CHAPTER THIRTEEN”I would argue that nothing gives life more purpose than the realization that every moment of consciousness is a precious and fragile gift”STEVEN PINKERGUINEVEREMy mama took so long in arriving at the modiste and so I browsed through the materials she had to make dresses and I made a mental note of some I considered beautiful and would go well with my skin tone and eyes. I was not going to let Calista ruin a good day in my life even though as I went around, the thoughts of what she had said was threatening to have me thinking about how exactly the duke had considered me pretty enough for marriage or was it because I was like the one percent of the ton that would not be missed should incase anything happened to me.It was highly unlikely that that was the reason he had chosen me as his wife. I shook my head dispelling the horrible thoughts. Greta must have noticed the internal struggle I was going through because she came over to stand beside me and placed her hand
CHAPTER FOURTEEN“They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do and something to hope for”TOM BODETTTHE DUKEShe was happy to see me, I realized as her face broke into a smile and her eyes lit up in amusement. It was a very beautiful sight to watch."I did not hear you come in." she said and then realized how stupid that sounded because she blushed and hit her forehead."Why are you here?" she asked again looking up at me with childlike wonder."Well, I was bored so I came to see how it was going with you. The house can get dead silent and creepy sometimes." I said taking a seat beside her."You are one to talk! When I arrived I thought you probably killed people in there and that was why it was so dark. I have managed to light some candles and when we are properly married, I will make sure to banish any speck of darkness in that house.""Then you might have to banish me too." I mocked, seeing that the joke did not go dow
CHAPTER FIFTEEN“Explain your anger instead of expressing it and you will find the solutions and connection instead of arguments”NOTSALMON.COMGUINEVEREDid he think he could scare me? The arrogantly impossible man, how dare he try to act all childish in public. I was trying to get myself worked up so I could be angry at him but I could only smile at the absurdity of it.The grand duke had tried to scare Calista for me; it was sweet and although he had tried to cover it up with scaring me also, it was sweet. I was sure Calista was probably wherever pulling her hair out in pure mental delusion, last I saw her she was crawling on all fours and screaming like a banshee and if I wasn't intent on the vampire who had caused that, it would have been comically satisfying to watch. I had made him laugh too, maybe there was hope for he and I without the ghost of his dead wife threatening to disrupt anything."Let me have him, please." I whispered with my eyes closed hoping she was somewhere wh
CHAPTER SIXTEEN“Trust the wait. Embrace the uncertainty. Enjoy the beauty of becoming.”MANDY HALEGUINEVEREI could hardly concentrate on what my mama was saying, it was like I wasn't in the shop anymore but back at the duke's manor. I was thinking about if it was proper to ask him why he had stopped getting dresses for her and if it had any relation to meeting me nine years ago, there was no way it was just a minor coincidence and I knew there was no way it was because he had fallen in love with me then. Had he been watching me this whole time? Had he been watching my family...was that how he found out about my dad and his silly deal with the cosa nostra. If it was then I was going to call off the wedding, because it literally meant I am something he needs for his dead wife. I did not know how I knew that but if he had been watching me this whole time... I was never going to go through with the marriage, damn my father and whatever consequences there was.I could feel a throbbing i
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN“They behave in accordance with what the contrast principle would suggest; sell the suit first, because when it comes time to look at sweaters, even expensive ones, their prices will not seem as high in comparison”ROBERT B. CIALDINITHE DUKEIt was like I was watching a tug of war. There was something wrong with the way Henry and Guinevere were smiling like they knew each other but I could feel the silent tension between them. The way Guinevere had her body in a rigid position and the way Henry was trying so hard to not glare at her.When she had come in to say hello the first time, he had looked at her and it was like they had been suspended in a bubble. Henry had held her had for a while and although I just wanted to observe everything play out, it was when Guinevere had begun to shake that I knew I had to break up anything that was happening but there was something wrong with the way Guinevere had whipped around to look at me and for that brief moment, she had lo
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN“The universe doesn’t give you what you ask for with your thoughts; it gives you what you demand with your actions”DR. STEVE MARABOLIGUINEVEREI lay on my bed and thought about how the duke had not responded to my questions, he had run away. It was strange, the visit of his friend and the fact that he was trying so hard to get away from everything I had to ask him showed that there was something wrong. I had reacted to his friend in a way I would never have dreamed of reacting to a stranger and it was like I even hated him, why?There was no way they would going to tell me what was going on, I needed to find out myself but how was I going to do that. These questions kept me awake most of the night. My mama had arrived in the dead of the night and began setting up; she had forced me to sleep with the words that I needed my beauty sleep as the bride and she was not going to allow me be awake helping out so I could have eye bags at the end of the day. I had laughed at
