During the whole ordeal, Warren didn"t let go of Heidi"s hand. She was shocked when the slave finally did strip away her clothes in front of all the guests. She could feel the woman"s shame taken away from her. Streaks of tears making down her eyes. By the end of the soiree, Heidi was left speechless. Not only did she see the woman get naked out of force but she also witnessed another slave being beaten to the edge of his life. She was utterly disgusted and horrified. Was this why Warren had asked her not to raise her voice?
Warren was a half vampire but as he belonged to the pure blooded family, he along with his mother and Heidi went to meet Duke Wilford. The Duke was a man in his fifties wearing a fur jacket that looked expensive. His hands covered in rings that were made of gold.
"Good evening, Lady Venetia. It"s been a while since I last saw you, I must say you look beautiful. A timeless beauty," Venetia laughed as he kissed the back of her hand.
"I am honoured to hear that come from you. I hope your wife is doing well," Heidi found Venetia"s smile in a slimey manner.
"Warren. I heard you got yourself a fiance. Is this her?" the man looked at Heidi, his gaze travelling up and down her body making her feel uncomfortable yet she kept a smile on her face even though she didn"t mean it. As time pa.s.sed she realized how she was becoming one of them. Part of the society she wasn"t comfortable with.
When they returned back to the Rune mansion, Nicholas went inside leaving the couple standing next to the carriage. Heidi was angry and upset. She hadn"t expected Warren to turn a blind eye to what took place at the soiree. Not only he didn"t speak up but he hadn"t let her speak either. About to leave she turned to hear Warren speak,
"Don"t think much about what happened this evening. It is something which is part of the society," not holding back she turned around with a frown to look him in the eye.
"How am I not? Every human is his or her own person. You want me to behave like nothing happened?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yes, that is what I ask for you to do. What happened was a simple discipline being implemented not only for her but also the other slaves so none of them repeat any unnecessary mistakes."
"What you people are doing is stripping away that basic need," Heidi replied back.
"Slavery has existed since a long time and in one side it is a away for them to live by depending on their masters after being sold. And none of us appreciate other getting in others business," Warren spoke coldly with his unchanging expression.
"But-"
"That"s enough, Heidi. Please refrain from speaking about it. Do you understand what it would mean if you took their side? To jump into someone else"s matter? Not only would it reflect badly on you but also on me and my family. A slave is a slave, nothing more. This is how all the empires have been run all these years with hierarchy system."
"Is that what you really think?"
"Yes. And I hope you pick on it too else it"s going to be hard for you to survive in this place. Please rest well," he bowed not wanting to argue with her on it any further and got inside the carriage.
Heidi stood there, seeing the carriage take off in the night. Instead of going to her room, her feet carried her to the clock tower of the mansion. It was only at noon she had considered how well Warren had been brought up but now she could see the flaws he carried. She was disappointed by his words and behaviour. Maybe she expected far too much from him, she sighed loudly. She looked at the clouds move across the crescent moon. She took off the pins from her head one by one until her hair was let down and open, moving in the direction of the wind softly.
She had hoped that Warren would understand if she told him about her past. But it turned out that he wasn"t welcoming when it came to the thought about slaves.
She didn"t know how long she stood there until she heard the footsteps from behind. She turned to see it was Nicholas.
"The weather is cold. What are you doing up here all alone?" he asked coming to stand next to her.
"Thinking..." she trailed.
"Is it about the soiree?" he turned around to lean his back against the wall.
"Does it matter what I think?" she questioned him back with a small smile.
"Doesn"t it?" the lord then spoke, "It is good to sympathize but never to empathize, Heidi. I say this because you seem to be hurt and bothered since the man raised his hand at the slave."
"Are you asking me to ignore what happened too?"
"I never did. It is your choice by end of the day what you want to do. You might ask me to stop the establishment as it resides at Bonelake"s border but you need to remember that few things are or will always be out of our hands. The council that"s why hasn"t taken an approach in shutting down he establishment. There are people who will oppose and support it because that is how life has been thriving," Nicholas chose his words wisely, "We, particularly the pure blooded families have always been at the top. Most of our families have been taught that slaves are always beneath us, to listen to all the bids and orders. Consider the horse that pulled the carriage for instance. We know the horse as an animal that would help in pulling the carriage or ride on them for our own purpose. Pondering on it wouldn"t help anyone."
"But it wasn"t right what he did. And no one stopped him," she clutched the edge of the railings with her hands.
"No, it wasn"t right but vampires have their own way to discipline their slaves. When children, men or women, are sent to the slave establishment and brought from the auction with a vampires money, it becomes no ones affair to intervene how they treat their slave. The case lies solely between the owner and the slave."
"What if I was a slave?" she surprised asking him the question, " Would you treat me the same?" He stared at her, seconds pa.s.sing by in silence. The tower peaceful and quiet.
"What difference would it make, you would still be the person I know you are," he cracked a smile at her.
Taking her hand from the railing, he ran his thumb over her wrist gently, "Does it hurt?" she looked confused and then realized the mark Warren had left on her while they were at Duke Wilford"s manner. Warren had forgotten she was a human unlike him and had used his strength to keep her still. It was a mystery how Nicholas had found out about it.
He raised her hand and dropped a lingering kiss over the skin that had been bruised.
"You"re making things difficult for me," she whispered, meeting his eyes when he dropped her hand but not letting it go.
"That is because you"re picking the difficult road. Pick the one which is easy, darling," he replied linking his fingers with hers.
Heidi closed her eyes, feeling his fingers on hers while they stood in the clock tower. It wasn"t right and she knew it but it felt good. So good that she gave her heart to the man holding her hand now than the one who had placed a ring on her finger.