Chapter 7 -- Cracks in the Ice.

I'm sorry what?!. Did he just say brother?. I look between the two of them, shock written all over my face.

‘Brother?’. I ask disbelieving. ‘He’s your brother?’.

Cassian smiles innocently and replies.

‘I believe that's what he said’.

I glare at him.

‘I thought you said you were one of his men?’. I ask accusingly.

‘I never said I was only one of his men’. Cassian says with a shrug.

‘Besides, I said I worked for him. I never said I wasn't his brother’. He says as a matter of fact’.

I look at him with a sour expression, when it hits me.

I turn my head slowly to Damien.

‘You knew I thought he worked for you’.

‘You never asked, you just assumed’. He replies calmly going back to his food.

I let out a disbelieving scoff.

Cassian has an amused expression on his face but I ignore him, eating my food.

‘So this is the woman you've been keeping hidden away?’. Cassian teases.

Damien’s expression changes slightly.

‘Watch your words, Cassian’. His voice laced with hidden intent.

I raise a questioning brow. That's weird.

Why would he care what Cassian says about me?.

Cassian turns to me wiggling his eyebrows at me. Ignoring Damien's remark.

‘So, Elara’. He starts. ‘How do you like it here, in this huge mansion?’.

I shrug. ‘Too many things and rooms I'm not allowed to explore’. I reply.

‘Oh my’. He puts his hand on his chest in a hurtful posture. ‘He’s not bossing you around, is he?’.

I snort. ‘I mean if you say it like that’. I reply.

Cassian laughs.

I glance at Damien, he's already looking at me, his expression hardens.

I give him my sweetest smile.

If I thought his expression couldn't get any worse I was wrong.

‘You're still as grumpier as the last time I saw you. Take a joke, brother’. Cassian says, wiping his eyes with his hand.

Damien gives him a warning look.

That seem to make Cassian laugh.

‘He’s always been like this. Even when we were children’. Cassian tells me.

I look at him surprise written on my face.

‘Really?’. I ask.

Cassian nods.

‘What was he like as a child?’. I ask, curious.

Damien immediately says,

‘Don’t’.

Cassian grins mischievously.

‘Oh, she wants to know’. He tells Damien.

Damien replies by glaring at the side of his face.

‘When we kids, all the children wanted to play with us but Damien kept scaring them with his cold and cruel stare’. He says, with a grin on his face.

I chuckle softly, imagining a little Damien scaring little children like himself with just his cold looks.

‘One time, he made a girl cry by telling her she was too clingy when she asked for his name’. Cassian smiles.

‘I promise, I will throw you out if you don't stop talking’. Damien threatens.

Cassian laughs.

I laugh along with him. That actually explains a lot about Damien.

Damien looks at me for a second.

Not angry.

Just… caught of guard.

And I realize this is actually the first time I've genuinely laughed after the marriage.

After staying here for the past few days.

After everything that's happened.

Cassian gets up to leave. Before he goes he says,

‘It was nice to officially meet you, Elara. Try not to let my brother scare you. He's worse when he's pretending not to care’.

‘Cassian’. Damien says, giving him a warning look.

‘What’. He says, innocently. ‘She already thinks you're terrifying’.

He smiles and leaves us both in the dining room.

The atmosphere changes to what it was before.

‘Why didn't you tell me you had a brother?’. I ask, breaking the ice.

‘It wasn't relevant’. He says, casually.

‘Are there other siblings I'm supposed to know of?’. I question.

‘No’.

‘Everything about you seems to be a secret’. I say, irritated.

He looks at me.

‘And yet, you're still here’. He replies.

I nod and say,

‘Im beginning to wonder if that was a mistake’.

I see the corner of his lips tug upward in a small smile.

The tiny expression catches me completely off guard.

So he can smile. It's not actually bad.

He notices the expression on my face and suddenly remembers where he is.

He gets up abruptly.

‘Good night, Elara’. He says leaving me in the kitchen.

I wake up feeling lighter than usual. And happy for an unknown reason.

I try not to show it but it's hard not to notice. The giddiness I feel inside. The smile on lips. The little bounce in my step when I walk.

And it all means one thing;

Exploring something and somewhere new.

I'm on my way to the stables in the mansion that I had not idea of.

The thought of petting the horses and learning to ride them has me feeling like a little girl. I've always wanted to learn how to ride a horse but my father—

I shake my head. I won't let him spoil my mood with thoughts of him even when he wasn't present.

I reach the stables which is not what I was expecting at all. There are rows of horses in their stalls with men taking care of them.

Some of them greet me. Others nod in respect.

I know I shouldn't be here not with the men so busy with the horses but I was bored and exploring was the only thing I could do.

I run my hand on the mane of a brown horse and it snorts in response. Nudging it's nose on my palm playfully.

I laugh. It likes me.

‘You’re so pretty’. I say to it.

A crowd of men gather around a stall at the last end of the stable and I wonder what all the commotion is about.

I leave the brown horse I was petting and head over to them.

On the ground lays an injured horse. It has a deep cut on one of it's legs.

I try to get a better view of what's happening when my eyes land on a mass of raven black hair squatting beside the injured creature.

I'd recognize that hair anywhere.

Damien.

He washes the wound of the animal gently as humanly possible.

As if he didn't want to add more pain to the creature’s already existing one. He bandages the wounds and turns to a servant telling him what he's supposed to do.

He gets up, allowing the stable men to take over.

He notices me standing in the mist of the crowd and walks over to me.

‘How long have you been standing there?’. He asks, not at all surprised by presence in the stables.

‘Long enough to realize you're not always unpleasant’. I reply, chuckling.

He raises an eyebrow.

‘Don’t spread that around’. He says, voice teasing.

I laugh at that.

He smiles.

A genuine one.

Small, brief, but real.

‘Lord Ashcroft’. A servant says, bowing towards him.

He gives him a letter then turns to leave.

Damien reads the letter.

His entire demeanor changes.

The warmth in his eyes disappears.

The cold Lord I've come to know returns.

He looks at me, says nothing, then leaves.

‎