Promises

Arabella walked to the lake shore. She had sent the men with her to check out the caves. They would be at least an hour. She moved to an outcropping so Brianna would be able to see her. Her phone vibrated and she checked in. Why was Jonathan texting her? Her eyes grew wider as she read about the conversation he had just finished with the King. This could be a problem. She had to think...how to tell Brianna. Well, she could wait for that until they were on their way back. They had thing to figure out first. She looked around and called out.

"I'm here...alone as promised. You can come out."

After Arabella had left the night before leaving her alone by the lake side she had to exactly where the light tight coffin would be. She had moved it closer to the lake side as she wanted to know exactly where she was going to wake up. At least she hoped Arabella kept to her word and not moved the coffin whilst she was inside. Cracking open the coffin as she slid out and was met with the sound of crickets chirping and the sound of swaying branches in the cool breeze.

She was by the lake side at least. Closing the lid down as she made her way straight to lake side that was covered by a cluster of weeping willows as she waited for Arabella, at least she was going to keep her end of the deal.

"I'm here...alone as promised. You can come out."

She was here. Wrapping her arms around herself as she exited the tree's and kept her head low. Had she told Quinn about what had happened and why she had run off? Why was he not here? She pushed that thought to the back of her mind for now.

"You kept your word" she muttered.

Arabella smiled when she saw Brianna.

"Of course I did, Brianna. I had no reason not to. I sent my men to check the caves which buys us at least an hour. How are you feeling? Better?"

"Why? I am surprised that you didn't have me taken against my will when I couldn't fight back" she muttered back at Arabella.

Brianna kept her distance from Arabella because she didn't exactly trust her right now.

"So. I am guessing Quinn isn't exactly too happy that I left. I bet Bill isn't going to be too happy either" she told herself.

"Right on both counts. Bill found out you were missing. It's not good. Your training and safety has been called into question. He wants you to come home to talk about everything that has been going on while you have been here."

She looked directly in Brianna's eyes to stress the severity.

"If he does not like what he hears, your training..and probably your freedom...are over."

She let those words sink in and then spoke softly, letting her head drop as she spoke.

"I want to say I am sorry about before, Brianna. I understand if you are angry with me. I misread things and that was my mistake. In truth, I have about as much experience with relationships as you do, maybe even less. I made a big mistake and saw something that was not there. I only hope that it has not destroyed the friendship we had, or at least that it can be rebuilt. I can tell you from experience, good friends are a hard thing to come by for a vampire."

"Oh I wouldn't say that. I have only ever had one relationship...if you can call it that. It was horrible. My first experience with sex didn't exactly go down too well. Put me off the whole thing until Quinn. I like having you as a friend, but you went too far and I forgive you for that. Just don't do it again...please" she admitted.

Sitting down on the grass ledge as her hands rested in her lap.

"Wait he knows! So what does that mean? How did he find out? Do I have to leave?" she asked already panicking about the possible outcome.

"I do not have all the details. Apparently Jonathan was on the phone with him and he heard the security teams looking for you on it. He demanded you come to the phone at that moment. Jonathan bought some time but as a trade-off, the King is requiring you return home to speak privately with him. I will be taking you there myself in case he wishes to discuss your training."

She walked over, offering a wildflower as a peace gesture.

"All I can tell you is that he knows you were lost, and that Jonathan sent out people to look for you. Jonathan can give us more details on the conversation when we get back, but we have to figure out what to do. He wants you there tomorrow night one hour after sunset. We have to get back soon, so at least Mathew can 'go behind your back' and send word that you are safe. We will not get out of the trip, but at least it will make him simmer down a bit having confirmation like that."

She sat down on a rock outcropping, facing Brianna, her embarrassment plain on her face.


"I still can't believe I went there. You have my promise that will never happen again."

"But what if he finds out about what has happened between Quinn and I? He can use the 'I am your Maker' crap on me to make me tell the truth? Then what? He will kill Quinn if he finds out. Then what will happen to you? He is going to kill me!" she gasped.

