373: Indispensable confrontations (part 3)

Indispensable confrontations (part 3)

Whether it was her confrontational tone, the ancient name he hadn't heard in centuries, or the words she spoke, Andreas's eerie irises widened before narrowing as he regarded the Archduchess with a pair of new eyes.1

"...You should bring back the falcons. They have proven effective in such cases," he suggested, still somewhat befuddled by the situation.

Adela didn't hold back her frustration, taking rapid strides toward him until only a few paces separated them and looked up at the ancient vampire with fierce green eyes. 

"Why should I bring them back when you are responsible for guarding Larissa every hour of every day?" She challenged, "My one and only sister will flee again and you know it! She will return to Kolhis where no ancient vendetta threatens her! You've successfully driven her away from her ancestral lands! Yet here you stand, daring to express concern for her safety!"

Her words came out as squeaks and exasperated outbursts, her emotions too heightened to control.

"Calm down," Andreas implored softly, though his command was unmistakable.

Adela struggled to suppress the urge to throw something at him.

"Whether I calm down or not, and whether I decide to bring House de Lanark's falcons back or not, is none of your concern!" 

"...You may have hesitated due to the mana shield covering the two estates, but that barrier has proven ineffective, and a no-fly zone simply won't work in Lanark. Your reliance on falcons for communication has always been a valid strategy," Andreas pressed, ignoring her temper.

His meddlesome attitude only irritated Adela further.

With her arms trembling, she turned away from him, taking a few measured steps to regain her composure, allowing herself a moment to take deep, calming breaths.

"This isn't easy for me either."

She scoffed at his words which sounded more like those of a victim than a perpetrator. And after taking two final deep breaths, she turned to face him once more, her olive-green eyes exuding an overwhelming sense of authority.

"Silence, Alkadim," she emphasized his ancient name once more, "What's truly useless is your insistence on protecting both of your... 'mates' simultaneously."

The darkness deepened in Andreas's expression, eliciting a spine-tingling sensation in Adela.

"You don't know anything." He said.

She steeled herself against his intimidating aura, refusing to back down.

"Oh, I beg to differ," her voice remained firm despite the knot lodged in her throat, for she had heard Egon saying that very same sentence before. "I'm the only one you can't use that logic on... I once had a mate and lost him."

Unlike you, who has never experienced anything like this before. Those were the words Adela kept to herself.

"...I know what it's like not to be able to stay close but not to be able to stay far. And I do understand how precious what you have with Larissa is... That it defied time and space, remaining real come what may."

Tears welled up in her eyes as she continued. Even if she couldn't drop the truth bomb on the vampire, she was determined to sow the seed of doubt in him.

"That's why it pains me to see you sharing your heart with anyone else, especially when you've been manipulated into doing so."

Confusion replaced the empty look on Andreas's face.

"I mean every word, Andreas. You're making a conscious decision to protect a malevolent existence, and you're doing so selfishly on someone else's land."

Andreas's confusion transformed into anger, but Adela's anger eclipsed his own.

"I know everything!" She shouted bitterly, "I know about the pact you made with the Emorian Queen when you were known as Alkadim. I know how you concealed the Oracle in Lanark's mines at her request, how blindly you followed her, honoring her every wish even when it made no sense to you!"

She had rehearsed this conversation countless times in her mind, but now, standing before him, she found herself forgetting all the words she had prepared.

"I have more knowledge than you," she persisted, her tone softening just a tad, "but how can I make you understand when you're a man trapped in the darkest depths of love?"

At least we share one common experience...

Observing the profound loneliness in the vampire's eyes, a longing stirred within her despite her anger, a part of her yearned to reach out, to remove her gloves, clasp his hands, and share her light with him just as she had done years ago before her house burned and her marriage fell apart.

No... This is the consequence of all his choices.

"Lanark belongs to me, Andreas. I stand here as a direct descendant of the Emorian Queen who once sealed that pact with you before she suffered her unfortunate injury. I possess the authority to nullify that pact. Thus, I implore Alkadim to lift the mental barrier shrouding my lands, allowing me to access our mines and relieve the looming threat hanging over Larissa once and for all."

When he smiled, his face was more disturbing than the dead animal she had just seen.

"I care not for pacts or your lineage. You shall never locate her. Just as no harm shall ever befall Larissa." 

Adela had expected this reply. Engaging in diplomacy with the ancient vampire was an unlikely endeavor from the start.

"...I will access those mines, sooner or later, and you are well aware of it," she asserted resolutely.

For a brief moment, his crimson eyes appeared to bulge out of their place.

"You don't want to make an enemy of me, Adelaide de Lanark," he warned.

"It's you who should refrain from becoming my adversary, Alkadim," she countered.

At that moment, Noctavian emerged from the shadows and approached his mother with Egon trailing behind. Andreas's attention remained fixed on Adela, indicating that he was already cognizant of the young prince's and Egon's presence.

"Outlander."

Noctavian paused, patiently waiting for Andreas's eyes to turn toward him.

"What we want to share with you, we share for the sake of Larissa de Lanark and nothing else. Regarding the other matter, those mines are ours. I will guide Her Excellency there sooner or later."

Feeling the threat emanating abundantly from the young boy, Andreas's fangs bulged out, transforming his face into its true form as he hissed menacingly at Noctavian. But the aggression lasted only a fraction of a moment before Egon appeared out of nowhere, positioning himself between the other three.

"Get a hold of yourself, Andreas! He is my blood and yours!" Egon shouted.

Adela only felt her hand trembling when her son held it with his steady one.

"Don't worry, Mother. I will not let them harm Aunt Larissa any longer."

Another desperate hiss escaped Andreas before Egon pushed him back repeatedly while Adela and Noctavian watched as the two retreated until they faded from sight.

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