《FoxStone》Chapter 19 - Jewels of Heaven
Advertisement
At the insufferably smug look on Lord Blackstone's face, something fierce in Beatrice sparked, and the memory of what he’d said the night of her debut rang in her ears.
Can’t quite recall her name.
She straightened, hand clenching hard around the doorknob.
“What are you doing here?”
Lord Blackstone frowned and tossed her journal aside as he stood.
“You may be of the peerage now, my lady, but I outrank you by far—whatever your pretensions to the contrary. You’d best address me as lord.”
“You are a trespasser in my private bed chamber, Lord Blackstone. Availing yourself of my private effects. I should not be lecturing anyone on manners and propriety, if I were you.”
He studied her face.
“What happened to the pale, quaking, frightened girl I knew? I saw her downstairs, only hours ago.”
“She fled at the sight of you going through my things without permission.”
Lord Blackstone strode forward, closing the distance between them.
“You fear my mother.”
“She is a mage,” retorted Beatrice. “You are not.” She returned his glare with interest.
How is it I ever fancied this man?
Blackstone scowled, but only for an instant. Then his features composed themselves into a look of haughty satisfaction.
“Speaking of mages,” he said, turning from her to snatch up the forbidden booklet and tapping it with the back of his hand. “Is it true, do you suppose? My mother seems to think so, and she’s rarely wrong.”
“It’s just a fairy tale,” said Beatrice, fighting to keep a steady tone.
“Then why forbid it?”
When she made no answer, Lord Blackstone's lip curled upward to one side.
“What an incredible power. To bridge distances and worlds in the span of a heartbeat. Can you imagine?”
Beatrice blinked, lips twisting down as she took a step backwards into the hall.
“I endeavor not to dwell upon blasphemies, my lord,” she replied.
“Oh, of course not,” replied the young lord in a tone of exaggerated piety, crossing his heart with the Sign of the Six. “Forgive me, my lady.”
“Perhaps I shall if you explain yourself. Lord Blackstone, I ask you again. What are you doing here?”
“Ah, I must confess I assumed you’d taken up residence with Darcy. I never imagined they’d install you here. I let myself in because there was something I had lent to Alice shortly before her departure which I had hoped to recover. I did not realize my mistake until opening your…drawing book. I did, however, find what I came for.”
He lifted the Fox Lord booklet into view again and his smile broadened.
“I pray you will accept my apologies, and I further beg you will tell no one of my possession of this book. In return, I shall keep secret your having had it, too.”
Advertisement
Beatrice's lip curled and she only just managed to suppress a snarl. Longing to snatch the thing from his grip, she forced her hands down to her skirts to twist at the silk instead.
“Very well. Now, if you will please excuse me, I must change for dinner.”
“Certainly, my lady.”
Smirking as he tucked the booklet into an inner pocket of his waistcoat, Lord Blackstone brushed past her. She turned to watch him go, waiting until he’d disappeared down the stairs before following D’artanien into her bedchamber and shutting the door.
Beatrice had thought she’d seen the grandest of what Highreach had to offer. She’d been wrong.
Upon entering the great dining hall for the first time, she nearly lost her balance in craning back her neck to gape at the ceiling. Covered from edge-to-edge in a fresco painting of a twilight sky, it was all violets and cornflower blue and blush. Silvery “stars” twinkled like eyes from betwixt the parting clouds directly overhead, which themselves hinted at the ethereal figures of all seven of the greater spirits. At the center of it all—like a shattered sun—hung a resplendent chandelier of yellow diamonds. It was ludicrous in scale, two and half times the height of a man at least.
When she dragged her eyes away from this at last, she saw that opposite her was no ordinary wall but the mountain’s face itself, with a spring at its center which streamed down a crevasse and into an ornate basin carved from the blue-black stone. The hall was loud with chatter, but upon her entrance it quieted somewhat. As Charles jumped up from his seat to escort her, D’artanien shuffled off to stand vigil against the western wall.
