Deliverance (16 page)

“Very well. I shall announce your presence
to Lord Valamar. You may wait in the foyer while I find him,”
replied the butler. He turned around and Crystal and Blaze followed
him inside.

The inside of the manor was even more fancy
and decorative than outside. The walls were a rich mahogany color
and moldings along the corners were painted gold. A large double
staircase, also gold, sat in the middle of the room. The stairs
were lined with an expensive, dark red rug with gold trim. A
similar but larger rug lay across the dark marble floor beneath
Crystal’s feet and had gold tassels on the ends. Along the walls
were several large paintings of various subjects, but mostly of
women.

“I shall return shortly,” said the butler,
bowing.

Crystal politely thanked him as he climbed
the staircase. She was looking around the room again when she
caught Blaze picking up a decorative vase from its pedestal.

“Put that down before you break it!” she
scolded.

“Get a grip, Princess,” he retorted.

“Don’t CALL me that out loud, you
idiot!”

Blaze rolled his eyes and carefully placed
the vase back in place, but not before pretending to lose his grip
on it and childishly laughing at Crystal’s reaction, and began
eyeing a portrait of a woman that hung on the wall above the
vase.

“Another woman you slept with, by any
chance?” Crystal muttered.

“No, she looks too innocent. This is almost
how I’d picture you in your rich castle life,” Blaze replied.

Just as Crystal rolled her eyes at his
remark, she suddenly heard footsteps coming down the steps.
However, they were not as light as the butler’s, but heavier and
quicker-paced. She then saw a man coming down the stairs who she
could only assume was Valamar.

Even though she did not find him attractive,
Crystal could understand why many women did. Valamar was in his
early thirties and was quite tall with an athletic build. His skin
had a golden tan and he had long, smooth, gold hair that barely
brushed against his wide cheekbones. His jaw was strong and wide
and his face was clean-shaven. He had dark blue eyes that most
women would melt after staring into. Crystal guessed this was what
was known as a “god-like” physique, but she was not affected by his
charming and devilish good looks.

“Good evening, my guests,” he said with a
deep, calm voice.

“Good evening, Lord Valamar. My name is
Crystal,” Crystal said to him, holding out her hand for a
handshake.

Valamar stared at her for a moment, and
then, instead of shaking her hand, he gently grabbed it, lifted it
to his lips, and kissed the top of her hand tenderly. If this “god”
noticed that she became uncomfortable from this, he did not
acknowledge it.

“Lovely to meet you, Miss Crystal. My
butler, Quincy, has already informed me of your grandfather.”
replied Valamar, releasing her hand, “Interesting fellow. I can
hardly believe he has such a beautiful granddaughter.”

Crystal felt her face burn with
embarrassment, and clearly Valamar noticed, because he chuckled.
Blaze then interrupted by clearing his throat. Loudly.

“I am sorry, Sir. What is your name?” asked
Valamar, who seemed a little offended by Blaze’s rudeness.

“Blaze,” the prince quickly blurted out.
Crystal froze up, but she relaxed when Valamar did not seem to
recognize his name.

“He was hired to be my bodyguard.” Crystal
said, “My grandfather is a little over-protective.” She then gave a
nervous, but very fake laugh.

“Well then, I welcome you both to my humble
home,” replied Valamar. Crystal thanked Caris that Valamar didn’t
notice Blaze snicker at the humble comment. Valamar then continued,
“What is it I can do for you this evening?”

“My grandfather has recently heard of
something that you purchased. It was a large red gem that a
shopkeeper found outside of town,” Crystal explained.

“Ah yes. It intrigued me so much, so I felt
I just had to have it. I cannot understand why,” the wealthy man
replied.

An uneasy feeling brewed inside of Crystal’s
gut. She knew well that it was the shard’s dark aura that drew
Valamar to it, and she now knew that it would be even more
difficult to get him to relinquish it.

“Well, it just so happens that my
grandfather lost that gem whenever he left Ordale several months
ago, and he sent me back to retrieve it once he heard you had
claimed it,” Crystal lied.

Valamar paused and stared into Crystal’s
eyes with so much intensity that it made her want to shudder. “With
all due respect, darling, why would I just give up something I paid
an incredible amount of money for?”

