The Vampire Prince graduates High School (Book 3)

Lady Hargrave

"These are great," Alexander said.

Lady Hargrave's gaze seemed to bore into Alexander. I nibbled on my sandwich. She had to suspect something was wrong. Strangely enough, Lady Hargrave continued to let us eat while she sipped from her wine glass. I tried to eat a little bit of everything but it was hard to ignore Lady Hargrave's look of suspicion.

One of the servants poured me a cup of tea. Smiling at her, I took it and took a sip.

"I must say," Lady Hargrave said, "I didn't expect such communication. It's been a long time since we last spoke."

Alexander sipped his tea before replying. "Yes, it has been awhile," he agreed. "There's been a lot of . . . work recently and even before."

"Yes," she said, taking another sip. "I've seen the news. It's a shame it has come to this. We've tried so hard to get along and yet, this is how we're treated."

"It's not humans this time, mother."

Lady Hargrave smiled. "It doesn't look like that initially," she began.

"I won't have this conversation again."

Suddenly, these Danishes were really good. Best I have tasted even.

"Of course not," she said. "You didn't come here to argue, yes? Tell me, what can dear old mom do for you?"

Alexander put his tea cup down. "I'd like to have your blessing." He grabbed my hand. "I want to spend my time with Rin."

The expression on Lady Hargrave's face never wavered. "To think that my son has found someone to cherish," she said. "I am . . . delighted. This is joyous news indeed. You've started preparing for the announcement ceremony?"

"Yes ma'am," I replied.

She chuckled. "There's so much to do," she said. "I'll look over what you have. Don't want to miss anything of important, right?"

"I would be honored to have such help," I replied.

"Good," she said. "Brenden."

Almost immediately, he appeared beside her. "Yes, my lady?"

"Take the Crown Prince to get measure for his ceremony," she ordered. "Five suits will be enough for now."

"Yes, my lady."

Alexander finished his scone before standing. He leaned over to me and kissed my head. With a pit in my stomach, I watched him leave.

I placed my mini toast down on my plate and wiped my hands on the fancy napkin.

"Don't stop on my account," Lady Hargrave said. "I had my chef make all of this for you. It's very difficult to gauge how much food a human consumes in one sitting."

"They're very delicious," I told her.

Lady Hargrave placed the wine glass on the table and leaned forward. "You wish to stand beside the Crown Prince. I must say, I didn't see your name on the list of candidates."

"I wasn't on there," I told her. "We met -"

"Oh that's right. It was during the time the Crown Prince was accused of such barbaric actions and wrongfully imprisoned. You were involved with that nasty incident."

My cheeks burned. "Yes, it was during the time His Highness was put on probation."

Lady Hargrave's eyes glowed. I wasn't blaming Alexander, but why did I get the feeling she was trying to blame it all on me. We were both at fault and we had come to terms with it. Otherwise, we wouldn't be together.

"It's behind us now," I told her. "We've come to terms with our shortcomings."

"Have you now?"

As she stared me down, I took a sip of my tea.

"Not everyone is qualified for such an esteem job, wouldn't you say? You can't ask an optometrist to do the job of a cardiologist."

"They're both doctors," I said, quietly. "They both had to learn their craft through study and practice."

Despite the sun, there was a chill in the air. Then, Lady Hargrave smiled.

"Yes, but anyone would know that they need to pick a career they're most suited for."

It was hard to argue with that logic, but I wasn't here to argue. I could already tell that Lady Hargrave wasn't fond of me. I knew getting her support wasn't going to be easy so, all I had to do was stay calm and try to be polite. For now.

"That's true," I replied. "You need a career that makes you happy. Otherwise, it'll be miserable for everyone involved."

I ate more of the Danish treats. Lady Hargrave enjoyed more of her drink. Occasionally, she would ask me about school, and my age, and of course those got some remarks.

"It does help that your enthusiastic," Lady Hargrave said.

"It's about helping Alexander," I told her. "He has and will continue to have a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders. If I can help him even a little bit then, I'm content with that." I took a sip of my tea.

Lady Hargrave's lip almost curled in disgust.

"Help is important," she agreed, "but it needs to be help from good sources. From those who have the capability to do more than just cheer someone on. Someone is needed to look at the real issues and problems, and not to be swayed by irrelevant issues."

I frowned into my empty tea cup. I had a vague idea what "irrelevant issues" meant. Luckily, we didn't have talk much longer. Soon after, Alexander returned with Brenden.

"Miss me?" Alexander said, joining us at the table.

"Always," Lady Hargrave replied. She emptied her glass.

"Now that I have you here," she continued. "I need some help understanding how my son is a human."

Alexander and I shared a glance. We should have known that was going to be brought up sooner or later. 

A/N 

I'll be traveling for the next two weeks. I won't have reliable internet so updates might be pushed back. If I do manage to post a chapter, I'll let you know. 

Thanks for reading.