Forbidden Love 08

CHAPTER EIGHT...

The time for the pure breds to be matched had arrived. Aleksander lay in bed staring at the ceiling. He could hear the festivities going on around him, both at his home and outside it. Parents were scurrying around with the helps with barely restrained excitement and the pure breds were skulking about, not bothered with hiding their resentment and nerves.

Aleksander did not care about anything. His mind was a big blank. There was clearly nothing he could do about it as his parents could end up dead, and all for nothing since he was more than sure that Belle would kick him out the moment he showed up at her doorstep...well, window.

He sighed and turned on his bed, backing the door and was so lost in his thoughts that he jumped in fright when Elena jumped on his bed and on him.

'What the fuck, Elena! You startled me.' He barked out, still a bit startled.

Elena giggled loudly, 'That's what you get for sulking like a little boy....oh wait; that's exactly what you are.'

Aleksander shrugged her off and scooted to the other side of the bed. If he had the strength, he would have gotten up fully and left the room but he felt drained.

Elena turned on her side to face him, her head resting on her elbow and with a serious face on her which was pretty rare, 'Come on, Aleks. Tell me what's going on. We used to be as thick as thieves, why don't you tell me stuff anymore?'

Aleks shook his head, 'It's not 'cuz of anything, Elena. I haven't told anybody anything. Not even Malik. It's not like things will change now, so just forget it.'

Elena shook her head also, 'No I won't and don't snarl at me, boy. You told Father and Maman so don't even pretend. And I know this because they're always treating you with kid gloves and letting you get away with your tantrums and dark moods. Something they would have never done before. So better tell me or I'll...well I'll do something annoying. And you know me, pesky is my name.' She wriggled her eyebrows playfully at him and raised her hands in a tickle pose.

Aleksander could not help but smile, albeit reluctantly. Sometimes he wondered if he and Elena had been switched at birth as she acted more like his younger sister than his older. 'It's truly nothing...ok, ok I lie, no tickles! I have...had a girlfriend. That I would really, really have loved to marry. But clearly that can't happen because of this extremely stupid and archaic rule of pure breds sticking to pure breds. And I don't wanna go through with it. But I have no choice; we have no choice.'

Elena nodded sympathetically then widened her eyes, 'Back up a bit, you 'had' a girlfriend? When? How? Aaaah, now I understand all your disappearing acts, but who was she? I never saw you making googly eyes at anybody here.'

'That's because she wasn't here.' He replied.

'Okaaayyy...' She drawled in confusion.

'She's human.'

'Mon Dieu.' Elena gasped. 'No wonder all the mollycuddling from the parents. A human. You must have really loved her.'

'I still do.' Was the reply, 'But I don't think she loves me anymore. You see, I was really horrible to her when we last saw each other. Because of the whole marriage thing. And she told me to stay away as she didn't want Father and Maman to die and I got angry and said a few...well a lot of hurtful things. I don't think she will want me back at all even if this rule was done away with.'

Elena smiled at him gently, 'It's sad, yes. But truly, I'm sure you knew, deep down, that it would never have worked. That's the curse of being a pure bred. Yes it's wonderful to have all the extra respect, glory and power that come with it, but there's the burden of doing what's right as we are the first generation. For what it's worth, I, and I think the whole family, would definitely have approved of her. She sounds thoughtful and kind.'

Aleksander nodded, holding back tears, 'That she was...is. Oh fuck!' He buried his head in his pillow to stifle his sobs.

Elena patted his back gently and let him cry without saying a word.

When he was composed, she asked softly, 'Feeling better?'

'Yeah, guess I just needed someone to talk to.' He nodded, hiding his reddened blood stained eyes.

'Good. Now, time you started preparing. All the pure breds are being gathered in the large hall in a few hours to welcome the outside purebred. Can't believe we're going to be seeing pure breds from all over the world. If it wasn't for such a silly reason I'd be thrilled. I hope I end up with someone nice, or at least handsome. Don't think I can stand some ugly Quasimodo.'