Crystal did not like being referred to with
a pet name, but she hid her contempt and replied, “Because it is a
very dangerous artifact.”

“Dangerous?” Valamar asked curiously. He
began to stroke his chin with interest.

“I am afraid so.” Crystal regretfully
responded, “My grandfather was attacked by thieves outside of the
city, and though he got away unharmed, he dropped the artifact.
Unfortunately, by the time he realized it was missing, he had
already made it home. It has a dark spell on it, and I fear that if
you hold onto it, you will become very ill and possibly die. It is
the duty of the elders to ensure you are not harmed.”

Valamar thought for a moment, and then said,
“I am sorry, my dear, but I spent far too much money on the gem to
just give it away so easily. I regret to say this, but your
grandfather needs to be less careless.”

“But Sir—” Crystal began, but she was
interrupted.

“However, I may change my mind for a small
favor from you,” Valamar said with a coy smile.

His smile made Crystal nervous and she was a
little afraid to know what he meant by favor, but she asked anyway,
“What kind of favor?”

“I would be honored, Miss Crystal, if you
would go out to dinner with me this evening,” replied Valamar, who
grabbed her hand and kissed it again.

Crystal stood frozen in place with her mouth
agape. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Blaze turn around,
walk to the corner of the room, and try to cover a laugh with his
hand.

“I-I . . .” was all she could respond.

“If you go out with me this evening, the gem
is yours. You can bring it back to your grandfather and there will
be no harm done,” Valamar said.

Crystal stood silent for a few minutes. The
only sound was coming from Blaze’s muffled laughter. Eventually,
she realized that it was the only way to get the shard, so she
reluctantly stammered out, “A-all right. I’ll go to dinner with
you. I only have to go once, right?”

“Just once,” Valamar replied smoothly. “Then
you may have the gem.”

CHAPTER 10

Blaze was still laughing when he and Crystal
approached Gavril and Thaddeus at the front gates of Ordale. Before
Crystal could explain why Blaze was laughing, Gavril interrupted
her.

“We already know what Valamar said. Thaddeus
saw everything through Blaze’s eyes,” the former general told her.
He then glared at Blaze when he laughed again.

“I cannot believe he thought he could buy me
like that!” Crystal fumed.

“I know. It disgusts me too. I honestly wish
you hadn’t agreed to this,” Gavril replied.

“It’s the only way to get the shard, so I
had no choice,” Crystal regretfully admitted.

Just as Blaze managed to stop laughing, the
twins, Kerali, and Sigurd showed up.

“What happened at the estate?” asked Kerali.
Everyone was silent except for Blaze, who burst into laughter yet
again.

“What the bloody hell are you laughing at,
whelp?” Sigurd scolded him.

“He . . . said he will only give me the
shard if I . . . go on a date with him,” muttered a red-faced
Crystal. Blaze suddenly turned away and laughed even harder. Taryn
let out a muffled laugh as well, but stopped when Maryn slapped the
back of his head.

“Stop laughing you fool!” Sigurd bellowed at
Blaze, which made several startled bystanders stop and stare at
him.

Blaze then turned back to the rebels and
tried to calm down while everyone glared at him, particularly
Gavril.

“So when do you have to go?” Thaddeus asked
Crystal.

“I told Valamar that Blaze and I were going
to rent each a room at the inn and that I would return afterward.
He then told me that he would have an outfit waiting for me when I
return and that once I was dressed, we would leave,” she
responded.

“Well you should get going before Valamar
gets suspicious. We will follow you to make sure you are all
right,” Gavril said. Then he turned to Blaze and said, “And you
will sneak into the mansion and wait for her to return.”

“Why me?” Blaze asked.

“Because I said so,” Gavril retorted
coldly.

****

“Ah! You’ve returned!” Valamar said elated.
Crystal walked through the front door of the mansion after Quincy
let her in again.

“Let’s just get this over with,” was all
Crystal felt like saying to him.

“Now, don’t worry. You will have a grand
time tonight. I promise.” replied Valamar, “Now follow Quincy to
the guest room so you may change into the outfit I picked out for
you. I know it will look spectacular on you!”

