CHAPTER 409: JUST A HAIR

Persephone looked as though she was missing a limb among the crowd. Even with Katherine, Grace and Allegra by her side, her sense of incompleteness remained evident.

Or so was Lauden’s first impression upon laying eyes on her. To him, it made a lot of sense that, especially, Arabella would skip the party considering the roof under which it was held. The girl might have been naive to a fault, but her husband and mother-in-law were anything but that.

"Oh, my dear Lord! Persephone! I can’t believe it’s been months since I’ve last seen you!" Lady Anastasia, who fully dressed in red smeared with tinges of gold here and there, approached Persephone with the bubbliest of beams.

"There, there, girl! You look radiant!" the vampiress’ hand cupped the new mother’s cheek, "The Novamater suits you very well as I told you it would,"

Lady Anastasia giggled, took a pinch of the skirt that completed her gown and made a twirl in it.

Novamater was simply a denomination for any red gown to be donned by new vampire mothers as it was tradition.

The behavior exhibited by both women during their interaction surprised Lauden very little. With Anastasia being only two decades older than Silas, Persephone’s motherly instinct always shined in her presence.

"I heard you welcomed the cutest button to your family as well!" Anastasia’s amethyst eyes beat with life, "But...," her face fell a little, "I see neither her nor your son with you,"

her irises darted between the sisters that trailed behind Persephone.

"Yes, yes," Persephone pushed the longest and, in Lauden’s opinion, performative sighs, "She is small and quite squishy for she is human and unfortunately that means she is a lot more vulnerable to the myriads of illnesses that plague this world,"

"You don’t say!" Anastasia clasped a hand over her mouth, "She’s fallen ill! And so soon after her wedding? The poor thing... I don’t envy her,"

"Believe me when I tell you, she was screwed to her bed a day after the arrival of the tributes. It seems one of them brought something along and caused a full-on outbreak,"

"Pardon my intrusion, Ladies," Lauden’s voice rose, "Understand my concern, please, but what sort of illness are we speaking of exactly?"

Persephone’s void-like eyes latched onto him, looked him up and down then bore into his own, "I believe it has been dubbed the whispers’ flu or something along those lines. I care very little for medicine but fear not, I was made aware it only, apparently, affects humans,"

"Thank you for understanding, my Lady. I again apologize for interrupting your conversation," he bowed in front of her.

She took a moment, looking pensive at his sight once more before asking, "Lauden, isn’t that your name, boy?"

"Yes, it is! You are not mistaken, Persephone," the answer came from a chirpy Anastasia, "Darrick said he only entrusts my care to the best of his people. Just in case, you know. Otherwise, you will see Lauden follow my husband everywhere he goes," she chuckled, "But please, send Silas and your daughter in law my best wishes. I hope they won’t mind me visiting soon as I would really love to see this human that managed to steal the silver warrior’s heart,"

Behind Persephone, Lauden only mostly cared for Allegra’s presence. Most especially the way in which she glared Lady Anastasia down.

Pretending seemed too complicated of a task for her, to such a point that her sisters appeared to glow in comparisson.

Though Lauden cared very little for moods and states of minds. All he needed, according to the witch he’d spoken to, was a strand from Allegra’s hair.

The vampire counted his blessings that he needn’t draw blood from her as that promised to be more difficult than obtaining her hair.

"So when will we see that bundle of joy then?" Persephone’s voice snatched Lauden’s attention again.

"Once the crowd thins out, Darrick and I have a list of... Close friends who will receive the honor," Anastasia raised her chin.

"I better be on that list, girl!"

There was dancing and drinking involved. As promised, the music carried the festivities until a late hour into the night.

It was only when the guests started exiting the hall in droves that Lauden managed to sneak beside Allegra.

"Pardon me," he tried to work his usual charm, "Your name is Allegra if I am not mistaken," he half asked, flashing one of his best smiles.

"Right you are," she turned and curtsied as he offered her a slight bow, "How may I help you?"

"I believe we’ve met before," he straightened his stance.

"Yes, we have. Multiple times, in fact," she nodded, "I’ve seen you accompany Lord Dragomir before,"

"I meant that we’ve had a chance to speak, you and I,"

From the corner of his eyes, Lauden perceived Katherine and Grace’s gaze on them. Although, they did not seem particularly miffed. On the contrary, one of them even cracked a smile and drew away.

Perhaps they thought he was flirting with their single sister... Whatever their reasoning, it worked well for his advantage.

"At the wedding, yes," she cleared her throat, "I should apologize again for my conduct. I hadn’t yet adjusted after a mentally taxing ordeal that blighted us,"

"I completely understand. In fact, I should be the one to apologize for causing you to stress after such an experience," he nodded, "Would you dance with me?"

At those words, Allegra’s eyes darted towards Lady Persephone.

"Worry not about them!" the lightest of chuckle escaped him, "They seem quite busy with each other. They won’t miss us one bit,"

True that! Persephone had just enquired about whether there were casualties during labor hours.

Lauden’s mind flashed back to the moment Lord Dragomir burst out of the delivery room clutching his own bloodied throat after Anastasia had taken it upon herself to bite a full chunk out of it.

Nevertheless, Allegra accepted his invitation which ignited sparks that rushed his spine. Joy, null doubt, at the thought that his plan was going as smoothly as he’d hoped for it to.