𝙰 𝙲𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝙴𝚖𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎 (wlw)

Chapter Twenty- One

Sitting with the quill pen between her fingers, the ink yet to touch the blank page that was reserved to take the physical form of her thoughts, Anastasìa couldn't narrow down what words to write and where and whom to send them to.

There was so much going on inside her head, the doubts traversed the plains of her mind, like a lull at first that slowly evolved into a soaring river. This doubt turned fear crippled her for hours and through her inability to function in writing the letters, there was a question Sylvia had asked that kept reappearing and repeating itself to Ana while she sat there trying to find the motivation and courage to speak her truth.

What if no one believed her— what if she wasted her time and effort writing the letters? Her effort would be wasted, made a mockery of by everyone and Ana didn't know if she had the stomach to face that but these were her friends and relatives so she convinced herself they wouldn't disregard her that easily, or would they?

Taking pen to paper for the millionth attempt, the vampire scribbled, finally about to address someone, anyone. "Dear...." Had been all she wrote when a thought intruded upon her action.

What if they did? What if she was disregarded, viewed as flippant, unreliable and unstable? What if Dorin and Inaya had done irreparable damage to her name, and image? No one would believe the letters. What if her relatives were disappointed and this disappointment turned them against her? The lie that was told, about her wanting more and that she couldn't be tied down in Ashea to the point where she had to leave ultimately, finding herself married to an unknown prince was detrimental.

As a member of the royal family, to abandon one's duties and title was often viewed as an act of rebellion whether for good intent or not. Redeeming oneself after basically saying to one's entire family and the other nobles that they didn't want to be there would be hard. Asheans weren't known for their forgiving nature, especially vampires so it was rare that Sylvia didn't hold anything against her when she showed up there after being out of touch for so long. But that was Sylvia: they were past lovers and friends and were quite close at one point. Ana couldn't say if the same would follow her with the others. Not everyone would be as patient and understanding as her dear friend.

With an exasperated sigh, all the excitement and hope that the woman felt moments before was no longer there. They seemed to lift into the air like smoke, disappearing gently.

Putting back the quill pen into its inkwell, thereafter, Ana got up from the table. She walked around, crossing over to the other end of the room where she stood by a window.

Her rapt gaze took in the stillness of Blaise Keep during that noon time. The castle was indeed a breathtaking place; the garden was even better and at that time of year, the countless native flowers were slowly coming into bloom. Glaring down at them, Anastasìa ogled at her favourite out of them all— the Petit Serpent. Their white petals and bright yellow heart always contrasted her dark hair and tan skin, giving it an ethereal glow, it's what her father would say to her as he tucked one of the flowers into her hair.

Anastasìa smiled at the memories of her Alexandru. He was such a sweet man: kind-hearted, jovial but just as he was charming and kind, he was equally stern and dutiful. Nonetheless, the more she thought of him, the faster her smile faded from her lips. It was crazy how after his death everything went downhill for her. What was even crazier was that she had no idea how and when he died, just that one morning she received word of his demise and later that same day his corpse or what little was left of him was delivered to her.

In her heart though, the vampire believed that Inaya had something to do with his death. She believed the woman had everything to do with both her father and uncle's death. The way Andrei had also disappeared was never talked about as much. Sure, he was a dodgy man with horrible spending habits, but he wasn't oblivious or as reckless as people made him out to be. So to have learned all those many years ago that he went away without so much as ever being seen again was always a bother. Ana had been friends with Sylvia long enough to recognize women with similar characters to her— Inaya shared many similarities with her and it was until her captivity that this was revealed.