Nightwalker

Chapter Thirty-Five

It was awkward after that. Ashwini, Lucas, Hawk, Mercy and Galen all left after eating, so it was only lady Beatrice, Anon, Athena, Victoria and myself left in the dining hall.

"Victoria here has been in our service almost as long as Mercy has." Lady Beatrice started off when it was silent. "Though Mercy was born here, Victoria and her family were brought here after being saved from some rouge Nightwalkers that our hunters were hunting down. So she knows what to do unlike... what Sylvia did." She ended softly obviously feeling awkward saying her name in front of me. Not that I blame her, just thinking about her name causes my chest to hurt.

"Oh... good." I said uncomfortably not know what else to say.

"Well then... I think you should feed and then I want to speak to you about something... I'll meet you at the mountain garden when you're ready, okay?" Lady Beatrice asked as she stood up her eyes staring into my own.

I was highly curious about what she wanted to talk to me about. "Of course my lady, I will see you there." I agreed while standing respectfully.

She nodded her head before heading off towards the door my eyes unable to move off of her as she walked away. There was a sway to her body that made me feel warm for some reason, but it was nice so I didn't want it to stop. Sadly, it did when lady Beatrice went out of sight, which confused me, though only for a short second before I turned my attention to those who were left in the room with me.

I looked down to Victoria and gave a soft smile that she returned shyly. "I'd prefer if we do this in my room and in private." I told her while shooting a look to Anon. "Can you please look after Athena for today?"

"Of course." Anon said as he stood and looked towards Athena with a friendly smile. "You want to go see the stables pup?"

Athena's eyes widened in excitement. "Yes!" She exclaimed happily before pulling it back and looking up at me in question. "Is that okay?"

"Of course, you don't need to ask me permission to do anything that you want to do Athena. Just make sure that you're either with me or Anon. I don't want someone mistaking you as one of the servants." I told her while squatting down in front of where she stayed seated in her chair.

I lifted a hand and pushed her hair out of her face. "I think you need to have a nice warm bath first though." I smiled at her kindly as I saw dirt crusted on her forehead. "Now that I think of it, I think I should as well. I'll join you after Victoria and I have finished."

"Okay." Athena smiled happily before wrapping her arms around my neck. I couldn't help but gasp in surprise as she placed a kiss to my cheek before running out of the dining hall with Anon quickly on her heels. I smiled as I heard squealing laughter that grew fainter as they ran through the hall.

I sighed softly as I stood up and faced Victoria, suddenly feeling awkward and strange. "She's a cute girl." Victoria commented softly.

"She's an incredibly strong and highly intelligent girl." I agreed with a caring smile and a nod of my head. I sighed again and couldn't help but run my thumb along the bottom of my jaw bone in an awkward and thoughtful motion. "I'll lead the way to my room."

"As you wish my lady." Victoria bowed slightly.

I scrunched up my face at that. "Please don't do that, you can just call me Vaden. I never liked being called 'my lady' or anything that made me seem higher born than anyone else, not that I could help it before because I didn't know my name back then. So please just call me by my name."

"Are you sure?" Victoria asked as she shifted her weight from leg to leg nervously.

"Of course." I assured her.