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
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 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
CHAPTER ONE“When you meet someone for the first time, it is not the whole book. That’s just the first page”BRODY ARMSTRONGGUINEVEREI met the duke when I was a little girl of thirteen and he had patted my hair and said I looked beautiful, I had carried that all over with me because he was the most beautiful man I had ever seen in my life. My papa had a meeting with him and came back home angry, he asked us never to welcome the duke into our home again and never to speak to him if we met him at any event we are invited to. My mama agreed to this but I was disturbed as to why I could not speak to the handsome man and so the only thing a girl of thirteen could do was to dream about him.Imagine my surprise when I meet this same duke at the age of twenty two and he had not aged a bit, I am perplexed at this and continue staring at him at the ball organized by lady Charlotte to commiserate the beginning of a new year. He stood tall among the crowd that gathered around him mainly constit
CHAPTER TWO“Opportunities are like sunrises. If you wait too long, you miss them”WILLIAM ARTHUR WARDGUINEVEREI woke up to a splitting headache and the angry voice of my papa echoing all over the house and trust me it was a big house.I pretended as though I was still sleeping because I did not want to hear what he had to say to me, it would mainly be him scolding me for drinking and any other thing everyone in the party did wrong. If I wasn't sure my mother wasn't some whore, I would think my father did not birth me as he had never said a kind word to me since I was a child. I had grown used to it just as I was used to the face that he adored my little sister, I adored her too but she was too much of a spoilt brat always requesting for things and sulking whenever it wasn’t done her way.I made sure to keep my eyes closed even when my mama came into the room to feel my head and also when my sister also came in the rummage through my things and steal my jewelry thinking I wasn't see
CHAPTER THREE“Life is a barter of choice and consequences”SAMANTHA SOTTOTHE DUKEI do not know what has brought me to the abode of an enemy except that I wanted to see his daughter again, the one they called Guinevere and so I had drafted up a contract before coming in hopes that he was going to see from my angle and give me her hand in marriage. It wasn't that I could not just take her but I was trying to be civil. She looked and smelled as beautiful and tempting as she had when I had first seen her years ago, she was surprised to see me alright which gave me a very warm feeling… it was strange that I was satisfied at her surprise. Contrary to the belief about Vampires we are not all cold blooded and heartless but I am among the cold blooded ones. I have lived for centuries and have seen people and loved ones come and go, mostly I have travelled from one place to another anytime my presence starts to arouse suspicions from the local authorities and this not because I cannot bend t
CHAPTER FOUR“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but In having new eyes”MARCEL PROUSTGUINEVEREThroughout the next day the only thing that rang in my heart was that the duke was a vampire and a drinker of blood. I wanted to call my papa a liar and ask him to tell me the truth this instant but deep in my heart I knew that he was not lying, my mind went back to when I had met the duke and now and how much he hasn't aged a day. I had heard about vampires and that they were ruthless and cold blooded, drank blood and killed without mercy.Does he also have fangs? I asked myself as I walked about the manor hardly seeing. Is that why he had always paid attention to me, so he could drink my blood? I asked no one in particular.My papa and mama had a huge fight the night the duke came to see my papa and I began hating him for causing my family pain, hating him for being so handsome that I did not care if he was a vampire, I would still marry him.My mama came
CHAPTER FIVE“When you walk to the edge of all the light you have and then take that first step into the darkness of the unknown, you must believe that one of two things will happen. There will be something solid for you to stand upon or you will be taught to fly”PATRICK OVERTONTHE DUKEWe drove slowly, I had instructed Arthur to take his time driving because I did not want her to be discomforted. Closing my eyes although I wasn't asleep reduced her anxiety in being alone in the carriage with me and so I closed my eyes, all of my other senses super aware of all her movements. She was twirling fingers and glancing at me from time to time, I could hear her breathing and could smell her scent so strongly."Can you not teleport?" She asked me after some time"I can""Then why are you riding in this carriage." She asked again, her voice getting stronger"Teleporting drains energy""What do you when your energy is drained.""You are awfully curious." I responded opening my eyes to observe
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