Confessions
For a few moments they both remained motionless, looking into each others eyes. Margareta felt heat rising to her cheeks and it was her who finally looked aside.
"I'm sorry, I...didn't mean to...to interrupt..." she stammered, desperately searching for words.
Darius smiled. "Don't worry, I am not offended. Although..." he paused to look at her closely. "...although I'm curious to know the reason for your being here. In my private rooms."
Margareta's cheeks turned a darker shade of pink as her blush deepened.
"The sun has set and I came to ask if you will join us for dinner." she finally replied. She still didn't dare looking at him.
He nodded. "Yes, I will."
Margareta quickly rose. "I shall see you at dinner then..." she said and turned to leave, but his hand shot forward and grasped her wrist.
"Wait."
She froze in mid-step. "Yes? Is...something the matter?"
He pulled her back until she was forced to sit down on the edge of the bed. Her heart was beating really fast. Shyly she raised her head to look at him.
"You saw..." he began, then paused.
"Yes, but I don't have a clue what it was I saw. It was like I saw things through your eyes and it confuses me."
"Indeed, you saw through my eyes." Darius confirmed. "What you saw was more than a dream. It was a memory of things long past. Those events happened more than fifty years ago."
Margareta gasped. Was he making fun of her? She looked at him closely, but there was no mischief in his expression. On the contrary, his face was serious and his eyes were full of grief and sadness.
"But...that is impossible...that would make you at least seventy years old..."
"In reality I am even older than that." Darius stated.
Margareta's eyes widened. "But...how? Do you know the secret of eternal youth?"
He laughed, but it sounded bitter. "Maybe those who made me know it...I don't. The answer though is simple. I am not human."
The girl sat in shock. One of her hands rose to touch his face, his hair.
"Not...human?"
He was more than surprised. He had expected her to simply not believe him or to scream and run away. But none of that happened. For a moment he closed his eyes, when he felt her fingertips on his cheek. The gentle touch made him shiver.
Margareta's thoughts raced. He had just told her he was some kind of inhuman creature, why wasn't she afraid? Then she finally came to a decision. Placing her hand flat on his cheek, lightly cupping it she looked at him, waiting for him to open his eyes again. When he did, she smiled at him warmly and said:
"I don't care."
It took a while, but when her words sunk in, Darius couldn't help but to feel moved. A sudden warmth spread through him, something he hadn't felt for what seemed like ages. Margareta's hand still lay on his cheek. Now he covered it with his, then turned his head to lightly kiss her palm. They remained like this for a while, but the tender moment was disturbed by the voice of one of the maids calling for Margareta.
"They are already looking for you..."
She nodded, frowning. Seeing that made him laugh.
"You'd better go before they panic...go ahead to dinner, I will follow shortly." He slightly pressed her hand, then let go, already missing her warmth.
Margareta nodded and rose. Without any further word she crossed the room. Once more she turned and looked at him, smiling. Then she quietly opened the door and slipped outside.
Darius remained sitting on his bed, already deep in thought. That girl...she amazed him. Not only did she have one of the most beautiful singing voices he had ever heard in his entire existence, she also seemed to have talents that went far beyond the average. Things like telepathy weren't new to him, but he had never experienced them with someone else than those he called his brothers and sisters.
They hadn't been a normal family...but the other twelve boys and girls that had survived with him had been the closest thing to family for him. They had suffered together, comforted each other and they had grown up together.
And some of them had even died together.
Pain and sadness swept through him, the memory freshly re-awakened. He remembered the rush of adrenalin that has washed through him when they rode out onto the plain, the sound of five galloping horses loud in the air, like a rolling thunder.
He knew his brothers were with him, he could feel their presence. In a way he could still feel them...
Darius shook his head to clear his mind and to push aside the memories. He got up from the bed and put on his shoes. His head went up when he sensed a presence at the door.
"You may enter."
The door opened and revealed a rather puzzled servant.
"My...my master has sent me to inform you that dinner will be served shortly."
"I shall be downstairs in a minute." was Darius' reply. The servant bowed and left the room.
Locking everything else in the back of his mind he told himself to concentrate on the present. He put out the candle on the table and finally went to join the household for the evening meal.
end chapter three
