DOLLHOUSE

Princess

Dean wore a brave face. Inside, her entire being was panicked. If her heart continued to raced at the pace it was at right now, surely she would go into cardiac arrest. She had no faith that if that happened, that she wouldn't be done for. The company she was currently keeping was more into the taking a life side of business, not saving it. She still couldn't believe she had walked into the home of vampires, and that her heart was still beating at all. 

We can't, Aro had said, when she'd wondered if they'd kill her. She wondered what that was about. She thought to ask, once Caius had left, hoping for some sort of female loyalty or perhaps pity to aid her in her interrogation. But by the look of cold dislike on Sulpicia and the closed off indifference on Athenodora, she didn't have the confidence that they felt any such ties. The dark haired vampire settled herself by the window, trying her best to divert her attention to the book in her hand, but kept glancing up at her and scowling. 

"The blood roaring through your veins is distracting," she sniped. "Leave me be." 

Dean was affronted at once, a retort begging to push past her grit teeth, but Athenodora stood in front of her at once, blocking her view of the bitter vampire completely. 

"Come, let's go into my room. Sulpicia has been in a mood today," she explains while casting a long look at her sister. The other woman simply rolled her crimson eyes and turned the page, reading at a human pace. Dean supposed that when you had all the time in the world, that it was easy to want to take your time with things. She had found herself rushing through her life time and time again, feeling mortality banging on her life's door since she was a child. Though she never knew why, she'd always tried to experience everything at a slightly accelerated rate, much to the irritation of Mary Constance. 

The two left the large common room, pushing open a white and gold wooden door into the spacious room of Athenodora's chambers. The decor in here was much like in the common room, various shades of gold, black, and deep red. A four poster bed with a translucent red sheer curtain draped over the posts, a tall standing oak wardrobe, shoes of every shape and color, as well as hand bags to match. There was expensive art on the walls, as if they'd been plucked straight from a museum, and Dean gasped at how most of them were nude paintings of the woman before her. 

A tiny, amused smile played at her lips at the blatant display of vanity, but she supposed if she was half as beautiful as the vampire before her, she might enjoy a painting or two of herself as well. 

"My husband painted them. He's quite good at it, isn't he?" 

Dean nodded, tearing her eyes away from the frames and hugging her arms to herself, feeling very uncomfortable in the lavish room. She hadn't missed the possessiveness Athenodora had added to Caius' title as her husband. It boggled her mind how someone like her could be a threat to the goddess. Dean knew she was gorgeous, stunning even, compared to other humans. She wasn't someone with low self esteem, but the difference between them was glaring. 

Though there was a vanity with a plush red chair, the vampire didn't offer her a seat. Instead, she grasped Dean's hand in her own. The human shivered, having not expected the ice cold touch, even after having pressed into the other woman's husband less than five minutes ago. Caius' touch had been somewhat pleasant to her, despite how angry it had made her, but this touch felt like cold steel, shackling her wrist in a grip that was almost too tight. 

"Let's get one thing straight," Athenodora purred. A predatory smile took residence on her lips. "You'll stay up here. I'm going to go share my evenings with Caius. You stay out of my way, I'll stay out of yours. If we can agree on that, we'll be great friends....well," she paused. "For the rest of your short life, anyway."