“Oh, but come now, Constantine, is she not your legacy? You should bestow us the honor of a formal announcement.”
Constantine struggles to control his temper but feels a hand on his shoulder.
“Perhaps when things settle down,” Remiel says before he can say something he will regret.
“Very well, we look forward to it,” Dmitri responds, and with that he stands, and the others follow suit and he leads them out of the dining hall.
Aefre is still standing outside the door, looking for all the World like she is going to kill him, glaring at each Vampire that files past in hatred.
“My sweet,” he says to her, taking her hand to placate her. “You know where that would have ended up.”
Her green eyes fill with sorrow and he knows that she is aware of the matter.
“How did it go?” she asks instead.
“All sorted. Most are completely on board. All they are interested in is their own charges getting the Silver. But I am going to watch out for Dmitri. He might cause trouble further down the line,” he says with a frown.
“Do you think Arathia is still in danger?” Aefre asks, returning his frown.
“I will always assume that she is and take the necessary precautions,” he replies.
“I am going to see to Delinda. I am sure she is tired of being cooped up,” Remiel says.
Aefre nods. “Where are you going to take her?”
“Anywhere she wishes to go,” he replies.
Again, Aefre just nods, clearly happy to let her daughter go off to the gods only know where with him.
“Let’s go and see our daughter and then I want some alone time with you,” Constantine murmurs to her.
Her eyes light up and he is glad that she wants to spend time with him. She has been really out of sorts since she returned from the Fae Kingdoms and it has him really worried. What if what Sebastian did to her caused her permanent damage? What if she remembers everything that happened? He can only imagine what his charge made her do whilst under his spell, and he knows full well what he made her say. That still rips at him, and deep down he knows he must pay extra attention, just in case what she said wasn’t all Sebastian’s idea.
As they find Arathia and Marguerite in Delinda’s room upstairs. His heart lightens somewhat when he sees the love that Aefre has for their daughter. She scoops her up and cuddles her close, murmuring loving things to her.
They walk off together, taking their daughter back to the nursery in a contended silence. He is desperate to hold his child, it’s all he wants to do so that he can gaze
at her little face and recount all of her fingers and toes. She is so perfect it makes his heart ache. He can already tell that she favors her mother and for that he is grateful, as she is the most beautiful woman in all the Worlds.
“May I?” he asks, holding his arms out for her. He wants to be the one to put her down to sleep.
Aefre nods her consent with only a small amount of resentment. He knows his love so well and knows that she is feeling jealous of his attention towards their child. She can be such a silly woman at times. But he supposes he has given her reason to be.
He rocks Arathia in his arms, singing a lullaby softly to her and then he places her carefully in the crib.
“Come,” he whispers to Aefre and takes her hand. She grips it tightly as he leads her out of the nursery, down the stairs and out onto the grounds. The cool November air sends a chill over her, and he picks up the blanket that has been left for her on a stone bench.
She gives him a curious look, a small smile playing at her lips. “Where are we going?” she asks.
“Wait,” he chides her.
They walk on in a companionable silence until he leads her into a hedged off grassy area. This is a suntrap at this time of year, so Aefre won’t feel the cold as much. She grins up at him and then her eyes light up as she sees the picnic that has been set out for them.
“Oh, Constantine,” she gushes. “You are perfect. This is just what I need.”
I know.
“I love you, Aefre. I want to spend a little bit of time with you, just the two of us,” he says.