covered one side of his dirty blonde hair, "But is he the one? I thought you said he was a human," Nicholas tilted his head in question.
With both the captives having red eyes, it meant they were both vampires, thought Heidi to herself.
"Who turned you?" Rhys who had come to the Rune"s mansion spoke to the younger boy calmly, "I hoped it wasn"t you, at least for her sake. What was your motive?" but not a single reply was received from the captives.
"Speak up boy," Lord Nicholas demanded.
"Why would we tell a bunch of pure blooded, blood thirsty vampires about it?" the other man huffed keeping his ground.
"Are you forgetting that you are part of us now," the lord smiled at the man"s stupidity. Snapping his finger, a maid arrived with a bow in front of them, "Let"s see who is bloodthirsty, shall we?" when the maid arrived to stand next to Nicholas, the lord picked up her hand and ran his sharp nail over her wrist to draw blood out of her skin.
At the sight and smell of blood the turned vampires looked restless but held back their basic instinct of needing to consume it. From where she was, Heidi could see the younger boy struggle as if the oxygen had been cut off.
"Maybe I should get her here. Lettice would be thrilled to see you in this state," hearing Rhys speak the boy suddenly looked up wide eyes, "Are you scared, Issac?" Mr. Meyers taunted the boy.
"Why should I? I have done nothing wrong," the boy named Issac answered for the first time since he arrived here, "Do you think just because you stole Lettice she is yours? That she will believe everything you say especially when it concerns me," he smirked, "I am the person she first loved. You don"t understand the power of first love."
"True, that you were her first but you aren"t her last. Don"t forget that it is I, who is her husband, not you. I who will receive the rest of her life, not you. It must be really troubling you to know that she sleeps in my bed, in my arms. Her body pressed to mine," these words were enough to rattle Issac as he tried to reach where Rhys stood but was stopped by the guards who held him. Rhys looked despicable, provoking the boy with his words.
"Don"t you dare!! You filthy creature! You have no right to speak about her like that-"
"She is my wife," Rhys words were sharp. Walking towards the boy, he pulled him, holding the front of his s.h.i.+rt. The pure blooded vampires were stronger to the normal vampires and turned vampires held the least power after humans, "How dare you try to threaten her? I didn"t expect you to fall so low to do something so unworthy of her trust," he spoke through gritted teeth.
"We never meant to harm her! Unlike you I am different!" Issac struggled to place his feet down on the ground.
Rhys scoffed, "Why did you kill the maid then?"
"I wasn"t the one who did it," Issac huffed after Rhys let him down suddenly to look at the man next to him who held his ground firmly.
"This taking really long," Lord Nicholas sighed, a bored expression marking his features. Indicating the guard about something, the guard snapped around the arm of Issac"s companion in an opposite direction than just twist his arm to hear him scream in pain, "I don"t think whoever turned you told you this but for your knowledge, a turned vampire takes a month before sustaining a stable transformation. Your immunity fluctuates so does the strength which stays only after drinking blood. It means that right now, you"re at your weakest state. I suggest you start talking."
Seeing that they were speaking, the guard inflicted more pain making Heidi flinch when they screamed.
"I-I didn" do it! I-it was never meant to be the maid" the man began to speak, his hand falling limp over his and he clutched his other hand over it in pain, "d.a.m.n it, it was never her but the other woman but I wasn"t the one."
"You dare to even think," Rhys eyes blazed in anger, "Who sent you after her? Who turned you?"
"What would you do if you knew?" Issac laughed irking the vampire who stood in front of him, "Unlike your kind, we keep promises. If I have been turned it would only mean it is for something worthy to fight for. You took her away by cheat. See me take her away."
Rhys lost at it. He held Issac"s throat in his hand, squeezing it, "I will kill you."
"D-do it. Do it because I would like to see how Lettice would feel once she hears about it," Issac spat.
"You won"t be alive for it and don"t worry. She will never hear about it," Heidi didn"t understand what it meant until Mr. Meyers stuck his other hand right through the boys chest to pull out something and throw at the floor. It was the boy"s heart.
The dead body fell limp on the ground and Heidi covered her mouth from making any noise. Mr. Meyers had killed the boy who had been alive few seconds ago.