Aleks barked out a laugh. Elena truly knew how to cheer him up. He could not believe that he had stayed away from her company for so long. What had he been thinking?

'Come on, get out the glad rags.' She said, giving him one last hug before vaulting gracefully from his bed and to the floor. 'Oh and better put that pillow case in the washing machine. It's all red from your tears, better yet bin it. It looks disgusting.'

She giggled as she ran out, barely dodging the same pillow that came sailing for her head.

***

Belle smiled as Claire stared at her in excitement.

'No way! Pritchard allowed you as much time as you liked for a holiday?'

'Well, not as much time. But I did get three weeks.' Belle replied.

'No bloody way! You lucky mare. We're only supposed to get four weeks holiday every year and you're getting three now. Does that mean you only get one week later?' Claire asked, her eyes wide as she dipped a hand into the cookie jar and grabbed an Oreo.

'Nope. Pritchard said that my holiday has been accumulating for the past, what...three years? I haven't had a holiday in three years, wow! Anyway, I deserve this, Claire-bear.' Belle said, leaning back against her chair.

'True. Lucky cow all the same. So where are you going then? Or have you decided? Or are you just gonna chill at home, pig out, eat loads and get obese?' Claire said through a full mouth of pure chocolate bliss.

'Slow down, woman. I haven't decided yet, well fully anyway.' Belle said laughingly, then she sobered up, a sad look settling on her face, 'I need to get away...from here. I just need to go somewhere else and rest. I don't wanna think, don't wanna remember. I just want to be. Blank. Try to get myself together, well as much as I can anyway so that when I come back I'll be prepared to tackle work. There's only so much Pritchard can do, or cover for me. And Mark is seriously gunning for my job. And at the end of the day, if I don't pull my weight then I don't deserve to work there, Pritchard or no Pritchard. And I can't keep on thinking about Aleks. He will always be on my mind, definitely. But I need to find a way to live as properly as I can with that, and to stop it from affecting my life. I need to.' She sighed and laid her head on the dining table. She was all cried out so her eyes were dry, but it felt like her heart was sobbing imaginary tears. It truly was time to look past all this and move on.

Claire came round to her side of the table and put an arm around her, 'don't worry about it hun. This probably sounds stupid and trite but really, you have to forget about it. Or you'll keep on being depressed and unfocused. So...change of topic.' She went back round to pick a cookie and passed one to Belle, 'Eat up babe, you're beginning to look like a lollipop. Yes, where was I...oh yeah, where to go for hols...one ponders.' She faked a Rodin pose which finally elicited the laugh she wanted from Belle.

'Seriously, Belle, where are you going? Barbados, Miami...oooohhh Egypt?' Claire asked excitedly.

'Nope, nope and nope. I'm not going too far away. I was thinking...France.' Belle said.

Claire's smile slowly faded, 'France? But isn't that where...'

Belle quickly interrupted, 'Yes, I know. That's where Aleks is from. But surely you don't believe that I'm going there to look for him? I'm not that much of a masochist, Claire; you heard how he spoke to me. And even if I was, where would I even begin to look for him? 'Oh hotelier, do you by any chance know about the abode of a group of vampires? Yes vampires, I know I sound like a crazy bint but there are vampires in your country.' Give me a bit of credit, Claire.' Belle rolled her eyes.

Claire nodded and raised her hand to pick up another cookie before sliding her eyes to Belle, 'I'm gonna be fat right? The way I'm gorging myself, hunh?'

'Oh Naff off, Claire. We both know you could eat a horse and still be a stick.'

'Don't wanna tempt fate, is all. Anyway, back to France. So have you decided where?' She grabbed the cookie and started to nibble before shoving it all in her tiny mouth.

Belle grinned at how she looked before continuing, 'Well I thought Paris for a week, then Nice. Gonna end it with a nice stay at Monaco.'

