by RWK Clark
He made a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich and leaned against the counter to eat it. While he chewed he began to feel like staying home. Maybe it would be good to just get a satisfying night’s rest.
Suddenly his mind flashed to Isabella. He wondered what she would be doing this night. The thought of her made something ache inside of him, something strange, yet familiar. The memory of her silky blond hair came to mind and he winced with pain. What was this all about?
Lucien had not seen Isabella since the Festival, and that had been months ago. She had come to mind twice since, and the emotions he felt both times had grown stronger. His brow creased with concern.
He finished his sandwich and washed it down with water. Yes, he needed sleep. He had obviously deprived himself of sleep lately, and these crazy thoughts would be remedied by a good sleep. He took off his clean jacket and swung it over his shoulder and walked back to his room.
He stripped down and got under the covers. His mind went to sex immediately. He thought about a faceless blond woman with her legs spread out before him. In his fantasy he was biting at her and licking her nipples, making his way down her belly. Right before he dove in he looked up to see her expression, and it was the face of Isabella.
Lucien sat up straight in the dark room and stared straight ahead, his heart pounding. He wanted her off his mind! He had become accustomed to her absence, and now all of these recollected memories were causing him massive amounts of grief and distraction. This was not part of the plan he had made for himself in the last eighteen months or so. What was he going to do to rid himself of them? Lucien rocked a bit on the side of his bed as he thought about a solution, but when none came to him he fell back into his pillow in frustration, praying that sleep would come.
Finally he dozed off, but he spent the night tossing and turning, Isabella dancing through his dreams, her blond hair blowing in an unfelt breeze.
Chapter 16
Rasia had been watching her son very, very closely, and she was pleased with what she saw.
Lucien was coming along into his manhood just as expected. She had been very worried about this period of his life; other men in the Family had educated her as to how it was, and with the knowledge of his lineage she was right to be concerned. She had been fully prepared to find bodies strewn all over the place while he grew into himself.
But it never happened, and now he was on the downhill slope of his change. He was fifteen, and according to the others, he would be completely through this phase of his growth by sixteen, or shortly after at the latest.
His behavior was changing as well, and this was the surest sign in her mind. He wasn’t prowling so much, to begin with. That was the first sign she had been told to look for. Now he was going out only four or five times a week as opposed to several times a night, and the women? In the beginning she would see countless females leaving at all hours of the night. In the last few months she would remember a total of only ten or twelve.
Lucien’s mood had also become calmer, almost morose. He was often quiet and deep in thought. She often asked if he needed a listening ear, but he would growl and storm off. Rasia knew he had to work through the changes on his own.
She fully expected him to come to her in the next year or so, though, and speak to her about Isabella. Rasia thought that the girl’s absence was beginning to come to mind, meaning he was breaking though. If this was the case he would want to know how to deal with the situation. She was ready to help if he came to her for guidance. In the meantime she would wait patiently, just as she knew Isabella had done, and was still doing. It would all come full circle.
∞
Lucien’s mother was correct when she noted that his drive was diminishing. He knew that she was always watching him, and he could almost read her mind, or so it seemed. Yes, the women were becoming a bit more burdensome and boring than before, and oftentimes he was angry with himself when he was finished with one. Something about what he was doing didn’t seem… right. Not the physical part, but all that went with it.
He pushed those thoughts far from his mind as soon as they came, but when he did he would then see Isabella in his mind’s eye, and the vision almost made him nauseous. Why he wasn’t sure. He just knew his feelings toward all this sex were changing. Perhaps he was simply experiencing boredom.
They weren’t changing enough to stop him fully, though. He often would go back into the obsessive mindset, but it always went away, and he found himself here, reclining in his room, staring at the ceiling, almost depressed. It felt like an impossible situation.
Yes, Rasia was right. But one thing she didn’t know, one thing that had escaped her, was that often Lucien was thinking about ending her. Those were the times when he would growl at her interruptions. He felt stronger than ever now, and so did the hatred he felt for that despicable woman. He knew deep inside that the day was fast approaching when he would get the job done, and he often daydreamed and fantasized about it to get his mind off Isabella.
He was fifteen now, and he had much more confidence in who he was and what he would be. It was just a matter of time before he took his place at the head of the Family, and the thought excited him. The world and everything in it was to be his. He just wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with it yet.
Oh, well, he thought. It will come to me.
∞
Isabella received a letter.
Her mother had let her know it when she came to her study room to get her for lunch. “You have mail, dear. When you are finished you can grab it from the hall.”
“Thanks,” she replied. She was starved, and she tore into her food with gusto. Her mother sat across from her and ate with her usual lady-like grace.
“It’s from Rasia DeSai,” she said softly.
Isabella stopped eating and looked at her mother. “What do you suppose it is?” she asked.
Rose shrugged and put her fork down on her plate. “I assume it is an invitation to Lucien’s sixteenth birthday in three months. Rasia will be getting a head start on this one; it’s important.”
