Chapter 284: A gnawing question
Arabella caught herself following the zooming books across the library, a thousand screaming voices in mind.
She’d long since finished with the mini dictionary that Silas had requested and then fallen into a limbo of distractions.
"What are you thinking about?" Ada’s words brought her back into reality.
"Many things," she shook her head slowly, "I am not even sure I can distinguish any enough to cite them,"
"Understandable," Ada placed the book in her hands back on the table in front of her, "The night is still young. Do you think you’ll get any sleep?"
"I am not sure of that either," her fingers played with the edge of the table, scratching softly at it, "You know, he’s offered me to undertake and handle one of their family businesses," she stated.
"He did?" Ada’s eyes widened, "Which one?"
"I am supposed to pick one, but haven’t gotten to it just yet,"
"And which one interests you the most? I mean have you even gotten the full list?" her friend tilted her head to the side, a small smile on.
"Not really," Arabella said in a little voice, her attention still taken by the edge of that table, "I just don’t think I’ll fair at it since I’ve never had any business management training,"
"Well, it is never too late," Ada shrugged, a hopeful glint in her eyes.
"No, I suppose not," the young woman took a deep breath then exhaled loudly, "You are right,"
"You are not crazy," Ada’s hand slid across the table before taking Arabella’s, "It is perfectly alright to be afraid in these circumstances. What he offers is an uncharted territory for the likes of... Well, us," she lay a hand on her chest, "I may have lived here for longer than you have but that doesn’t mean I don’t remember the way of life in Lustris for a woman, whether servant or noble. Even the queen was restricted. So, the best thing for you is to take things step by step,"
"No, you are absolutely right," Arabella shook her head and plastered a smile across her face.
Right then, and before Ada could say what she had, the library door opened. A formally dressed young man stepped inside and made his way towards the young women before stopping a certain distance away.
"Lady Arabella," he bowed respectfully, "Master Silas has requested this letter be delivered to you and instructed that you handle it from here,"
"Oh...," she pushed her weight off her chair at once and walked quickly to retrieve the letter from his hand, "Thank you,"
The butler immediately retreated, allowing her no time to ask any questions.
Ada stood up as well and hovered over her shoulder, "What’s the letter about if it isn’t private?"
The sound of rustling paper joined the whooshing of the floating books for a short while, "Oh dear! It is a message from Liriel!" she squeaked, making a little leap in her spot.
"She along with her entire village will be making a stop here at the manor as it is tradition so that the vampires and fairies can leave together for the caverns," Arabella slowly folded the letter back, an ambiguous look on her face.
"If that look on you tells me anything, it’s that just like me, you’d completely forgotten about the spring equinox celebration, didn’t you?" Ada chuckled.
"Well...," Arabella started but trailed off.
"Worry not," Ada placed a gentle hand on her back, "It is no surprise for humans to forget about it. We are not invited to stand witness with the people’s region," her smile was warm, "Every year without a fail, me and the daytime staff watch the birth of the spirits from the manor, and we don’t even contribute to the preparations for it,"
Arabella breathed out, allowing her shoulders to relax, "That makes sense," she nodded, "In any case, I still don’t know how to handle this," she lifted the letter higher in her hand.
"Assuming Master Silas knows the content of this letter, he probably expects you send a response to the Fata fairies,"
"Right. I should let them know that the message was well received," she clutched the letter a little tighter.
"I suppose this is his way of slowly involving you in family matters and businesses," Ada lay a comforting hand on the woman’s shoulder, "Have you... Spoken about your union? I mean to make it official?"
"I thought this brooch made it official enough," she half asked, fondling the brooch between her fingers.
"Yes, to a certain extent," Ada walked back towards the table and sat down, "The brooch will let people close to you know who you are paired with, but not the rest. For someone as influential as Master Silas, a great announcement of his union to his partner has to be made so that his peers know a new member has been welcomed to the family,"
"This has completely been eclipsed from my mind," Arabella followed in Ada’s steps and plopped in the chair beside her, "With everything else going on... I haven’t thought about it at all,"
"Well, yes. So much has happened in such a short period of time and... Here we are," Ada gestured at her own seated figure.
"I will try to broach this matter with Silas this evening or... Whenever we get to see each other," Arabella chuckled nervously.
"Of course, you’ll see each other tonight!" Ada gave her a gentle nudge with her elbow, "He would never pass one without seeing you," she gloated.
The shade on Arabella’s face began to shift rapidly, deepening before Ada’s amused eyes.
Would he? She wondered.
They’d been practically inseparable since their mutual confession, but how would things fair in the public eye.
Would his peers accept and welcome her, or would they look down on him for even considering her as more than life stock to be used?
The question had been gnawing at her for a good while... It never went away. It was one of those questions that persisted until answered.