The Ghost Heiress (On Hold)

Chapter 1: Introduction

Once my Lord and his family got out of their palanquin the Academy' servants led them to the dining room, which would serve as the ceremony hall for the presenting of the heirs.

I followed behind them, keeping quiet so as not to attract any unwanted attention.

Entering the room I saw that the Academy's Lord, his mistress and son were all already sitting, polite expressions on their faces.

Along the walls stood the servants, with their heads down, silently waiting for an order of their lords and mistresses; to one side of the room, in a separate table, were nine young men, observing our arrival quietly.

All of the men were dressed formally, with their kimonos covered by the Hakana at the lower part and the Montsuki Haori jacket with their clan symbol on the upper part. However, their personalities were clearly displayed in their way of dress, or undress in some of their cases... I blushed.

It was clear to me that they were all paying attention to us even while they pretended to talk distractedly among themselves. I gave them a little smile before turning my attention back to my Lord and Mistress, wondering who they were. 

Samurais posted there to protect their lord and his family? 

But they had no swords that I could see on them...

"Welcome to our home, Sorensons," The Lord said, standing from his place to greet them. "It is nice to meet you and your family."

My Lord repeated his greeting without feeling.

The Academy's Lord turned back to his soon and said, "Come here son, meet Marie-sama, your new bride."

The boy stood up from his seat and walked towards Marie. At that moment I felt my eyes widen in shock, seeing a familiar pair of eyes, the same hair, nose and mouth. I immediately knew who he was but couldn't understand the "why" or "how".

Choosing to keep quiet, so as to avoid a severe punishment, I schooled my expression into one of disinterest.

"Nice to meet you, Marie-sama," He said. "Come, sit beside me." He guided her to the seat next to him and they started to talk politely among themselves, both with fake smiles on their faces and bored expressions on their eyes.

My lord and his mistress sat by the Academy's lord and mistress, talking cheerfully on topics that only they would find interesting.

Seeing that I was standing out by remaining standing in the middle of the room I looked around for a place along the wall to fit myself into.

As I turn around and start walking towards the wall, however, a touch in my shoulder causes me to stop.

I turn around quickly, my eyes going wide at someone's sudden presence behind me when I didn't see or hear him coming closer.

My eyes make contact with emerald green eyes behind black rimmed glasses, framed by light brown hair.

He looked like a studious guy, and I knew that I'd like to say it was his brain that would attract me to him, but in truth, it was those eyes. The power and strength in then along with the kindness that was clearly displayed there made me suddenly weak in the knees.

"Hi," He said with a slight smile, "I'm Dakota Lee. Would you like to come and sit with us?" He asked, pointing to the table in the corner filled with men, his green eyes looking at me expectantly, beckoning me to accept his offer.

My eyes went to study his companions. All eight of them were staring at me and I felt myself blushing under their scrutiny.

I averted my eyes from them, feeling nervous, and looked at their table which is filled with delicious looking food. Our travel had been a long one and I'd eaten nothing since we left our clan. My stomach growled embarrassingly loud making me blush again.

Lee-san smiled kindly at me and I said a quiet "Ok" to him.

Hopefully my mistress wouldn't punish me for sitting with them.

"Good." He said, clearly happy that I had accepted. I wondered why, there was nothing special about me and I knew that with my servant's kimono there was no mistaking my place in the Sorenson' household.

He took my arm gently and pulled me along to the table, telling me to sit beside him.

On my other side sits a boy with wavy, brown hair and what I can only describe as "fire eyes".

"Hi, my name is Victor Morgan," He said in a smooth, baritone voice. He seems to be the same age as me and Lee-san.

"Hello," I almost stuttered, the intensity of his eyes causing a deep tremble to start in my belly.

Next to Morgan-san sat a greek boy with dark hair and brown eyes, his name was Silas Korba and even sitting down I could tell that he was really tall. His voice was deep and accented, his body that of a muscled giant, but he was clearly a gentle one.

Then, there was Nathan Griffin, a redhead with serious blue eyes. He was the same height as Lee-san, but had broader shoulders and a very muscled chest, as I could clearly see through his half open kimono.

I blushed a deep red and ducked my head when he caught me staring.

Gabriel Coleman sat next to him. He had two-toned hair, a mix of brown and blond that looked striking against him wild blue eyes. By the way he was almost bouncing where he sat and how his eyes were lit up it was clear that he was full of energy and cheerfulness. I immediately liked him, he seemed like a lot of fun and his bright orange kimono fit him very well.

Luke and North Taylor were step-brothers, as well as polar opposites.

Luke-san was, surprisingly, the older one of the two, and a very obviously mischievous sort. His brown eyes sometimes looked unfocused as he started to daydream; his longish blonde hair was tied behind his head in a ponytail. He had a very warm and playful personality that made me want to melt at his feet. His kimono stood even more open at the chest than Griffin-san, however, and I quickly averted my eyes before I fell into that trap.

His brother's gaze on me made me stand straight and pay attention. North-san was, in a single word, darkness. With bronzed skin, dark eyes, black hair, and a completely black kimono, his also dark mood suited him fine. His voice was as sharp as a knife and the gold circle earring in his left lobe only made him more intimidating.

As I talked with them, thought, I saw that he was actually a kind guy and my initial fear of him started to diminish as his voice seemed to turn ever softer when he spoke directly to me.

Dr. Sean Green had a personality a lot like Luke's, with sandy blond curls that reached his ears and dazzling green eyes. His voice had a gentle and reassuring quality to it which I imagined he used a lot with his patients.

For last, but not least, there was Owen Blackbourne, who seemed to be a lot sterner than the rest of them, his personality one of utter seriousness. He was clearly at a position of authority over the other boys, and he seemed very aware of it, his status weighing heavily in his every motion.

He had short, brown hair and steel gray eyes, his whole appearance screaming perfection as he sat there with spine perfectly straight and not a hair out of place.

They were all very handsome with muscled bodies that I sometimes found myself staring at. Each time they caught me I blushed.

We spoke about our interest and hobbies, and I had a lot of fun with them, but the identity of Academy' Lord's son bothered me deeply and caused me to keep glancing surreptitiously at him.

Whenever I did my gaze caught at my mistress and I worried once again if she would punish me for speaking with these men.

Choosing to ignore that possibility for the moment I focused my attention at having fun with them.

Today I would have fun, tomorrow would be another day. Of punishments and confrontations.