Chapter Two-Hundred-and-Ninety-Six
3rd Person POV
They had been so absorbed in their rebellious plan that they had forgotten that their friend was not quite ready for the world yet. They threw their heads back in laughter as they mocked themselves and their plan.
“Heyy, why didn't you say something?” asked Charlotte, still reeling from laughter.
“It did not cross my mind that I could not do it. I never want to be left out of the fun,” replied Harlin.
“You must have a death wish, Harlin. You've fallen unconscious twice this year already,” added Reginald.
“It's all because of bad company,” said Harlin, mimicking their aunt Emily's voice. This sent them into a fresh wave of laughter.
“Do you mind sharing with me what's so funny?” they saw Alison enter the room and laughed even harder. Alison could not understand what was so funny. She had been knocking for several minutes and got no response. When she was certain they were all inside Harlin's room but no one came to answer the door, she opened the door worried that something had happened to Harlin only to see the three of them laughing as though they were high on laughing gas.
“Aunt Ali, you're supposed to knock! I'm not a child!” protested Harlin when he had finally caught his breath. Alison only smiled, it was the first time she had seen Harlin's eyes bubble with life since he had returned home.
“You were not answering the door so I was worried,” came Alison's response.
“Aunt Ali, do you think I can go have a picnic on the Mounts tomorrow?” asked Harlin. They were clearly not going to use it as an excuse anymore but it was worth knowing if it would have worked on Alison.
“I don't see why not,” shrugged the innocent Alison.
Her response however provoked much laughter from the trio. Alison blinked repeatedly, what were they laughing about?
“When you are done amusing yourselves, do let me know,” said Alison.
“Sorry Aunt Ali, it's just so funny,” said Harlin between laughter.
“What is?” but they only began another round of laughter.
Alison waited for them to be done laughing.
“Is there something you want to ask me, Aunt Ali?” asked Harlin. He knew that his aunt would still not be standing there if that was not the case.
“Oh yes! Lord Augustine is holding a gala tomorrow…”
“We'll be there,” said Harlin, he did not wait for his aunt to get to the part where she tried to convince him to go. He was going because it was Lord Augustine and that meant that Lady Lowell was going to be there. If Reginald found out at a later date that he had rejected going to this ball and denied him an opportunity to reconcile with Lady Lowell, he would kill him.
“Okay,” said Alison with a smile. She knew that Harlin had hurriedly accepted the invite for the sake of his cousin, Reginald. Although she was not certain if it was such a good idea for Reginald to see Lady Lowell.
When Alison left, the teasing began.
“Lord Augustine must have a cute daughter you're so eager to see,” teased Reginald.
Harlin shook his head at his friends. If only Reginald knew.
“Gabriella would be jealous,” teased Charlotte.
“Guys, I have told you. I and Gabriella have a platonic relationship. We're not lovers, she has nothing to be jealous of,” insisted Harlin although he could not defend the blush that crept up on his cheeks at the mention of her name.
“We believe you, we believe you,” sang Charlotte.
****
“The vampires in our midst are even more than we think,” remarked Lord Tyler. Dagen was having a closed-door meeting with Lord Edvin and Lord Tyler and they were at odds about what to do about other vampires like Lord Silver who had been living among them undetected for centuries. The challenge was that many of them were not criminals like Lord Silver. They were good people in the society so they could not be treated like common criminals.
“Do we tell them to register their identities at the palace?” suggested Lord Edvin.
“Place yourself in their shoes, will you want to register your identity at the palace? You will worry that it is a trap to kill not just you but your entire family,” came Dagen's response.
“The problem here is that we are still viewing them as a threat which is not supposed to be,” responded Lord Tyler.
“What do we do then? Just allow them to continue living here?” asked Dagen.
“Perhaps, I do not think there's anything else we can do if you ask me,” came Tyler's response.
“Even if they register their true identities and we give them citizenship and ensure their safety, when their neighbours find out, they may lynch them,” added Lord Edvin.
“You have a point there, the best we can do is to leave things as they are. We will arrest the troublesome ones and leave the others,” said Dagen.
“Should we make Lord Silver's identity public knowledge?” That was another question that gave them a headache.
“I do not think that is wise,” said Lord Tyler.
“Why not?” asked Lord Edvin.
“The people would become war with one another and then start investigating everyone they relate with and we'll have serial cases of lynching those they suspect are werewolves,” explained Lord Tyler.
“One would think that public opinion about the vampires would have changed among our people seeing that we fought the zombie war side by side,” said Alpha Dagen with a sigh.
“Perhaps more marriages with the vampires should be encouraged,” said Lord Tyler with a shrug. He was imagining Dagen waking Charlotte down the aisle to give her in marriage to Kristoff, the vampire prince. He had heard rumours that Charlotte was seeing the prince but he knew that he could not tell Dagen about it.
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