Off near the rain-lashed windows, a string quartet of finely clad thralls played softly, a strange backdrop to Beatrice’s horror as Charles led her to a seat at the right hand of the duchess herself. Charles sat to her other side, and catching her eye, grimaced in sympathy. Jemison held high court directly across from her, most of the guests at rapt attention to what was surely a highly embellished account from his youth. Arron, to his left, sat in silence and eyed the skeleton quartet as though he’d very much like to join them. Gray, too, held his tongue—cheeks gaunt, face downcast.
And then there was Theodore, who sat at his mother’s other side, laughing uproariously and playing the perfect guest.
To Beatrice's extreme gratitude, the first course was served quickly—giving her an excuse to turn her attention from the overwhelming social clamor of it all and towards the pleasurable necessity of eating.
For a time, everything else became a blur as she indulged first in a delicious scallop gratin followed by leek soup with fresh-baked herb bread and garlic butter, then glazed salmon and roasted vegetables. But by the time the coffee, brandy and fig pudding came along, her silence had become notable.
Advertisement
“Not one much inclined to conversation, your new betrothed,” observed the Duchess, leaning forward to speak around Beatrice to Charles. “I don’t suppose she’s feeble of mind, too?”
Beatrice sucked in a breath through her teeth.
“Idle lips oft conceal busy mind,” she quoted, hoping the duchess shared her generation’s common fondness for Chershire. The elder woman pursed her lips.
“Busy, perhaps, but with what, Lady Stagon? Have you any thoughts of your own hidden behind that blank stare, or merely memories of the dusty old sermons you’ve read?”
For a few horrible moments Beatrice was shocked to silence. Jemison’s stories had ceded the floor. All attention was on the exchange between herself and the duchess now. Her cheeks grew hot.
“I’ve plenty, Your Grace, though I admit I don’t always offer them readily.”
“I see,” said Duchess Arinvale. “It is good, I suppose, to know when one’s thoughts aren’t worth the sharing.”
At that, Beatrice’s entire face burned and her lips dropped open, though she knew not what she might say. There was a scraping of wood on a stone, and her attention turned towards Jemison as he rose to his feet and clapped his hands twice.
“Let us have some dancing then, shall we?”
There was a general murmuring of agreement and a toast to the idea which led to a series of other toasts—as was customary—with a trio of thralls working to refill glasses as needed. The music took on a more lively pace as a number of the guests stood to make their offers. All the while, Beatrice felt the eyes of the duchess upon her, and all the while she feigned ignorance and looked steadfastly away.
Charles was first to claim her hand.
“You’re doing well,” he said. “Incredibly so.”
Beatrice huffed. “You’re too generous, sir.”
“I mean it truly. But this is only the beginning. She will extend her stay as long as she can, and so long as she’s here she won’t give up.”
Straightening, Beatrice tightened her grip on Charles’ hand and shoulder both, breathing deep of his scent.
“It will take more than a few insults and back-handed compliments to force any foolish display out of me,” she assured him.
At this, Charles frowned, lips opening as if to say more. But then the song came to an end, and they were forced by custom to part for the time and pay heed to their guests. But there was something in his look that gave her pause, and she summoned D’artanien from his post along the wall to ghost about along the outer edges of the central floor where they all danced. Thusly, he stayed as near to her as he could while she accepted offer after offer. By the time she took Jemison’s hand, she’d danced with over half their guests already and was most exhausted. But the Tiger shifter lead her away from the other dancers and to the grand table where Arron sat alone instead.
“Enough of your sulking about, Wolf.”
Snatching Arron’s hand, Jemison placed it around Beatrice’s. “The two of you shall dance.”
The huge bard caught Beatrice’s eye, and at the smile that bloomed across her face he blessed her with one of his own. Standing, he shoved Jemison off with a playful huff before offering his arm. Beatrice accepted, following him back to the others with a thrill running up and down her spine at his proximity. The masculine depth of his aroma filled her lungs, and she ached with the Call.
The other dancers parted to make way for them, closing in once more until they’d barely enough space to move. Beatrice didn’t much mind, though, as it forced herself and Arron into closer-than-usual proximity. Warmth pulsed from his body in waves, and the skin at the back of her neck tingled as she nestled in a little closer.
