Too bad he was going to punish her now, if not, perhaps they might finally get down on it, but she wasn't going to give it to him so easily.

Lord Drake walked up to Vania, ignoring Oona as he pa.s.sed. "Ready?"

"Yes," her voice felt calm and collected, not like one who was approaching the slaughter house so soon.

He turned and his gaze met with the unlikely sight of the maid on the floor. "Why haven't... " he started to say but stopped. "I didn't send for her."

He made his way to where the telephone was and picked it up to make a call. One hand snaked dominantly into his pocket and the other held the telephone in place.

"Gretal, come and clean up this mess in my room. I do not want to set my eyes on her ever again."

With that, he dropped the telephone, hanged up the call and made his way past Lady Vania. He got to the door and opened it, then stepped aside for her to pa.s.s.

Not mentioning a word, she gave him a slight nod and walked pa.s.s him outside the room. He followed behind her and closed the door shut, then they made their way to the council room.

It didn't take long, they arrived at a door in the adjourning building to the mansion and stopped. The doors opened slightly to reveal a poorly lit big council room and the two of them walked in graciously.

As soon as he entered, everyone got up from their seats and bowed their heads at him as they uttered, "Greetings Lord Drake, Lady Vania."

He made his way to the empty throne like chair at the far end of the big table in the room and sat down. "Sit."

They all complied and gently sat down. No one uttered a word, they all looked calm but on the inside, their hearts were raging with fear and anxiety.

Normally, today wasn't their council meeting day, but they had been summoned by Lord Drake himself. It had to be something big or wonderful for it not to wait till their next council meeting day.

So, no one was sure what was going on and decided to thread carefully.

"Sit," he calmly ordered. His eyes looked down at the table and not at the person he spoke to, but she didn't budge.

It was at this point that they all took into cognisance that Lady Vania still stood at the door way. They had been scared just now and didn't notice her standing presence until he spoke.

What was really going on? First Lord Drake summoned them, then Lady Vania stood at the doorway... What had they done this time around?

One by one, they started questioning themselves, hoping they hadn't done something wrong to invoke the wrath of Lord Drake or anger the Lady Vania.

"Sit," he said low again, but all of a sudden his voice went up, "Now Vania."

She knew she was to be punished and had wanted to get it over with before it left a permanent image in the minds of all the council men and women.

Obediently, she walked up to the far end of the table and took her seat on the chair close to Lord Drake. She sat at his left hand while Councilman Torren sat at his left.

"I know you must all be wondering why I called this meeting today, well it is to carryout the punishment of Vania for her failed mission and to discuss how next to proceed."

He briefed them on the matter at hand and leisurely relaxed on his chair with his hands on the arm as he did.

Various thoughts were going through their minds at end of his brief speech. Lady Vania failed her mission, this was some news. Never would they had imagined that she would fail.

She didn't batter an eyelid but rather watched the expressions on their faces as they processed what he had just said in their minds.

After some seconds, her gaze trailed up to meet his piercing eyes. "You failed me Vania and you know the consequences."

Before the others could think further, he had appeared by her side and bent down a little to her eye level.

Unlike Lady Ca.s.sie, she didn't flinch, rather she quirked her lips upwards into a smile and let him in.

"Ohh! How I've waited for this day. Let me experience your h.e.l.lish nightmare first hand." She said in a whisper but the others still heard her.

Some quivered at her words, others thought she might be pretending to be daring. Where others feared and never wished to experience that... Nightmare, she welcomed it and looked forward to it. They wondered if she was mentally okay at this point.

"My pleasure, I always love to see an eager and willing woman... " His voice trailed off and what replaced was...