CHAPTER NINETEEN“Faith makes all things possible. Love makes all things easy”DWIGHT MOODYTHE DUKEShe was beautiful... I watched her walk with her papa at her side, glowing and I could only think about how utterly stunning she was. Her face flushed with excitement and her eyes portraying the mixed emotions she was feeling made me want to make everything right for her.I stood up straighter where I was by the makeshift Altar and cleared my throat. Henry's eyes met mine knowingly, he could see I was beating myself up. I did not want to be here getting married, I wanted to know how she was connected to my wife.I felt guilty, I felt I was dishonoring the memory of Katherine by getting married to another woman but I knew she would understand if she knew the intent behind the marriage. I cleared my head and steadied my breathing as she approached me, innocent and smiling. She has no idea what she was getting herself into by getting married to me. She would soon enough and would hate me
CHAPTER TWENTY“We do not know all the answers. If we knew all the answers, we would be bored, wouldn’t we? We keep looking, searching, trying, to get more knowledge.JACK LALANNEGUINEVEREHe was nowhere in sight and I know this because I have tried searching with my eyes while I smiled at the guests wishing me good luck with my marriage. I was not expecting this much people and I believe the duke wasn't too. This was my father's way of paying the duke back for the insult at dinner, by inviting all of his friends and the ton to my wedding without as much as informing me or my husband. He was now my husband and even as I thought it, I could hardly believe it had finally happened. I was finally bound to this man forever. Form the look on my mama’s face, it was obvious that she too was not expecting this much guests and the way she greeted the steady trickle still coming in confirmed my suspicions, my father had acted alone on this.I continued my search for the duke, maybe he had excus
THIRTY TWO"Love is like a sudden flame; it springs up in the heart and often consumes the whole being in a moment." HONORE DE BALZACTHE DUKEWe walked stealthily to the place we had seen in the vision, I could see that it had been made into a garden and in the garden were two cottages. I signaled on Henry to follow closely behind me as I did not want to alert them of our presence.We hid watching when we saw somebody come out of one of the cottages, I instantly recognized her as the new maid the one that worked personally for GuinevereSo it was she who had stolen Katherine's body, I thoughtWe watched her until she had gone into the second cottage before advancing to the first and true to what I thought Guinevere was tied there, her eyes closed at first and I thought she was dead until she moved, opening her eyes. I rushed over to meet her but she was looking beyond me at something or maybe someone.It was then in dawned on me that I had walked into a trap, there was a man standin
THIRTY ONE"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." NELSON MANDELAGUINEVEREThe torturing had been going on for quite a while now and every time I was cut I healed back, it almost seemed like I was healing quicker with every cut. I did not understand this and I was pretty sure neither did my captors who were…well looking at me with a look of surprise and concern on their faces.I felt every pain inflicted on me but it was almost like I was feeling it from another body, there was something wrong with me and it had to do with Katherine. I knew they did not want me dead if not they would have driven a stake through my heart already; they wanted answers I could not provide and I also wanted damned answersI wondered why I was being loyal to the Duke, was he even looking for me? Did he even care enough? Why was I trying to protect him what kind of loyalty was I feeling
THIRTY“Courage is the resistance to fear, mastery of fear not absence of fear”MARK TWAINTHE DUKE"We need to all calm down." Henry started as he watched me.He could already tell that I was revising a means to save Guinevere"We need to go after her." Damien said, he could never sit still so he was pacingI still was in a world of my own thinking about what had just happened and its correlation to Katherine; I had not seen who had killed her then but what if it had a correlation to what happened today"I believe they thought she was Katherine, hence the kidnap." Henry continued sayingI wasn't paying any attention then; I could only think about was why they had taken her and what they wanted"They knew who she was” I finally spoke up… “They knew she was not Katherine and I believe somebody very close to us is messing with us right now. I don't think we are going to find out where she is except they invite us over.""So what are you trying to say, we wait?" Damien asked, incredulou