Meaning to be courteous, no doubt, Arron lead them nearer the center of the hall where there was rather more space. Once there, the others gave way for them still further—almost as if singling them out as the central pair. This, of course, made Beatrice terribly uneasy. Nonetheless, she was determined not to play the shrinking wallflower before the eyes of Theodor and his dreadful mother, and most especially not in her own house.
So instead Beatrice focused her attention as much as she could on the man in whose arms she was encircled. The man who, if she wasn’t mistaken, was as Called to her as she was to him. She was quite successful in her efforts, too, until the moment at which a great, creaking shriek of a sound issued from far overhead. A sense of cold foreboding flooded her veins, and then several things happened all at once.
Arron released his grip on her waist as, by the hand that still gripped hers, he flung her violently outward and away from him. D’artanien charged, clanging through the crowd to catch hold of her.
And the great yellow diamond chandelier fell, with Arron standing directly below it.
Advertisement
The Dream Knight (LITRPG Portal Fantasy)
Edward was transported to a world inhabited by man-eating goblins. A goblin wizard summoned him and a hundred other random humans in order to sell their classes and eat them. Edward tries to use his rare and powerful Dream Knight class to survive, save as many people as he can, get stronger, and get vengeance. Will Edward escape from the goblins? Will he get strong enough to avenge those who the goblins have slaughtered like cattle? Find out by checking out Chapter 1, giving this fiction a follow if you enjoy it, and giving it an honest rating!
8 231Kael Cor:A Vampire's Awakening
Kael wakes up in a prison cell, a newly turned vampire of the lowest ranks. A ravenant, he has no memories of who he was but was left to bask in the glory and bear the punishment of a life he doesn't remember. But in this world he finds himself Kael will have to strap up his boots if he should ever survive and escape the endless maze of dark tunnels where hundred of vampires and darkelves are slaves to humans, mining away for the whole of their immortal lives the magic metal oricahlum. But unknown to him a destiny and responsibility the likes of which has never been granted a vampire calls out to him from his bloodline, and from the eerie caves that served as his prison.
8 172The Epic Of Placeholder McGee
This is the story of a placeholder that holds places.
8 163Diary of a Space Sailor
Fresh out of the Academy UCS navy ensign Michael Cerenos is assigned to the cruiser Avalanche. As they set out on a routine patrol the green ensign gets his first glimpses of the wider Universe. But not all is what it seems like from the core worlds. Numerous issues plague the human settlements. From disasters to priates and labour disputes, the galaxy is very different to what Michael expects. This is his logbook. Updates are going to daily, but very short. I'm trying to write this like an actual diary, basically the book version of a found footage movie.
8 181World Revisit
Having no collection of her past, a confused young girl ends up in world unknown to her. A world with the nature as their source of life and magic, but at the same time also the cause of their despair and sorrow. The world seems to be facing a dangerous calamity. Being treated as an intruder, she will have to gain the trust of the people around her and find a way to live through this mess. With not much hope left, what can be done to prevent it? Nobody knows for sure, but a battle of life and death is bound to come. NOTE: Consider this story as the first version. I want to keep working on it so that the story can actually finish at one point for future development. I want to eventually make it a webtoon comic, but the story still needs to be written and the art still needs be improved. So I'll keep writing for now, but expect the final result to be much better than the story now. Until then, I hope we can have a great time together with this writing experiment. Thanks!
8 183Elf, Human and Vampire
Aoi is one of the 7 guardians that responsible for protecting the Elf Forest. She was the daughter of Ingel, one of the Elven kings and the next heir to the throne. She’s a rough and stubborn girl, who likes to do stupid things causing a lot of trouble has happened in her place. Yet, even with a such personality, she has a good heart. she always took care of his people, helped them and ensured their safety, making her loved by everyone even after all the problems she caused. On the day Aoi ascended the throne, she had escaped from the Elf Forest. While on the run, he has met Roy the king of the human kingdom. Unaware that Roy is king, he decides to follow Roy to the human kingdom. As a result of Aoi's actions an unwanted tragedy has occurred between Human, Elf and Vampire. This tragedy make Aoi realize that in a world of magic where there is light, darkness, love and hate, there are no right or wrong. Only fate will determine everything. And slowly fate has connected and make a moved forward to the future where there is no point for turn back.
8 99