Dhampirica

XVI

YVANNA SPENT THE REST OF the night enclosed in her room. Neither Lord Dante nor Lord Riccardo called on her, and she was content to keep to herself. As much as she wanted to clear the air with Lord Riccardo, she was somewhat relieved that he had not cared to see her. Royce would not have acted the way he did without Lord Riccardo's permission, and so Yvanna considered it might be better to give him some space — and herself some time — in order to regain his confidence. 

Lord Dante was eager to return to school the next day, and Yvanna was eager to join him. Though it was a Friday, and Soren insisted that he stay home and rest, Lord Dante was not one to idle about and neither was she. She was glad to return to Invictus, though not so glad for the inevitable stares and whispers which would accompany their return. 

Sure enough, the moment Lord Dante stepped foot outside of Soren's car on Friday morning, jaws dropped and eyes bulged. Lord Riccardo had been quick to report to the authorities and media the news of his son's safety, but it had been less than a day since they came back and so not everyone was up to date. 

Yvanna stuck to him like a quiet shadow, following him around campus as she had done in days past. The last time they were here, Lord Dante had been menacingly silent and never missed an opportunity to burden her with carrying things upon things or have her run around school, chasing errands. It had only been two weeks since then, and yet, a lot had changed in those two weeks. Even though Lord Dante and Yvanna had returned to their reticent ways, this time she felt it had more to do with their inability to adjust to each other in this climate than anything else. They had been forced to adjust to each other when they were paired as noble and minder a mere month ago, then they had been forced to readjust when they were stranded and isolated from everyone else, and now that they were back...

Lord Dante and Yvanna each exchanged another wordless glance, before quickly averting their gazes. 

And now that they were back, she did not know what to think. She knew at least, for her, that she would serve him as faithfully as she could. She would do better this time to protect him; be more alert. She would not allow herself to get distracted by anything, and she would not put him in harm's way ever again. 

At the end of the day, when classes had ended, Lord Dante went to attend his extracurricular swimming session. Yvanna was following him through the doors of the aquatic center when he suddenly stopped in his tracks. 

"What's wrong?" she asked him.

He turned on his heel, marching back outside. "I think I might just head on home, actually. Not feeling it today."

"Oh, alright. I'll call Soren. He won't be here for another hour, though."

Lord Dante nodded, seeming distracted. "That's fine. Shall we head to the library then?" 

She opened her mouth, prepared to agree, when a group of other students approached. "Dante, you're back!" 

Like it was a secret between just the two of them, Lord Dante let out an exasperated half sigh- half smile, before turning around and plastering on good-spirited face. "Hey, guys," he greeted.

Yvanna stood to the side, waiting as he and his friends caught up. She called Soren, who told her he would be there in fifty minutes, and then watched as they gave Lord Dante sympathetic looks and the occasional hug. One of the girls even gave him her number and invited him to call her whenever. It went on for a while, but Yvanna was prepared for this. Lord Dante had been ambushed left and right all day by his peers, who were eager to feast on any bit of news about his time away. When this lot was done chatting, there were only fifteen minutes left until Soren would arrive, and so Lord Dante and her headed to the front gate.