Chapter 31

• Alistair was in his room, he was sweaty and shaking. He desperately tried to keep his hunger at bay. He needed to feed on blood urgently. He dared not go outside his room, he did not want to feed on any of his staff, they were like family to him.
• "Lord Alistair, Lord Fife is here to see you", a servant knocked on the door and announced. He groaned inwardly, what did Fife want now? "tell him to come back later, I am busy", he ordered. He heard the footsteps of the servant which indicated that he was going.Some few minutes later, the servant came back. "Lord Fife has refused to leave, my lord. He has said he would stay till whenever you are free"
• Alistair wondered for the umpteenth time since he had met Fife, why he had to be so stubborn."what should I do my lord?", the servant enquired from outside the room."tell him to come upstairs to my room","yes my lord", the servant left.Soon, he heard a knock on the door."who is there","its me, your highness",Fife replied in a sarcastic sugary tone. Alistair opened the door with his powers, he didn't usually use his powers for such mundane tasks but he had no choice. He was too tired to walk to the door and open it.Fife pushed the door open and walked in, "so what were you so busy with that you told them to send me away", "none of your business", Alistair muttered.Fife rolled his eyes at Alistair's reply, he looked around, the room was so dark and he could barely see Alistair. He walked to the windows and drew it open. "don't! Close it back", Alistair said as he covered his eyes and flinched from the sudden onslaught of sunshine.Fife gasped when he saw Alistair fully, "damn! You look miserable", "I know", "did Theodore see you like this last night? He must really like you to have confessed his feelings with you looking like a depressed ghost", "you knew that Theodore came here?","of course I do, he came back bawling his eyes out about how you rejected him, he even spent the night at my place", "so he told you about us?", Fife nodded. "why did you reject him?", Fife asked. "it's the best thing to do, we can't work out and I don't want to sleep with him and leave him", "how can you be so sure that you two wouldn't work out?", "because I am a vampire and he is a human, I drink human blood to survive and when my hunger takes over I can't differentiate between friend or foe, what if he ends up like Soren", "Soren was a mistake Alistair, you can't continue to beat yourself up over it, you were young and foolish","I am still foolish. I shouldn't have led Theodore on and made him think anything could happen between us. Now he is going to be heartbroken", Fife knelt down so he could look at Alistair's face. "I am sure you don't want him to be heartbroken right? Why not give him a chance", Alistair closed his eyes. "its better he is heartbroken than dead Fife","but…", Fife tried to say something but Alistair interrupted him. "that's enough Fife, just let it go, I am too tired to argue with you". "You must be craving for blood", Fife stated in a matter of fact tone."You have no idea, I have been trying to suppress it", "You can feed on me, you know I don't mind right?", Fife offered. "we have had this discussion several times Fife and the answer is no, I will not feed on you, you are my best friend","and that's why I am offering myself. Look at you Alistair, you are in a bad state", "I won't feed on you", Alistair said resolutely, his jaw set in a stubborn line. "what if we go hunting? Maybe a large animal could satiate you a little", "that's a good idea", Fife rolled his eyes and helped him up. Alistair dressed up quickly, they took some hunting guns and left for the forest.Olivia's house.........…. "You see ladies, it is good to be outspoken and speak against injustice, if I hadn't written petitions to the palace would the king have given my family permission to hold a ball?", Olivia asked her friends as they drank tea in the living room. "of course not Olivia, you are so brave", "you are so courageous Olivia, I wish I could be like you", "if everybody could be like you Olivia, the world would be a better place". Her friends fawned over her, showering her with compliments. Olivia smiled as she enjoyed the compliments, her ego grew more bigger. "when would the ball be holding?", one of her friends asked. "tomorrow, when you get home. Your invitation should be waiting for you", "thanks a lot for the invitation Olivia, I really need some fun in my life especially after my engagement has just been ended", Betty, Fife ex fiancee remarked. All the attention in the room quickly focused on her, they had all heard about the engagement and they had even heard snippets from the grapevine that Fife was no longer a lord, that the lordship had been passed down to his brother. Ever since Betty had come in, they had all been racking their brain thinking of a tactful way to ask her about it. Thankfully, she had spoken about it herself."why was the engagement ended? We all thought you and lord Fife were a great match", Olivia asked with a sympathetic look on her face. "and I heard that he is no longer a Lord, what happened?", another person asked.Betty took in a deep breath before she told them the full story, how Fife was impotent and the engagement had been broken and how his impotency had made the lordship title to be transferred to his younger brother Ralfe since he couldn't bear heirs.They all looked shocked when she finished her story. "wow, I never thought that Lord Fife would be impotent", Olivia remarked. "I did not think that someone so handsome could be impotent, even sir Theodore is better than him", someone else said."none of them are better, for all we know, Theodore could also be impotent too", Olivia said with a look of distaste as she thought of Theodore."I don't think Theodore is impotent", one of the ladies spoke up."and how ever would you know that? Have you bedded him before?", Olivia retorted sharply."last night, I overheard my brothers talking…", and she went on to describe how the beautiful Elena had approached Theodore and how she had declared afterward that he was the best lover she had ever had. All the ladies knew Elena, once a besotted Lord had begged her to stay with him for a month and for that one month he had taken her to all the balls. All the ladies had stared at her in envy as the men had all been fixated on her great beauty. The ladies were all shocked to hear of this and unconsciously their perception of Theodore began to change. Soon they all departed after promising to be at the ball the next day. Olivia called one of the servants to appear before her. "My lady", the servant said with a bow. "how are the preparations going? Is everything ready", "yes my lady, everything is ready for the ball","have all the invitations been sent?","yes, my lady","has Lord Alistair's invitation been sent?", "yes, my lady", "You may go", the servant turned around and was about to leave when she called him back. "send an invitation to the Dixon's home","yes my lady".