Chapter 337: Plans
"That’s the one!"
Arabella did not particularly scream those words but still managed to somewhat startle Silas, which was a feat of its own.
"Yes?" he straightened further in his chair.
"This one would be just perfect for the auction, don’t you think?"
He sure loved the twinkling stars in her eyes. Her mouth remained a little agape as she smiled.
"Yes, I think so as well," he looked between her ecstatic face and the orchestra.
Truth be told, while he enjoyed their performance, Silas could not comprehend why it was that group that she desired better than the previous or what it was that Arabella saw in them that was missing from the others.
Although, he kept his peace and didn’t question a thing about it, hoping to retain it in mind as there’d be time for that afterwards.
By then, they were already at the ninth orchestra group but as absorbed as the young woman seemed by each and every one of them, it was that one that had grabbed her attention the most.
When they played their second piece however, the light around her dimmed a tad.
"So? Do we keep them for the wedding as well?"
"I don’t think so," she shook her head before her focus snapped onto him, her eyes a little wider, "Unless you like them,"
"Again, they are fine, but their performance didn’t...," he fumbled for the words for a second, "Truly move me,"
Silas hoped those words would be what she needed to hear in order to be reassured.
He told no lies, but remembering his mother’s words, thought telling her that he genuinely could not care less which orchestra would play those two nights or at any other event for that matter, wouldn’t yield the best of outcomes for him.
To his relief, it worked like a charm. Arabella sat back in her chair and braced her ears for the next in line.
It wasn’t until the twelfth one that her face brightened again.
"Oh! This one sounds perfect for a wedding!" she chirped, while lightly clapping her hands together a few times from excitement.
"Yes...," he looked a tad unsure at first, "Yes," his head nodded once as he stated with more confidence.
A stifled snort came from behind them. Mr Carlton quickly cleared his throat and straightened up when they turned towards him. One of them had a curious look on whereas the other stared the butler with a firm expression.
Pointing which look belonged on which face is quite unnecessary.
In total, it took them a total of five hours to pick the ideal orchestras, but even after making her choice clear, Arabella still insisted on hearing the rest of them play.
"They came all the way here. They deserve to at least be heard," she had said.
Despite being given the alternative to leave, Silas still decided to stay with her and listened to all of them.
"I have a question,"
In a hallway as they made their way through it, Silas finally plucked up the courage to broach the topic.
"Yes?" she was all ears.
"I still couldn’t fathom what was missing from the other orchestras you didn’t pick," he looked straight ahead, avoiding her gaze at all costs.
An invisible sting pricked at Arabella’s insides. It was a little one, but it still stung. She had hoped he agreed because he saw the difference. Perhaps not as clearly as she did, but at least a little bit.
Nevertheless, Arabella took a deep breath before speaking, "The others almost all picked music played in grand royal dances held back in Lustris instead of mere royal dances,"
"Elaborate," he said, "Please," Silas quickly added.
"The royal abode of Regalis is very often lively thanks to the balls and dances organized in the name of the royal family, but there are two types of them, the grand royal and the plain royal," her fingers twiddled together as she explained, "The grand ones include members of the nightwalker community, namely vampires and are held more rarely than the mere ones. In those, the music that is played incorporates pieces from Umbrarian cultures to cater to all of the guests and soon, new pieces were born inspired from both Lustrisian and Umbrarian’s old music. They are quite recent though, this trend started around three decades ago,"
"I am assuming in the plain ones, only Lustrisians are conveyed and thus none of the new pieces are featured," he half asked.
"Exactly!" she leaped in her spot a little, "These groups believe that this is what Umbrarians want to hear when in reality, based on what I’ve learned, but also based on the fact that humans are going to be auctioned, the best thing would be to have purely Lustrisian music played. I mean there is a reason older vampires prefer to hear poems written by human hands and it’s not because they are of better quality,"
"I never paid much attention to music," he admitted, "We did put in the request for Lustrisian music, but I believe the orchestras thought the new pieces you speak of were more appropriate,"
"Sure, they were created in Lustris and by humans, but I believe older pieces would please the crowd better,"
Their exchange about music carried on until they reached their next destination. Since by that time, the sun had already sunken, the Lady awaited them in the lounge room to take their input about the invites.
After the formalities and pleasantries, they each sat on one of Persephone’s sides and waited to be handed an invitation card.
"Only my name appears on the card!" Silas flipped the piece of paper in his hand.
"I’ve requested that it’d be that way," Arabella quickly chimed in, seeing the tension that had built up around his jaws, "That way, it’ll be a surprise to the guests. Not to mention, the only member of my family that will be present is the one that has the most against our union. It’d be a great risk for us to take, letting him know of our plans beforehand," she added after simmering down a tad, "I don’t want to give them enough time to plan anything,"