Chapter 486: Elenor Lavigne
Caius chuckled and patted her lightly, his touch falling onto the part of Lyanna’s back that wasn’t covered by her silver gown, causing her to shiver against him and let out yet another moan.
"Caius?" Alexia called then with the barest hints of a frown.
At the sound of Alexia’s voice, Lyanna finally pulled away from Caius to look over at her, a smile on her face as she greeted,
"Hello."
"Alexia, this is Lyanna Leopold," Caius introduced with his hand moving between the two,
"Lyanna, this is Alexia. My cousin."
"Very nice to meet you," Lyanna said with a smile as she reached a hand out and shook Alexia’s.
"Pleasure," Alexia responded with a more reserved expression.
"What are you lot doing standing near the entrance anyway?" Lyanna said then,
"Come on. Let’s mingle."
Before Caius could agree or disagree, Lyanna had already linked arms with him and pulled him with her into the Hall at large. Massive as it was, they took many steps before reaching the center, where people were mostly congregated. And there was so much space between various groups of people that their somewhat large group—including the guards—could move between them with ease.
Lyanna’s guards had deigned to stand a few paces behind her and out of her way. The Hellsingers did the same so Alexia now walked on Caius’s other side, her eyes scanning the crowd of Nobles mostly with disinterest.
As they walked, Caius noticed that Lyanna knew many of the Nobles. She tossed them greetings here and there and they greeted her in return with some level of familiarity.
"You’re popular," Caius said with a little smile.
"It’s important to maintain the relations my family has already built up. I will be taking over after Father, after all," Lyanna said.
"Will he be attending?" Caius asked as he exchanged a nod with a sour-faced man whose date seemed to be making a point to ignore him to look in Caius’s direction instead.
"Father’s busy with other matters. Who best to attend in his stead than his heir," Lyanna said with a smile and then added with just the barest of undertones,
"There is much to be learned here today."
Caius understood what she meant. A Function held for the sake of a Vampire Hunting Task Force was of the utmost importance to a Vampire Family like the Leopolds.
"Well, since you know so many here, I’ll assume you know this Leonce Duval as well," Caius said and took another unfulfilling sip of Wine out of the glass in his hand.
Lyanna shrugged.
"Just the basic stuff. He was a commoner and attended Lochxen. He was top of his class, gifted in many fields. He has since dabbled in much; Alchemy, Enchanting, and of course, Law Enforcement.
Now he has been tasked with leading the Task Force."
Even though she ran through all that like she was checking stuff off a list, there was something about Lyanna’s tone that made Caius curious.
"You don’t like him," he said.
Lyanna frowned.
"Oh, I don’t know," she said in an attempt at a dismissive tone that she didn’t quite succeed at.
Caius wasn’t the only one who noticed the tone.
"What is it?" Alexia asked. She had heard all Caius and Lyanna had said so far and only now did her ears catch something she found even remotely of interest to her.
Lyanna looked over at Alexia and didn’t seem at all intimidated or put off by the intensity within those black eyes, much to her credit.
She just shrugged again.
"Really, I don’t know what I think of him. Everything I’ve learned about him seems normal. He works very hard to climb the social ladder and is close to various Nobles in the Capital. All that is normal. He started as a Commoner and it would be strange if he wasn’t trying to improve his lot... leave a greater legacy and all that.
It’s just... I just don’t have a good feeling about him, I guess." she said and trailed off a bit.
"A feeling," Caius said, his tone filled with meaning. Lyanna’s ’feelings’ couldn’t just be dismissed. Thanks to her gift, she senses more than normal.
He wondered exactly how much she actually did know about Leonce Duval but just didn’t want to speak of it in the present company.
"I see," Alexia said and nodded. She looked to have put the matter aside after that but Caius had a feeling that she was at least a little intrigued.
"Lady Von Helsing?" A voice called, pulling Caius, Lyanna, and Alexia’s attentions to the side.
The woman who called was dressed in a beautiful gown, her neck adorned with a diamond necklace. Dropping from her ears were earrings to match. Her make-up was light, only complementing an already beautiful face. There was a mature quality about her... An instinct of sorts that identified her, to the attentive, as a mother.
Caius also found her familiar. He just wasn’t sure where he had seen her before.
"Yes?" Alexia answered as she had been the one the beautiful woman called.
"Oh, I thought it was you," the woman said with a little laugh and then she noticed the look on Alexia’s face and realized,
"You don’t remember me."
"I’m sorry," Alexia said.
"Don’t be. If anyone should be embarrassed, it’s I who found it a bit difficult to recognize my daughter’s savior."
And that was when Alexia remembered. Caius did as well. It was over two weeks ago when they scoured Capital City for who they would later learn to be Brogan’s minions and had saved a little girl before she was siphoned of her blood.
"Gods," Alexia laughed a little in remembrance, "Can’t believe I forgot."
"You’re a hero," The woman said, "You must save hundreds. My little Anna must have been one of many. It really puts things into perspective."
"You honor me," Alexia answered.
The woman bowed again and looked over at Caius and Lyanna, a curious look in her eyes before she greeted.
"Hello, Lyanna."
"Lady Lavigne," Lyanna responded with a slight bow in recognition.
"You must be Lord Von Helsing," Lady Lavigne said to Caius then and Caius could have sworn she looked nervous.
"Just Caius is fine," Caius said, "’Lord Von Helsing’ is my father."
Lady Lavigne laughed at the joke.
"Then, you can call me Elenor," she said and held out her hand.
She might have been going for a shake but Caius took it and placed a gentle kiss on the smooth back of it, drawing a redder blush on her already rosy cheek.
"It’s a pleasure to meet you, Elenor," he said.
"Pleasure is all mine, Caius," Elenor responded as Caius let go of her hand.
Alexia rolled her eyes.
’For heaven’s sake,’ she said in her head and then decided to cut into whatever was happening there.
"So, your daughter’s name is Anna?" She asked in the tone of one making light conversation.
"Yes, my lady," Elenor said.
"That’s too much," Alexia said then, laughing like the show of respect to her was much more than she deserved,
"Please, just call me Alexia."
"Alright. I will," Elenor answered.
"So is Anna here?" Alexia asked. She already knew the answer but idle chitchat often calls for irrelevant conversation topics.
"No, she’s not. Much too young and... I must admit, I have grown a bit paranoid with recent events," Elenor said with a sigh.
"I understand," Alexia said.
"Oh, I’m sure you do. Being in the very thick of it," Elenor said with an emphatic nod or two,
"That’s why it’s such a blessing to have that Task Force. A very important step in making the Capital feel safe again."