This was all her fault. If she hadn't been so stupid and messed things up and handled things like an adult they wouldn't all be in this mess.

"I can leave now. Then Bill will have to come and find my himself. You and Quinn won't get hurt. Problem solved" she suggested.

"An agreement was made. If we change it, it will be a war between the two of them. I am bringing you myself as a body trust. My safety keeps Jonathan from doing anything unwanted while the King's responsibility to the vampire community will keep me safe."

She thought carefully and grinned.

"Perhaps we can take the bad and make it good. Any time he asks you about relationships, you can bring up that we fooled around a bit. It is true..kind of...a kiss is fooling around. That might be enough to get your around the whole 'as your maker' business."

She sighed.

"As for the rest, we keep things simple and honest. Your training has gone amazing and this demand has to do with other things, I think. His assistant was exposed as a spy and disappeared. He thinks Jonathan has the woman somewhere captive. As far as I know that is not true. The only time he has been away was to talk to his informant and he came home too soon to be extracting information from someone. Simple honest answers, and maybe make him uncomfortable with the relationship questions. Feel free to elaborate, but make it clear that it was a one shot."

She thought for a moment.

"Can vampires blush? Maybe you can find out if you make him do it."

"So you want me to tell him that we...well that we have "fooled around" to get him to lay off that kind of questions? Won't he see right through that? He knows that I can't lie, he has told me often enough. Besides I can't lie to save my skin, he will know it" she told Arabella.

Tell Bill that she and Arabella fooled around? Would Bill even buy that? He is a man wouldn't a man be into that sort of thing? All human men would be, there is enough video's out there to watch.

"But what if I just tell Bill about everything? That I am happy and that I love him? He loves that woman wolf, surely he would understand what it means to love? He will want me happy and if that means being with Quinn then he might understand?" she asked Arabella for her opinion.

"Your squeamishness in lying to him will actually work to your advantage. He will take your hesitance to talk about it as embarrassment rather than lies. He knows about myself and Cassia, so he knows my feelings on the subject. You are about the age to experiment so it is believable. You can even be adamant that it was a one time thing and will never happen again. That should help."

She leaned in and smiled.

"Brianna, right now his anger is at the front. His home was violated by a spy from Isabel and from the impression I got from Jonathan's message, he thinks he was the last one to know. Were he thinking rationally, that approach might work, but he is not. The history between the King and Jonathan makes even the truce difficult to maintain. Add to that the fact that Jonathan previously was involved with Jessica...he might see a relationship with you as an attack on his personal life. I am not saying it is, just saying that from what I know of the situation, it would be better to keep things quiet for now."

She stood, walking over and crouching down in front of Brianna, smiling.

"I know you do not want to keep it a secret and the time will come to go public but I do not think now is that time."

"He might see a relationship with you as an attack on his personal life"

Is that what it was? A way for Quinn to get information about Bill? Was he just using her not to get at Jessica, but to get at Bill. No, she couldn't think like that, he was telling the truth about his feelings. He had too be.

"Fine...Just tell me what I need to do" she grumbled.

Arabella thought for a moment.

"Use his words. Yes he can give you commands, but how you obey them is all dependent on what words are used. Sometimes the simplest word choice can give a lot of wiggle room. Use that to your advantage. If he asks about personal details, use how he asks to deflect the issue. If he asks if Jonathan has a prisoner, you can honestly say that he does not. We would know if someone was locked up in the house. When he asks if Jonathan ever goes anywhere alone, start rambling about all the errands and business meetings and everything else Jonathan does. Eventually he will tire of asking questions."

She stood, pulling a small flare gun from her bag.

"Time to call our ride."

She smiled and laughed a bit. She aimed the shot over the lake and pulled the trigger. As the guards came closer, she smiled and walked with Brianna toward the waiting SUV.