Now it was Isabella’s turn to put her fork down. “Why would she invite me? I don’t want to go.”
Now Rose’s voice took on a stern quality. “It’s time, Isabella.”
The girl only shook her head defiantly. “I do not want to go. I’m happy, Mother. Maybe I don’t want to change things now.”
“There is no choice and you know it.”
Isabella looked down at the plate of food on the table, tears forming in her eyes. She knew the day would eventually come, but she wasn’t’ ready for it now. She had friends. She had her own life! Time had passed, and things were in her favor. How dare Rasia or Lucien think it was okay to assume she still wanted him?
Rose continued. “You still have three months to reconcile yourself to the fact. Lucien has grown strong. He is seeing things more clearly now, as a man sees.”
“Excuse me,” Isabella said as she stood from the table. “I need some time alone.”
Rose nodded. “Take the mail you have with you.”
Isabella walked out of the room and grabbed the envelope from the hall table, crumpling it in her hand. It was still firmly in her grasp when she threw herself on her bed. She closed her eyes and breathed in and out, preparing to open the letter.
After a bit she held the envelope up and straightened it a bit. Rasia’s distinctive writing graced the paper, and Isabella felt a tug of bittersweet at seeing it. Rasia had always been very good to her, and their relationship had definitely been their own. Even though she hadn’t seen much of the woman since Lucien had changed she still felt a great affection for her, and even missed her greatly at times.
Isabella ran her fingers over the front of the envelope, thinking hard about the inevitable events to come. She had always been so determined to get through this and come into her rightful place with Lucien. She never expected to feel the way she was feeling. She had come into her own, and she had put a lot of work into sparing her o
wn heart. Now it was as if none of that mattered. She was expected to step up with a smile on her face, and that fact was both frustrating and infuriating. How dare they?
The truth that she knew well was that her emotions were emanating from the human part of her, the part that was susceptible to feeling. She would not put up a fight, and she knew it. She would work through this and do exactly what she was expected to do, what she was meant to do.
After a while Isabella sat up on the edge of her bed and tore the corner off the envelope. She then slid her finger inside and tore the flap open. She withdrew a very beautiful card with words of gold embossed calligraphy on cream card stock. Rasia was really going all out for Lucien’s sixteenth birthday celebration. It seemed as if she were as relieved that Lucien was coming around as Isabella probably should have been.
The card cordially invited her and her parents to Lucien’s celebration dinner and subsequent party. It would be small, the announcement promised, with only Lucien, Rasia, and the Gilliams, if they would be so kind as to come, in attendance. Isabella knew that meant Martin Lamb as well, and she could only assume this was so reconciliation could properly take place.
She opened the invitation slowly, and a folded piece of stationery fell out and fluttered to the floor. She stared at it for several minutes. This would be a letter, either from Rasia or from Lucien himself, and Isabella was not at all sure she wanted to read it. Finally she resigned herself completely to it, and picked it up off the floor. Unfolding it she was relieved to see only Rasia’s script across the page.
Dearest Isabella,
It is with great joy that I invite you to Lucien’s sixteenth birthday! Finally, he reaches the goal that we have all been waiting so anxiously for!
With that being said it is important to me that you understand how pained I have been to watch the events of the last three years unfold. I have been terribly aware of your pain, and while I cannot personally relate to it, I have felt it with you, to a certain extent. Please, Isabella, accept my apology, and the apology that I now extend to you on behalf of my son and the Family’s future Master, Lucien.
While he does not yet offer this to you himself, he will. He is as aware of his destiny as you are of yours, more so now than ever. I am sure this is difficult for you to understand, so I ask you not only for your forgiveness, but your continued grace and patience as well.
I am overjoyed at the prospect of seeing you here for dinner and the party on his birthday, June 6. The menu is designed with you in mind, dear. Know that I care deeply for you and your position, and hope you will respond with positive news that you will be attending.
Affectionately,
Rasia DeSai
Isabella reread the letter twice. Yes, she would attend, as would her parents. She would respond such in writing, as was proper. At least when her own sixteenth birthday arrived in September she could count on Lucien’s presence this time.
She went to her desk and took out a sheet of her own flowered stationery, and she penned this response:
Dear Rasia and Lucien,
I am writing in response to the invitation you have extended my family and me to attend Lucien’s long-awaited sixteenth birthday. All three of us are excited to celebrate with you both, and we will attend both the dinner and the party afterwards.
Thank you for the invitation, and we will see you on June 6 at 7:00pm.
Cordially,
Isabella Gilliam and Family
She proofread the letter then folded it and placed it into a matching envelope, which she addressed without sealing. Mother would want to read it before it went out. She stood and headed back downstairs, where her mother was reading a newspaper in the living room.
“I have responded in writing to the invitation. I assume you will want to read it before you send it to the DeSais,” she told her mother from the doorway.
Rose looked up and smiled. “Good girl,” she said. “Let’s see it.”
