Page 35 of House of Blood and Roses: Vol. 1
"I think Pip is still yearning for the sun." And me too. I keep that part to myself. I don't know if there's some kind of faux pas about admitting to wanting things from when I was human. Well, dhampir. I suppose I was never actually human to begin with.
"Then you shouldn't have brought her," Bastian mutters.
I ignore him. Not only is it too late for me to leave Pip behind in my abandoned human life, but I wouldn't have done that anyway.
"I'm not going to be able to show you the library today," Eliza says to me. "I know you want to go..."
"It's fine, I found my way there on my own." And it's a good thing I did, I wouldn't have met Linc if I'd been there with my cousin. Or maybe I would have, but I wouldn't have been able to spend time with him the same way. And our daily reading dates have been the highlight of the time I've spent at the vampire palace.
"Oh good." Eliza helps herself to a bread roll and cuts it open.
"What are you doing today?" I ask her.
"I've got a fitting for my wedding dress," she says. "I can't wait to try it on, the initial designs from the seamstress have been gorgeous." She lets out a wistful sigh.
I look down at my plate, trying to ignore the horrible twisting feeling in my stomach knowing that this will be me in about a month's time.
"I love weddings, I'm looking forward to it," Eliza says.
"I thought you hadn't met your betrothed yet?" I ask.
"Oh, I haven't. Not formally anyway. Our paths have crossed a few times over the years, but I don't know him."
"But you're excited about marrying him?"
She shrugs. "I haven't been married in a couple of decades. I'm ready to forge an alliance and reenter the game of politics. I can't do that without a husband."
I frown. "Why not?"
She raises an eyebrow. "You seriously have to ask?"
"I'm still new at this," I remind her, then take a bite of my food. The cooks really are excellent, and the food is a lot better than the vegetable stew I used to make every night.
"Ah, I forgot already," Eliza responds. "But it really is simple. Here I'm third in line to be Head of House Rothorne, and that's if Uncle Gerard would ever see either of us as his heirs."
Bastian grunts from his position at the end of the table.
"And it's not as if anything is going to happen to my dear cousin," Eliza says, lifting her glass in Bastian's direction and toasting him. I'm not sure if there's a bit of sarcasm in her tone or not, it's hard to tell. "But all of that means that if I want to have any power, then I need to have a husband with a little, and that's what Lord Tyberan is for me. He's even already the head of his House, not an heir. It's an excellent match."
"But you don't love him," I point out.
"What's love got to do with it?" There's no malice in Eliza's voice, she's just stating facts.
"I suppose I always imagined that if I married, I would do it for love," I respond.
"A human notion," Eliza responds. "When it comes to vampires, marrying for love is more or less a death sentence. Avoid love if you can, and if you can't, hope you're not afflicted with it towards your husband."
"I see." I pick at my food, having a lot of conflicting feelings within. It's impossible to work out what I want. The idea of a loveless marriage sits badly within me, but at the same time, I know it's going to be impossible for me to have a marriage like that when Lord Fallmartin is trying to secure me a betrothal to a stranger as soon as he possibly can.
"You'll get the hang of it soon enough," Eliza assures me.
"I'm sure I will."
Bastian snorts.
I glare at him, daring him to say whatever he's thinking. I'm no longer in shock about the whole becoming a vampire thing, which is making me a lot less patient with the cruel remarks he's been making. It's like he's become an entirely different person since he came here.
Gaining power has changed him almost beyond recognition, but despite that, there's a part of me that's longing to see the brother I used to know. I'm sure he's still in there, I just need to figure out how to bring him back to the surface.
