Stained By Sin

TWENTY-THREE

Elara watched as Arren took out the old basin of water in her bedside table, replacing it with fresh one. She placed the neatly folded face towels beside the basin, making sure they were perfectly aligned. There was a new dress hanging on her closet, waiting for her to wear it.

As Elara watched, she wondered if this was the right time to test Arren’s loyalty to her. After all, she had the perfect reason.

She took a deep breath, waited for Arren to finish her task of tidying Elara’s room, before speaking.

“Arren,” Elara said as Arren started to leave the room.

“Yes, my queen,” Arren replied, stopping on her tracks and looking at Elara respectfully.

“I need to ask you a favor.”

“Anything for you, my queen,” Arren said with a smile.

Elara motioned for Arren to move beside her, which she did. She sat beside Elara on the bed, and then looked at her expectantly.

“What is it?” Arren asked.

“Well, you see… I heard that the Ivory princess had gone missing, and I have this strong feeling that she is trying to rescue her lover back in my clan.”

Arren’s eyes widened with shock as Elara spoke. She seemed surprised but Elara wasn’t sure why.

“How did you know about the princess’ disappearance?” Arren asked.

“It’s not really a secret, is it? Anywhere I walked this morning, I keep hearing whispers about her disappearance. And besides, Nero is my personal guard. Whatever they report to him, I can more or less hear. I have better hearing than most vampires, remember?”

Arren nodded in understanding. Everything Elara said was true, anyways. But aside from that, she also saw a flash of white leaving the Ivory’s parameter before the dawn broke as she was looking out the window. She was pretty sure that was Ava.

“I understand. So what is the favor you want to ask from me, my queen?” Arren asked, confused.

“Well, I want you to confirm my suspicions. I need you to go visit the Crow clan and talk to Aki. He’s  my right hand. As long as I give you something that would provide proof my trust in you, he should tell you anything you need to know.”

Arren nodded, smiling. “That would be nice. I want to see the current Crow clan. Since the one I belonged to is now gone.”

Elara placed a hand on Arren’s shoulder, wanting her to feel comforted. “It’s not gone, Arren. It changed, yes. But the Crow clan today is still the clan you belonged to, and still belongs to.”

Arren looked at Elara and nodded. “Thank you, my queen.” She smiled at Elara genuinely, as if she was truly happy to be recognized as part of the Crow clan. It gave Elara hope that Arren’s loyalty still belongs to them.

Elara looked at her in the eyes and smiled. “As long as you feel that your heart belongs to the Crow clan, you will always be a Crow. No matter where you are, or where you have been for the last twenty years. If you still feel like we are your home, then you will always be part of the family.”

Arren’s smile grew wider, nodding in agreement and gratitude. “Always,” she said. She then closed her eyes and hung her head low, as if absorbing every single word Elara had said.

Elara let the moment settle for a while, just waiting for Arren to fully process their conversation.

“Now, I want you to get me a pen and a sheet of paper. I need to write your introduction to Aki. He was a turned one, so he doesn’t really know who the original members of the Crow clan was,” Elara said after a couple of minutes, giving Arren a small and gentle smile.

Arren straightened up and looked at Elara to receive her command. Her eyes were misty, as if she was trying her best not to cry. Elara’s smile grew at the sight. It’s a positive sign for her. Maybe Arren really was a Crow at heart.

“Right away, my queen.”

Without another word, Arren picked up the used towels and water basin, tidying up the side of the bed where she sat before quickly leaving Elara’s room. Within only a couple of minutes, she came back with a couple of bed sheets stacked on top of each other.

Elara looked at her expectantly as Arren closed the door gently.

“I hope this will suffice, my queen,” Arren said, placing the bed sheets gently on Elara’s bed. In between the sheets, she pulled out a fresh stack of paper -- maybe around twenty pieces -- and a feather. Then, in between the second layer of the bed sheets, she pulled out a bottle of ink. She then placed the papers, the quill pen, and the ink on Elara’s bedside table. “These are mine, my queen. The ink has been slightly used. I hope you don’t mind.”

“This is perfect,” Elara told her. She smiled at Arren and touched her hand. “Thank you so much.”

“You are always welcome, my queen.”

“Now, I don’t want to make anyone suspicious. So, while I write this letter, I need you to leave the room. I won’t leave my room for the rest of the day so that you’ll have a reason to come by later. Bring me a pitcher of water at twilight. By then, the letter should be finished. I’ll let you decide when to leave, but I hope it’s soon, so that we can confirm my suspicions before Nero and his men make a move.” Elara gave her instructions quietly, but firmly. Arren nodded, wordlessly acknowledging her command.

“Thank you,” Elara smiled.

Arren stepped away from Elara, bowing before wordlessly leaving the room. As soon as the door closed, Elara quickly took a piece of paper, opened the bottle of ink, and then started writing.

Elara had just finished writing her letter to Aki when she heard a knock on the door. She folded the letter quickly, then hid it under her pillow.

She knew it wasn’t Arren. It’s a good thing her senses were on high alert since she’s writing a secret letter. She didn’t expect that Nero would be checking on her today since he’s been busy meeting his men about Ava’s disappearance.

As soon as the door opened, Elara was already lying on her bed, pretending to be asleep.

“Stop acting and get up. I know you are awake. I heard you shuffling while I was knocking,” she heard Nero say.

Elara knew he wasn’t bluffing. She hadn’t been exactly discreet as she tried to fake sleep, and it would take either a newly turned vampire who wasn’t used to their abilities yet, or a really dumb vampire not to notice that she was faking it.

With no choice left but to stop pretending, Elara sat up. She looked at Nero dryly, waiting for him to speak.

Nero was still at the doorway, his body barely inside her room. He was holding the door open as he stood motionless.

They were silent for a couple of seconds, just staring at each other, waiting for the other to break the silent.

Nero caved in first.

“I heard you didn’t leave your room the whole day,” he said.

“Why should I leave? I have to nowhere to go to. I’ve been here for a week now and have already visited the entire mansion,” Elara responded, still dryly.

Nero didn’t react at her statement. He just continued to stare at her with no emotion evident in his face. Elara recognized right away that this was the mask he always wore whenever they were out in public. Only then did Elara remembered Nero was still technically outside her room, with the door wide open.

“Can you please just enter the room. It’s bothering me that my door is open wide like that,” Elara said, rolling her eyes at him.

Without a second’s delay, Nero was already inside her room, the door completely shut. He was now pacing back and forth beside her bed, his face now of worry.

“Seriously? Did you just go here to pace like madman?” Elara blurted out. She didn’t really mean to say those words, but she also didn’t expect Nero to go in her room just to start pacing. She even thought he had heard somehow of her plan to make Arren go to her clan.

“I’m sorry,” Nero said, stopping mid-pace. He turned to look at her, his eyes filled with fear. “I just don’t want to be alone. And I can’t really show this much emotion when I am outside, so…”

Elara couldn’t help but let out a sarcastic laugh. “Really? And what made you think you can show that much emotion to me?”

“Honestly? I don’t know. I just feel more comforted when I’m in your presence.”

Nero said it so sincerely and so suddenly that Elara couldn’t think of a word to say. She couldn’t even come up with anything sarcastic. Or even a lame response, for that matter. She was stunned, and she was speechless.

Nero didn’t seem to realize what just happened as he continued to pace again.