The table seemed to be an exact replica of the one each noble household I had ever visited owned. At least that was one thing that gave me a sense of familiarity among all the madness I had gotten so used to over the last few weeks, and days since I’d known Andreas. He was sitting at the far end of the long table, the head of the household. There was just one other place seating to his right. I wondered briefly if that indicated anything, but chose not to dwell on it. I was probably only seated on his right because I would be the only person dining with him.

As I neared him, I was able to begin to see the food. There was only enough for two people, which made sense given the circumstances. Roasted chicken, vegetables, and soup were served. There were two sets of plates, not extravagantly set out, and a goblet before each seat. I slid onto my chair, careful not to lock eyes with Andreas.

“You are ten minutes late,” he mused, a smirk on his lips as if he hadn’t really expected me to be on time.

“I needed some time alone,” I said, my voice softer than normal.

Andreas gestured to the food in front of me. “Help yourself,” he stated, scooping vegetables onto his plate. I waited for him to finish before I started in order to avoid accidently grazing his hand with mine. If he noticed this, he didn’t show it.

Minutes pasted as we ate our dinner in silence. My gaze drifted to his without conscious thought several times and each time I would avert it before my eyes could be transfixed by his. Each time he would notice and his eyes would narrow as his eyebrows furrowed. Once he opened his mouth to speak, but decided against it.

Abruptly, without prompt, Andreas let his knife and fork clatter onto his plate. “What is bothering you?” he asked, his voice firm.

My vegetables suddenly became the most fascinating sight I had ever seen. I poked them, hoping his question would evaporate. But I felt his gaze burn through me. I felt more exposed now than I had when I had been naked.

“Why does something have to be bothering me?” I asked and placed another fork of vegetables into my mouth.

“Something doesn’t have to be bothering you for it to clearly have you on edge. You keep avoiding my gaze when before you usually met it,” he started, his tone detached. Why use words that sounded like he cared, but use a tone that suggested otherwise?

I gulped down whatever liquid was in the goblet. Andreas noticed it for the evasive gesture it was, but wouldn’t drop the matter. He was so frustrating.

“Does this have anything to do with what happened this morning?” he asked slowly, his tone cautious.

I almost choked and placed the goblet back on the table with a thud. He was more observant than I gave him credit for. Without trusting my words, I nodded, careful to look anywhere but him.

“Why does this morning to seem to have such a negative effect on you?” His tone had darkened, but it was still devoid of emotion.

I gulped, not sure I was ready for this conversation yet. My mouth didn’t agree with me. “You seduced me and it was my first time,” the words came out in a hushed tone. I closed my eyes and continued. “I wasn’t ready and I was too weak to say no.”

My eyes opened again, and in my peripheral vision I could see his body tense. His expression remained un-wavering. Silence spread around us again and his gaze scrutinized me.  I was suddenly grateful for the modest dark blue dress with a high neckline I had chosen to wear.

He straightened out, visibly trying to compose himself as he forced his muscles to relax. “That’s not all, is it?” he inquired.

I shook my head, my nerves running rampant.

“What’s the other reason?”

I made no reply.

Silence stretched out between us again, but it didn’t last very long. “Are you going to tell me or not?” he demanded in a harsh tone.

For some reason his words made me snap, or perhaps it was the way he intoned them. “What do you want me to say? That I felt vulnerable and abandoned? That I feel like you took advantage of my weakness? That I know you probably don’t care about me and I had given myself to you without thinking? That today is my birthday and I’m in no mood to celebrate? That I feel empty and ashamed? Is that what you want to hear?” My voice was cracking and I was on the verge of yelling.

He appeared unfazed by my outburst and my words. “Today is your birthday?” he asked in a flat tone.

I gaped, my eyes finally settling on him. “Out of everything I just said, that is the only part that stood out?”

He made no reply and got to his feet. I didn’t comprehend what was going on. I would’ve given anything to known what he was thinking. And then, in a flash, he disappeared.

My head swiveled around, my eyes searching for him. Surely he wouldn’t leave me alone in the dining hall after that? He couldn’t be that cold. But he was nowhere to be seen. My thoughts were racing and I had to take deep breaths to calm myself.

Just as I was about to curse him in my head, he reappeared. He remained wordless and strode over to me. I was too stunned to react when he gathered my hair into his hands, allowing access to my neck. He let my hair fall over my shoulder to one side. I didn’t know what he was doing. Then suddenly, I felt something cold around my neck. I looked down just as he finished clasping the necklace in place. My hand went to the deep blue teardrop pendant imbedded in a silver lint framework that crisscrossed at the top before connecting with the precious sapphire stone below. My mouth fell open. It was so simple, yet exquisitely beautiful.

He went back over to his seat. I turned my astonished expression on him. “It belonged to my mother. Happy birthday, Lana,” he provided.

The pendant felt smooth to my fingers and I continued to stroke it absentmindedly. “Why would you give this to me?”

Andreas took the last bite of his chicken. He dabbed his mouth with the napkin lying next to his plate and fixed his eyes on me again. The expression in them was unreadable. “Because I can.”

My instincts screamed at me that this was just another way for him to manipulate me. “You are still avoiding the matter,” I said, but my voice wasn’t sounding so sure anymore.

Andreas downed the liquid in his goblet. “I’m not avoiding anything.”

“So you aren’t even going to address what happened this morning?” I demanded, my voice taking on a sharpness.

He got to his feet again. “Right now you are too emotional to listen to anything I might say. So yes, I’m not having this conversation right now. Perhaps when you have gotten a hold of your emotions, we can talk. Right now, I am going to retire. Good night, Lana.” He turned and headed for the door.

I was not about to let him get away that easily.