Ezra left Katerina sitting in the water, believing she was crying due to the faint sniffling he heard on the way down the stairs. For a moment he felt remorse for the way he handled her but he didn"t appreciate the runaway skit she pulled on him to only lead her to being with the one man he loathed the most. Duke Alessandro of Mobley. What a peasant, he thought. He was a pure blood vampire but an embarra.s.sment to the vampire race as a whole. The minute Ezra met Alessandro a few hundred years ago, he knew the man would become a problem. Mobley has increased in human death rates and there were more turnings of half breeds. It was a disgrace and Alessandro cares nothing for region order.
He has no interest in making peace with the man and now that he had gotten as close as to touch his pet, it made Ezra boil on the inside. He turned the corner of an open corridor to see his mother standing in the middle of the large gla.s.s area where the ball would be held tomorrow.
Tomorrow, he though with a twitch of anger. "Mother." He swiftly made his way to her side.
"My dear son. Which colors would you think Alessandro would like best?" She politely smiled but Ezra ripped the cloths from her hands.
"Where is Alessandro." His tone made Elisabeta extremely uncomfortable but she tilted her head.
"He already left some time ago. You should thank hi—" her words were cut off by Ezra holding his hand up.
"Did you know he had my pet in his possession today?"
She nodded in response. "He returned her because she had somehow gotten away from you. Do make sure you keep the leash short on this one. It"s terrible enough that you gave her that collar." She glanced at him and continued picking items out for the ball.
Ezra rolled his eyes, "Stay out of my business mother. Where is it?"
She shrugged her shoulders, "I have no idea, dear. Stop obsessing over this girl. I know that she is enchanting, but your track record says otherwise." She warned.
When he didn"t answer, she continued. "It was fairly rude of you to dismiss Astrid like that today. Shame on you son. She will make a great wife for you." She spoke as if the two were already betrothed and that made Ezra sick.
"I expect Alessandro to watch his tongue tomorrow. He will be in my Kingdom." He turned around on his heels and headed to the exit.
As he returned back to his chambers, he noticed puddles of water scattered about the room. Katerina had removed herself from the tub and fled to the corner of the room near the fireplace. She hadn"t feared vampires all this time and she believed that she still didn"t but the fear she felt with Ezra overwhelmed her.
With her face buried into her knees that were pulled tightly to her chest, she sobbed uncontrollably. She wished things were back the way they were and she wished that she was back at home. She wanted to be in the market with her father and giving young children pieces of her mother"s infamous sourdough bread. She wanted to be back in her padded bed, staring at the stars out of her window each night.
Ezra watched her as she sat there, not even noticing he was there. His eyes furrowed when her shoulders shook with each hard cry. He felt pity and he was beginning to feel the guilt eat away at him. He still could not explain why he felt so drawn to the girl but he reluctantly walked over to her and picked her up easily in his arms.
Katerina didn"t care that he touched her now nor did she care what would happen to her. He had finally won the battle of taking any type of innocence and happiness from her. His warmth soothed her shivering body from leaving the tub but she kept her arms at her chest and her eyes shut.
Ezra said nothing to her as he carried her back to the stone tub, refilling it with new warm soapy water. He kneeled down to set her on the edge and his hands gently pushed her hair out of the way to remove the gown from her body. She kept her eyes closed, knowing exactly what was happening but she didn"t resist. He peeled away the last piece of wet gown and placed her into the water. He sat himself on the edge and pushed his legs into the water on either side of her without removing any of his clothing.
The entire wash room remained in silent, as he tenderly bathed her and combed his fingers through her ginger locks. Tears still streamed down Katerina"s face but the water covered up her emotions. His touch didn"t relax her but rather made her tired. She was exhausted from the days events and she was also starving but she didn"t dare ask for food.
Once Ezra was done, he placed a soft wooly cloth around her body and then picked her up in his arms again to place her on his bed. He walked over to the large mahogany dressers filled with clothing and returned back to her with an over sized solid satin top. He unraveled the cloth from her body and immediately b.u.t.toned the top on her. He pulled the sheets away from the made bed and had her lie down comfortably.
The soft sheets and padded pillow offered comfort to Katerina so her body finally relaxed. She kept her eyes closed and immediately drifted off to sleep.
Ezra sat in a chair near the fireplace, watching her body move up and down with every breath she took. His eyes darkened in red from the sadness that swept over his emotions. For many moments, he only stared and watched her sleep until the moon was high in the sky indicating that it was near midnight.
He finally pushed himself out of the chair and kneeled down in front of her on the floor. He did not touch her but his voice whispered, "I hope you can forgive me."