CHAPTER 453: A FAMILY TRADITION

And down they went, the ambient sounds and the clamour rising in volume the closer to the ballroom they walked.

By the great doors, Ada rubbed gentle circles on Abigail’s back who huffed air into her lungs twice as fast as her usual.

"Is everything alright?" Arabella went straight to comforting the girl.

"Well, she’s having a bit of a panic attack," Ada grimaced while still rubbing Abigail’s back.

A bit? That was an understatement! The girl was horror stricken at best. Eyes wide open, threatening to spill tears and a body as shaky as a frail leaf left behind in a winter storm.

There were no surprises there, however, as Abigail breaking down was one of the most expected things to happen. She’d always been the shiest and most sheepish of the bunch.

No amount of training or rehearsal was going to clear all of that fear out of her system.

On top of that, Persephone was nowhere to be seen at the doors. She, who usually presented herself before the rest...

Despite there being more time than needed before their introduction to the guests, it was still odd.

"The Lady hasn’t come yet," Arabella noted while massaging at Abigail’s shoulder.

Silas’s eyes went around, swept the walls and then the ceiling, "She is still in her chambers,"

When his eyebrows twitched, Arabella made another suggestion, "Should we go check on her?"

"I will. You may stay here if you wish to," he said.

"No, I will come with you," the young woman turned to her friends, "We still have time. You might as well take a seat to rest your feet before we come back,"

With that, and as Ada guided Abigail towards the nearest chairs, Arabella took Silas’ arm and headed in the opposite direction.

The walk to her room was filled with silence. There was that looming weight that pressed on Arabella’s chest. On Silas’ face, in the way he stared strictly ahead and even through his walk... There was more to it than words could ever express.

She dared not ask for something whispered in her ear that her questions would get an answer soon enough. There was no need in pushing it.

Upon Arrival, they knocked to no avail. No response came from the other side.

"Is she inside?"

"She is," he said simply.

"And... Is she alone?"

Silas merely nodded.

"What should we do then?" she looked up at him, "Should we leave and give her a moment?"

Without turning her way, he answered, "I doubt that will fix it,"

Fix it? What was happening behind that door? Were things truly that bad?

Instead of turning around, Silas’ hand gripped the knob and twisted it. He stepped inside first, shortly after followed by his wife.

The noises coursing the hallways went mute the instant she shut the door behind herself, plunging them into quietness that was just as deafening as the ruckus shaking the ballroom walls. Worst of all, it was the stifling kind of silence.

The kind that was only interrupted by short and muffled huffs and puffs.

From Persephone those broken breaths emanated. The vampiress had her back to the door, surely knowing full well who had stepped into her space without the need to see them.

Her shoulders were a tad slumped as her head hung low. Needless to say, it was a posture Arabella hadn’t seen much on her, if never at all.

From her angle, it was difficult to determine whether her mother-in-law held something between her hands or not. It wasn’t until she walked around the chair that Arabella glimpsed the beautiful, ornate box Persephone twiddled in them.

"Mother," Silas started, "This isn’t the time for-"

Arabella cut him off by putting a gentle hand on his arm. The couple exchanged a few silent yet loud looks before the vampire finally spoke again.

"I will be downstairs to see if anything needs my attention,"

He left his wife behind with his mother. Arabella stood in place for a moment, looking around at the room surrounding them.

Her next action was to drag a chair right next to Persephone’s and just... Sit by her side.

No words were uttered for the better part of five minutes.

Arabella allowed her the time to decide whether she wanted to speak at all or keep her peace.

Eventually, however, Persephone took the deepest of breaths and raised the box in hand higher.

Assuming it was done to bring her attention to it, Arabella enquired, "Did this box belong to Allegra?" she whispered.

All Persephone did was return a slow shake of the head.

"Emeric gave it to me the week Silas was born," after a short pause, she added, "It is a tradition of ours," Persephone too whispered.

"I don’t remember reading about such a tradition,"

"A family tradition," she clarified. Her hand went over the glossy lid of the box, "Whenever a new Eleazar is born, the mother is given such a box," she smiled while flipping the item around before her eyes, "The goal is, once the infant grows, their pin goes into the box," Persephone did not give Arabella the time to ask her next question, "As I am sure you already know, a small golden brooch is pinned to every vampire upon donning their first fit after birth,"

Indeed, as she slowly flipped it around, the sound of metal clanking together with other solid items came along, but... It should have been different.

What reached Arabella’s ears was the song of tossing between multiple metal objects and not that of a single one banging against a flat surface.

Her eyes opened wide when Persephone opened it to reveal that it contained not one pin but at least seven of them.

All of them golden but one, which was silver.

"But... I thought...," she trailed off, looking between the brooches and her mother-in-law.

Persephone smiled sweetly, "These belong to every child I’ve ever took in, before and after Silas came to this world,"