Chapter Seven - Adriana Gervais - 19 yrs old

           Ana threw open the doors to her apartment as she stormed into it and threw herself into a gilt chair. Her face was a storm cloud of mixed emotion.

           Just her luck that her father and everyone else heard her side of the conversation and none of that asshole’s. Now she’s gone and screwed it all up.

           “I’m the one that gets punished when he’s the one that tells me I’m not good enough to marry. Then he gets the bright idea that I can be his mistress. This is not fair in the least. If the emperor thinks, I’ll accept that he’s got another thing coming.” Ana was fuming. “If he thinks I’ll degrade myself like that, then he’s deluding himself. I’ll leave before I do that. I’ll… I’ll turn my back on this place and everyone in it.”

           “Princess, I believe your father is avoiding you so that you both can speak after you’re both calmer.”

           “Oh, it doesn’t work that way. I can’t believe he wouldn’t hear me out. That was entirely unreasonable.”

           “He’s the emperor, and it’s by his will that anyone is allowed to speak. Princess, I… I’m not sure what I can say, but you weren’t the only one to hear his words. I can vouch for having heard his rather insulting remarks.” George tried to find words that would reassure her. “If the emperor will let me speak of this matter to him. I will tell him exactly what I heard and inform him you were defending yourself as much as him from the insulting proposal.”

           “I doubt he’ll allow you to even say a word on this matter. If I know him as well as I believe I do. He’ll sail in here, render his verdict on my punishment and then sail out of here, all the while ignoring the fact that he’ll probably be destroying any hope of happiness I might gain. That’s it. Wait here. I need to get out of this dress. Bloody thing is choking me in multiple places. If I have to face a bleak future filled with one disappointment after another, then I will do it in clothing I’m comfortable in.”

           “Okay, of course.” Ana grabbed several pieces of clothing from her closet and stepped into her bathroom.

           “Dang it. I need help with this stupid dress. I will never understand why they still insist on putting the closures on the back of the dress in this day and age. Can I get you to open the back of my gown?”

           That made George pause. He was about to leave to get her lady’s maid, then George realized that the lady’s maid couldn’t enter right now, as per the emperor’s command. “Of course.” As she waited in the doorway of her bathroom, he stepped toward her and swallowed his apprehension. He watched his hands go toward the long row of buttons down the back of the dress. He could smell cinnamon and nutmeg with a hint of blood. George hadn’t eaten yet and her scent made his mouth water as he revealed the graceful pale slope of her back and shoulders. Her throat was so close, and her flesh looked so soft, and pale in the dim light of the room.

           “Thank you.” Ana could feel his fiery gaze on her back and she struggled not to let a shiver of excitement become obvious as it made it’s way down her back. His cool hands brushed her ever so slightly. His touch was feather soft as his hands gently glanced over her skin. Once he reached the last button, Ana moved into action and disappeared into the bathroom.

           ‘That was a mistake.’ Ana thought to herself. Her heartbeat picked up as soon as she felt him so close to her. The smell of leather and burgundy enveloped her quickly. Ana wanted to wrap herself in that scent and explore it. She felt doomed after that to misery.

           Her father would take this position from her and give it to someone else. Then reassign him to the new ambassador. Another chance to be free of this place thwarted by her big mouth. Ana could only blame herself for this mess. She should never have let that fool goad her into saying those things. Who knew what the Count would demand in return as restitution? Ana knew the Count wouldn’t waste this opportunity to gain something toward his own agenda and she all but gave it to him. This was another reason the emperor was angry with her and she’d be punished for it.

           Ana dropped her dress in a crumpled pile on the floor and took her boots off. Once dressed in her own type of personal uniform, she looked at herself critically in the mirror. With a black tank top on the vines of red roses, tattooed across her left shoulder was visible as she looked at her lean frame. Like most vampires, Ana was on the lean side, but she also had the height which was exceptional in it’s own right. She looked like the emperor, in many ways. Her legs were covered in black fatigues, and she’d put her boots back on.

           Red roses from head to toe. She needed her jacket. The emperor despised seeing her tattoos. Ana was sure if she’d been a male, the sight of her tattoos wouldn’t have been an issue for the emperor. So much Ana saw in the mirror was to hide who she truly was.

           Her auburn hair fairly burned even in the bright lights of the bathroom. While her skin looked like fresh fallen snow. Or so the poets of old would say.

           She had to go out there and get her jacket before the emperor arrived or summoned her. Whatever he decided to do. Ana grabbed her jewellery from the counter and put on a gold pendant that bore the family coat of arms. Ana figured if she was to face this, she’d do it by showing her loyalty. If not, she could take it off and hand in her membership to her family and house.