Crystal groaned and followed the butler to a
bedroom on the ground floor. Once inside Crystal saw a glamorous,
emerald green dress lying on the bed. She closed the door behind
her, walked over to the bed, and examined it. The dress was
long-sleeved with silver trim. The bottom was wide and billowy and
the fabric was made of soft velvet. Crystal also spotted a pair of
tiny, lace shoes on the floor, but she decided to just wear her
boots. After all, the dress would cover her shoes, so it wasn’t
like anyone would notice.

After undressing and struggling to slip into
the large dress, she heard a knock at the door.

“Just a moment!” she called.

“I am the maid, Ma’am. Lord Valamar asked me
to help you get dressed,” a woman’s voice called from behind the
door.

Before Crystal could say, “I’m not dressed,”
the door opened and a petite, dark-haired woman walked in and
closed the door behind her.

“I see you need my help after all. Let me
help you get that on properly,” the maid said.

After half an hour of buttoning, lacing, and
tying, the maid not only got the dress on Crystal, but she also
used a ribbon and hair pin to fix Crystal’s hair in a loose,
twisted style over her right shoulder. Her wavy brown hair dangled
over her pale skin and the green ribbon dangled underneath her
hair. The maid even dabbed a little face powder and lipstick onto
Crystal’s face, which she hated.

She remembered her mother once wearing
makeup, but her father assured her that she looked better without
it. She remembered asking her father why, and he responded,
“Because makeup hides a woman’s true beauty.” He also told her that
she looked just like her mother and assured her that she would
never need makeup. She then remembered that she never saw her
mother wear makeup again.

Just then, the maid suddenly unhooked
Crystal’s pendant.

“HEY!” she shouted.

The tiny woman took a frightened step back
with the pendant still in her hand. “I am sorry, Ma’am, but Lord
Valamar insisted that you not wear this; he said it didn’t match
your dress. I promise it will be well taken care of,” she
replied.

“I don’t care what Valamar said. GIVE IT
BACK!” yelled Crystal.

“Oh please ma’am! He said he’d throw me out
on the street if I didn’t make you look perfect!” the maid
begged.

Crystal sighed. Even though she hated the
idea of this man, or any man for that matter, trying to change her
appearance, she didn’t want to be responsible for throwing an
innocent out on the streets, especially Ordale’s thug-littered
streets. She then thought of the group of perverts she walked by
earlier and shuddered to think of what would happen if this poor
girl happened to walk by them.

“Fine,” she muttered to the maid. The maid
thanked her and placed her pendant on top of her other clothes.

“Lord Valamar was right.” the maid said,
taking a step back to admire her handiwork, “The color of the dress
matches your eyes beautifully!”

Crystal was even more uncomfortable by the
thought of Valamar starting into her eyes, but she brushed it off
and assured herself that this would only last for one night and
then she could leave with the Gaull shard.

She took a look at herself in a tall mirror
in the corner of the room. She looked fake with all the makeup she
had on, but the maid insisted she looked like a “lovely porcelain
doll.” The dress showed her bare shoulders and fit snugly around
her waist. Around her hips, the dress became wider and round like a
ballroom gown. She looked like a princess, All right, but she
couldn’t help but feel like a street walker.

When Crystal walked into the foyer all
dolled up, she was not happy to see that Valamar was already
waiting for her, and she was even less happy when he exclaimed,
“You look GORGEOUS!”

Her face grew hot again. She hated this kind
of attention, but for the sake of the shard, she tried to hide it
by muttering, “Thank you.”

Valamar himself wore a dress coat that was
the same color as Crystal’s dress, which nearly made her gag, a
ruffled white collar, white gloves, white dress slacks, and black
dress boots. He held out his hand to her, which she hesitantly
took. With his other hand, he then gave her a fan to hold onto.

Crystal figured that she could use the fan
for hiding her face out of shame, so she took it without question.
Valamar then held out his elbow towards her and she looked at him
with a puzzled expression. Noticing her confusion, he instructed
her to lock onto his arm with hers, and she reluctantly complied.
As soon as Quincy placed a dark cape onto Valamar’s soldiers, the
aristocrat led her outside to the awaiting carriage, but not before
she caught a glimpse of Blaze staring at her and trying to hide a
grin from behind a rose bush.