'Ooooh, maybe you might even get to meet the prince and fall in love.'

'That's it. No more Cinderella movies or Princess Diaries for you. In fact, no more Disney Channel at all, you big baby.'

They both laughed. Claire, because she was happy to see her friend joking again, and Belle because she appreciated, for the umpteenth time, the gift of having such a wonderful friend to see her through her period of grief.

'Why don't you come too, Claire?' Belle asked suddenly. 'It would be amazing, it would.'

Claire shook her read ruefully, 'I wish. Truly, I really wish I could. But unlike you my hardworking darling, I have taking the utter and craziest piss at work. Trust me, my holidays are like the Holy Grail and you know it. So believe me when I say if I dared ask for this, I would be booted out so fast I wouldn't even be able to see my tail lights.'

'Fecking wank!' Belle swore.

Claire laughed out loud, 'Oh my God, that's a new one. Shall start saying that, hahaha. Ah well, would have really loved to, but...and the only reason I'm still there anyway is because of my superior mind. I am quite clever you know.'

'Arrogance, get thee behind me.' Belle laughed.

'It's not arrogance, it's factual.' Claire snorted.

'Uh-hunh.' Belle replied and both girls laughed again.

***

The ballroom was indeed breathtaking, Aleksander thought passively as he took in the splendor with which the great ballroom had been decorated. It seemed like something out of the late nineteenth century; not surprising really as that was the century the elders seemed to cherish and reminisce about rather fondly. He looked round and saw different strange faces, some excited, some nervous and a few as passive as he was.

He smiled grimly to himself. Time to meet his future mate. He turned round, following the scent of his parents and sisters and found them together close to the centre of the ballroom. He started walking towards to them, then stopped short when he noticed who they were talking to. There were three young people standing next to his family. A man and two women. The man and one of the women laughed alongside his parent but the other woman stood slightly apart with a stoic expression. One of the passive faces, he thought to himself absently.

As if his parents knew he had stopped walking towards them, they turned in unison to smile at him.

'Ah, and there he is, my beloved son Aleksander. Come.' His father smiled with arms outstretched beckoning for him to join them.

Aleksander pasted a smile on his face and walked over to their side. He saw the nervous look on Katrina's face and the barely concealed grin on Elena who quickly stuck out her tongue at his then slid her eyes downwards back to her previously demure countenance. This caused a real smile to show on Aleksander's face before it faded back to the forced one.

'Father, mother. Sisters, I take it everyone is having a good time?' He asked genially.

'But of course, my darling. Why shouldn't we?' His mother replied, equally genial. 'And speaking of a good time, these are the Russian's; the Romanovs. And their darling daughter, Danka.'

Aleksander turned and gave a stiff, formal bow. Mr Romanov inclined his head politely and his wife smiled as well. Danka merely stared blankly at all of them before casting her eyes elsewhere.

Aleksander suppressed a quick spurt of irritation. He could not blame her for not liking the whole arrangement, hell he did not like it himself. But she could at least show a bit of respect no matter how small. They were away from home and should carry themselves with a little dignity. That had been drummed into his head from birth and it was something he abided by.

His parents smiled again. It seemed both sets of parents were trying to win a 'smiling' competition. Then his father cleared his throat quickly and said, 'Why don't we leave the two youngsters alone to converse? There's an excellent batch of fresh type O' negative that you simply must try. Come.' He stretched out his hand towards the older set and they all walked off leaving Danka and Aleksander. The twins stood there unsure of what to do and their father's sharp, 'That includes you two, Elena and Katrina,' propelled them towards their parents' sides hurriedly.

'Well.' Aleksander said after an uncomfortable moment of silence passed. He looked at Danka, but she still did not say a word or change her expression. Her pale, icy blonde features were set in a blank expression and her blue eyes stared unwaveringly at something unseen.

Aleksander sighed irritated. That was it. He was not going to exert any unnecessary energy towards making this ill-mannered girl feel comfortable. He did not even want to be here.