TWENTY NINE“The realization of ignorance is the first act of knowing”JEAN TOOMERGUINEVEREHe was staring, waiting for me to say something to support my claim about his love for Katherine. I took a deep breath, hoping I had not just gotten myself into trouble before saying"I just was thinking about everything and why you have decided to tell me of this story; one between yourself and Katherine and I think it is pretty obvious, I did not just want to see it. You loved her and she did not return your feelings, is that it? She preferred the duke to you and that was what had fueled your actions from then till date”"That is not true but great job in trying to decipher why I am doing what I am doing. Katherine loved me; we were childhood sweethearts but this was before she turned the duke or at least her father did. He was her first kill, her father made her do it and then they became inseparable. She had only felt pity for him of course because he was a coward and no other person wante
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT“Love is a reciprocal torture”MICHEAL PROUSTGUINEVERE"Before you guys begin torturing me, I think I need to state that I am not a vampire, I am human like you and if you killed me right now I'm actually going to die for real.""Then you found your way to make yourself human or you lying like you always do. We have been trained not to ever believe a word Katherine says so if this is your ploy to push us off our mark, you are desperately failing." The girl smirked"Oh this is no ploy I assure you, how exactly do I have proof to you that I am human and not Katherine without killing me of course” I said in exasperation."Of course silly, there are ways to check, we just have to cut you and then if you heal you're lying but if you don't that is a whole new thing we have to explore and that is how you are now human, Katherine." The lady said pointedly"For the last time I am not Katherine, I am Guinevere Berkshire, my father is Sir Collins Berkshire and his Lord of
TWENTY SEVEN"Often, what seems like an impossible climb is just a staircase without the steps drawn in."PAULO FREIRE THE DUKE"She is going to see her family?" I echoed scratching my jaw."Yes my lord, I will be accompanying her, she is waiting downstairs as we speak.""Do not bother, I shall accompany her myself." I said, rising from my seat"Really? We have a lot to discuss" Damien interrupted, rising with me."It will have to wait till I am back, make yourself at home. Henry, please watch him like a hawk for me, will you? I don't want him touching things he isn't supposed to.""I will watch him." Henry said smiling.Damien rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue at me; he had always been a child.Arthur followed behind me, his head lowered. I knew immediately that something was wrong, the carriage sat on its own outside the house but I could feel a very strange energy around it, an energy I hadn't felt in a very long time. I raced to the carriage and as I feared it was empty, Guine
TWENTY SIX“The world is vast, beautiful and fascinating even awe- inspiring but impersonal. It demands nothing of me and allows me to demand nothing of itHERBERT SIMONTHE DUKEI walked out of the shadows and headed towards him just as Henry walked in stopping in his tracks"Yes I know you both are glad to see me and I'm glad to see you both also" Katherine's brother said smiling"How are you alive?" I asked"I honestly have no idea too. Just last week I woke up with no memory of myself nor of my life." He said scratching his head"What kind of bullshit is this?" Henry started"You have been dead for centuries Damien; there is no way you would wake up with no memory of yourself.""Oh, you are talking about the purge, I did not die then. I escaped and then I wandered about and then I met a girl. It is a long story but I was wandering ever since up to the time of my death...again, I believe I died but how am I alive?." His voice trailed off as he considered this turn of events"Is th
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE“Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get- only with what you are expecting to give- which is everything”KATHARINE HEPBURNGUINEVEREHe is an unbearable bastardI screamed this aloud as he disappeared from my bedchambers after bringing me to heights I never knew existed. What we just shared was something I knew I was never going to have with anybody forever; I was his through and through.There was no strength left in me to cry and so I lay, curled up in a ball thinking about how much I wanted to die. Maybe if I died, maybe then he would finally see me, I thought smiling cynically.Of course not, it would always be Katherine no matter what. I was just a person that looked like her and a puzzle for him to solve, I was never going to be someone he cared anything for.But he was everything to me, I mean how could I be so attracted when I barely know him barely know what is going through his head. How could I be so utterly attracted to a man who consi
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR“Everyone suffers at least one bad betrayal in their lifetime. It is what unites us and the trick is not to let it destroy your trust in others when that happens; do not let them take that from you”SHERRILYN KENYONTHE DUKEShe was cryingWhy the hell is she crying, I thought to myself as I walked stealthy to her room"What is the matter? Is your stomach still upsetting you?" I asked, looking at her, she must know that I know that there was nothing wrong with her stomach and there was some other reason why she was crying"Yes yes, I'm just under the weather thank you so much for asking." She said sniffling"What is the matter, Guinevere; Talk to me you seemed happy this morning. What changed?""Can we not do this right now? As you can see I am not in the proper state of mind for this.""Does it have anything to do with last night? Are you regretting allowing me to touch you, if this is what it is about, I am sorry and I shouldn’t have" I told her"No please, do n