Failed Exam

by Guest Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:30 am

The drive home was dark and silent and cold. And it had nothing to do with the temperature on the winding Italian roadways.

Antoinette drove like a bat evicted from hell, daring Baron Quinton to say something about her careless driving. But he said nothing, his gaze never shifting away from the road in front of them. Hers stayed likewise.

It was only 1:00 a.m. when they arrived back at the hotel, but Antoinette informed him that she was retiring for the day. “Baron Quinton, I’m ready for this trip to be over. I’d like to go home as soon as possible, so if you could please have the jet ready for me tomorrow evening I'd appreciate it very much. You can come with or stay here, it matters not to me. I’ll handle the purchase of your horses through an agent when I get home.” She coldly held his gaze, daring him to say something. Anything.

Antoinette then turned a sharp half pirouette and headed for the small set of stairs that would lead to her room.

He waited until she was almost at the stairs. "So what your saying is that you would pick your food over learning why it is I asked you to do this? Your going to walk away not learning from this just thinking I am here to make you miserable? I am trying to teach you. You are not one of them anymore; you’re past feelings will only allow somebody to use them against you."

"What if you lived here? And you scorned some young Ventrue; your actions somehow got him in trouble with his Covenant and he knew about your connections from your mortal days. And this young Ventrue slaughtered his whole family and ghouled him, only to have him be a foot stool at his next party that you were the guest of honor at? What would that do to the passion you still hold for the Kine? Think on it and tell me when I knock tomorrow night if you’re right or if I am.

Antoinette whipped around before she ascended the stairs. There was absolutely no one in the room, which was probably why her Sire was being so bold as to chastise her in the lobby of a hotel, but still she was taken aback by his overtness. And it was positively chilling he had chosen to use a "young Ventrue scorned" as his example. Maybe she was reading too much into it, but she had a feeling he meant Neil. And immediately she felt guilty about the messages she had sent. Did Baron Quinton know about them? Had he somehow gotten her phone? Or did he have it monitored somehow? He always seemed to know so much...

But she'd think on that later. This was a different issue. Antoinette was so angry with him, it was hard to stay objective. Stephano was a close family friend. He was like a small, tenuous link to her father, a being she'd never, ever be able to touch or talk to again. She’d never be able to tell him how much she loved or appreciated the things he had done for her again. But that was life. That was reality. And she was no longer of that world. She guessed it was time to accept those terms.

Antoinette also recognized the danger he spoke of by showing attachment to the Kine. How it could make her vulnerable to other Kindred. It certainly made sense when he explained it to her in this manner. She knew he was right. Like he always was. But it irritated her to no end and her pride made it very difficult for her to admit it just yet.

The next evening at twilight, when her Sire knocked on her door, she answered the door politely and was fully dressed. She quietly stood before him and apologized for the poor attitude she had had. For not understanding the lesson he was trying so hard to teach her. She told him she was sorry.

It pleased him to see the lessons were coming easier to her. She still resisted powerfully, but came around sooner, with less force. They were definitely moving in the right direction.

“Come childe, the plane is ready. We have horses to purchase in Germany.”