Her mother took the envelope from her and removing the letter, scanned it with her eyes, not once, but twice. She then laid it on her lap and smiled at her daughter.
“I knew you would come around,” she said quietly. “I appreciate the girl you are and the woman you are becoming, Isabella. Thank you.”
Rose replaced the letter and sealed the envelope. “I will have daddy’s assistant take it to the White House today. He is here meeting with him in the office.”
Isabella nodded and turned and left the room in silence. It was the right thing to do, no matter how she felt about it. The smile of approval and the loving look her mother gave her was proof enough of that.
Isabella returned to her room to cry and say goodbye to the life she had been planning. As of June 6th it would be over for good, a part of her past, just as the last three years were quickly becoming. She hoped that soon she would feel emotionally safe enough to let her guard down for the sake of the family, and the destiny of her and Lucien DeSai.
∞
“Thank you for delivering this to me, Roger,” Rasia said to Patrick’s assistant. He had just handed her a flowered envelope with Isabella’s writing on the front.
The man nodded and smiled. “Well, I need to get going, Queen. Patrick has prepared numerous tasks for me to complete in the next two days, and it is important that I get started.”
“Of course. Take care now, and extend my gratitude to the Gilliams for me, will you?” With that Rasia closed the door softly and took the letter into the family room to read in private. She sat in her wing-backed chair and turned the envelope over in her hands. Isabella had always been such a good girl; it was a shame she had suffered for so long. Had Rasia had her way, she would have had a daughter, and the girl would have been just like Isabella Gilliam.
Rasia opened the envelope and removed the short note inside. She read it only once, and it made her smile. Isabella had written it while in pain, obviously, but she had not let her emotions dictate her words or her decision. Rasia would have expected no less from the extraordinary young woman.
She rose and went up the stairs, letter in hand, to Lucien’s room. She knocked lightly on the door.
“Lucien, I need to speak with you,” she said through the door.
She heard him clear his throat, and in seconds the door opened. He stood there and said nothing, only looked at her expectantly, his eyes full of depression and pain. She held the letter up for him to see.
“I have already received a response from Isabella,” she said with a smile.
Now she had his attention. “What did she say?” he asked his mother anxiously.
“She will be here, just as I knew she would,” Rasia replied.
Lucien nodded, breathing out a heavy sigh of relief. “Thank you.” He closed the door.
Rasia turned and walked away. He had been obviously relieved, for he knew that his behavior, no matter how out of his control, had hurt his lifelong friend and first lover. In his mind it was unforgivable, and she knew he had been very worried lately that no reconciliation would ever take place.
∞
Only two days ago, when she had sent out the invitation, they had discussed it fully.
“I think it is pointless to invite any of the Gilliams,” Lucien had said. “Isabella is through with me.”
Rasia had simply smiled and went about addressing the envelope. “You don’t know that. I am beginning to wonder if you ever really knew her at all, or have you just forgotten?”
He had begun to pace back and forth in her office. “What will I do if she will not come? I will never find another like her, one that… knows me so well and accepts me.”
“No, you are correct, you will not,” she told him, looking up at him with stern eyes to drive her point home. “But you shouldn’t fear. The Powers have chosen her, Lucien. They are in true control; not Isabella, not me, and not you.”
She had left the room and taken the letter to Martin to be delivered to the Gilliams, leaving the boy alone in her office. The concern he fel
t was good for him; it would build character. Let him stew and learn from it.
Now she walked into her office and closed the door behind her. It was essential that she keep up her recordings in the Book. Someday Lucien would need all the information inside to guide him, both the witch and the vampire within his body. She retrieved the Book from the safe and opened it on her desk, where she began to write.
∞
“Lucien, you will begin a new phase of your learning today,” Rasia said. Lucien had just come into the classroom, where his mother had been teaching him college courses for nearly two years.
He sat at his desk and looked at her. “What new phase?”
“Well, today we will take a trip to Cliffside Wineries, the pride of your father Cyril,” she began. “You will begin to learn all of its workings and meet the people there. It will be your responsibility to keep it running and make sure things continue as he wished.”
“So my destiny is to run a winery?” he asked her with sarcasm.
Rasia laughed out loud. “No, Lucien, but it is a part of it. Others will run it for you, but you are the ultimate overseer.”
She watched his face; he calmed right down. “You will also begin to learn leadership on a very profound level. Your lessons will no longer consist of text books. You will learn how to properly govern and ‘love’ the Family.”
He continued to look at her as he turned this new information over in his mind. Good, he decided. It was definitely a step in the right direction, the direction he wanted to go in. “Fine,” he said. “When do these ‘new lessons’ begin?”
“This afternoon,” she replied. “Effective immediately morning classes will no longer be held. I will take the mornings and handle business, then after lunch, daily, we will either go to Cliffside or engage in other forms of teaching which are in keeping with your future. We will go to Cliffside today. Enjoy your morning.” With a distracted wave of her hand he was dismissed from her presence.