'Look, I can understand your annoyance, and dare I say frustration at this whole rubbish but that does not give you the right to be so rude. You ignored my parents and now you ignore me. Do you not think it better if we act a little more amicably towards each other? Surely it will make this tasteless act of the elders more manageable.' He said.

Danka turned her eyes so slowly to him as if he were waking her up from a trance. Then she opened her mouth and her husky accented voice said, 'Do as you will, but I was brought here under duress. I clearly have no say in the matter but that does not mean I shall pretend to be a part of it. You have a choice. You're a 'man.' If you are not happy with me as your mate, then you will be found another. Me, I do not have that choice. I can only hope that I end up with someone palatable. So do not preach to me about being amicable. I am merely cattle and you are my purchaser. So do as you will, but don't expect me to make life easier for you.'

Aleksander stared at her with his mouth wide open. Wow, and he thought he was the most angry of the bunch in the ballroom. She certainly took the crown.

'Fair enough. You feeling that way is perfectly understandable and I know that. However, I would like you to know that I am under duress as well. And although you may think we 'men' will go round looking for the juiciest cattle but it still remains that we don't want cattle. Maybe we want goats, or sheep but we are being forced into this purchase as well so do not think for one second that we are enjoying this. And just so you know, the fact that we have no say about it means there will hardly be anyone trading in a mate for another. In the end, we have to end up with someone we don't want, no offense to your person. So please, I ask again, that you act more amenably when the parents are here. They did not cause this, so do not blame them. Hate me all you like but do that in private and not here. You give your family a bad name when you act without dignity.'

Danka stiffened a bit at that, then straightened her shoulders while giving him a cool stare, 'Very well.'

Aleksander stared at her for one second then shrugged inwardly. He had tried his best. If she decided to carry on being surly then it was her business. He had other problems, like the fact that Damien was throwing increasingly hateful glares at him.

Danka noticed that his expression had turned agitated and asked with great reluctance, 'What causes you discomfort?' She turned to stare at what he was looking at and saw that it was the Elder Damien. She hardly knew him but from what she had heard, no one was particularly fond of him. She looked from him to Aleks and knew that there was clearly no lost love between the two of them.

Aleksander gave a tiny shake as if ridding himself of bad memories, or cobwebs, she privately thought.

'Not to worry. It's nothing important.' I hope, he added silently to himself. He had a bad feeling about Damien and knew he was cold and vindictive. He did not think for one second that he could harm Belle as he did not even know of her existence but he feared for his family.

Suddenly he saw Damien smiling so evilly to himself that he knew, with a sudden lurch in his stomach that Damien was up to something nefarious. If only he knew what it was, he thought in frustration.

***

Little did Aleks know that Damien was very aware of Belle's existence and was more than determined to hurt, no kill her. As Damien threw glares at Aleks, his mind spun with ideas on how to carry out the death of his human. He did not really have any time to fly to England as the mating ceremony was in three days and all the elders were extremely busy with ensuring the ceremony was successful. But of course, Damien smiled to himself suddenly. That was indeed the best time to fly off, as the elders and everyone in fact would be so busy and run off their feet, they would not notice his quick disappearing act. Especially if he timed it perfectly.

He thought furiously for a second, then smiled again with gleaming eyes. Yes, the perfect time would be during the mating ceremony itself. He knew that Aleksander was not a dim boy and would be keeping a close eye on him. It was clear to everyone that Aleks hated him so it would be stupid of him to run off suddenly and not expect Aleks to follow him or get someone to do so. Therefore the best time would be during the mating ceremony where, even if Aleks saw him sneak out, there would be nothing he could do short of leaving as well and causing the probable death of his father by dishonoring the ceremony. He chuckled to himself at his ingenious.

Yes, he would get his revenge and it would doubly hurt Aleks as he would be aware of something sinister happening but be rendered helpless as he would not be able to stop him, Damien.