“Why are you sending her away when you don’t want to?” Malphus asked after few fleeting seconds.
Alexander who was dabbing his hand with his kerchief smiled dryly, “Because the circumstances calls for it.”
“Surely you have a solution,” the man asked to which the Lord hummed in response.
“It isn’t enough to handle the sitch. To put this entire situation to a complete end will take time and having the girl I care for next to me is only going to complicate the existing situation,” Lord Alexander sighed, “That doesn’t mean she will be safe in the south. That is why I need you to have a close watch on Katherine while you are there. She’s too trusting with people.”
“Of course, Milord.”
Malphus pondered on the Lord’s words once he got out of the room.
Lord Alexander wasn’t a simple man. If asked, he would suggest Katie to stay in Valeria but then it seemed that the Valerian Lord already had the bolts and wheels already set in motion.
Early in the morning, Reuben, the head council visited Lord Alexander in his mansion to discuss about the proceedings of the trial.
Katie who was in her room, picked the folded clothes to place it in the trunk that was on her bed. Her eyes were red with the lack of sleep as she hadn’t got a wink of sleep since she had gone to bed.
A month was too long. It had almost five weeks, thirty-one days and seven hundred and forty four hours but that wasn’t what she was worried about. Last night when she had gone down to get water for herself she had found Elliot and Sylvia talking in a hushed tone in the dinning hall with no one but them there.
She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop but when her name was mentioned she couldn’t help but stand next to the door.
“But why?” she heard Sylvia question in a hushed tone.
“Sending her away from Valeria is the best option. Didn’t you see what happened today? There are people who are trying to take Alexander’s title down,” Elliot said.
“What did the council say about it?”
“They are over looking today’s incident for now because its Alexander but we don’t know how many times we are going to be lucky with it. Having Katie go to the south would negate what happened in the council’s event.”
“Katie will be off the grid that way,” Sylvia murmured with agreement, “But…do you remember what happened few years ago? Alexander had promised the girl to visit her but with days he had stopped even asking about her.”
“She was a child then, Sylvia.”
“But that doesn’t mean he keeps his promises,” the woman argued, “I’m worried that he’ll break her heart.”
“True, he breaks his promises,” Elliot agreed, “But not his word. Trust their fate…We can only do so much the rest is up to them. What about your aunt who moved…”
She didn’t know what to make from what they spoke. It wasn’t for her to hear but she had heard it anyways and now the anxiousness had done nothing but increase.
Lord Alexander said it was for a month but what if it lasted longer than that? What if the trial was made into a permanent rule where she could not return back to Valeria? Would Alexander come to even meet her?
Taking a deep breath she chased away the thoughts to finish packing everything that was needed. Unlike her the remaining servants she had befriended were from Valeria, and only three more of them were going to be sent to the south empire including herself. With the little trip she was taking to the south now she could go visit her friend Annabelle. She had been thinking to visit her but hadn’t decided when to.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Ralph knocked the open door of her room, letting himself in.
“Done with the packing?” he asked her seeing the trunk on the bed.
“Yes. Let me take it down,” Katie said putting the trunk down carefully while dragging it.
“I’ll get it,” he said taking it from her. Seeing his sister look at the room once again before stepping out of the room, he asked, “Did you speak to Lord Alexander?” and Katie shook her head.
The last they had spoken was yesterday in his study and in the morning he had been busy in the study again with the head council. The carriage was already ready for their departure while Katie dragged her unwilling heart across the hall of the mansion.
Letting the coachman take their luggage she saw Elliot and Sylvia who was out there with the butler and the others who had come out to wish them a safe journey. Katie’s eyes searched for the Lord but he was nowhere to be seen. She wondered if he was still talking to the head council. Of course he had important matters to attend to that stand here and wish her like others when there was the responsibility of the entire empire.
As Malphus spoke to the butler, Katie looked up to her window and then to Lord Alexander’s room. Oh! She had forgotten to pick the little book she had placed under her mattress.
“I’ll be right back,” she informed Ralph before going inside the mansion.
Heading to her room, she walked towards the bed and rolled over the mattress to find the book where she had last left. Picking it up, she walked out of her room. The door to the study room was still closed and as she walked through the corridor someone suddenly pulled her arm into a room without any warning.
She felt a set of lips on hers as she tried to get over the shock that Lord Alexander was the one who had surprised her by pulling her into one of the rooms. She felt him lick the seam of her lips as he kissed her to open up for him, their tongue tangling with each other as the kisses grew desperate.
The book Katie had gone to retrieve was now on the ground. Alexander’s both arms pulled her impossibly closer to him as he stole the very breath away from her lips.
Once he pulled away, her head fell forward to rest on his chest while she breathed in and out for air. She opened her eyes while her hands still clung to his shirt.
“Did you think I would not see you off?” She heard him speak above her head.
“Would it be too much too expect?” She asked him softly and felt him pull away from her body.
“It wouldn’t, silly fool,” he brushed his thumb over her lips and he then asked, “Did you take everything you needed?”
“Yes.”
“That’s good,” said Lord Alexander giving her a gentle smile, “Be a good girl and avoid trouble.”
“Will you come to the south empire during this time of trial?” She asked him anxious.
“I will. May be not right away but I will be there for few duties. I will visit you then,” he answered her promptly but seeing the uncertainty he chuckled, “You don’t seem to believe me.”
And he then leaned down to give her a quick kiss on her lips as his expression turned serious.
“Don’t let any man touch you. You are mine,” her heart skipped a beat, “Wait for me,” and that was enough to wash away all the unsettling feelings she had.
Katie now sat in the moving carriage along with Ralph and Malphus who had left the mansion an hour ago. Ralph had been talking to Malphus about the work he did and the place they would be living in. She bit her lip thinking about what Lord Alexander spoke to her. Before she had left the room he had asked for a favour from her which she had agreed to.
Unconsciously she brought her fingers to her neck.
The journey was a long one, and Katie fell asleep in between. She was woken up by Ralph calling out her name as they reached the heart of the south empire now.
When Lord Alexander had asked ‘Did you take everything you needed?’ and she had replied with a yes. But the truth was that she had left her heart back in the mansion, with him.
She could only hope for time to speed up so that she could return back to Valeria.
