Chapter 10. - Part I

(Caprice)

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After showering and changing into my school uniform, I went to the observation deck.

I would deal with the Countess shortly.

When I arrived, Caelum was in a closed doors session with Principal Mason, Weinberg, and Kaleb Deneve afil Lanfear. I wasn’t allowed inside, and was surprised to learn that Simon Alucard had been turned away as well. I asked one of the girls operating a holo-terminal to find Alucard for me. I was a little surprised that she helped me, but I was more surprised to learn the Countess was waiting for me in the lobby of the administration building.

I headed up and out of the training facility.

Once out of the elevator at ground floor, I walked to the lobby where an impatient Countess awaited me. At sight of me, she turned toward me, and dropped her weight onto a hip while folding her arms under that envious bust of hers.

I walked up to her, and stopped a few feet away.

Alucard barely restrained her glare, but was unable to stop tapping her foot.

“You kept me waiting,” she grated out.

“I give you credit for not running away,” I praised her.

“To think a Familiar would order me around.”

“Be careful not show your true colors to Caelum.”

She pressed her lips into a thin bloodless, and raised her chin at me. “If it’s alright with you, I’d rather talk here than outside in the cold. The habitat’s environmental controls aren’t what they used to be.”

“If you’re not bothered having this encounter recorded by security, then I’m satisfied with this locale.”

I watched her clench her jaw.

“Let’s get this over with,” she stated.

I took a long breath, aligned my thoughts, then proverbially dove into battle.

“Did you think you could divide Caelum and I?”

Alucard stopped tapping her foot. “Divide? Since when have you been together? You talk and behave like you own him, but the truth is quite different.”

“True, I haven’t confessed to him yet. However, neither have you and for good reason since you’re not interested in him but in what he has to offer your family.”

“Leave my family out of this.”

I shook my head slightly. “That’s not possible. However, I return to my original question. Did you think you could divide Caelum and I?”

Alucard stared at me, a thoughtful look crossing her face. “Yes.”

“And you thought you could do so by introducing a new actor onto the stage.”

A frown flickered across her face. “What do you mean a new actor?”

“Crais Shepherd afil Raynar. A second year male student assigned to Class Two-Dee.”

Another frown flickered across her face. “Crais Shepherd?”

“Do you claim not to know him?”

The Countess averted her eyes in thought. “I’ve never met him, though I’ve seen him around, and the girls in class express an interest him from time to time despite being a Familiar. It’s safe to say he has a number of female fans. He’s a tall fair-haired student. Very good looking. Personality wise, he’s quite unlike Caelum.”

“So you do know him?”

“Like I said, I’ve heard of him and seen him around, but I don’t recall ever speaking to him.”

“How interesting. So it wasn’t your idea to have him approach me with romance in mind.”

Her eyes widened. “Approach you? No, absolutely not. Though now that you mention it, that would have been an excellent strategy.” She shook her head in a self-deprecating manner. “Why didn’t I think of that.”

A soft snort escaped me. “I was ready to give you credit for being devious. However, I overestimated you. I’m also disappointed that you didn’t know he’d approached me.”

Alucard planted her hands on her hips. “I do have other interests besides spying on the people around Caelum. As the Student Council Vice-President, I don’t have a lot of free time to spare.”

“Regardless of your duties, I find it hard to believe you don’t keep tabs on me, especially after admitting that you see me as a rival.”

“Believe what you want.” She folded her arms across her chest. “So, Crais Shepherd asked you out. Did you turn him down?”

“No. The truth is I asked him out on a date this Sunday.”

“What…?”

“But I’ve been thinking Saturday would be best.”

“What? Why?”

“Because Saturday has a brighter ambience than a Sunday.”

She shook her head hastily. “No, I mean why did you ask him out?”

“To see what I could learn from him. Remember, until now I suspected you were behind his interest in me. As such, I considered his motives insincere. However, learning that you are not involved, I’m must now ascertain if his interest is sincere or otherwise. In short, the situation has become more complicated.”

“And what if his intentions are sincere?”

“Then I will turn him down with equal sincerity.”

Her mouth fell slightly open for a second or two. Alucard shook her head gently. “What if you find yourself liking him?”

