GOLD
IT TOOK WENDELINE A WHILE to see Tatijana after the banshee had shown her what she had done.
She was pretty happy with the outcome so far. Tatijana needed to know. It wasn't right if she got to live her life without suffering the consequences of her actions if Wendeline had to live her life without her father.
Dmitrik hadn't contacted her after the situation and Wendeline knew he would when he was ready so remained patient.
The next time Wendeline saw Tatijana was when she appeared out with her and Danika to a social gathering.
"Hello Wendeline and Danika," Tatijana politely greeted them, making both sisters suspicious.
She never addressed Wendeline directly.
"Are you okay?" Danika asked, observing her, and Tatijana nodded with a smile.
"I feel amazing," Tatijana said.
Their mother appeared beside them observing the three of them.
"You all look beautiful," she grinned, taking a few extra moments to observe Tatijana.
Tatijana was dressing bold today wearing an off the shoulder dress, something she wouldn't normally wear.
Together they walked inside a building. They were having brunch with other nobles. It was an exclusive social gathering so Oksana had them dress up in their best evening dresses. Today Wendeline was wearing a red dress, Danika a purple one, and Tatijana a royal blue one.
They entered and everyone was standing around with one another smiling and grinning having a good time.
Wendeline was glancing around.
"Tatijana."
Wendeline released a sigh of relief as she saw that it was only Darkowe Archaki.
Tatijana smiled at him and Darkowe looked at her in surprise when she placed her arm into his, and he welcomed her.
"So nice to see you," she said grinning up at him and his eyes twinkled.
"Same to you," he said, staring at her as he took her somewhere else leaving Wendeline, Danika, and her mother to themselves.
"Have you not found anyone Danika?" Oksana asked her daughter, and Danika shrugged.
"Maybe nobility isn't in my legacy," she murmured.
As Oksana and Danika began to talk amongst themselves, someone appeared in front of Wendeline. An uncomfortable feeling formed in her stomach.
"Hi," Wendeline said softly as Ladislaus stopped in front of her, looking Wendeline up and down.
"Hey," he also said in a sweet voice.
"We need to talk," Ladislaus said as Oksana and Danika paused to look over at them.
Danika nodded at Wendeline to go when she gave her a questioning expression and then followed behind Ladislaus.
They stepped into a vacant hall and then he leaned back against the wall and released a sigh.
Wendeline fiddled with her fingers.
"Did you kiss Darkowe?" he asked and Wendeline looked at him in shock.
"No. I would never," she stated.
"Then why were you two together? Like that. I know what I saw," he said, his green eyes looking hurt.
"He kissed me. I did not kiss him. I have no feelings for him whatsoever I promise," Wendeline tried to reassure him but he seemed hesitant to believe her.
"He forced himself on you didn't he?" he asked and Wendeline was hesitant to answer.
"Did he?" Ladislaus asked his voice low and Wendeline nodded.
Ladislaus began to walk off and panic began to bubble in her stomach.
"Please don't. It's nothing. I'm okay. It was just a kiss," she reassured him and he stopped in mid step as she pulled him back into the hall.
"Please don't confront him. He doesn't care about me anyway," she stated.
Men like him didn't care about anyone. They would never know what true love was.
"Alright," Ladislaus said and then hugged her.
"When I saw you kiss him I almost punched him. He knew I fancied you and he knew I'd be there. I think he did that on purpose," Ladislaus said, pulling away.
"Probably," Wendeline murmured, not knowing what was going on in Darkowe's mind.
"I have a question for you Wendeline, now that that's cleared up," he said, grabbing her hands and she raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yes?"
"Will you attend the ball with me? I want to have a dance with you," he said and she searched his eyes.
He was serious.
"I'd love to," she smiled and he grinned back.
"Thank you," he said, placing a kiss on her cheek.
"I'll take you back. I have to go talk to someone else but I'll come back to get you so we can sit next to each other," he said and she grinned.
Before they could go Oksana suddenly appeared and they both stared at her in surprise.
"I'll leave you two to it," Ladislaus said, moving out of the way and walking back out into the crowd.
Oksana didn't miss a beat.
"What the hell have you done?"
Wendeline raised an eyebrow at her.
"You did something to Tatijana," she stated and Wendeline was silent for a moment before nodding.
"She knows what she did."
Oksana ran a hand through her hair, looking like she wanted to slap Wendeline.
"Are you an idiot? Awakening a monster was your goal all along?" Oksana asked her and Wendeline didn't say anything.
"I love my daughter but I know her sick tendencies. She was just fine not remembering that but you had to ruin it. You thought I wouldn't notice?" she asked, astounded by Wendeline's audacity.
"I'm glad you do. She deserves to live with what she did," Wendeline said and Oksana laughed.
"You're foolish to think she'd lose a wink of sleep over that," she said and Wendeline didn't say anything and walked past her.
Oksana grabbed her arm and they stared at each other for a moment but then Oksana let her go and Wendeline disappeared into the crowd.
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Word Count: 957
Overall Word Count: 14369
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Cinder To Ashes (ONC 2024)
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