NIGHTS OF HALLOW

”Well, well, well, will you look at that heart-curling reunion?” Sthena tilted his head with a narrowed look on his face, his hands in his pockets as he sarcastically commented.

Perdita on the other hand was taken by surprise at the way she Mark embraced her. She tried hard not to disengage from the hug immediately. She patted the man on his back and slowly disengaged from the hug, well aware of Sthena’s sarcastic remark and his possibly narrowed eyes that would be on them.

”Ahem...” Mark nervously cleared his throat when he realized what he had done. He had out of joy at seeing Perdita hug her without a second thought. He greeted in glee, ”Perdita, what a pleasant surprise to see you. How have you been? I have been to Woodbridge a couple of times before but I didn’t see you nor your brother. Did anything happen?”

As his questions flew from his mouth, so did his eyes rake Perdita’s appearance, taking note of the noticeable change in Perdita’s appearance. She looked so mesmerizing in the sun-colored dress she wore. The green leaf embroidery on her dress highlighted her beautiful green eyes. How had he been a fool to let go of a brave and beautiful woman like Perdita??

Perdita bit her lower lip and forced a smile on her face. To clear her uneasiness, she let out a laugh and replied, ”One question at a time, Mark. To answer all your questions, I am fine. And we are no longer in the village for now.”

Mark squinted his eyes in question and inquired, ”Why? Did anything happen? You know you can tell me what troubles you and I’ll try my best to help.”

Sthena from where he stood with a disapproving look on his face rolled his eyes at what Mark told Perdita. The nerves in him already tickling to knock sense into someone’s head.

”No, Mark, nothing happened. I am fine. I now stay in the castle.” Perdita revealed and Mark’s face squinted in question was quick to be replaced by a surprised look. He asked unsure of what he heard,

”You mean here in the castle?”

”Yes,”

Mark was obviously surprised that he failed to notice the King who had been staring at them both. The more they exchanged their so-called heartfelt greeting, the more he got annoyed at how much familiarity they shared. Seems he failed to point out something which he clearly would as he wouldn’t allow just anyone to touch the woman he had his eyes on.

Mark continued to stare at Perdita because of what she told him. He hadn’t expected to see her here in the castle. Which reminded him of what had transpired on the night of the Hallow ball, when the King had bumped into Perdita. He could recall her calling him by his name that night. This had brought confusion and doubt in his heart as he wondered how Perdita knew the King to call him by his name.

Wait—Perdita was now in the castle meaning that the King knew about it. That means his suspicions had been right. Perdita knew the King. But what was their relationship with each other that made Perdita call him by his name leaving his title which no one dared to do unless the person wanted to be six feet down?

”What brings you to the castle, Mark?” Perdita questioned Mark whose presence was no longer with them. Her question brought him back to reality and in turn, made him remember the reason why he had come to the castle anyway.

”I—I came to—” Mark began and abruptly stopped talking when his eyes finally landed on the king. That was when he remembered seeing Perdita walk towards him with someone. His red eyes widened in disbelief and he quickly bowed his head in greeting,

”Greetings to you, Your Majesty!” How did he fail to notice the King had been the person beside Perdita?!

”I was beginning to question if you needed a pair of glasses or if I should do the honor of tugging out your eyes and replacing them with good ones.” Especially after having your stupid eyes on someone who won’t ever be yours. Sthena added in his mind, though his angry eyes somehow mirrored what was on his mind.

The sarcasm and the subtle hint of what he wanted to do at that moment mixed up with each other giving others the impression that he was just annoyed. But Perdita knew exactly what he was implying.

Was he jealous? She asked herself and stared at him.

”Forgive my negligence, Your Majesty.” Mark kept his head bowed. The nuts in this particular Vampire King’s head can twist and turn at any time. He still loved his precious neck!

Sthena waved his hand for the man to stand. He didn’t have the strength to deal with yet another dumb vampire. He said, ”I don’t remember announcing the castle to be a place of exploration. Did you by chance hear or see the order?”

”Huh?” Mark turned confused at first before he got the meaning of the King’s sarcastic reply. He clarified and stated the purpose of his visit, ”I came to submit a report of the progress of the mansion you ordered for me to oversee to, Chief Advisor Daemon, Your Majesty.”

”And?” Sthena wore a bored look on his face as he stared at the man before him.

Mark suddenly felt small in the presence of the King who commanded respect by merely looking at his shoes. ”I am done with the report, Your Majesty.”

”So?”

”I was about to see myself off, Your Majesty,” Mark replied and at this point, Perdita wondered if there was something more going on she wasn’t aware of.

”Before you saw your beloved ex-love interest.” Sthena completed Mark’s sentence with his own choice of words.

Perdita’s and Mark’s eyes widened simultaneously, not expecting the king to know about them.

”Now, run along. Your work is done.” Sthena narrowed his eyes on the man as he spoke.

Mark without wasting more time bowed at the King before he exchanged departing greetings with Perdita promising to see her again.

”How did I know he is your ex-lover?” Sthena turned to stare at Perdita whose mouth was already open to ask him the question. He replied himself, ”I overheard you both on the night of hallow ball when you two were dancing.” And he rolled his eyes again when he remembered their conversation.

Perdita held a dumbstrucked expression on her face. Her mouth was agape in astonishment. She could recall when Sthena joined the dance floor that night after she and Mark went to dance, appearing not so far away from them. So he had been eavesdropping on their conversation! It made her wonder how great his hearing ability was to be able to hear them even against the hallow music that played that night.

Perdita narrowed her eyes on him disapprovingly. ”That wasn’t a very nice thing to do, Your Majesty.”

”Already switching back to calling me by my title after you saw your beloved ex?” Sthena also wore a disapproving on his face as both he and Perdita stared at each other.

”Milord,” Daemon appeared at the end of the hallway saving the duo the argument that was about to ensue.

Sthena turned his gaze to Daemon, acknowledging his presence, ”I’ll be with you shortly, Dae.” He paused and at the same time, Emily walked into the hallway ready to assist Perdita even though her heart was still frightened at the sight of the King.

As if to add to the anxiety of Emily, Sthena told Daemon, ”—But before that, there’s a glass cup in my library, I need you to bring it for me, as it has turned out to be my favorite glass.”

Daemon pushed the spectacle that hung on the bridge of his nose upwards, reminding Perdita of the times she used to see Daemon in Woodbridge village. The man had been annoyingly mysterious then, both him and Sthena who continued to be annoying like he was now.

Daemon’s lazy gaze stared at the fidgeting hands of the maid she tried to hide, having noted the skip in her heartbeat when Sthena mentioned the infamous glass cup. He wondered what it was all about as he obliged the order of the King with a bow, ”Right away, Milord.” And he briskly walked out of there.

Sthena turned his sharp gaze on Emily and ordered, ”Assist your Lady in washing up. Take extra care as I hate the smell of perfume suddenly glued to her dress. After that, set up a meal for two in my chambers.”

”Yes, Your Majesty.” Emily respectfully bowed, her voice no longer holding the cheerfulness in them that Perdita noted.

Without sparing another word, Sthena left Perdita in the presence of the maid. Meanwhile, Perdita burned in anger because of what Sthena did and said just now. Was Mark’s perfume the perfume he hated that suddenly got glued to her dress because he had hugged her?

”My Lady?” Emily called to get the attention of Perdita whose gaze had been on the departing figure of the King.

”Yes, let’s go,” Perdita muttered, and with annoyance, she marched towards her room.