“Then we’ll be friends.”

Her eyes stared into mine for a quiet moment. “There’s something unpleasant about how rational you are. Your cold logic, your way of parceling situations and feelings into neat little packages. That just rubs me the wrong way.”

“To me your point of view is irrelevant.”

The Countess regarded me with a steely light in her eyes. “Is that why you changed your look? For Shepherd’s sake?”

“No. I changed my look for Caelum’s sake. Shepherd said he had a preference for brunettes. Changing my appearance served as a test to see how he would react.”

Alucard craned her neck toward me. “And?”

“His reaction was quite positive toward me. Speechless is one way to describe it.” I refrained from admitting that his reaction elicited feelings from me that took me by surprise. The way Shepherd looked at me was the way I desired Caelum to look at me, and my heart ached as a result. Siobhan St. Clair misunderstood my reaction, thinking I had it bad for Shepherd when in truth I had it bad for Caelum.

The Countess grew very still. “You are far more cunning and cold than I expected. I realize that leaving Caelum to you would be a mistake. No, I simply cannot accept him being with someone like you. That would be the worst outcome for him.”

“You say that, yet unlike you my feelings for Caelum are real,” I pointed out. “You want him pulled into the Raynar Pride. You want him for your family’s agenda, and your family hasn’t given up on him.”

“Take it up with my family, not with me.”

I folded my arms beneath my breasts. “Relationships are built on trust.”

She subtly arched her eyebrows. “That goes without saying….”

“I’ve always found it suspicious how the attempt to bond Caelum to the Raynar Pride was so weak. After all, they sent an inexperienced girl to do the job. That fact has bothered me for a long, long time. Don’t you find it the least bit curious?”

“No. I don’t.”

“The girl I fought that day, Constance Peligree afil Raynar, was a student here. But after the encounter she transferred away to Primavera Academy in Island Four. Since then she’s been keeping a low profile. I understand her Fragment was taken from her and she’s just a normal Familiar these days.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

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“That girl was close to you, wasn’t she? In fact, you could say she was like a devoted puppy to you.”

“I had nothing to do with her attempt to bond Caelum to the Raynars.”

“She had a vial of blood. Your blood.”

“I didn’t give it to her willingly. She used her Influence on me and took my blood! I couldn’t stop her because she left me unconscious. When I woke up it was too late. It was all over for her, and for Caelum.”

“You told Caelum your family had nothing to do with the attempt on him—”

“It’s the truth!”

“—yet failed to mention how that girl was connected to you. I did say relationships are built on trust. Do you think he will trust after learning you’ve been holding back on him.”

“Yes. I do.”

“I have to wonder what you said to Peligree that convinced her to take such a huge risk on your behalf.”

“I did nothing to encourage Constance. Nothing. I told her to stay away from Caelum because the Raynars and Lanfears had come to an agreement regarding him. She acted on her own, and she paid the price for it.”

“By why would she? There had to have been a reason. If it was just her devotion to you, then I find it frightening and admirable. She was also well informed. I wonder who told her that day that I was heading out to see Caelum.”

“She was probably watching you. That would be my guess. I certainly didn’t tell her.”

I nodded shallowly. “Perhaps. Yet in the end her efforts were in vain. She wanted to do you proud. Instead, she shamed her Guardian who happened to be a member of the Alucard Family—your uncle if I’m not mistaken—and was cast out for her failure. I wonder how she feels now, having been discarded by the Alucard Family—oof!”

The Countess grabbed me with both her hands and yanked me close to her.

“Don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong. Do you understand me, Familiar? Don’t even think of it.”

The push she gave me was forceful enough to send me staggering back a few steps, though I regained my footing in a heartbeat.

I straightened my uniform’s dress. "Careful, Countess. Your prejudice is showing."

"You should know your place, Steiner."

I continued where I left off. "“Having said all that, had Constance Peligree succeeded, I’m sure the Alucard’s would have found some way to settle the situation with the Imreh Family. She may have acted without their consent, but her intentions were clear. But she failed and was abandoned.”

“Steiner, I will warn you this once. Constance was a friend. I will not allow you to think ill of her.”

