Chapter 24: footsie

Zoe wasn't only lucky to have escape from the slave institution but also from the clutches of Daron, who had assaulted the slaves physically and mentally while driving them to the point of death.

People who stepped inside the institution never stepped out to be the same. Almost ninety percent of them had a ray of hope that was damaged due to what they went through in there.

"Brother, it is so nice to have you here," a voice came from behind, and from the way he spoke, he seemed to be annoyed than happy. It was a man with blond hair and dark red eyes that had approached them.

"You have been missing on a lot of parties. But I am glad you are here,"

"The board has been occupying my time. Have you been doing well, Caseuss?" and though Eliot meant the question for him, his brother's eyes didn't bother to stay on Eliot, rather it wondered off to look at the young girl who sat beside Eliot. Caseuss stared at Zoe lustfully, his eyes were filled with desires, as a grin slowly made its way onto his face. The young girl didn't notice it and she sat there in quietness. Caseuss who was staring at Zoe, slowly sat down on the left hand side, right next to Zoe, and that's when she noticed him.

Cautiously Zoe raised her head to look at the woman who was sat on the right hand side of the table right next to Celine, there was something Zoe noticed about the her, she didn't bother to talk or to greet anyone, all she did was stare at Zoe in jealousy, Zoe didn't bother to look at her either.

Celine gave Eliot an assuring smile, when she noticed Caseuss looking at Zoe.

"How have you begin Lord Caseuss," she said trying to distract Caseuss. When she noticed that Caseuss wasn't paying attention, she acted a little bashful, "I missed you, lord Caseuss," which pulled Caseuss attention back to her.

Zoe felt awkward sitting in their midst listening to their conversation, especially the girl's words, it made her feel as if she was listening to something she wasn't supposed to hear. Looking at Caseuss, she saw him smile, "I'm too loveable to be missed by someone," huh? What kind of bizarre response was that, is he trying to say that he didn't miss her? I wonder if she understood what he just said Zoe thought to herself.

"Your highness!" another man appeared, shaking hands with Eliot, "Good to see you here. It's really a surprise to see you here." Stopping his movement's to look at Zoe, he paused and asked, "sorry your highness, but if I may ask, Is this the very slave you bought from madam Elisabeta?" Zoe didn't know why, but the name madam Elisabeta made shiver's run down her spine.

"Why do you ask, Vladimir?" Eliot picked up a drink from the table as he sipped from the content awaiting Vladimir's answer.

"No reason at all, I just wanted to know" Eliot narrowed his gaze at Vladimir before going back to drinking his wine.

Zoe could hear everything, but didn't know how to react when they were both talking about her, Celine also noticed how their attention had been drawn towards Zoe, and her expression turned sour and angered.

The fruits platter Zoe was served by the maids wasn't the type of fruits she was used to eating, they were both different and beautiful. 'I thought they would serve nice sauced chicken wings, why would they serve me fruits?' Zoe raised her head slightly, looking at everyone's platters to see fruits and not meaty delicacies 'do they just come to banquets to eat.. Fruit's? Maybe it was a habit or the queen preferred tropical fruits. She had never tried any fruit like this which made her wonder if it was some kind of thrilling fruit. There were other kinds that looked familiar to Zoe but one caught her eyes.

She turned her head to face Eliot before looking back at the fruit 'what kind of fruit is this?' Zoe thought "its lychee" he said, noticing the questioning look on her face 'lychee?' it was a small rounded fruit with a pink thin layer and rough skin.

Zoe slowly picked the round fruit in her hands examining it, before peeling the layers carefully with her thumbnail as she placed the peels on the side of the platter before bringing the white fleshed fruit up to her pink lips to have a taste, nibbling on it, as a sweet flavor invaded her mouth. It had a sweet aromatic taste like grapes, but with a hint of rose, like the combination of sweet and tart.

Soon Zoe found herself eating more and more of the fruit 'it's so… nice', "if you continue eating at that rate you'll surely explode" Eliot said cutting Zoe off from her thoughts.

Annoyed Zoe narrowed her gaze at him before taking another bite 'you won't spoil this moment of goodness for me' Eliot didn't know what it was about Zoe that made him feel drawn to her, but there was something different about her. He sighed before going back to talk with Vladimir. "Give me the info on how things are going with the board"

Vladimir himself was curious, bending down he whispered into Eliot's ear "who is she..." he said ignoring the question he was asked, "that is none of your business, what's your information?"

