Love Between Two Kinds

Chapter 5

" Tiana? "

The little talk between the Duke and Tiana, was cut short by someone..Upon hearing her name, Tiana looked back, and was a bit shocked to see who it was.

" Edward? What are you doing here?" she asked with irritation.

Zachary noticed the slight change in her voice, and stood tall, looking down at the before him.

Dressed in a servants uniform, Edward's mouth was left agape at the sight of the love of his life. Staring at her from head to toe, he couldn't believe his eyes. There she was, standing in the most beautiful and elegant dress he had set his eyes upon, and there he was with a stray in his hands, serving people dressed like her. He noticed the tall gentleman behind her, and was immediately pissed. Puffing up his chest, he answered her proudly

" What do you mean, Titi? Didn't I tell you I was working at the castle?"

Titi? Who the heck is he calling Titi?she thought. She was about answering his, when the Duke beat her to it.

"Who are you to Lady Christiana?"

Even though Edward was a bit terrified of Zachary, he held his ground because of his damsel. Ignoring him, he faced Tiana and said to her.

"Titi, I'll like t-"

"Keep my name out of your mouth, Edward" she angrily interrupted him.

Edward immediately bowed his head, looking away from her in shame.

"After what you displayed at the market, you still have the guts to talk to me?"she glared.

Zachary, who didn't know what was going on, was left standing there. He couldn't chime in or act tough, because he doesn't have the slightest idea of what that servant did, to make Lady Christiana fume. He was a bit shocked when she didn't ask for his help. He expected her to tell him everything that was going on and plead with him to teach this lowly servant a lesson, but she didn't even bat him an eye. She stood tall, and dusted her feet at the servant.

"You might think I have forgotten about the little incident. Let me warn, Edward" she stared taking steps towards him gracefully.

"Never in your life, will you see me and talk to me. If you see me on a road, take the opposite root. If you see me talking with someone, walk away like you know me not. The thing that happened that day at the market, will be the first and last you'll try something like that with me. Got it?" she wore an aura, that made Edward, who she was now one foot away from, fidget.

Edward felt so terrified, that he could only nod at her words, bowing his head to both her and the duke, before scattering away.

"Seems like you've got everything under control now, Sire?"the duke joked.

Tiana, who was still fuming, smiled a little at his joke, before excusing herself.

She needed to clear her head, and let her anger evaporate.

She left the garden, and went to the West wing of the castle, opposite to where the ball was being held.

To her surprise, the West wing of the castle was a bit deserted and she felt eerie. Being her first time at the castle, she didn't know where she was going, and just kept moving forward.

She walked, till she reached a narrow passage. She paused a bit, and she considered going back, or just let her feet keep going.

The thought drifted away, when the corner of her eyes, caught a painting. Walking towards it, she stood in awe upon seeing the painted figure. The figure, was the painting of a dark skinned man, with blue eyes and dark hair. Below the panting, was a calligraphic writing, that was covered with dust.

She noticed this, and blew the dust away, before whispering the words she saw there.

"Nicholas Philippians. I wonder who that is"

Departing from the painting, she left for three others, that were hung on the same wall. The three other paintings, held two other men, with common features and same last name with the first man in the painting.

As she pass them by, she blew dusts and said their names each.

"Nicklaus Philippians. Nicodemus Philippians. An odd one?" she said, when reaching the last painting.

Unlike the first few paintings, the last one, was a painting of a female, with red hair, fair skin, and blue eyes. Even though it had different features, skin colour and gender, Tiana could still detect some resemblance, to the other paintings.

"What a beauty!" she couldn't help but exclaimed. She adverted her gaze and checked for her name.

" Nicole Philippians. Mm, they must be siblings" she said, still staring at the painting.

"Far away from home, are we?" a voice from behind her suddenly said.

"Ah ah!" she screamed, immediately looking back, but she found nobody there and thought she was being delusional.

"Don't always look behind you"

She heard the voice say again, but this time, it felt like it was coming from beside her.

She turned to her side and still couldn't find anyone. She suddenly started feeling scared. She left the paintings and tried finding her way.

"Who are you?!?!?!" she yelled, but nobody responded.

"Oh, where the heck am I?" she started panicking.

"Hello! Anybody there? Hello!" she yelled for help, but all she heard was her echo.

Oh, what was he going to do? She shouldn't have left the garden. She looked here and there, trying to find a way out, when suddenly she hit something hard, that made her trip. About falling face first on the ground, someone suddenly caught her and brought her up.

Her mind felt at ease, when she suddenly realized she was alone. Looking in the direction of who or what caught her, her heart dropped in her stomach when she came face to face, with a tall person hidden in the shadows with red eyes.

"Ah ah ah ah!" she screamed in horror and ran away. She ran and ran, till she was loosing her breath. She stopped for a while, and looked back, trying to find, who or what that was.

Was she freaking dreaming or was that really a person with red eyes?

"Hi" she suddenly heard a whisper in her ear, and she screamed again. She tried running, but she suddenly felt a tight grip on her waist, that pulled her closer to the person. The person placed a finger on her lips and said in the most frightening voice.

"Do not make a sound"

His red eyes stared deep into her blue eyes like he was looking into her soul. He said it in a way that brought chills to her back.

In fear, her whole body started to shake and she didn't know how her hand turned into fists and hit him on his face. Her actions caught him off guard and she took that opportunity and ran off.

A little luck was on her side that night, and she found the ballroom. She hurriedly found her mother, and pulled her out of the ballroom, forcing them to go home early. Unable to believe what she witnessed that night, Tiana couldn't tell her mother and just remain silent in the carriage.