“Then you should tell Caelum the truth. For his sake, for your sake, and for your friend’s sake.”

Her expression hardened. “Why don’t you tell him? If you know so much, tell him the truth. I’ll deal with the consequences since I’m innocent of what took place that day. Tell him.”

“Very well, I will tell him.”

For a moment, her jaw clenched before relaxing. “Anything else you want to get off your feeble chest?”

I nodded. “Yes. I want you to stay away from Caelum. And I want you to keep quiet regarding my interaction with Crais Shepherd afil Raynar. When the time is right, I will explain the situation to Caelum. I don’t want you stirring the pot before I’ve had a chance to deal with him. At the very least, I feel confident you were not involved in Shepherd’s decision to approach me. I can see now that you lack the ingenuity for such a subversive endeavor. However, I won’t stop assuming the worst from you or suspecting you’re behind every conspiracy theory in this school.”

“I couldn’t care less what you suspect of me, and I certainly won’t leave Caelum to you.”

I nodded again. “I expected you to say that.”

The Countess inhaled deeply, pushed out her chest, then declared in a threatening voice, “We are done here.”

She started turning away, but stopped when I asked, “Did you convince Haruka to play Devil’s Advocate?”

Alucard cast a vaguely confused look at me over her shoulder. “What are you talking about?”

“Haruka has been working with you and the Student Council, has she not?”

“Yes. I’m hoping she’ll join us in the next semester.”

“The two of you talk, don’t you?”

“Of course we do. Is that a problem?” she asked, her voice growing briefly heated.

“Did you convince her to play Devil’s Advocate?”

Again, Alucard looked confused. “Why would I do that?” she snapped.

“Because it’s your intention to separate me from Caelum.”

For a long while, the Countess did little more than breathe. However, eventually she inhaled deeply and expelled a heavy, shuddering sigh. Then she swallowed noisily, and stepped up to me until our noses were inches apart.

“You can think of me what you may, but I’m not that underhanded to use Haruka against you. I consider her a friend, and you a rival. Unlike you, I prefer to face my competition fair and square, and not employ threats or pathetic attempts at blackmail.” Her expression grew quite dark. “Now you’d better have a very good explanation for asking.”

“I feel that she is of two minds. First, she argues in favor of my dating Crais Shepherd, but whenever I agree to being open to the idea, she questions whether it’s what I really want, as though arguing in favor of Caelum. I find it unsettling and difficult to reconcile. As she hasn’t behaved like this before, I assumed you put her up to it.”

The Countess’s eyes narrowed into thin slits. “I’m insulted you think so little of me as to pit friends against each other.”

“I have never thought of you as someone who would fight fairly.”

Her eyes searched mine, and I could feel her gaze penetrate into me. “I look at you, Steiner, and do you know what I see?”

“Someone better than you.”

“I see a spider. I see a monster who will spin her web and wrap Caelum up. I see someone possessive to the point of murder.”

For a moment, my thoughts fell into disarray and I lost my composure.

I stared at her open mouthed, feeling the weight of her emotions upon my face.

There was an intense pressure emanating from her, and it was like nothing I’d experienced before. Not even when she grabbed me by my dress’s blouse did I feel this pressure from her. It was as though her spirit or aura had formed a barrier around her that now crushed against me.

Alucard pressed on. “I know that you would die for Caelum, but that’s what frightens me. You would die for him not because you love him, but because of your twisted mentality. You are damaged goods, Steiner. You’ve been damaged for a long, long time. And you scare me. You truly scare me.”

Then she straightened and looked down at me.

“Mark my words, Caprice Steiner afil Lanfear. I will never leave Caelum to you. Even if he doesn’t choose me in the end, I would rather it be Haruka or Prissila that wins his heart than allow him to fall into your hands. As the gods in high heaven are my witness, I will find a way to save Caelum from you.”

When she turned away, I felt as though I’d been released from the grip of a giant invisible hand.

The pressure around me faded in a heartbeat.

The Countess walked to the building’s glass entrance, waved her student identity over the scanning plate, and exited through the open doors.

Not once did she look back at me.

Somehow, I felt as though I’d lost this encounter.