Into The Lion's Den WHO Elijah Durant OT Diana von Klimburg WHAT Elijah accepts Diana's open invitation. WHERE Rosewood Heights, Durant Manor WHEN Thursday, May 11th, 2017 7:26PM (backdated)
The letter he had received from Anna—Diana now—had been a mild surprise, but it was an emotion Elijah had quickly gotten over. Instead, he spent the next two days admonishing himself for not expecting the unexpected from his Maker. When the younger vampire quit berating himself, he quickly penned a response and sent Victoria to take it to Durant Manor that very day. Instructions accompanied the raven to whomever took the letter that a shiny bauble of insignificance should be sent back with the creature as payment for services rendered.
Since he'd known her, Victoria was always eager to please given her limited capabilities outside the full moon. With her task completed, Elijah spent the rest of the day planning when to take up Diana's invitation. As he thought, the vampire did several sketches of the Von Klimburg building, adding watercolor as the mood struck him when he finally concluded that a week from today wouldn't be overly suspicious. When that day arrived, he closed the gallery promptly at six, gathered the 11x14 portfolio he'd made for Diana and as Elijah approached the manor, it was with mild trepidation.
The structure itself had seen very little changes since Elijah and Diana had left it, but it wouldn't surprise him if his Maker had modernized the inside. She always enjoyed the latest luxuries mixed with the old. The grounds, however, had significantly changed and whoever Diana had entrusted to maintain the property deserved a raise, if not a bonus at least. As he was let past the gate and maneuvered his vehicle up the drive edged with neat hedges, he admired the impeccably kept lawn. The driveway widened, pavement turning to brick which had replaced the old, rutted path horse and carriages had made long ago coming and going.
Since there had been a guard at the gate, it was not unexpected to have the front door opened for him on his approach and be cordially greeted by the butler. Elijah politely declined an escort and instead wandered the interior aimlessly. Despite having lived in the manor for a number of years, the vampire could've bring himself to cross thresholds in his exploration as he recollected both good and bad memories. At least until he came across a portrait that commanded his attention and without even thinking, he strode into the room with utter shock on his face.
Above the mantel of the fireplace hung Beatrice. It was one of the more formal portraits he'd done of his wife who stood in the very dress she'd died in holding the reins of the horse she'd boarded at the livery down the road. After her passing, Anna—Diana—had coaxed him to move out of their townhouse and in the process he had sold off or lost track of it's contents, he was ashamed to admit.
Hearing a very minute sound, much like footsteps slowing to a halt, Elijah acknowledged them with a murmured question.
"... You kept it?" His gaze was riveted on Beatrice's, unable to look away as his visage filled with a mix of raw emotions.
After letting Elijah in, the butler had gone straightaway to Diana's study to alert her to the presence of a visitor. She had thanked Sebastian kindly and assured him that there would be nothing else needed of him or the staff for the rest of the evening. After another minute or two, she finally set down her wineglass and delicately marked her place in the book she had been reading.
That Elijah had come to the manor of his own volition was mildly unexpected, in that she might have tidied up a bit more, but not wholly unexpected. Knowing he would entertain himself with wandering the halls he was intimately familiar with, she took her time in joining him. The fact that their reunion happened to take place in front of the portrait of Beatrice she'd had hung over the fireplace for just such an occasion seemed fitting.
She came to a stop a few feet behind him as he stared up at his work, knowing the soft clack of her heels on the wood floor would alert him to her presence as much as anything.
"I always admired her beauty," she admitted, taking a few steps forward to stand at his shoulder. "I kept it safe, all those years ago. It seemed a fitting reminder of my past here, of all that was lost... and gained."
Her lips spread into a wide, warm smile as she leaned in, just close enough to murmur in his ear. "Tu as l'air bien. Tu m'as manqué."
There was a struggle to keep his visage straight upon hearing the last of Diana's words before she switched to French; A war to keep his rage from visibly surfacing. When it came to Diana, Elijah would have to employ every ounce of patience he possessed to get what he wanted. Getting his revenge wouldn't be easy and it wouldn't happen right away. With his Maker, he would have to play a Long Game and he had learned far too late just how much he had learned from the very best. Diana would not be easy to con.
Clearing his throat more for something to do as well as gather himself, a small smile curved his mouth. Display too much charm after battling so much emotion would raise Diana's suspicions, so the smile held a hint of melancholy behind it as he responded to her.
His arm briefly circled Diana's waist as he returned the compliment with one of his own, "And you look lovely as always." He leaned in to press a kiss first to one cheek and then the other, purposefully lingering on the second to appear as if he was drawing emotional support from her before he politely stepped back. Clearing his throat again, Elijah feigned mild embarrassment before making an inquiry.
"I noticed you've done a bit of renovating. Does the library overlooking the rose garden still get the most light on that side of the house?"
Diana's eyes fluttered closed for a moment as Elijah lingered at her cheek. For all of her schemes and manipulations, she truly had enjoyed her time with him and still remained in great appreciation of his work. Being together with him again in the house they had shared made the return of those memories all the stronger.
"It does," she acknowledged. "Now you can even set foot in the room at midday without discomfort - complete and total blockage of the ultraviolet spectrum. The wonders of modern technology."
She sighed wistfully, her hand reaching out to tenderly caress his arm, her fingers lingering in the crook of his elbow as she gave the presentation of being lost in fond memories of their time together. It wasn't wholly an act, although her affection for him was far from overriding her suspicion of him. She hadn't lived this long without learning to assume that anyone, particularly any man, who suddenly reappeared in her life likely had no good intentions for her. Coincidence was a fool's demise.
"Would you like to see it?" she asked, taking a few steps back toward the foyer and main hall, her hand slipping into his to guide him along. "The roses look beautiful in the sunset."
Forcing himself to put Beatrice out of his mind, a difficult task to be sure, Elijah smiled back upon hearing Diana's response. Despite his loathing of his Maker, the manor held fond memories of friendships formed and company enjoyed. His favorite room had been the library because of its light and he was often in it to sketch and paint. It was fitting, then, that the two of them would be perusing art in it once again.
"I would love to see it— And the rest of the manor once we've looked through your portfolio." He lifted it slightly as Diana gently guided him out of the room, along several hallways, and a short flight of stairs before arriving at their destination and crossing the threshold.
The massive room had changed only a little in a decorative sense. Wallpaper that had been the height of popularity at the time would seem garish by today's standard had been replaced along with the paint. The windows along the wall overlooking the garden had indeed been modernized with the glass Diana spoke of he discovered with delight. He was surprised only by the fact that the original sitting area in front of them was still the same except it had been reupholstered. The rest of the library was split lengthwise with a long table that he remembered using for research on one subject or another to search for visual references for a commission. It ended near another sitting area in front of the fireplace on the opposite wall, another area where he and Diana had spent many enjoyable hours together.
His gaze was drawn back to the garden outside to see the usual rose bushes and their beautiful splotches of white. A smile spread across Elijah's face despite himself as he turned slightly to the older vampire, "I see you still keep up the tradition."
He started toward the bench, unzipping the portfolio and getting down to the surface reason of why he'd come to the manor, "I've done a number of pieces for VKE at your request in various mediums, but admittedly," Elijah shot her a sheepish expression, "I'm going through a watercolor phase again..." He shrugged, setting the opened portfolio down beside him for Diana's perusal.