Chapter Two-Hundred-And-Twenty-Four
**3rd Person POV**
After the incident at breakfast, Harlin began to avoid Francesca like a plague. He could not allow his feelings for her to continue to grow. He wished he could request that she return to the pack and not follow them but that was not his call to make and if he insisted that she leave them now, he would be admitting a weakness. He could not allow that.
The journey to Dome was about a day long. The Vampire Kingdom actually shared a border with the Dark Moon pack.
So by the time they reached Dome, it was nighttime already which was when the vampires began their day. It was so because they were creatures of the night and thus avoided contact with the sun.
One of the King's many princesses had come to receive them.
After the necessary introductions and pleasantries were exchanged, they proceeded to the palace. At the palace, the princess showed them to their lodgings.
Harlin was surprised that they had not been presented to the king.
“What about the King?” inquired Harlin.
“He will see you tomorrow morning,” replied the princess.
That night, Harlin's door was knocked repeatedly but he did not answer the door. He could not risk another night with Lady Francesca. He had made up his mind that she only spelt trouble for him. After a while, the person began to force the door open. Harlin knew that Lady Francesca had stamina but she was not the type to force a door open.
He pondered the forceful entry; was this an attempt on his life? Was that why the vampire king had not bothered to welcome them?
“Who is at the door?” asked Harlin. The badgering stopped and this filled Harlin with relief. If by chance it happened to be Lady Francesca at the other side of the door, he was going to give her a strict warning never to try such again. Besides, his guards should have stopped the person from going that far. He was going to give them an earful in the morning.
“Charlotte,” his body sagged with relief. He opened the door and let her in.
“You were trying to break into my room,” said Harlin, he could not believe Charlotte.
“I thought you were dead,” came her prompt response.
“Why would that be? Is everyone okay?” Harlin became alarmed.
“Everybody is fine Harlin but you are not,” came Charlotte’s response.
“Why would you say that? Because of my hand? The injury is gone, I am fine,” but Charlotte shook her head, she was going to talk about the injury but that was not what had brought her here.
“That is not why I'm here, Harlin. It's something else,” the look in Charlotte's eyes preempted Harlin's next words, “Francesca? I've got it under control.”
“Her little stunt while we were dining? You avoiding her afterwards? Is that what you have under control?” questioned Charlotte.
Harlin sighed and said, “It's over; I will not see her again.”
It was strange though that Charlotte would care about a thing such as that. She had never been interested in whom he slept with before now.
“Why should I not see her again?” he asked her. He knew that it was not because Charlotte was jealous; he could tell that she knew something.
“Lady Francesca is a married woman,” said Charlotte in a soft voice. Harlin's face contorted into an ugly grimace. “What?” He could not believe Charlotte; she was always right but this time she had to be wrong.
“She never said anything about marriage; she can't be… that would make me…”
“She is.”
“How do you know? You could be wrong?” he quipped.
“I thought she looked familiar when I saw her. She is a distant relative to one of our noble Lords. She is registered as married but I suspect she is married to a vampire,” returned Charlotte.
“Why would you suspect that?” asked Harlin.
“It’s just a feeling I have as her husband is not known but I know she is married. I do not know what she is trying to do by approaching you but you need to be careful,” warned Charlotte. Harlin understood what she meant perfectly. If Lady Francesca's husband was a vampire and he was here, it could spell trouble for him.
“It’s over,” said Harlin. His tone carried a sad undertone; it was not just Lowell he had to be worried about but some vampire husband. He wondered about Lowell too; there was no way he would not know about Francesca’s marital status and yet he knew the woman was his mistress. Or perhaps he was wrong about that?
“You still don't want to talk about your hand?” quipped Charlotte after several minutes in silence passed. She had been waiting for Harlin to open up to her but it did not seem like he ever would and she could tell that whatever had happened to that hand was still eating him up.
“You are going to think I'm crazy,” said Harlin. After all, there was no logical explanation for what had happened to him.
“Surprise me,” came her response.
“It was a dream,” he replied.
“A dream?”
“There was a fire in my dream and it felt so real. When I woke up, I realised I had a burn wound but there was no fire where I was. It makes no sense,” if Harlin's expression had not been so serious, Charlotte would have assumed that he was lying.
“It is strange indeed. Do you know why it happened?” asked Charlotte. She knew there was more to the story if not, Harlin would not have kept it a secret that long.
“I think it was a warning. Perhaps I was not supposed to come here,” shrugged Harlin. Charlotte thought about this for a moment. She knew at once that this had something to do with Harlin's mother. She was aware that her aunt, Emily had long suspected that Queen Irvette was with the vampires but there was no way to confirm that.
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