There Is No Me Beyond You

~19~

There were three members of the Council instead of the two Vlad had mentioned, I noticed as one of the Knights opened the massive wooden door of the Great Hall and Clara, Lucas and I walked in, even as he announced us.

Vlad was at my side then, taking me off Lucas' arm and leading me to the side of the table which was set with silver plates-- for me, him and Clara.

Lucas was seated opposite of me, at the side lined with golden cups only, next to the three grey-clad vampires and Junior, who smiled and waved at me from the other end of the long table, where he sat opposite Clara.

Even before I could question Vlad about this move, as Junior, like us, preferred solid food, I realised that it was most likely done to blur the otherwise too distinct line drawn here between those who favoured the humans, and the others.

Vlad kissed my hand as I sat down at his side, then kept it in his under the table, giving it a gentle, soothing squeeze as one of the Council members spoke to me.

"Welcome back, Lady Samara. We are all happy that you have finally returned, and in a new form..." he flashed me a brilliant, fake smile and I forced myself to return it.

I remembered him, and the other two well-- they were those who usually followed, or preceded Rareş wherever he went.

As I didn't know what to say to that I only nodded and remained silent, trying to follow the conversation between them and Vlad, until our food was served.

Then Vlad finally turned to me. "I'm sorry for making you come here, but I missed you," he whispered, bringing our still joined hands to his lips again.

"I missed you too," I said, smiling at him, forgiving him instantly for obliging me to meet the awful vampires I disliked so much.

"I've heard that you and your friend... practiced fighting with knives this morning..." He spoke softly, making it impossible for anyone to overhear us, when I started to eat, left-handed, as my right hand was still in his left, resting on his lap. "I've been worried..."

"Is that why you made us come here?" I asked, glancing at Lucas who was deep in conversation with the vampire sitting next to him.

"Partly." Vlad admitted, looking at me guiltily.

Instead of apologising for making him feel worried, I decided to ask about the swords, knowing that he would not give me a better occasion.

"Could you please tell me where we can find a couple of swords for tomorrow?"

He took a deep, exasperated breath. "Samara..."

"Please?"

"Fine, I'll have someone show Lucas where to find everything. But not for tomorrow, tomorrow we will stay the whole day together, you promised..."

I beamed at him, the idea of having him to myself the whole day made me forget all about the swords.

In the end, the lunch wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. The curious members of the Council tried to find out where I had been, attempting to catch me off guard with their cleverly phrased questions the entire time, but with Vlad's help I managed to deflect them all.

Once the meal was over Vlad accompanied me back into the kitchen, saying that he would take Clara and Junior to visit her father in the mill on his way to the village, where the Council members needed to speak to someone and insisted on his coming along.

"Clara, it's too cold to take him out," I said, watching the young woman wrapping the poor, protesting baby in layers of clothing. "I'll look after him for you today, I have nothing else to do anyway. Unless you want to take him to your father, of course."