Vladimir looked at Eliot disappointingly "Seriously?" Eliot glared at Vladimir for his statement.

Zoe couldn't keep her attention on Eliot or the esteemed guest because her mind kept on drifting into vengeance, she wanted to escape no matter what the cost was, and this seemed to be her only chance, so she decided to think of how she would escape. She knew that accepting her fate wouldn't help much so she continued to think on how to escape 'I need to excuse myself first, then I'll think of a better plan.'

Zoe didn't mean to listen into other vampire's conversations but she was bored.

"His highness lord Eliot is such a heart throbbing man, don't you think?" a woman said looking flirtingly at Eliot's direction, "don't you mean Caseuss? He's such a lady-killer" another woman said while she bit on her lower lip 'huh? What kind of discussion are they having', Zoe sighed slightly frustrated with tiredness 'I should stop listening before my ears starts to bleed'

…

Zoe was too deep in her thoughts, that she didn't notice Caseuss perverted eyes on her, she wasn't focusing on anything anymore, because she couldn't. She needed a place, where she could clear her head.

she sat on the chair, trying to convince herself about the plan, but was cut off when she felt someone's foot, slowly touching hers, at first Zoe thought it was some weird mistake but when it happened again she finally raised her head cautiously, trying to figure out who had being playing with her feet's. She looked at Eliot but he was busy discussing with Vladimir, and everyone Else was either talking or eating.

Zoe's heart skipped twice in her chest and the second one was louder than the first, she then knew clearly that she wasn't wearing any shoes, and she was bare footed '…but, why did someone remove their shoes under the table, just to… touch my feet!?'.

She thought as her heart continued to beat wildly in her chest, Zoe could tell that Eliot wanted to say something but didn't, he just kept quiet. Everyone's attention on the table had being turned towards her, with her head that was raised up looking into the eyes of some Elites, '…Oh GOD…,' "How bold!" a woman from the end of the table said with a tint of jealousy in her tone, everyone kept staring at her, some skeptical, some annoyed 'shit! They can all hear my heart beat, I feel so exposed… someone just dig a hole for me to crawl into it and die…, I'm coming baby Jesus' she thought to herself immediately bowing her head down slowly, scared of what might happen next, as she realized that she made the mistake of looking into their eyes. After a while they just returned back to their chattering's while the others continued with their food, 'really! Nothing?' Zoe was surprised that no one opened their mouths to curse at her or address the situation.

The queen didn't look disturbed in anyway, rather she watched Zoe intently, taking her time to examine her, as she had found nothing but calmness in her, the queen watched her every move, now that all her attention had being drawn towards Zoe, with the creepy cat that kept observing her 'sigh'.

Zoe turned her head slowly to face Eliot's gaze "U… umm... Master C-can I be excused?" Eliot nodded in response "but don't stay too long". Slowly getting up, Zoe walked towards a back door so she wouldn't attract unwanted attention, she walked faster picking up the pace, not caring if she would slip or fall just as long as she got to a place where there were no vampires.

Zoe stopped dead on her tracks when she hit something that caused her to stagger backwards, rubbing her forehead in pain, 'ugh, I just keep on bumping into things today, what's wrong with me'.

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going and I-" Zoe opened her eyes to see Greta who was standing right in front of her, whilst holding Zoe's lower dress in her hands 'why is she holding my dress!' "Sorry I didn't mean to bump into you" Zoe rose a brow at her response 'Greta. Saying. Sorry? there's definitely something wrong about her behavior' Greta just smiled and walked away 'wait. What just happened' "maybe she's had a change of heart.., but there's something suspicious about the way she's acting, I must be very careful".

Turning around Zoe searched for the lady's rest room but didn't find any, when she asked some maids to help her, some ignored her while some behaved coldly towards her, but the only person who agreed to help her was a girl that looked to be around the same age as hers, her hair was short and brown, she was thin and pale, and Zoe was aware that it was because of stress. "Thanks for your help, I'm Zoe", the girl just smiled lightly, "your welcome, I was happy to help, the names nova", she said her face brightening up as she turned around and walked away.

Zoe opened the door of the rest room, and when she got inside she ran straight to the wash sink made in marble stones, to rest on it, as she washed her face vigorously to regain herself. Raising her head up in relief, Zoe stared at her reflection in the mirror.